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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 181 records · Page 10
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2022

AmeriFlux FLUXNET-1F US-Tw3 Twitchell Alfalfa

This is the AmeriFlux Management Project (AMP) created FLUXNET-1F version of the carbon flux data for the site US-Tw3 Twitchell Alfalfa. This is the FLUXNET version of the carbon flux data for the site US-Tw3 Twitchell Alfalfa produced by applying the standard ONEFlux (1F) software. Site Description - The Twitchell Alfalfa site is an alfalfa field owned by the state of California and leased to third parties for farming. The tower was installed on May 24, 2013. This site and the surrounding region are part of the San Joaquin - Sacramento River Delta drained beginning in the 1850's and subsequently used for agriculture. The field has been alfalfa for X years…., Crop rotation occurs every 5-6 years. The site is harvested by mowing and bailing several times per year. The field is fallow typically between November and February. The site is irrigated by periodically-flooded ditches surrounding the field. The site is irrigated by raising, and subsequently lowering the water table??

Chamberlain, Samuel D↗
DOE OSTI2022

AmeriFlux FLUXNET-1F US-Hn2 Hanford 100H grassland

This is the AmeriFlux Management Project (AMP) created FLUXNET-1F version of the carbon flux data for the site US-Hn2 Hanford 100H grassland. This is the FLUXNET version of the carbon flux data for the site US-Hn2 Hanford 100H grassland produced by applying the standard ONEFlux (1F) software. Site Description - The site is a riparian grassland ecosystem characterized by a shallow water table.

Liu, Heping↗
DOE OSTI2023

AmeriFlux FLUXNET-1F CA-CF1 Churchill Fen Site 1

This is the AmeriFlux Management Project (AMP) created FLUXNET-1F version of the carbon flux data for the site CA-CF1 Churchill Fen Site 1. This is the FLUXNET version of the carbon flux data for the site CA-CF1 Churchill Fen Site 1 produced by applying the standard ONEFlux (1F) software. Site Description - Fen site dominated by sedges. Flat, high water table. Frozen for long periods each year. Close to Arctic Ocean coast so affected by land/sea breezes and coastal weather.

Papakyriakou, Tim↗
DOE OSTI2024

AmeriFlux AR-Bal Balcarce BA

This is the AmeriFlux version of the carbon flux data for the site AR-Bal Balcarce BA. Site Description - The study was carried out in a 19-ha rainfed soybean plot at the Unidad Integrada Balcarce, located southeast of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The site is located in an environment of gentle hills at 130 m.a.s.l. Its soil was classified as a typical Argiudoll, with a loamy clayey texture up to 0.30 m and between 0.80 to 1.10 m depth, and a clayey texture between 0.30 and 0.80 m depth. The slope was 1:50 and oriented NE to SW. A caliche layer was found at 1 to 1.2 m depth thus the water table was considered beneath that level. The soybean variety used was DM 3810, Maturity Group III with an indeterminate growing habit. It was sown on November 21, 2012, and emerged on December 1. The crop archive had a maximum height of 0.75 m.

Gassmann, Maria Isabel↗
DOE OSTI2024

AmeriFlux CA-CF3 Churchill Fen Site 3

This is the AmeriFlux version of the carbon flux data for the site CA-CF3 Churchill Fen Site 3. Site Description - Fen site dominated by sedges. Flat, high water table. Frozen for long periods each year. Close to Arctic Ocean coast so affected by land/sea breezes and coastal weather.

Arndt, Kyle↗
DOE OSTI2025

AmeriFlux FLUXNET-1F AR-Bal Balcarce BA

This is the AmeriFlux Management Project (AMP) created FLUXNET-1F version of the carbon flux data for the site AR-Bal Balcarce BA. This is the FLUXNET version of the carbon flux data for the site AR-Bal Balcarce BA produced by applying the standard ONEFlux (1F) software. Site Description - The study was carried out in a 19-ha rainfed soybean plot at the Unidad Integrada Balcarce, located southeast of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The site is located in an environment of gentle hills at 130 m.a.s.l. Its soil was classified as a typical Argiudoll, with a loamy clayey texture up to 0.30 m and between 0.80 to 1.10 m depth, and a clayey texture between 0.30 and 0.80 m depth. The slope was 1:50 and oriented NE to SW. A caliche layer was found at 1 to 1.2 m depth thus the water table was considered beneath that level. The soybean variety used was DM 3810, Maturity Group III with an indeterminate growing habit. It was sown on November 21, 2012, and emerged on December 1. The crop archive had a maximum height of 0.75 m.

Gassmann, Maria Isabel [Universidad de Buenos Aire↗
DOE OSTI2026

AmeriFlux FLUXNET-1F CA-CF2 Churchill Fen Site 2

This is the AmeriFlux Management Project (AMP) created FLUXNET-1F version of the carbon flux data for the site CA-CF2 Churchill Fen Site 2. This is the FLUXNET version of the carbon flux data for the site CA-CF2 Churchill Fen Site 2 produced by applying the standard ONEFlux (1F) software. Site Description - Fen site dominated by sedges. Flat, high water table. Frozen for long periods each year. Close to Arctic Ocean coast so affected by land/sea breezes and coastal weather.

Tenuta, Mario [University of Manitoba]↗
DOE OSTI2026

AmeriFlux FLUXNET-1F CA-CF3 Churchill Fen Site 3

This is the AmeriFlux Management Project (AMP) created FLUXNET-1F version of the carbon flux data for the site CA-CF3 Churchill Fen Site 3. This is the FLUXNET version of the carbon flux data for the site CA-CF3 Churchill Fen Site 3 produced by applying the standard ONEFlux (1F) software. Site Description - Fen site dominated by sedges. Flat, high water table. Frozen for long periods each year. Close to Arctic Ocean coast so affected by land/sea breezes and coastal weather.

Arndt, Kyle [Woodwell Climate Research Center]↗
DOE OSTI2020

Interpretation of Mineralogical Diagenesis for Assessment of Radionuclide Transport at Pahute Mesa, Nevada National Security Site

Pahute Mesa (PM) in southern Nevada was one of the four principal underground nuclear testing areas at the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS), known as the “Nevada Test Site” until 2010 (Figure 1). Eighty-two underground nuclear tests were conducted at PM in northwestern corner of NNSS (USDOE, 2015). The PM area of underground nuclear testing is located near the center of the Pahute Mesa and Oasis Valley (PM-OV) groundwater basin, which discharges to the southwest near Oasis Valley (OV) north of Beatty, Nevada (Fenelon et al. 2016; Jackson et al., 2020). Most of the PM tests were located at depths near or below the regional water table and, therefore, present potential sources of groundwater contamination from release of test-related radionuclides.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

Goldsim Modeling of Vadose Zone Transport for E-Area Naval Reactor Component Disposal Areas: Model Description and Benchmarking

This report documents the development of a GoldSim® model of flow and radionuclide transport to the water table through the Naval Reactor Components Disposal Area (NRCDA) waste disposal sites and underlying vadose zones. The model is designed to be used for Monte Carlo uncertainty analysis in support of the E-Area Performance Assessment (PA). This report describes the model and shows results obtained from benchmarking the model to best-estimate deterministic results obtained using a PORFLOW model of NRCDA vadose zone transport. The PORFLOW model is three-dimensional while the GoldSim model is a simplified one-dimensional treatment. Nevertheless, the GoldSim model was able to accurately reproduce PORFLOW results with some adjustment to the nominal dispersion coefficient and vadose zone flow area used as “tuning” parameters. An example of the results obtained comparing GoldSim and PORFLOW calculation of releases of I-129, Tc-99, C-14 and Ni-59 from waste disposal containers at the 643-26E site is shown in Figure 1 below. For all of the test cases evaluated, GoldSim predicted peak concentrations within 6% of the PORFLOW values and peak times agreed within 8% with the majority of the results in better agreement. The close agreement between the two models provides confidence that GoldSim will give results accurately reflecting the behavior of releases from the NRCDA under off-normal operating conditions for sensitivity and uncertainty analysis

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2021

PORFLOW Modeling of Vadose Zone Flow and Transport for the E- Area Low Activity Waste Vault

In support of the E-Area Performance Assessment, a two-dimensional model of water flow and radionuclide transport through the E-Area Low Activity Waste Vault (LAWV) and local vadose zone has been developed using the PORFLOW TM software. The purpose of the model is to calculate flux to the water table for radionuclides eluted from the LAWV during its operational life, the period of institutional control, and times following site closure. Results of model calculations will be used by a three-dimensional PORFLOW model of transport through the aquifer to determine radionuclide concentrations at a hypothetical 100 meter well and at the site boundary where contaminated groundwater could be accessed by members of the public following site closure.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2021

Laboratory Investigation of Gas Transport Through Variably Saturated Rock [Slides]

Project Overview: Noble gas fission products, such as xenon (Xe), are monitored to detect nuclear tests. For well-contained subsurface tests, transport to the surface will impact detected isotopic ratios, complicating event identification. Role of water saturation in subsurface transport is not well understood. Historic tests have taken place near or below the water table. To accurately predict breakthrough times and fractionation, gas transport must be characterized through intact rock with variable saturation.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2021

PORFLOW Modeling of Vadose Zone Flow and Transport for E-Area Intermediate Level Vault

In support of the E-Area Performance Assessment, a two-dimensional model of water flow and radionuclide transport through the E-Area Intermediate Level Vault (ILV) and local vadose zone has been developed using the PORFLOW TM software. The purpose of the model is to calculate flux to the water table for radionuclides eluted from the ILV during its operational life, the period of institutional control, and times following site closure. Results of model calculations will be used by a three-dimensional PORFLOW model of transport through the aquifer to determine radionuclide concentrations at a hypothetical 100 meter well and at the site boundary where contaminated groundwater is accessible to members of the public following site closure.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2023

Performance Assessment for the E-Area Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Facility at the Savannah River Site: Chapter 5

This chapter presents selected GW flow and radionuclide contaminant transport results from PORFLOW for the VZ and aquifer zone for each type of DU (STs, ETs, LAWV, ILV, and NRCDAs). Results for the nominal PA compliance case and various sensitivity cases are given. Results for the VZ include water saturation spatial profiles and radionuclide flux-to-the-water- table time profiles. Aquifer zone results include maximum concentration spatial contours; radionuclide concentration time profiles at the 100-meter POA; and peak concentrations at the 100-meter POA and time of occurrence for each modeled radionuclide.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2023

Advances in 3D Geologic Modeling of Alluvial Basins with a Focus on Facies and Property Modeling

The unsaturated zone alluvium reference case is one of several geologic systems under consideration by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy for hosting repositories for spent nuclear fuel and associated waste (Sevougian et al., 2019). As noted by Mariner et al. (2018), the generic alluvial basin offers positive attributes that merit its consideration as a reference case by the Spent Fuel and Waste Science and Technology (SFWST) campaign. There are hundreds of alluvial basins and sub-basins scattered across the arid western United States (Figure 1-1). Precipitation and infiltration rates are relatively low with high evapotranspiration, resulting in vertical separation between repository and water table and thus longer transport paths to an aquifer. Accumulations of alluvial sediments within these basins are typically on the order of hundreds of meters, and locally may exceed 1,000 m in thickness, as is the case for the Deming sub-basin in southern New Mexico. A thick geologic host medium, which serves as the natural barrier system (NBS) in the conceptual model framework of a geologic disposal system, isolates the waste packages from receptors in the biosphere. Further, alluvial basin fill is typically comprised of stacked playa and lacustrine deposits along the basin axis (Perry et al., 2018). Characterized by low permeability, these layers protect the biosphere above the repository and the groundwater resources below the repository.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2023

Coupled Long-Term Experiment and Model Investigation of the Differential Response of Plants and Soil Microbes in a Changing Permafrost Tundra Ecosystem

The major research goal of this project was to understand and quantify the fate of carbon stored in permafrost ecosystems using a combination of field and laboratory experiments to measure and model isotope ratios and carbon fluxes in a tundra ecosystem exposed to experimental warming. Field measurements centered on a two-factor experimental warming to increase air and soil temperatures alone, and in combination, at a tundra field site in Alaska. A second manipulation of water table was embedded within the warming treatment such that both major environmental factors (temperature, moisture) controlling ecosystem carbon dynamics were experimentally altered. The experiment was interfaced with modeling activities using both data assimilation and forward modeling approaches. Models were used to make forecasts of ecosystem carbon dynamics beyond the time frame and environmental space of the experiment itself. This project was a follow-on to previous work that made use of the same field manipulation; here we continued the experimental manipulation in order to test new hypotheses regarding long-term effects of warming and permafrost thaw and subsequent changes in moisture availability on ecosystem carbon dynamics. These results were linked with ongoing synthesis and model intercomparison activities through the Permafrost Carbon Network, which led to additional synthesis publications as a result of collaboration and data sharing from this project. As key outcomes, this project has produced new papers published in the peer-reviewed literature, archived datasets used for model-data intercomparisons, trained graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, and has raised awareness about the vulnerability of permafrost carbon to a wider audience.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Area V: Waste Management and Subsurface Science (FY21-23 Final Report)

The objective of the Waste Management and Subsurface Science Topic Area V project is to evaluate the feasibility and safety of an intermediate-depth borehole for disposal of Israel Atomic Energy Commission (IAEC) nuclear waste. The IAEC nuclear waste is currently stored in above ground and/or in near-surface facilities that provide short-term radiological worker safety but do not provide long-term, full security and safeguards protection for the nuclear material. Disposal of the IAEC nuclear waste several hundred meters below the surface in a sealed borehole would provide long-term security and safeguards due to its depth underground, as well as long-term radiological safety, due to its isolation in a stable geological formation. This project supports the nuclear security and safeguards initiatives of the Science and Technology Working Group of the NNSA/IAEC Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and addresses the Topic Area V objective and associated goals. The goals for Topic Area V are: (1) Assess the suitability of the vadose zone in the Yamin Plain of the northern Negev Desert, Israel as a host location for intermediate-depth borehole disposal of radioactive waste, (2) Define and refine the necessary characterization needs to better understand the regional climate, structure, and stratigraphy, geomechanics, geochemistry, hydrogeology, and seismicity of the stratigraphic sequence from the surface to the water table in the vicinity of the proposed host location for the disposal borehole(s), and (3) Develop a preliminary plan and schedule, including necessary resources and costs, for a borehole disposal concept and robust and transparent pre-closure and post-closure safety assessments. The safety assessments will require iteration with process level models at both site and regional scales. Upon completion, the information collected by this effort will allow the IAEC to make decisions regarding the viability and applicability of an intermediate depth (<500m) borehole for disposal in the vadose zone of the Yamin Plain. This FY21-23 final report is provided in lieu of a workshop report that was originally planned for delivery in January, 2024. Due to the conflict in Israel and associated delays, the workshop has been delayed to April 2024. The workshop will be held at LLNL but offsite and will switch to hybrid if travel restrictions remain in place. The associated workshop report will be provided as part of a new FY24-26 LCP.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2020

Using Strain in the Vadose Zone During Sinusoidal-Rate Well Tests to Characterize an Aquifer

Well tests with sinusoidal variation in pumping rate are appealing because of the ability to filter competing signals and they also can be set up with no net removal of water, which is an advantage at contaminated sites. Current methods of interpreting sinusoidal-rate well tests analyze the phase lag and amplitude of pressure signals in the aquifer. This approach is restricted by the availability of monitoring wells. An alternative approach could be to measure the stain in the vadose zone instead of pressure in the aquifer. The goal of this research is to evaluate the feasibility of using signals from in-situ sensors in the vadose zone to characterize sinusoidal-rate well tests. Well tests with a variety of periods and amplitudes were performed using a well completed in an unconfined saprolite aquifer with a water table at 9m depth at our test site near Clemson, South Carolina. Vertical strain was measured every meter between 1 to 7 m using a distributed optical fiber sensing technique called coherence length gated microwave photonics interferometry (CMPI). A novel packaging system was designed to couple the optical fiber to the saprolite. The results show that strain measured in the vadose zone during sinusoidal-rate pumping varies periodically with amplitudes from 0.1 to 3 microstrain, depending on the amplitude of the sinusoidal pumping rate. Hydraulic heads at similar radial distances were also periodic with changing amplitudes ranging up to ±0.2 meters. The strain in the vadose zone responds to pressure in the underlying aquifer—the strain is tensile when the pressure is falling, and compressive when the pressure is rising. The phase lag between the pumping rate and the strain was 3 min with a pumping period of 15 minutes, and this gives a hydraulic diffusivity of 0.06 m2/s. This is the same diffusivity obtained by analyzing a constant rate pumping test, and it is slightly larger than the diffusivity (0.044 m2/s) obtained by analyzing the phase lag of the pressure in a nearby monitoring well. Strain measurements in the vadose zone could be made with much less cost and effort than installing a deep monitoring well. These results suggest that strain measurements in the vadose zone could be used to supplement monitoring wells, thereby increasing the resolution, and reducing costs of analyzing well tests.

well test, sinusoidal, periodic pumping, strain↗