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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2025

Localization of Ad-Hoc Lunar Constellations in Communication Failure Modes for Distributed Spacecraft Autonomy

As Lunar missions increase in complexity, inspired by NASA’s Artemis Program, they will require reliable and sufficient Position, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) capability to support the upcoming Lunar users. The navigation service should also be compatible with the smaller platforms, like CubeSats, being sent by the public and private sectors. A non-dedicated, ad-hoc Lunar navigation constellation can provide PNT services on-demand using the non-dedicated swarm assets. Swarm members cooperatively and autonomously localize themselves with minimal interaction from Earth, freeing up valuable bandwidth and ground segment resources. The autonomous localization of Lunar constellations utilizes neighbor two-way intersatellite link (ISL) measurements in a distributed extended Kalman filter (DEKF) system to minimize operating costs. Because the decentralized Lunar PNT system relies on relay communication amongst the agents, network failures or loss of assets among ad-hoc Lunar constellations may impact localization performance. This study presents an evaluation of localization performance under increasing levels of network degradation. A simulation of an ad-hoc Lunar PNT swarm is augmented to include system faults and the impacts of intermittent and permanent failures on localization performance are evaluated. We investigate three potential causes of network degradation: single spacecraft loss, multiple spacecraft loss, and antenna failure. The numerical assessments from the simulation show that the LPNT system under study, based on an autonomous decentralized concept of operation, is highly robust and resilient to communication failures. Minor faults, such as single spacecraft loss, solar interference, technical malfunctions, message delays, and antenna outages, have minimal impact on state estimation, with only a 4.47% and 3.75% degradation in median position error for assets and a representative ground user, respectively, compared to an ideal communication scenario. However, major faults, such as hardware failures or meteor strikes leading to the loss of multiple spacecrafts, are more concerning. The permanent loss of three spacecraft results in a more severe performance degradation, with median position error increasing by 23.3% for assets and 11.7% for a representative ground user, despite the Lunar PNT system remaining functional.

Yeji Kim↗
DOE OSTI2023

Responsibly Harnessing the Power of AI

Artificial Intelligence (AI) based applications are on the cusp of offering the public and private sectors tools of tremendous potential that will likely transform the world in much the same way that previous technological revolutions have. To harness these tools, a vast and rapidly increasing assortment of ethical AI guidelines and principles are being developed to manage the myriad of risks these tools pose. Documents, frameworks, standards, and regulations have been developed by private industry, research institutions, governments and nongovernmental organizations, international standards bodies and more. This work details representative approaches to ethically developing, managing, and operating current AI technologies. The various approaches are analyzed for commonality, divergence, and implementation strategy to help develop approaches for managing AI tools in the nuclear landscape. This work will support the creation of a common vocabulary and a deeper understanding of the ethical/ responsible AI landscape and advance the considerations required for structured frameworks in the international safeguards domain.

98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL P↗
NASA NTRS2008

Friction Stir Welding: Standards and Specifications in Today's U.S. Manufacturing and Fabrication

New welding and technology advancements are reflected in the friction stir welding (FSW) specifications used in the manufacturing sector. A lack of publicly available specifications as one of the reasons that the FSW process has not propagate through the manufacturing sectors. FSW specifications are an integral supporting document to the legal agreement written between two entities for deliverable items. Understanding the process and supporting specifications is essential for a successful FSW manufacturing operation. This viewgraph presentation provides an overview of current FSW standards in the industry and discusses elements common to weld specifications.

Ding, Robert Jeffrey↗
DOE OSTI2025

REopt/Microgrid Analysis (CRADA Final Report)

NREL is the only DOE national laboratory solely dedicated to advancing energy efficiency (EE) and renewable energy (RE) technologies and applications. Since its inception, NREL has supported both the public and the private sectors in implementing EE and RE systems and strategies to lower energy use and to meet remaining energy needs with resources having minimal environmental impact. NREL is now a sought-after resource for EE, RE, and energy systems integration expertise. CU Boulder is a public university located in Boulder, Colorado, with over 30,000 students. CU is committed to environmental sustainability and is interested in partnering with NREL to explore opportunities for RE on campus and evaluate an RE microgrid. The goal of this project is to assess the technical and economic potential for RE generation at CU and evaluate how RE may be incorporated as part of a microgrid to increase energy resiliency on campus.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2022

Integrating air quality and health considerations into power sector decarbonization strategies

Climate change and public health are two interconnected societal challenges. Curbing fossil-based electricity generation reduces the emissions of both CO 2 and air pollutants, which brings tangible health benefits from improved air quality. The potential health benefits from decarbonizing the grid are enormous, immediate, and widespread. From renewable portfolio standards to carbon market, the health co-benefits from clean electricity policies often outweigh their policy costs. As climate action goes local, framing decarbonization around health benefits also makes it more personally relevant and economically attractive. Yet, to date, the health impacts have largely been viewed as ancillary benefits from decarbonization, rather than as a core consideration when energy strategies are formed, assessed and implemented. When strategic choices are made about retiring old infrastructure and building new ones, bringing public health to the center of the discussion can generate greater health benefits with more equitable distribution. Here we identify concrete ways to incorporate air quality and health considerations into power sector decarbonization strategies. We draw insights mainly from empirical and modeling evidence for the United States. These insights are generally applicable and could guide health-oriented decarbonization efforts in other countries as well.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2024

ComStock™ 2024 Release 1 [SWR-19-33 and SWR-20-32]

ComStock™ is an NREL model of the U.S. commercial building stock. The model takes some building characteristics from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Commercial Prototype Building Models and Commercial Reference Building. However, unlike many other building stock models, ComStock also combines these with a variety of additional public- and private-sector data sets. Collectively, this information provides high-fidelity building stock representation with a realistic diversity of building characteristics. This repository contains the source code used to build and execute ComStock models, including upgrade scenarios. In addition, the sampling of buildings characteristics used for the initial ComStock (V1.0) release is provided. The ComStock model is under active calibration and development, which is publicly visible on this repository. Execution of the ComStock workflow is managed through the buildstockbatch repository, a shared asset of ResStock™ and ComStock™ , specifically developed to scale to execution of tens of millions of simulations through multiple infrastructure providers. The dataset output from the initial ComStock (V1.0) release can be found at the accompanying ComStock data viewer website and additional information about ComStock found on the NREL Buildings Website. For more details about ongoing model development please consult the End Use Load Profiles website. ComStock is a direct result of the NREL residential stock modeling tool ResStock™ (recipient of a R&D100 award) and was inspired by the high-fidelity solar & storage adoption model dGen™. Additionally, this tool would not be possible without the decades of work undertaken by the OpenStudio® and EnergyPlus® visionaries and contributors, significant funding, feedback and support from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, and the Department of Energy's Building Technology Office ongoing support of and investment in building energy modeling software. is an analytic methodology for modeling the energy usage of the commercial building stock within the United States of America. The commercial building stock is represented through a sampling of complex probabilistic distributions of various features of interest for modeling energy usage within commercial buildings. Each sample from these distributions is converted into a building energy model based on the features of that specific sample. Each building energy model can be simulated as is, but additional changes can be made to the model through addition of energy conservation measures, component faults, or other desired alterations. The results of the simulations are then processed to provide insights for various stakeholders, including but not limited to policy makers, engineers, and marketers.

Horsey, Henry↗
DOE OSTI2022

Advances in the Application and Utility of Subseasonal-to-Seasonal Predictions

The subseasonal-to-seasonal (S2S) predictive time scale, encompassing lead times ranging from 2 weeks to a season, is at the frontier of forecasting science. Forecasts on this time scale provide opportunities for enhanced application-focused capabilities to complement existing weather and climate services and products. There is, however, a “knowledge–value” gap, where a lack of evidence and awareness of the potential socioeconomic benefits of S2S forecasts limits their wider uptake. To address this gap, here we present the first global community effort at summarizing relevant applications of S2S forecasts to guide further decision-making and support the continued development of S2S forecasts and related services. Focusing on 12 sectoral case studies spanning public health, agriculture, water resource management, renewable energy and utilities, and emergency management and response, we draw on recent advancements to explore their application and utility. These case studies mark a significant step forward in moving from potential to actual S2S forecasting applications. We show that by placing user needs at the forefront of S2S forecast development—demonstrating both skill and utility across sectors—this dialogue can be used to help promote and accelerate the awareness, value, and cogeneration of S2S forecasts. We also highlight that while S2S forecasts are increasingly gaining interest among users, incorporating probabilistic S2S forecasts into existing decision-making operations is not trivial. Nevertheless, S2S forecasting represents a significant opportunity to generate useful, usable, and actionable forecast applications for and with users that will increasingly unlock the potential of this forecasting time scale.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

Expanding the Field of Climate Finance

Over the past twenty-one years, the Financial Innovations Roundtable (FIR), located at the Carsey School of Public Policy at the University of New Hampshire, has worked to address problems related to access to capital for low- and moderate-income consumers and communities. Since 2014, the event has been co-hosted by the Federal Reserve Board. The FIR works with a range of financial institutions, government agencies, foundations, and trade associations to access their expertise for problem-solving discussions. The 2020 FIR focused on the expanding field of climate finance and was co-hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and The Climate Safe Lending Network. The event was originally slated to be in-person in San Francisco in May 2020 but was postponed due to the pandemic and shifted to an online event hosted November 16‒17, 2020. A significant amount has happened in 2020 on climate finance, racial justice, the economy, and COVID-19. The shocks and stresses of climate change are creating risks in low- and moderate-income communities as well as in the financial sector broadly. The 2020 FIR offered an opportunity to discuss the challenges and opportunities banks and Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) face as they address these risks and how these institutions can help increase individual, institutional, and community-wide resilience. The program explored new and modified products that address climate risk in communities and how those products can be scaled. Conversations focused around: • The progress that has been made in the climate finance field and the challenges that lie ahead for financial institutions’ climate impact and climate-related risk. • Promising opportunities to decarbonize investments and finance low-carbon technology and infrastructure. • How lenders, insurers, housing organizations, and the public sector can work together to reduce housing instability due to climate-related factors and increase the climate-resilience of homes and neighborhoods. • Solutions to help communities address a wide range of related issues, including home weatherization and disaster preparation, home insurance loss, and climate gentrification and displacement. • Discussing lessons learned from other sectors such as renewable energy in order to design both people-based and place-based finance solutions that promote racial and economic inclusion. 1 • The need for all financial institutions to acknowledge that climate risks and racial inequity are systemic risks affecting their bottom line. • The role that bank regulators can play in promoting collaboration across the financial sector and in leading by example with regard to climate finance. • Mapping out concrete action-item initiatives including policy and industry pathways to climate safe lending as well as building a financing platform to provide clean energy to low-income communities. • More broadly, in order to systemically address climate risks, we will need to work together as a range of stakeholders across sectors and collaborate on shared goals and projects.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Varied farm-level carbon intensities of corn feedstock help reduce corn ethanol greenhouse gas emissions

Abstract A reduction in the overall carbon intensity (CI) of a crop-based biofuel can be achieved by cutting down the CI of the biofuel’s feedstock, which in turn correlates significantly to agricultural management practices. Proposals are being made to incentivize low-carbon biofuel feedstocks under U.S. fuel regulatory programs to promote sustainable farming practices by individual farms. For such an incentive scheme to function properly, robust data collection and verification are needed at the farm level. This study presents our collaboration with U.S. private sector companies to collect and verify the corn production data necessary for feedstock-specific CI calculation at the farm level, through a carefully designed questionnaire, to demonstrate the practicality and feasibility of data collection at scale. We surveyed 71 farms that produced 0.2 million metric tons of corn grain in 2018 in a Midwestern U.S. state to obtain information on key parameters affecting corn ethanol feedstock CI, such as grain yields, fertilizer/chemical application rates, and agronomic practices. Feedstock-specific CI was calculated in the unit of grams (g) CO 2 equivalent (CO 2 e) of greenhouse gases per kilogram (kg) of corn produced. Results showed large CI variations—from 119 to 407 g CO 2 e kg −1 of corn—due to the farm-level inventory, while the production-weighted average CI for all surveyed farms was 210 g CO 2 e kg −1 , comparable to the national average CI of 204 g CO 2 e kg −1 . The nitrogen fertilizer type applied and rate were identified as key factors contributing most to CI variations at the farm level. The estimated N 2 O emissions from fertilizer and biomass nitrogen inputs to soil accounted for 51% of the overall farm-level CI and therefore need to be better monitored at farm level with high resolution. We concluded that this feedstock-specific, farm-level CI evaluation has the potential to be used to incentivize low-carbon feedstock for biofuel production.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

A review of SWAT applications, performance and future needs for simulation of hydro-climatic extremes

Hydro-climatic extremes, such as droughts and floods, have most likely increased due to climatic change and could lead to severe impacts on socio-economic, structural and environmental sectors. With nearly 4000 publications, the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) is clearly one of the most extensively used ecohydrological models worldwide. The model has been widely used for projecting the impacts of future hydro-climatic changes, but application for extreme streamflow conditions is still rarely reported. To date, SWAT application reviews have focused on compilations of SWAT studies for specific or relatively new applications such as eco-hydrological modelling, ecosystem services, sub-daily simulations, and pesticide fate and transport simulations. However, no existing SWAT review studies have focused on simulation of hydro-climatic extremes. Furthermore, this research aims to bridge this gap by compiling and reviewing the findings of studies reporting SWAT hydro-climatic extremes including highlighting the performance and future research needs. A total of 111 articles have been identified since 1999; most of these studies were conducted in the United States and China. These articles can be divided into extreme flow assessments, drought studies, flood studies, drought and flood studies, SWAT coupling with other models, and SWAT improvements. Most of the extreme performance assessment studies reported “satisfactory ”performance, with a particular emphasis on peak flow comparisons. Future research needs regarding this topic include: (1) a unified SWAT extreme performance assessment framework; (2) SWAT improvements that result in improved replication of peak and low flows; (3) reliability assessment of global and satellite products for SWAT extreme simulations; (4) bias correction of CMIP6 and regional climate projections; (5) comparison of SWAT + and SWAT for extreme flow simulations in different types of basins; (6) development of an extreme flow module within an overall SWAT modelling system; and (7) integration of artificial intelligence within SWAT modelling.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2026

Optimal CO 2 storage management considering safety constraints in multi-stakeholder multi-site GCS projects: A Markov game perspective

Geological carbon storage (GCS) projects could involve a diverse array of stakeholders or players from public, private, and regulatory sectors, each with different objectives and responsibilities. Given the complexity, scale, and long-term nature of GCS operations, determining whether individual stakeholders can independently optimize their interests — or whether collaborative coalition agreements are needed — remains a central question for effective GCS project planning and management. To access large, high-quality storage resources, future GCS deployment may increasingly occur in geologically connected sites, where shared geological features such as pressure space and reservoir pore capacity can lead to competitive behavior among stakeholders. In this work, we propose a paradigm based on Markov games to quantitatively investigate how different coalition structures affect the goals of stakeholders. We frame this multi-stakeholder multi-site problem as a multi-agent reinforcement learning problem with safety constraints. Our approach enables agents to learn optimal strategies while complying with safety regulations. We present an example where multiple operators are injecting CO 2 into their respective project areas in a geologically connected basin. To address the high computational cost of repeated simulations of high fidelity models, a previously developed surrogate model based on the Embed-to-Control (E2C) framework is employed. Our results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed framework in addressing optimal management of CO 2 storage when multiple stakeholders with different objectives and goals are involved.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1978

Utilization of lunar materials in space

Reasons for conducting commercial mining operations on the moon are discussed with attention to physical parameters, material abundances, and economics. Adaptations of currently used mining techniques are considered, and space applications of moon-derived materials are suggested. Possible organization of the mining project is examined, and it is suggested that the transition from concept phase to implementation could proceed rapidly. Characteristics of maturing space industries and the roles of the public and the private sectors are considered.

Criswell, D. R.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Space Power Management and Distribution Status and Trends

An overview of space power management and distribution (PMAD) is provided which encompasses historical and current technology trends. The PMAD components discussed include power source control, energy storage control, and load power processing electronic equipment. The status of distribution equipment comprised of rotary joints and power switchgear is evaluated based on power level trends in the public, military, and commercial sectors. Component level technology thrusts, as driven by perceived system level trends, are compared to technology status of piece-parts such as power semiconductors, capacitors, and magnetics to determine critical barriers.

Reppucci, G. M.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Space market model development project, phase 2

The results of the prototype operations of the Space Business Information Center are presented. A clearinghouse for space business information for members of the U.S. space industry composed of public, private, and academic sectors was conducted. Behavioral and evaluation statistics were recorded from the clearinghouse and the conclusions from these statistics are presented. Business guidebooks on major markets in space business are discussed. Proprietary research and briefings for firms and agencies in the space industry are also discussed.

Bishop, Peter C.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Plans and Considerations for the Exploration of Space

The Mars Settlement Design Competition is a program for high school students and teachers to experience the process of mission and hardware design. It provides a top level view into how NASA plans to explore space. I will be involved with all three days of this competition. On Friday I plan to give two presentations, one to the employees of White Sands Test Facility and one to students and teachers. On Saturday, I will have a question and answer session with some of the teachers participating in the workshop. Sunday I will serve as one of the judges that will review the students projects created over the weekend. The main emphasis of my talk will focus on exploring the possibilities of the future of space exploration. I will discuss the Mars Reference Mission 3.0, as well as some of the current robotic missions being sent to Mars. Next, I will present a business model perfected by Hum Mandell, showing how the public, private, and commercial sectors all play a major role in sending humans to Mars. I will also discuss the work of the Integrated Design Team at JSC and how that working together approach is key for a successful design. Finally, I will present that the question of how humans can reach out beyond low earth orbit and place permanent settlements on Mars is really a function of the imagination of those who intend on going there.

Derkowski, Brian J.↗
NASA NTRS2016

Geocam Space: Enhancing Handheld Digital Camera Imagery from the International Space Station for Research and Applications

Handheld astronaut photography of the Earth has been collected from the International Space Station (ISS) since 2000, making it the most temporally extensive remotely sensed dataset from this unique Low Earth orbital platform. Exclusive use of digital handheld cameras to perform Earth observations from the ISS began in 2004. Nadir viewing imagery is constrained by the inclined equatorial orbit of the ISS to between 51.6 degrees North and South latitude, however numerous oblique images of land surfaces above these latitudes are included in the dataset. While unmodified commercial off-the-shelf digital cameras provide only visible wavelength, three-band spectral information of limited quality current cameras used with long (400+ mm) lenses can obtain high quality spatial information approaching 2 meters/ground pixel resolution. The dataset is freely available online at the Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth site (http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov), and now comprises over 2 million images. Despite this extensive image catalog, use of the data for scientific research, disaster response, commercial applications and visualizations is minimal in comparison to other data collected from free-flying satellite platforms such as Landsat, Worldview, etc. This is due primarily to the lack of fully-georeferenced data products - while current digital cameras typically have integrated GPS, this does not function in the Low Earth Orbit environment. The Earth Science and Remote Sensing (ESRS) Unit at NASA Johnson Space Center provides training in Earth Science topics to ISS crews, performs daily operations and Earth observation target delivery to crews through the Crew Earth Observations (CEO) Facility on board ISS, and also catalogs digital handheld imagery acquired from orbit by manually adding descriptive metadata and determining an image geographic centerpoint using visual feature matching with other georeferenced data, e.g. Landsat, Google Earth, etc. The lack of full geolocation information native to the data makes it difficult to integrate astronaut photographs with other georeferenced data to facilitate quantitative analysis such as urban land cover/land use classification, change detection, or geologic mapping. The manual determination of image centerpoints is both time and labor-intensive, leading to delays in releasing geolocated and cataloged data to the public, such as the timely use of data for disaster response. The GeoCam Space project was funded by the ISS Program in 2015 to develop an on-orbit hardware and ground-based software system for increasing the efficiency of geolocating astronaut photographs from the ISS (Fig. 1). The Intelligent Robotics Group at NASA Ames Research Center leads the development of both the ground and on-orbit systems in collaboration with the ESRS Unit. The hardware component consists of modified smartphone elements including cameras, central processing unit, wireless Ethernet, and an inertial measurement unit (gyroscopes/accelerometers/magnetometers) reconfigured into a compact unit that attaches to the base of the current Nikon D4 camera - and its replacement, the Nikon D5 - and connects using the standard Nikon peripheral connector or USB port. This provides secondary, side and downward facing cameras perpendicular to the primary camera pointing direction. The secondary cameras observe calibration targets with known internal X, Y, and Z position affixed to the interior of the ISS to determine the camera pose corresponding to each image frame. This information is recorded by the GeoCam Space unit and indexed for correlation to the camera time recorded for each image frame. Data - image, EXIF header, and camera pose information - is transmitted to the ground software system (GeoRef) using the established Ku-band USOS downlink system. Following integration on the ground, the camera pose information provides an initial geolocation estimate for the individual film frame. This new capability represents a significant advance in geolocation from the manual feature-matching approach for both nadir and off-nadir viewing imagery. With the initial geolocation estimate, full georeferencing of an image is completed using the rapid tie-pointing interface in GeoRef, and the resulting data is added to the Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth online database in both Geotiff and Keyhole Markup Language (kml) formats. The integration of the GeoRef software component of Geocam Space into the CEO image cataloging workflow is complete, and disaster response imagery acquired by the ISS crew is now fully georeferenced as a standard data product. The on-orbit hardware component (GeoSens) is in final prototyping phase, and is on-schedule for launch to the ISS in late 2016. Installation and routine use of the Geocam Space system for handheld digital camera photography from the ISS is expected to significantly improve the usefulness of this unique dataset for a variety of public- and private-sector applications.

Stefanov, William L.↗
DOE OSTI2024

A Proposed Evaluation Framework for New and Emerging Low Embodied-Carbon Concrete Technologies

New opportunities for carbon reductions in buildings create a strong need for a common framework and method for those who design, build and influence construction to evaluate lifecycle carbon reductions from design decisions and technology choices. These opportunities include a wide range of low-embodied-carbon concrete materials being rapidly developed and introduced to the market. How to evaluate these newer materials and technologies has become critical for both public- and private-sector actors seeking to decarbonize building constructions by leveraging the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) funds. We propose an evaluation framework to assess the lifecycle carbon reductions from adoption of these technologies, including a subset of key “must have” (1) technical criteria (embodied carbon level, technology development stage); (2) market criteria (market size, scalability); and (3) financial criteria (cost of technology implementation compared to businessas-usual) from a range of options. We discuss how to use the framework and illustrate it using a “heatmap,” rating score and short case study of a promising technology. We also propose a plan to implement this framework that includes (1) standardized measurement and validation methods for verifying emission reductions from these technologies, and (2) avenues to implement real world demonstrations. We conclude with recommendations for next steps on framework refinement and commercialization strategy development.

Singh, Reshma↗
DOE OSTI2023

Business models to assure availability of advanced superconductors for the accelerator sector and promote stewardship of superconducting magnet technology for the US economy

Stakeholders representing concerns of national and global leadership, industries that use superconducting magnets in products, manufacturers of superconducting wires and tapes that supply to industries, and innovation generators from small businesses and universities came together to address stewardship of superconducting magnet technology and assurance of supply of advanced superconductors to the accelerator sector. This report outlines potential public-private partnerships that develop and enhance domestic capabilities to meet the needs of science facilities in the accelerator systems sector and in the broader commercial ecosystem.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗