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At least 199 records · Page 11

All sources NASA NTRS DOE OSTI

DOE OSTI2018

Mercury Dispersion Modeling 242-25H Evaporator Portable Backup Ventilation

The SRNL Atmospheric Technologies Group performed an analysis of mercury emissions from the H-Tank Farm 242-25H Evaporator backup ventilation system exhaust to assess worst case15-minute and 8-hour average concentrations and evaluate whether the ACIGH Short-Term Exposure Limit (STEL), or Threshold Limit Value (TLV) levels for mercury are exceeded following a seismic event. This analysis was also used to establish a minimum stack height at which ambient mercury concentration would not exceed the regulatory limits. The American Meteorological Society/Environmental Protection Agency Regulatory Model (AERMOD) was used as the dispersion modelling tool for this analysis. Results indicate that a stack height of 20 ft result in ground level concentrations that exceed the STEL or TLV standards at ground level only in the areas immediately around the stack, and generally on the slope of the hill beneath the 242-25H and 242-9H buildings.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

NASA NTRS2007

Use of AIRS, OMI, MLS, and TES Data in Assessing Forest Ecosystem Exposure to Ozone

Ground-level ozone at high levels poses health threats to exposed flora and fauna, including negative impacts to human health. While concern is common regarding depletion of ozone in the stratosphere, portions of the urban and rural United States periodically have high ambient levels of tropospheric ozone on the ground. Ozone pollution can cause a variety of impacts to susceptible vegetation (e.g., Ponderosa and Jeffrey pine species in the southwestern United States), such as stunted growth, alteration of growth form, needle or leaf chlorosis, and impaired ability to withstand drought-induced water stress. In addition, Southern Californian forests with high ozone exposures have been recently subject to multiyear droughts that have led to extensive forest overstory mortality from insect outbreaks and increased incidence of wildfires. Residual forests in these impacted areas may be more vulnerable to high ozone exposures and to other forest threats than ever before. NASA sensors collect a wealth of atmospheric data that have been used recently for mapping and monitoring regional tropospheric ozone levels. AIRS (Atmospheric Infrared Sounder), OMI (Ozone Monitoring Instrument), MLS (Microwave Limb Sounder), and TES (Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer) data could be used to assess forest ecosystem exposure to ozone. Such NASA data hold promise for providing better or at least complementary synoptic information on ground-level ozone levels that Federal agency partners can use to assess forest health trends and to mitigate the threats as needed in compliance with Federal laws and mandates. NASA data products on ozone concentrations may be able to aid applications of DSTs (decision support tools) adopted by the USDA FS (U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service) and by the NPS (National Park Service), such as the Ozone Calculator, in which ground ozone estimates are employed to assess ozone impacts to forested vegetation.

Spruce, Joseph P.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Formic and acetic acid over the central Amazon region, Brazil. I - Dry season

The concentrations of formic and acetic acids in the gas phase, atmospheric aerosol, and rainwater samples collected in Amazonia at ground level and in the atmosphere during the Amazon Boundary Layer Experiment in July/August 1985 were analyzed by ion exchange chromatography. The diurnal behavior of both acids at ground level and their vertical distribution in the forest canopy point to the existence of vegetative sources as well as to production by chemical reactions in the atmosphere. The concentrations of formic and acetic acids in the gas phase were about 2 orders of magnitude higher than the corresponding concentrations in the atmospheric aerosol. In rainwater, the total formate and acetate represented about one half of the anion equivalents, in contrast to less than 10 percent of the soluble anionic equivalents contributed by these acids in the atmospheric aerosol. The observed levels of these ions in rainwater are considered to be the result of a combination of chemical reactions in hydrometeors and the scavenging of the gaseous acids by cloud droplets.

Andreae, M. O.↗

NASA NTRS1999

Solar Particle Event Exposures and Local Tissue Environments in Free Space and on Martian Surface

Solar particle events (SPEs) are a concern to space missions outside Earth s geomagnetic field. The September 29, 1989 SPE is the largest ground-level event since February 23, 1956. It is an iron-rich event for which the spectra are well measured. Because ten times this event matches the ground level data of the February 1956 SPE, it is suggested that an event with ten-times the scaled spectra of the September 29, 1989 SPE be used as a worst case SPE for spacecraft design. For the worst case SPE, the input spectra were reconstructed using Nymmik's (1995) model for protons, the O and Fe ion spectra of Tylka et al. (1997) to evaluate the iron enhancement ratio, and the Solar Energetic Particle Baseline (SEPB) composition of McGuire et al. (1986) for the heavy ions. The necessary transport properties of the shielding materials and the astronaut s body tissues are evaluated using the HZETRN code. Three shield configurations (assumed to be aluminum) are considered: space suit taken as 0.3 g/sq cm, helmet/pressure vessel as 1 g/sq cm, and equipment room of 5 g/sq cm. A shelter is taken as 10 g/sq cm on the Martian surface. The effect of shielding due to the Martian atmosphere is included. The astronaut geometry is taken from the computerized anatomical man (CAM) model.

Kim, M. Y.↗

NASA NTRS2012

Using Satellite Remote Sensing and Modelling for Insights into N02 Air Pollution and NO2 Emissions

Nitrogen oxides (NO(x)) are key actors in air quality and climate change. Satellite remote sensing of tropospheric NO2 has developed rapidly with enhanced spatial and temporal resolution since initial observations in 1995. We have developed an improved algorithm and retrieved tropospheric NO2 columns from Ozone Monitoring Instrument. Column observations of tropospheric NO2 from the nadir-viewing satellite sensors contain large contributions from the boundary layer due to strong enhancement of NO2 in the boundary layer. We infer ground-level NO2 concentrations from the OMI satellite instrument which demonstrate significant agreement with in-situ surface measurements. We examine how NO2 columns measured by satellite, ground-level NO2 derived from satellite, and NO(x) emissions obtained from bottom-up inventories relate to world's urban population. We perform inverse modeling analysis of NO2 measurements from OMI to estimate "top-down" surface NO(x) emissions, which are used to evaluate and improve "bottom-up" emission inventories. We use NO2 column observations from OMI and the relationship between NO2 columns and NO(x) emissions from a GEOS-Chem model simulation to estimate the annual change in bottom-up NO(x) emissions. The emission updates offer an improved estimate of NO(x) that are critical to our understanding of air quality, acid deposition, and climate change.

Lamsal, L. N.↗

NASA NTRS1975

Generation of ULF waves by electric or magnetic dipoles

The generation of ULF waves by ground-based magnetic and electric dipoles is studied with a simplified model consisting of three adjoining homogeneous regions representing the groud, the vacuum (free space) region, and the ionosphere. The system is assumed to be immersed in a homogeneous magnetic field with an arbitrary tilt angle. By the use of Fourier techniques and the method of stationary phase, analytic expressions are obtained for the field strength of the compressional Alfven waves in the ionosphere. Expressions are also obtained for the strength of the torsional Alfven wave in the ionosphere and the ULF magnetic field at ground level. Numerical results are obtained for the compressional Alfven-wave field strength in the ionosphere with a nonvertical geomagnetic field and for the ULF magnetic field at ground level for a vertical geomagnetic field.

Harker, K. J.↗

NASA NTRS2014

Fifteen-Year Global Time Series of Satellite-Derived Fine Particulate Matter

Ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is a leading environmental risk factor for premature mortality. We use aerosol optical depth (AOD) retrieved from two satellite instruments, MISR and SeaWiFS, to produce a unified 15-year global time series (1998−2012) of ground-level PM2.5 concentration at a resolution of 1deg x 1deg. The GEOS-Chem chemical transport model (CTM) is used to relate each individual AOD retrieval to ground-level PM2.5. Four broad areas showing significant, spatially coherent, annual trends are examined in detail: the Eastern U.S. (−0.39 +/- 0.10 micro-g/cu m/yr), the Arabian Peninsula (0.81 +/- 0.21 micro-g/cu m/yr), South Asia (0.93 +/- 0.22 micro-g/cu m/yr) and East Asia (0.79 +/- 0.27 micro-g/cu m/yr). Over the period of dense in situ observation (1999− 2012), the linear tendency for the Eastern U.S. (−0.37 +/- 0.13 micro-g/cu m/yr) agrees well with that from in situ measurements (−0.38 +/- 0.06 micro-g/cu m/yr). A GEOS-Chem simulation reveals that secondary inorganic aerosols largely explain the observed PM2.5 trend over the Eastern U.S., South Asia, and East Asia, while mineral dust largely explains the observed trend over the Arabian Peninsula.

aerosol optical depth↗

DOE OSTI2025

Investigating Aerosol Hygroscopicity in the Subcloud Transition Zone and at the Surface in the Southern Great Plains

Aerosols beneath a cloud base, a subcloud transition zone (SCTZ), are key to understand both the aerosol-cloud interaction and aerosol-radiation interactions. Lidars have been the primary means of observing aerosols in the SCTZ by virtue of enhanced light scattered by aerosol particles. The enhanced light maybe caused by several factors: the aerosol swelling effect due to hygroscopicity under high relative humidity, cloud 3-dimensional (3D) effect, aerosol nucleation into cloud droplets, etc. While each factor and process has been known, their relative contributions are much poorly quantified. This study explores the hygroscopicity and optical properties of aerosols in the SCTZ and at ground level in the Southern Great Plains (SGP) region. Utilizing comprehensive observational data from the U.S. Department of Energy's Atmospheric Radiation Measurement at the Oklahoma SGP site, including ground-based aerosol measurements and Raman lidar profiles from April 2021 to April 2022, this study extensively analyzes the influence of aerosol hygroscopic growth and cloud fragments on aerosol optical properties. Distinct seasonal variations in aerosol hygroscopic characteristics are revealed. At the ground level, aerosols in autumn and winter exhibit stronger hygroscopicity due to a higher proportion of inorganic content than summer. In the SCTZ, aerosols during summer show enhanced backscatter due to strong cloud fragmentation effects, with numerous cloud fragments elevating hygroscopicity beyond that observed in autumn and winter. These insights are crucial for understanding the interactions between aerosols at the surface and cloud layers, evaluating cloud condensation nuclei beneath clouds, and their implications for atmospheric radiation and climate modeling.

Hu, Rong [Beijing Normal University, Beijing (Chin↗

DOE OSTI2014

Fifteen-Year Global Time Series of Satellite-Derived Fine Particulate Matter

Ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is a leading environmental risk factor for premature mortality. We use aerosol optical depth (AOD) retrieved from two satellite instruments, MISR and SeaWiFS, to produce a unified 15-year global time series (1998-2012) of ground-level PM2.5 concentration at a resolution of 1 degrees x 1 degrees. The GEOS-Chem chemical transport model (CTM) is used to relate each individual AOD retrieval to ground-level PM2.5. Four broad areas showing significant, spatially coherent, annual trends are examined in detail: the Eastern U.S. (-0.39 +/- 0.10 mu g m(-3) yr(-1)), the Arabian Peninsula (0.81 +/- 0.21 mu g m(-3) yr(-1)), South Asia (0.93 +/- 0.22 mu g m(-3) yr(-1)) and East Asia (0.79 +/- 0.27 mu g m(-3) yr(-1)). Over the period of dense in situ observation (1999-2012), the linear tendency for the Eastern U.S. (-0.37 +/- 0.13 mu g m(-3) yr(-1)) agrees well with that from in situ measurements (-0.38 +/- 0.06 mu g m(-3) yr(-1)). A GEOS-Chem simulation reveals that secondary inorganic aerosols largely explain the observed PM2.5 trend over the Eastern U.S., South Asia, and East Asia, while mineral dust largely explains the observed trend over the Arabian Peninsula.

Boys, B. L.↗

DOE OSTI2022

Coupled Heat Power Operation of Smart Buildings via Modular Pumped Hydro Storage

In the United States, building sector is responsible for around 40% of total energy consumption and contributes about 40% of carbon emissions since 2012. Within the past several years, various optimization models and control strategies have been studied to improve buildings’ energy efficiency and reduce operational expenses under the constraints of satisfying occupants’ comfort requirements. However, the majority of these studies consider building electricity demand and thermal load being satisfied by unidirectional electricity flow from the power grid or on-site renewable energy generation to electrical and thermal home appliances. Opportunities for leveraging low-grade heat for electricity have largely been overlooked due to impracticality at small scale. In 2016, a modular pumped hydro storage technology was invented in Oak Ridge National Laboratory, named Ground Level Integrated Diverse Energy Storage (GLIDES). In GLIDES, employing high-efficiency hydraulic machinery instead of gas compressor/turbine, liquid is pumped to compress gas inside high-pressure vessel creating head on ground level. This unique design eliminates the geographical limitation associated with the existing state-of-the-art energy storage technologies. It is easy to be scaled for building level, community level, and grid level applications. By using this novel hydro-pneumatic storage technology, opportunities for leveraging low-grade heat in building can be economical. In this research, the potential of utilizing low-grade thermal energy to augment electricity generation of GLIDES is investigated. Since GLIDES relies on gas expansion in the discharge process and the gas temperature drops during this non-isothermal process, available thermal energy, e.g., from thermal storage, combined cooling, heat and power system (CCHP), can be utilized by GLIDES to counter the cooling effect of the expansion process and elevate the gas temperature and pressure and boost the roundtrip efficiency. Here, several groups of comparison experiments have been conducted, and the experimental results show that a maximum 12.9% cost saving could be achieved with unlimited heat source for GLIDES, and a moderate 3.8% cost improvement can be expected when operated coordinately with CCHP and thermal energy storage in a smart building.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

DOE OSTI2021

Heat Based Power Augmentation for Modular Pumped Hydro Storage in Smart Buildings Operation

In the U.S., building sector is responsible for around 40% of total energy consumption and contributes about 40% of carbon emissions since 2012. Within the past several years, various optimization models and control strategies have been studied to improve buildings energy efficiency and reduce operational expenses under the constraints of satisfying occupants’ comfort requirements. However, the majority of these studies consider building electricity demand and thermal load being satisfied by unidirectional electricity flow from the power grid or on-site renewable energy generation to electrical and thermal home appliances. Opportunities for leveraging low grade heat for electricity have largely been overlooked due to impracticality at small scale. In 2016, a modular pumped hydro storage technology was invented in Oak Ridge National Laboratory, named Ground Level Integrated Diverse Energy Storage (GLIDES). In GLIDES, employing high efficiency hydraulic machinery instead of gas compressor/turbine, liquid is pumped to compress gas inside high-pressure vessel creating head on ground-level. This unique design eliminates the geographical limitation associated with existing state of the art energy storage technologies. It is easy to be scaled for building level, community level and grid level applications. Using this novel hydro-pneumatic storage technology, opportunities for leveraging low-grade heat in building can be economical. In this research, the potential of utilizing low-grade thermal energy to augment electricity generation of GLIDES is investigated. Since GLIDES relies on gas expansion in the discharge process and the gas temperature drops during this non-isothermal process, available thermal energy, e.g. from thermal storage, Combined Cooling, Heat and Power system (CCHP), can be utilized by GLIDES to counter the cooling effect of the expansion process and elevate the gas temperature and pressure and boost the roundtrip efficiency. Several groups of comparison experiments have been conducted and the experimental results show that a maximum 12.9% cost saving could be achieved with unlimited heat source for GLIDES, and a moderate 3.8% cost improvement can be expected when operated coordinately with CCHP and thermal energy storage in a smart building.

Chen, Yang↗

NASA NTRS2001

Remote Sensing of the Urban Heat Island Effect: Assessment of Risks to Human Health and Development of Mitigation Strategies for Sustainable Cities

The growth of cities, both in population and in areal extent, appears as an inexorable process. Urbanization continues at a rapid rate, and it is estimated that by the year 2025, 80% of the world's population will live in cities. One of the more egregious side effects of urbanization is the deterioration in air quality as a result of increased vehicular traffic, industrialization and related activities. In the United States alone, under the more stringent air quality guidelines established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1997, nearly 300 counties in 34 states will not meet the new air quality standards for ground level ozone. The mitigation of one the physical/environmental characteristics of urbanization known as the urban heat island (UHI) effect, is now being looked at more closely as a possible way to bring down ground level ozone levels in cities and assist states in improving air quality. The UHI results from the replacement of "natural" land covers (e.g., trees, grass) with urban land surface types, such as pavement and buildings. Heat stored in these surfaces is released into the air and results in a "dome" of elevated air temperatures that presides over cities. The effect of this dome of elevated air temperatures is known as the UHI, which is most prevalent about 2-3 hours after sunset on days with intense solar radiation and calm winds. Given the local and regional impacts of the UHI, there are significant potential affects on human health, particularly as related to heat stress and ozone on body temperature regulation and on the cardiovascular and respiratory systems. In this study we are using airborne and satellite remote sensing data to analyze how differences in the urban landscape influence or drive the development of the UHI over four U.S. cities. Additionally, we are assessing what the potential impact is on risks to human health, and developing mitigation strategies to make urban areas more environmentally sustainable.

Quattrochi, Dale A.↗

NASA NTRS2002

High Spatial Resolution Thermal Remote Sensing of the Urban Heat Island Effect: Assessment of Risks to Human Health and Development of Mitigation Strategies for Sustainable Cities

Quattrochi, Dale A.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Determination and representation of electric charge distributions associated with adverse weather conditions

Algorithms are presented for determining the size and location of electric charges which model storm systems and lightning strikes. The analysis utilizes readings from a grid of ground level field mills and geometric constraints on parameters to arrive at a representative set of charges. This set is used to generate three dimensional graphical depictions of the set as well as contour maps of the ground level electrical environment over the grid. The composite, analytic and graphic package is demonstrated and evaluated using controlled input data and archived data from a storm system. The results demonstrate the packages utility as: an operational tool in appraising adverse weather conditions; a research tool in studies of topics such as storm structure, storm dynamics, and lightning; and a tool in designing and evaluating grid systems.

Rompala, John T.↗

DOE OSTI2023

A Comparison of Adverse Meteorology Inputs for Emergency Management and Safety Basis Dispersion Modeling Applications at SRS

The MELCOR Accident Consequence Calculation System (MACCS), used for safety basis accident analyses at SRS, implements adjustment factors to consider the increased vertical turbulence associated with local surface roughness and the increased lateral turbulence associated with time-based plume meander. The two models used for SRS emergency planning radiological consequence assessment, i.e., Hotspot and Puff/Plume, currently do not have an option to input or apply diffusion adjustments for meander or surface roughness. Adverse meteorology conditions at SRS have been determined as E stability class and 1.3 meters per second wind speed for ground level releases. This is the input used for emergency planning models. Contrastingly safety basis analyses use a different input, representing adverse meteorology values as F stability class and wind speeds of 1.3 meters per second (for a ground level release). This results in an apparent discrepancy between the two approaches. In this report we document the differing modeling assumptions, discuss the logic behind each modeling approach used to represent local roughness and plume meander conditions, and numerically compare dispersion coefficients and concentration estimates obtained from each set of model inputs.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

NASA NTRS1977

Cloud effects on middle ultraviolet global radiation

An Eppley radiometer and a Robertson-Berger sunburn meter are employed along with an all-sky camera setup to study cloud effects on middle ultraviolet global radiation at the ground level. Semiempirical equations to allow for cloud effects presented in previous work are compared with the experimental data. The study suggests a means of defining eigenvectors of cloud patterns and correlating them with the radiation at the ground level.

Borkowski, J.↗

DOE OSTI2011

Vibration control in accelerators

In the vast majority of accelerator applications, ground vibration amplitudes are well below tolerable magnet jitter amplitudes. In these cases, it is necessary and sufficient to design a rigid magnet support structure that does not amplify ground vibration. Since accelerator beam lines are typically installed at an elevation of 1-2m above ground level, special care has to be taken in order to avoid designing a support structure that acts like an inverted pendulum with a low resonance frequency, resulting in untolerable lateral vibration amplitudes of the accelerator components when excited by either ambient ground motion or vibration sources within the accelerator itself, such as cooling water pumps or helium flow in superconducting magnets. In cases where ground motion amplitudes already exceed the required jiter tolerances, for instance in future linear colliders, passive vibration damping or active stabilization may be considered.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

DOE OSTI2024

Green buffers near industrial plants, examples in Jefferson County TX

Green buffers between industrial plants and residential areas have multiple purposes in mitigating air pollution and protecting the environment. This study focuses on providing information on examples of green space development by industries near residential areas in Jefferson County, Texas. One represents a full buffer where residences were totally removed, another is a partial buffer where some residences were removed in a neighborhood and the third represents vegetation of a formerly industrial facility. Additional estimates on benefits of buffer spaces with respect to a pollutant plume are also considered. The study used geospatial and property data from 1966 to 2020. The transition from a residential area to a full or partial buffers highlights possible mitigation of air pollution impacts while serving additional functions, such as boosting stormwater infiltration and improving the aesthetic attractiveness of the area. The transformation from oil tanks to forested space may display the potential for environmental remediation, but not all spaces are suitable for fully forested buffers, as safety and other limitations should be considered. With the analysis of the classic Plume Equation insights can be provided regarding the possible impact of green buffers on ground-level pollutant concentrations. The calculations for atmospheric stability classes A-F and for various stack heights provide an understanding of how different conditions may affect the pollutant concentrations. The presence of a green buffer can play a crucial role in controlling ground-level pollution concentrations and reduce a community’s perception of risk.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗