Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “missing values”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 217 records · Page 12

COMPASS-FME Synoptic Sites Level 1 Sensor Data v2-1

This is the version 2-1 Level 1 (L1) data release for COMPASS-FME environmental sensors located at our synoptic field sites. COMPASS-FME is studying sites in two distinct regions, the Chesapeake Bay and the Western Lake Erie Basin. We established the network at seven "synoptic" (observational) sites along the Chesapeake Bay and Lake Erie coastlines, collectively generating over three million observations per month, to track and comprehend environmental changes where land and water intersect. Additionally, the two regions provide an interesting contrast of saltwater and freshwater coasts that allow us to differentiate the impacts of inundation and coastal water chemistries in two nationally important coastal systems. L1 data are close to raw, but are units-transformed and have out-of-instrument-bounds, out-of-service, and outlier flags added. Duplicates and missing data are removed but otherwise these data are not filtered, and have not been subject to any additional algorithmic or human QA/QC. Any scientific analyses of L1 data should be performed with care. **This dataset will be updated quarterly with new data for the duration of the project** This dataset includes: - An overall dataset README file that describes the current version, gives citation and contact information, etc. - Site- and year-specific folders, each holding up to 12 CSV (comma separated value) data files for each site and plot in that year. - Metadata files within each site-year folder provide full information on data units, expected ranges, contact information, as well as a general description of the site. - Environmental sensor types that appear in the data files include weather (ClimaVUE50, CS, RM Young, and LI instruments in the graphs below); soil conditions (TEROS12); soil redox state (Redox); groundwater variables (AquaTROLL200 and AquaTROLL600); open water sondes (Exo); tree sap velocity (Sapflow); and system voltage and state (Datalogger). Data are normally logged every 15 minutes. Please see v2-0 Synoptic L1 Sensor Package Quick Start.pdf for detailed information on data package structure, temporal coverage, and versioning. This dataset was updated 2026-03-12: (i) data now go through 2025-12-31 (previous end was 2025-06-30) and (ii) dataset and file names updated to “…v2-1” (previously was “v2-0”).

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

COMPASS-FME Terrestrial Ecosystem Manipulation to Probe the Effects of Storm Treatments (TEMPEST) Experiment Level 1 Sensor Data v2-1

This is the version 2-1 Level 1 (L1) data release for COMPASS-FME environmental sensors located at our Terrestrial Ecosystem Manipulation to Probe the Effects of Storm Treatments (TEMPEST) experimental site. This manipulative, ecosystem-scale TEMPEST experiment addresses the potential for freshwater and estuarine-water disturbance events to alter tree function, species composition, and ecosystem processes in a deciduous coastal forest in MD, USA. The experiment uses a large-unit (2000 m2), un-replicated experimental design, with three 50 m × 40 m plots serving as control, freshwater, and estuarine-water treatments. L1 data are close to raw, but are units-transformed and have out-of-instrument-bounds, out-of-service, and outlier flags added. Duplicates and missing data are removed but otherwise these data are not filtered, and have not been subject to any additional algorithmic or human QA/QC. Any scientific analyses of L1 data should be performed with care. **This dataset will be updated quarterly with new data for the duration of the project** This dataset includes: - An overall dataset README file that describes the current version, gives citation and contact information, etc. - Site- and year-specific folders, each holding variable-specific CSV (comma separated value) data files for each site and plot in that year. - Metadata files within each site-year folder provide full information on data units, expected ranges, contact information, detailed flood times, as well as a general description of the site. - Environmental sensor types that appear in the data files include weather (ClimaVUE50, CS, RM Young, and LI instruments in the graphs below); soil conditions (TEROS12); soil redox state (Redox); groundwater variables (AquaTROLL200 and AquaTROLL600); open water sondes (Exo); tree sap velocity (Sapflow); and system voltage and state (Datalogger). Data are normally logged every 15 minutes. Please see v2-1 TEMPEST L1 Sensor Package Quick Start.pdf for detailed information on data package structure, temporal coverage, and versioning. The TEMPEST flood events occurred on the following dates. They lasted for ~10 hours each day and delivered ~80,000 gallons to each plot; many data streams are available at 1 or 5 minute frequency during these periods. * Tests: Aug 25 (fresh plot) and Sep 9 (salt plot), 2021 * TEMPEST 1: June 22, 2022 * TEMPEST 2: June 6-7, 2023 * TEMPEST 3: June 11-13, 2024 This dataset was updated 2026-03-12: (i) data now go through 2025-12-31 (previous end was 2025-06-30) and (ii) dataset and file names updated to “…v2-1” (previously was “v2-0”).

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Erosion Data from the MISSE 8 Polymers Experiment After 2 Years of Space Exposure on the International Space Station

The Polymers Experiment was exposed to the low Earth orbit (LEO) space environment for 2.14 and 2.0 years as part of the Materials International Space Station Experiment 8 (MISSE 8) and the Optical Reflector Materials Experiment-III (ORMatE-III), respectively. The experiment contained 42 samples, which were flown in either ram, wake, or zenith orientations. The primary objective was to determine the effect of solar exposure on the atomic oxygen erosion yield (Ey) of fluoropolymers. This paper provides an overview of the experiment with details on the polymers flown, the characterization techniques used, the atomic oxygen fluence for each exposure orientation, and the LEO Ey results. The Ey values for the fluoropolymers range from 1.45 x 10(exp -25) cm(exp 3)/atom for white Tedlar Registered Trademark (polyvinyl fluoride with white titanium dioxide pigment) flown in the ram orientation to 6.32 x 10(exp -24) cm(exp 3)/atom for aluminized-Teflon Registered Trademark fluorinated ethylene propylene (Al-FEP) flown in the zenith orientation. Erosion yield data for FEP flown in ram, wake and zenith orientations are compared, and the Ey was found to be highly dependent on orientation, hence environmental exposure. Teflon FEP had an order of magnitude higher Ey when flown in the zenith direction (6.32 x10(exp -24) cm(exp3)/atom) as compared to the ram direction (2.37 x 10(exp -25) cm(exp 3)/atom). The Ey of FEP was found to increase with a direct correlation to the solar exposure/AO fluence ratio showing the effect of solar radiation and/or heating due to solar exposure on FEP erosion. In addition, back-surface carbon painted FEP (C-FEP) flown in the zenith orientation had a significantly higher Ey than clear FEP or Al-FEP further indicating that heating has a significant impact on the erosion of FEP, particularly in the zenith orientation.

Solar radiation↗

Search for dark matter produced in association with a pair of bottom quarks in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV

A search for dark matter (DM) particles produced in association with bottom quarks is presented. The analysis uses proton-proton collision data at a center-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb -1 . The search is performed in a final state with large missing transverse momentum and a pair of jets originating from bottom quarks. No significant excess of data is observed with respect to the standard model expectation. Results are interpreted in the context of a type-II two-Higgs-doublet model with an additional light pseudoscalar (2HDM+a). An upper limit is set on the mass of the lighter pseudoscalar, probing masses up to 260 GeV at 95% confidence level. Sensitivity to the parameter space with the ratio of the vacuum expectation values of the two Higgs doublets, tan β, greater than 15 is achieved, capitalizing on the enhancement of couplings between pseudoscalars and bottom quarks with high tan β.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

An Exploratory Statistical Analysis of a Planet Approach-Phase Guidance Scheme Using Angular Measurements with Significant Error

An exploratory analysis of vehicle guidance during the approach to a target planet is presented. The objective of the guidance maneuver is to guide the vehicle to a specific perigee distance with a high degree of accuracy and minimum corrective velocity expenditure. The guidance maneuver is simulated by considering the random sampling of real measurements with significant error and reducing this information to prescribe appropriate corrective action. The instrumentation system assumed includes optical and/or infrared devices to indicate range and a reference angle in the trajectory plane. Statistical results are obtained by Monte-Carlo techniques and are shown as the expectation of guidance accuracy and velocity-increment requirements. Results are nondimensional and applicable to any planet within limits of two-body assumptions. The problem of determining how many corrections to make and when to make them is a consequence of the conflicting requirement of accurate trajectory determination and propulsion. Optimum values were found for a vehicle approaching a planet along a parabolic trajectory with an initial perigee distance of 5 radii and a target perigee of 1.02 radii. In this example measurement errors were less than i minute of arc. Results indicate that four corrections applied in the vicinity of 50, 16, 15, and 1.5 radii, respectively, yield minimum velocity-increment requirements. Thrust devices capable of producing a large variation of velocity-increment size are required. For a vehicle approaching the earth, miss distances within 32 miles are obtained with 90-percent probability. Total velocity increments used in guidance are less than 3300 feet per second with 90-percent probability. It is noted that the above representative results are valid only for the particular guidance scheme hypothesized in this analysis. A parametric study is presented which indicates the effects of measurement error size, initial perigee, and initial energy on the guidance requirements. Measurement error size significantly affects both guidance accuracy and velocity-increment expenditure. The initial trajectory, as given by its perigee and energy, affects the velocity-increment expenditure but not final guidance accuracy.

Friedlander, Alan L.↗

How Dead are Dead Galaxies? Mid-Infrared Fluxes of Quiescent Galaxies at Redshift 0.3< Z< 2.5: Implications for Star Formation Rates and Dust Heating

We investigate star formation rates of quiescent galaxies at high redshift (0.3 < z < 2.5) using 3D-HST WFC3 grism spectroscopy and Spitzer mid-infrared data. We select quiescent galaxies on the basis of the widely used UVJ color-color criteria. Spectral energy distribution fitting (rest frame optical and near-IR) indicates very low star formation rates for quiescent galaxies (sSFR approx. 10(exp −12)/yr. However, SED fitting can miss star formation if it is hidden behind high dust obscuration and ionizing radiation is re-emitted in the mid-infrared. It is therefore fundamental to measure the dust-obscured SFRs with a mid-IR indicator. We stack the MIPS-24 micron images of quiescent objects in five redshift bins centered on z = 0.5, 0.9, 1.2, 1.7, 2.2 and perform aperture photometry. Including direct 24 micron detections, we find sSFR approx. 10(exp −11.9) × (1 + z)(sup 4)/yr. These values are higher than those indicated by SED fitting, but at each redshift they are 20-40 times lower than those of typical star forming galaxies. The true SFRs of quiescent galaxies might be even lower, as we show that the mid-IR fluxes can be due to processes unrelated to ongoing star formation, such as cirrus dust heated by old stellar populations and circumstellar dust. Our measurements show that star formation quenching is very efficient at every redshift. The measured SFR values are at z > 1.5 marginally consistent with the ones expected from gas recycling (assuming that mass loss from evolved stars refuels star formation) and well above that at lower redshifts.

Galaxies↗

Comparing multi-source urban flood indicators: satellite, simulation, and citizen-reported data

Urban flooding arises from complex mechanisms, making it challenging to capture accurately with a single detection method. This study evaluates three complementary approaches to detect flooding across three Chicago neighborhoods: (i) Sentinel-1 synthetic aperture radar (SAR), offering weather-independent, high-resolution (10 m) imagery of surface inundation; (ii) the storm water management model (SWMM), simulating combined sewer overflow and drainage performance; and (iii) citizen-generated 311 service requests, capturing observed flooding impacts. By analyzing six storms ranging from severe to mild, we examine how each source uniquely contributes to identifying urban flood events. SAR imagery effectively identifies standing water but can miss brief flooding due to satellite revisit constraints. SWMM provides detailed insights into system-wide drainage behavior yet may underestimate localized street-level flooding. Meanwhile, 311 calls reflect real-world flooding impacts but are vulnerable to underreporting. Statistical overlap analysis highlights chronic flood hotspots repeatedly identified across multiple detection methods, indicating persistent infrastructure and topographic vulnerabilities. Temporal analysis further reveals that while SWMM flooding aligns closely with rainfall peaks, 311 calls typically precede or persist beyond these peaks. Our findings emphasize the value of using satellite observations, hydrological modeling, and resident-reported data in a complementary manner to better interpret patterns in flood timing, severity, and spatial distribution—providing insights that can inform targeted infrastructure improvements and contribute to urban flood resilience planning.

311↗

Influence of SMAP Soil Moisture Retrieval Assimilation on Runoff Estimation Across South Asia

This study was designed to characterize and quantify the influence of surface soil moisture assimilation on estimated runoff (surface flow and baseflow) and hydraulically-routed streamflow across three large river basins in South Asia that are at risk of impending water stress. Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) surface soil moisture retrievals were assimilated into the Noah-MP land surface model. The gridded runoff was hydraulically routed to obtain volumetric streamflow values for a river network using a runoff routing module (Hydrological Modeling and Analysis Platform, HyMAP). The open loop (OL, model-only) and data assimilated (DA, includes soil moisture retrieval assimilation) Noah-MP runoff estimates highlighted the improvements in estimated total runoff across irrigated areas. Soil moisture assimilation impacted baseflow more relative to surface runoff. The HyMAP-based OL and DA streamflow generally underestimated the streamflow at upstream stations and overestimated the streamflow at downstream stations within the Indus basin due to missing physics related to reservoir operations. For stations located in the Ganges–Brahmaputra basins, the OL and DA estimation performance varied. The OL and DA results showed that the assimilation of soil moisture retrievals improves gridded runoff and volumetric streamflow across irrigated areas. Considerable relative change in streamflow (>70% increase in magnitude relative to OL) is noted after assimilation across the highly irrigated lower Indus basin and high precipitation regions in Bangladesh. Improving the modeling system’s representativeness of ground conditions via inclusion of water management information could improve large-scale streamflow modeling across South Asia.

soil moisture↗

Atomization Energies of SO and SO2; Basis Set Extrapolation Revisted

The addition of tight functions to sulphur and extrapolation to the complete basis set limit are required to obtain accurate atomization energies. Six different extrapolation procedures are tried. The best atomization energies come from the series of basis sets that yield the most consistent results for all extrapolation techniques. In the variable alpha approach, alpha values larger than 4.5 or smaller than 3, appear to suggest that the extrapolation may not be reliable. It does not appear possible to determine a reliable basis set series using only the triple and quadruple zeta based sets. The scalar relativistic effects reduce the atomization of SO and SO2 by 0.34 and 0.81 kcal/mol, respectively, and clearly must be accounted for if a highly accurate atomization energy is to be computed. The magnitude of the core-valence (CV) contribution to the atomization is affected by missing diffuse valence functions. The CV contribution is much more stable if basis set superposition errors are accounted for. A similar study of SF, SF(+), and SF6 shows that the best family of basis sets varies with the nature of the S bonding.

Bauschlicher, Charles W., Jr.↗

Improving NASA GEOS Atmospheric CO2 Simulations by Calibrating CASA Surface Fluxes with an Empirical Sink

With the adoption of the Paris climate accord, efforts to monitor and understand both anthropogenic and natural carbon sources and sinks are increasing across the world. Given their low latency and global coverage, satellite observations of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) are poised to make important contributions to this field. The combination of satellite data and high resolution global models can be used to monitor changes in carbon fluxes and to evaluate the consistency of nationally reported emissions estimates in support of multiple stakeholder communities. However, a consistent challenge to such work has been the high latency of surface carbon flux estimates, which are often not available for a year or more. This presentation describes the construction of surface carbon flux estimates meant to improve the near real time simulation of atmospheric CO2 with NASA's Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) general circulation model. The surface flux estimates begin with a collection of bottom-up fluxes which incorporate satellite measurements in their construction, e.g. vegetation indices in the Carnegie-Ames-Stanford Approach (CASA) and nighttime lights in the Open-source Data Inventory for Anthropogenic CO2 (ODIAC). From there, we take the additional step of using an empirical sink to calibrate terrestrial net biospheric exchange (NBE) to estimated values from atmospheric inversion systems. This approach removes a known, systematic bias in predicted atmospheric mixing ratios. Using these fluxes in a free running simulation, the model is able to reproduce in situ measurements with the same skill as when it uses gridded fluxes from a flux inversion system. Using these fluxes as a prior in an assimilation system, e.g. one incorporating retrievals of column CO2 from the Orbiting Carbon Observatory 2 (OCO-2), allows the analysis to capture variability in CO2 on scales that would be missed otherwise. This approach supports NASA's capability to forecast atmospheric CO2 up to two weeks in advance by leveraging a GEOS system used to produce quasi-operational weather analyses and forecasts, providing a valuable new tool to the carbon monitoring research and applications communities.

Weir, B.↗

Mathematical Morphological Filtering with a Self-Adaptive Reconstruction Technique and Application to Local Seismic Data

Recorded seismic data are generally contaminated by noise from different sources, which masks the signals of interest. In the seismology community, frequency filtering (FF) is the standard method for noise suppression. However, when the signal of interest and noise share the same frequency band, the latter cannot be filtered out without infringing on the former. We implemented a noise suppression approach based on the mathematical morphology theorem. The method involves compound operations of dilation and erosion using structuring elements of varying lengths and decomposes an input noisy waveform into several time functions with differing characteristics. Further, the filtered waveform is constructed from the time functions using a self-adaptive reconstruction technique. Application to a data set of >4700 local waveforms suggests that the implemented mathematical morphological filtering (MMF) approach is efficient for data with low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and significantly outperforms FF in that SNR range. For most of the dataset, FF, machine learning (ML) denoising, and continuous wavelet transform (CWT) thresholding result in higher SNR values compared with the MMF method. However, for ~42% of the waveforms, MMF outperforms FF, and the SNR gain achieved with MMF is as large as ~23 dB. Compared to ML denoising and CWT thresholding, this proportion drops to only ~10%–14%. Our results suggests that in an operational setting, MMF cannot replace the other noise suppression methods; however, signal detection can be improved if MMF is used to supplement them in some scenarios. MMF could help detect signals in problematic low-SNR data, which are currently being missed particularly when using FF alone.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

Performance of the CMS high-level trigger during LHC Run 2

The CERN LHC provided proton and heavy ion collisions during its Run 2 operation period from 2015 to 2018. Proton-proton collisions reached a peak instantaneous luminosity of 2.1× 10 34 cm -2 s -1 , twice the initial design value, at √(s)=13 TeV. The CMS experiment records a subset of the collisions for further processing as part of its online selection of data for physics analyses, using a two-level trigger system: the Level-1 trigger, implemented in custom-designed electronics, and the high-level trigger, a streamlined version of the offline reconstruction software running on a large computer farm. This paper presents the performance of the CMS high-level trigger system during LHC Run 2 for physics objects, such as leptons, jets, and missing transverse momentum, which meet the broad needs of the CMS physics program and the challenge of the evolving LHC and detector conditions. Sophisticated algorithms that were originally used in offline reconstruction were deployed online. Highlights include a machine-learning b tagging algorithm and a reconstruction algorithm for tau leptons that decay hadronically.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Performance of the CMS high-level trigger during LHC Run 2

The CERN LHC provided proton and heavy ion collisions during its Run 2 operation period from 2015 to 2018. Proton-proton collisions reached a peak instantaneous luminosity of 2.1 $\times$ 10$^{34}$ cm$^{-2}$s$^{-1}$, twice the initial design value, at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV. The CMS experiment records a subset of the collisions for further processing as part of its online selection of data for physics analyses, using a two-level trigger system: the Level-1 trigger, implemented in custom-designed electronics, and the high-level trigger, a streamlined version of the offline reconstruction software running on a large computer farm. This paper presents the performance of the CMS high-level trigger system during LHC Run 2 for physics objects, such as leptons, jets, and missing transverse momentum, which meet the broad needs of the CMS physics program and the challenge of the evolving LHC and detector conditions. Sophisticated algorithms that were originally used in offline reconstruction were deployed online. Highlights include a machine-learning b tagging algorithm and a reconstruction algorithm for tau leptons that decay hadronically.

high energy physics↗

Imputation of urban environmental sensor data using gated attention bidirectional long short-term memory (GA-BiLSTM): methods, performance, and implications

Urban environmental monitoring networks frequently encounter significant data gaps due to sensor malfunctions, environmental disturbances, and communication failures. Reliable approaches to address these gaps are essential for ensuring the continuity and quality of environmental data streams. In this study, we developed a gated attention bidirectional long short-term memory (GA-BiLSTM) model to impute missing data in a dense urban monitoring network. Using observations from the CROCUS network in Chicago, we evaluated GA-BiLSTM against widely used approaches (XGBoost and K-nearest neighbors) under scenarios of both short-term intermittent gaps and prolonged outages. GA-BiLSTM consistently outperformed comparative methods, particularly during extended outages of up to ten days, demonstrating its ability to capture spatiotemporal dependencies across sensor nodes. Beyond performance metrics, feature importance and spatial network analyses highlighted the unexpected but critical predictive role of peripheral rural nodes, underlining their strategic value for maintaining robust urban monitoring systems. These results emphasize that advanced imputation methods can substantially improve the reliability of environmental monitoring networks and support more resilient data infrastructures for urban sustainability.

Data imputation↗

Quality-Controlled Meteorological Data from the Flood Control District of Maricopa County (FCDMC) Network, Phoenix, Arizona (1987-2024)

This dataset contains 15- or 30-minute interval meteorological data from the Flood Control District of Maricopa County (FCDMC), Arizona, USA, covering eight key variables across multiple sensor stations between 1987 and 2024. Each variable is stored as a separate CSV file, containing time-series data that have undergone rigorous quality control (QC) procedures and, where appropriate, short-gap interpolation for consistency. The quality control (QC) pipeline consisted of four sequential tests: (1) a range test to ensure all values fall within physically realistic limits, (2) a step test to identify abrupt and implausible changes between consecutive records, (3) a proximity test that validates flagged values from step test using data from nearby stations and exceedance probability thresholds, and (4) a persistence test to detect and remove periods of unrealistically constant readings. These thresholds were calibrated to Arizona’s environmental conditions and sensor specifications. After QC, short gaps (≤2 hours) were linearly interpolated to ensure consistent temporal resolution, except for wind variables. Due to a major upgrade in FCDMC’s data transmission system, only ALERT-2 protocol data (2016–2024) for wind variables are included; earlier ALERT-1 data were excluded because of irregular sampling and high missing rates. This dataset supports regional climate and infrastructure resilience studies by providing standardized, high-resolution meteorological data for the greater Phoenix metropolitan area.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Anomalous HNO3/NO(x) ratio of remote tropospheric air: Conversion of nitric acid to formic acid and NO(x)?

The N oxidation ratio, (HNO3)/(NO(x)), in the free troposphere is measured at approx. 1 to 9 (averaging approx. 5), consistently lower than the values of 15-100 which known theory suggests to be reached rapidly. This discrepancy casts doubt on current models' abilities to predict effects of NO sources on remote (NO), and so also (O3) and (OH). HNO3-to-NO(x) recycling processes involving HCHO in solution are appealing explanations for the ratio. Known chemical theory are illustrated using a Lagrangian box model of the mid-troposphere which simulates characteristic episodes form NO(x) input to HNO3 washout. Ratio and budget constraint equations for No(y) can usefully restrict conceivable explanations of missing chemistry of fast nitrogen cycling; most explanations could be called 'fast-cycles' or 're-NO(x)-ification.' These equations also show how current global models may suggest spuriously good N oxidation ratios and errors in OH. Aerosol or cloud droplets reactions with HCHO may produce (a) formic acid (which needs an appropriate source) and NO(x), or alternatively, (b) hydroxymethyl nitrate (or methyl dinitrate), which might supply a large, variable amount of 'missing NO(y) not currently measurable except by NO(y) instruments.

Chatfield, Robert B.↗

Health Monitoring Survey of Bell 412EP Transmissions

Health and usage monitoring systems (HUMS) use vibration-based Condition Indicators (CI) to assess the health of helicopter powertrain components. A fault is detected when a CI exceeds its threshold value. The effectiveness of fault detection can be judged on the basis of assessing the condition of actual components from fleet aircraft. The Bell 412 HUMS-equipped helicopter is chosen for such an evaluation. A sample of 20 aircraft included 12 aircraft with confirmed transmission and gearbox faults (detected by CIs) and eight aircraft with no known faults. The associated CI data is classified into "healthy" and "faulted" populations based on actual condition and these populations are compared against their CI thresholds to quantify the probability of false alarm and the probability of missed detection. Receiver Operator Characteristic analysis is used to optimize thresholds. Based on the results of the analysis, shortcomings in the classification method are identified for slow-moving CI trends. Recommendations for improving classification using time-dependent receiver-operator characteristic methods are put forth. Finally, lessons learned regarding OEM-operator communication are presented.

mechanical components↗

Satellite Remote Sensing to Assess Cyanobacterial Bloom Frequency Across the United States at Multiple Spatial Scales

Cyanobacterial blooms can have negative effects on human health and local ecosystems. Field monitoring of cyanobacterial blooms can be costly, but satellite remote sensing has shown utility for more efficient spatial and temporal monitoring across the United States. Here, satellite imagery was used to assess the annual frequency of surface cyanobacterial blooms, defined for each satellite pixel as the percentage of images for that pixel throughout the year exhibiting detectable cyanobacteria. Cyanobacterial frequency was assessed across 2,196 large lakes in 46 states across the continental United States (CONUS) using imagery from the European Space Agency’s Ocean and Land Colour Imager for the years 2017 through 2019. In 2019, across all satellite pixels considered, annual bloom frequency had a median value of 4% and a maximum value of 100%, the latter indicating that for those satellite pixels, a cyanobacterial bloom was detected by the satellite sensor for every satellite image considered. In addition to annual pixel-scale cyanobacterial frequency, results were summarized at the lake- and state-scales by averaging annual pixel-scale results across each lake and state. For 2019, average annual lake-scale frequencies also had a maximum value of 100%, and Oregon and Ohio had the highest average annual state-scale frequencies at 65% and 52%. Pixel-scale frequency results can assist in identifying portions of a lake that are more prone to cyanobacterial blooms, while lake- and state-scale frequency results can assist in the prioritization of sampling resources and mitigation efforts. Satellite imagery is limited by the presence of snow and ice, as imagery collected in these conditions are quality flagged and discarded. Thus, annual bloom frequencies within nine climate regions were investigated to determine whether missing data biased results in climate regions more prone to snow and ice, given that their annual summaries would be weighted toward the summer months when cyanobacterial blooms tend to occur. Results were unbiased by the time period selected in most climate regions, but a large bias was observed for the Northwest Rockies and Plains climate region. Moderate biases were observed for the Ohio Valley and the Southeast climate regions. Finally, a clustering analysis was used to identify areas of high and low cyanobacterial frequency across CONUS based on average annual lake-scale cyanobacterial frequencies for 2019. Several clusters were identified that transcended state, watershed, and eco-regional boundaries. Combined with additional data, results from the clustering analysis may offer insight regarding large-scale drivers of cyanobacterial blooms.

remote sensing↗