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At least 217 records · Page 12

Shortwave Radiative Fluxes, Solar-Beam Transmissions, and Aerosol Properties: TARFOX and ACE-2 Find More Absorption from Flux Radiometry than from Other Measurements

The Tropospheric Aerosol Radiative Forcing Observational Experiment (TARFOX) and the Second Aerosol Characterization Experiment (ACE-2) made simultaneous measurements of shortwave radiative fluxes, solar-beam transmissions, and the aerosols affecting those fluxes and transmissions. Besides the measured fluxes and transmissions, other obtained properties include aerosol scattering and absorption measured in situ at the surface and aloft; aerosol single scattering albedo retrieved from skylight radiances; and aerosol complex refractive index derived by combining profiles of backscatter, extinction, and size distribution. These measurements of North Atlantic boundary layer aerosols impacted by anthropogenic pollution revealed the following characteristic results: (1) Better agreement among different types of remote measurements of aerosols (e.g., optical depth, extinction, and backscattering from sunphotometers, satellites, and lidars) than between remote and in situ measurements; 2) More extinction derived from transmission measurements than from in situ measurements; (3) Larger aerosol absorption inferred from flux radiometry than from other measurements. When the measured relationships between downwelling flux and optical depth (or beam transmission) are used to derive best-fit single scattering albedos for the polluted boundary layer aerosol, both TARFOX and ACE-2 yield midvisible values of 0.90 +/- 0.04. The other techniques give larger single scattering albedos (i.e. less absorption) for the polluted boundary layer, with a typical result of 0.95 +/- 0.04. Although the flux-based results have the virtue of describing the column aerosol unperturbed by sampling, they are subject to questions about representativeness and other uncertainties (e.g., unknown gas absorption). Current uncertainties in aerosol single scattering albedo are large in terms of climate effects. They also have an important influence on aerosol optical depths retrieved from satellite radiances. More tests are needed of the consistency among different methods and of the effects of changing humidity on aerosol.

Russell, Philip B.↗

Cloud Properties Derived from Surface-Based Near-Infrared Spectral Transmission

Surface based near-infrared cloud spectral transmission measurements from a recent precipitation/cloud physics field study are used to determine cloud physical properties and relate them to other remote sensing and in situ measurements. Asymptotic formulae provide an effective means of closely approximating the qualitative and quantitative behavior of transmission computed by more laborious detailed methods. Relationships derived from asymptotic formulae are applied to measured transmission spectra to test objectively the internal consistency of data sets acquired during the field program and they confirmed the quality of the measurements. These relationships appear to be very useful in themselves, not merely as a quality control measure, but also a potentially valuable remote-sensing technique in its own right. Additional benefits from this analysis have been the separation of condensed water (cloud) transmission and water vapor transmission and the development of a method to derive cloud liquid water content.

Pilewskie, Peter↗

Sound Transmission through a Cylindrical Sandwich Shell with Honeycomb Core

Sound transmission through an infinite cylindrical sandwich shell is studied in the context of the transmission of airborne sound into aircraft interiors. The cylindrical shell is immersed in fluid media and excited by an oblique incident plane sound wave. The internal and external fluids are different and there is uniform airflow in the external fluid medium. An explicit expression of transmission loss is derived in terms of modal impedance of the fluids and the shell. The results show the effects of (a) the incident angles of the plane wave; (b) the flight conditions of Mach number and altitude of the aircraft; (c) the ratios between the core thickness and the total thickness of the shell; and (d) the structural loss factors on the transmission loss. Comparisons of the transmission loss are made among different shell constructions and different shell theories.

Tang, Yvette Y.↗

Sound Transmission through Two Concentric Cylindrical Sandwich Shells

This paper solves the problem of sound transmission through a system of two infinite concentric cylindrical sandwich shells. The shells are surrounded by external and internal fluid media and there is fluid (air) in the annular space between them. An oblique plane sound wave is incident upon the surface of the outer shell. A uniform flow is moving with a constant velocity in the external fluid medium. Classical thin shell theory is applied to the inner shell and first-order shear deformation theory is applied to the outer shell. A closed form for transmission loss is derived based on modal analysis. Investigations have been made for the impedance of both shells and the transmission loss through the shells from the exterior into the interior. Results are compared for double sandwich shells and single sandwich shells. This study shows that: (1) the impedance of the inner shell is much smaller than that of the outer shell so that the transmission loss is almost the same in both the annular space and the interior cavity of the shells; (2) the two concentric sandwich shells can produce an appreciable increase of transmission loss over single sandwich shells especially in the high frequency range; and (3) design guidelines may be derived with respect to the noise reduction requirement and the pressure in the annular space at a mid-frequency range.

Tang, Yvette Y.↗

Agent-Based Simulations of Malaria Transmissions with Applications to a Study Site in Thailand

The dynamics of malaria transmission are driven by environmental, biotic and socioeconomic factors. Because of the geographic dependency of these factors and the complex interactions among them, it is difficult to generalize the key factors that perpetuate or intensify malaria transmission. Methods: Discrete event simulations were used for modeling the detailed interactions among the vector life cycle, sporogonic cycle and human infection cycle, under the explicit influences of selected extrinsic and intrinsic factors. Meteorological and environmental parameters may be derived from satellite data. The output of the model includes the individual infection status and the quantities normally observed in field studies, such as mosquito biting rates, sporozoite infection rates, gametocyte prevalence and incidence. Results were compared with mosquito vector and human malaria data acquired over 4.5 years (June 1999 - January 2004) in Kong Mong Tha, a remote village in Kanchanaburi Province, western Thailand. Results: Three years of transmissions of vivax and falciparum malaria were simulated for a hypothetical hamlet with approximately 1/7 of the study site population. The model generated results for a number of scenarios, including applications of larvicide and insecticide, asymptomatic cases receiving or not receiving treatment, blocking malaria transmission in mosquito vectors, and increasing the density of farm (host) animals in the hamlet. Transmission characteristics and trends in the simulated results are comparable to actual data collected at the study site.

Kiang, Richard K.↗

Surveillance and Control of Malaria Transmission in Thailand using Remotely Sensed Meteorological and Environmental Parameters

These slides address the use of remote sensing in a public health application. Specifically, this discussion focuses on the of remote sensing to detect larval habitats to predict current and future endemicity and identify key factors that sustain or promote transmission of malaria in a targeted geographic area (Thailand). In the Malaria Modeling and Surveillance Project, which is part of the NASA Applied Sciences Public Health Applications Program, we have been developing techniques to enhance public health's decision capability for malaria risk assessments and controls. The main objectives are: 1) identification of the potential breeding sites for major vector species; 2) implementation of a risk algorithm to predict the occurrence of malaria and its transmission intensity; 3) implementation of a dynamic transmission model to identify the key factors that sustain or intensify malaria transmission. The potential benefits are: 1) increased warning time for public health organizations to respond to malaria outbreaks; 2) optimized utilization of pesticide and chemoprophylaxis; 3) reduced likelihood of pesticide and drug resistance; and 4) reduced damage to environment. !> Environmental parameters important to malaria transmission include temperature, relative humidity, precipitation, and vegetation conditions. The NASA Earth science data sets that have been used for malaria surveillance and risk assessment include AVHRR Pathfinder, TRMM, MODIS, NSIPP, and SIESIP. Textural-contextual classifications are used to identify small larval habitats. Neural network methods are used to model malaria cases as a function of the remotely sensed parameters. Hindcastings based on these environmental parameters have shown good agreement to epidemiological records. Discrete event simulations are used for modeling the detailed interactions among the vector life cycle, sporogonic cycle and human infection cycle, under the explicit influences of selected extrinsic and intrinsic factors. The output of the model includes the individual infection status and the quantities normally observed in field studies, such as mosquito biting rates, sporozoite infection rates, gametocyte prevalence and incidence. Results are in good agreement with mosquito vector and human malaria data acquired by Coleman et al. over 4.5 years in Kong Mong Tha, a remote village in western Thailand. Application of our models is not restricted to the Greater Mekong Subregion. Our models have been applied to malaria in Indonesia, Korea, and other regions in the world with similar success.

Kiang, Richard K.↗

Design Space Exploration of Pericyclic Transmission with Counterbalance and Bearing Load Analysis

The pericyclic transmission provides the opportunity to vastly impact transmission design in rotorcraft due to its ability to provide exceedingly high reduction ratios in a single stage that would normally require multiple gear stages to produce. This could lead to lighter transmissions with fewer components, increased range, reliability, efficiency, speed and decreased cost to maintain. While many previous studies have focused upon the gearing within the pericyclic transmission, this work focused on what influences pericyclic geometry, and how changes in geometry impacts bearing loads. Specifically the loading of bearings that must deliver power from the input shaft to the nutating and rotating gears of the system were of primary concern. A comprehensive look at dynamic loads generated by nutating bodies was performed. Methods to address these dynamic loads via application of counterbalances and deviation from conventional pericyclic transmission designs were utilized to negate the dynamic moment of concern. Finally a static solver was used to determine the bearing loads with updated component geometries and mass moment of inertias that included the required counterbalances.

Pericyclic↗

Design Space Exploration of Pericyclic Transmission with Counterbalance and Bearing Load Analysis

The pericyclic transmission provides the opportunity to vastly impact transmission design in rotorcraft due to its ability to provide exceedingly high reduction ratios in a single stage that would normally require multiple gear stages to produce. This could lead to lighter transmissions with fewer components, increased range, reliability, efficiency, speed and decreased cost to maintain. While many previous studies have focused upon the gearing within the pericyclic transmission, this work focused on what influences pericyclic geometry, and how changes in geometry impacts bearing loads. Specifically the loading of bearings that must deliver power from the input shaft to the nutating and rotating gears of the system were of primary concern. A comprehensive look at dynamic loads generated by nutating bodies was performed. Methods to address these dynamic loads via application of counterbalances and deviation from conventional pericyclic transmission designs were utilized to negate the dynamic moment of concern. Finally a static solver was used to determine the bearing loads with updated component geometries and mass moment of inertias that included the required counterbalances.

Pericyclic↗

Design Space Exploration of Pericyclic Transmission

The pericyclic transmission provides the opportunity to vastly impact transmission design in rotorcraft due to its ability to provide exceedingly high reduction ratios in a single stage that would normally require multiple gear stages to produce. This could lead to lighter transmissions with fewer components, increased range, reliability, efficiency, speed and decreased cost to maintain. While many previous studies have focused upon the gearing within the pericyclic transmission, this work focused on what influences pericyclic geometry, and how changes in geometry impacts bearing loads. Specifically the loading of bearings that must deliver power from the input shaft to the nutating and rotating gears of the system were of primary concern. A comprehensive look at dynamic loads generated by nutating bodies was performed. Methods to address these dynamic loads via application of counterbalances and deviation from conventional pericyclic transmission designs were utilized to negate the dynamic moment of concern. Finally a static solver was used to determine the bearing loads with updated component geometries and mass moment of inertias that included the required counterbalances.

Nutational Gearing↗

Constraining Stellar Photospheres as an Essential Step for Transmission Spectroscopy of Small Exoplanets

Transiting exoplanets offer a unique opportunity to study the atmospheres of terrestrial worlds in other systems in the coming decade. By absorbing and scattering starlight, exoplanet atmospheres produce spectroscopic transit depth variations that allow us to probe their physical structures and chemical compositions. These same variations, however, can be introduced by the photospheric heterogeneity of the host star (i.e., the transit light source effect). Recent modeling efforts and increasingly precise observations are revealing that our understanding of transmission1spectra of the smallest transiting exoplanets will likely be limited by our knowledge of host star photospheres. Here we outline promising scientific opportunities for the next decade that can provide useful constraints on stellar photospheres and inform interpretations of transmission spectra of the smallest(R < 4R) exoplanets. We identify and discuss four primary opportunities: (1) refining stellar magnetic active region properties through exoplanet crossing events; (2) spectral decomposition of active exoplanet host stars; (3) joint retrievals of stellar photospheric and planetary atmospheric properties with studies of transmission spectra; and (4) continued visual transmission spectroscopy studies to complement longer-wavelength studies from JWST. In this context, we make four recommendations to the Astro2020 Decadal Survey Committee:(1) identify the transit light source (TLS) effect as a challenge to precise exoplanet transmission spectroscopy and an opportunity ripe for scientific advancement in the coming decade; (2) include characterization of host star photospheric heterogeneity as part of a comprehensive research strategy for studying transiting exoplanets; (3) support the construction of ground-based extremely large telescopes (ELTs); (4) support multi-disciplinary research teams that bring together the heliophysics, stellar physics, and exoplanet communities to further exploit transiting exoplanets as spatial probes of stellar photospheres; and (5) support visual transmission spectroscopy efforts as complements to longer-wavelength observational campaigns with JWST.

Rackham, Benjamin V.↗

The Hubble Space Telescope's Near-UV and Optical Transmission Spectrum of Earth as an Exoplanet

We observed the 2019 January total lunar eclipse with the Hubble Space Telescope’s STIS spectrograph to obtain the first near-UV (1700–3200 Å) observation of Earth as a transiting exoplanet. The observatories and instruments that will be able to perform transmission spectroscopy of exo-Earths are beginning to be planned, and characterizing the transmission spectrum of Earth is vital to ensuring that key spectral features (e.g., ozone, or O3) are appropriately captured in mission concept studies. O3 is photochemically produced from O2, a product of the dominant metabolism on Earth today, and it will be sought in future observations as critical evidence for life on exoplanets. Ground-based observations of lunar eclipses have provided the Earth’s transmission spectrum at optical and near-IR wavelengths, but the strongest O3 signatures are in the near-UV. We describe the observations and methods used to extract a transmission spectrum from Hubble lunar eclipse spectra, and identify spectral features of O3 and Rayleigh scattering in the 3000–5500 Å region in Earth’s transmission spectrum by comparing to Earth models that include refraction effects in the terrestrial atmosphere during a lunar eclipse. Our near-UV spectra are featureless, a consequence of missing the narrow time span during the eclipse when near-UV sunlight is not completely attenuated through Earth’s atmosphere due to extremely strong O3 absorption and when sunlight is transmitted to the lunar surface at altitudes where it passes through the O3 layer rather than above it.

Allison Youngblood↗

Coordinated voltage control and reactive power regulation between transmission and distribution systems

Systems and methods are described for coordinating volt-var control between sub-transmission and distribution systems. Distributed energy resources of a distribution system are aggregated into virtual power plants from which reactive power can optimally be dispatched to the sub-transmission system. A sub-transmission controller executes a volt-var AC optimal power flow optimisation function to minimize voltage fluctuations that might otherwise occur when coordinating with a distribution system having distributed energy resources. The distribution system can use a sensitivity matrix for regulating voltage at distribution feeders while fulfilling a transmission or sub-transmission system's demand requests.

Samaan, Nader A.↗

Contributions of environmental and maternal transmission to the assembly of leaf fungal endophyte communities

Leaf fungal endophytes (LFEs) contribute to plant growth and responses to stress. Fungi colonize leaves through maternal transmission, e.g. via the seed, and through environmental transmission, e.g. via aerial dispersal. The relative importance of these two pathways in assembly and function of the LFE community is poorly understood. We used amplicon sequencing to track switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) LFEs in a greenhouse and field experiment as communities assembled from seed endophytes and rain fungi (integration of wet and dry aerial dispersal) in germinating seeds, seedlings, and adult plants. Rain fungi varied temporally and hosted a greater portion of switchgrass LFE richness (greater than 65%) than were found in seed endophytes (greater than 25%). Exposure of germinating seeds to rain inoculum increased dissimilarity between LFE communities and seed endophytes, increasing the abundance of rain-derived taxa, but did not change diversity. In the field, seedling LFE composition changed more over time, with a decline in seed-derived taxa and an increase in richness, in response to environmental transmission than LFEs of adult plants. Furthermore, we show that environmental transmission is an important driver of LFE assembly, and likely plant growth, but its influence depends on both the conditions at the time of colonization and plant life stage.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

A Survey of Open-Source Tools for Transmission and Distribution Systems Research

This work presents a review of open-source electric power transmission and distribution systems analysis tools suitable for use by industry professionals and academic researchers. Due to the high complexity of the electric grid, there exist numerous tools and extensive research pertaining to nearly every aspect of the design, operation, and control of transmission and distribution networks. In addition to the commercial tools, a wide range of free, open-source tools, models, and data usable by the scientific community for related research have been developed by different organizations, including both international and US universities and national laboratories. However, due to the absence of a catalog of available tools, models and data, researchers often lack a knowledge of existing capabilities and may develop duplicative software and tools. Increasing awareness of these available resources seeks to accelerate their broader use, leading to more efficient and standardized grid analysis. This review paper (which is part of a larger survey effort that studied over 400 tools in the transmission, distribution, buildings, and electric vehicles space) outlines selected open-source resources that have been developed in power transmission and distribution systems research. It is anticipated that this work can serve as a guide for industry and academic researchers alike, ensuring that research efforts are well-channeled.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Dynamic Economic Dispatch Considering Transmission–Distribution Coordination and Automatic Regulation Effect

With the rapid increase of renewable energy sources, the variability and uncertainty in power systems are significantly increased, and the power system operation is facing more and more challenges. In the traditional dynamic economic dispatch (DED) of transmission systems, the frequency and voltage regulation effects are not actively utilized. In addition, the transmission systems and distribution systems are optimized separately; the transmission–distribution coordination effect is not considered. In this article, a new DED is proposed. The optimal scheduling results are obtained by making a balance between operating cost and reliability cost. Both the automatic regulation effect and transmission–distribution coordination effect are explored and exploited in terms of the equivalent reserve, which can reduce the reserve provided by generating units, and can further enhance the security and economics of power system operation. The validity and effectiveness of the proposed model are illustrated by case studies.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

The Statistical Spread of Transmission Outages on a Fast Protection Time Scale Based on Utility Data

When there is a fault, the protection system automatically removes one or more transmission lines on a fast time scale of less than one minute. The outaged lines form a pattern in the transmission network. We extract these patterns from utility outage data, determine some key statistics of these patterns, and then show how to generate new patterns consistent with these statistics. The generated patterns provide a new and easily feasible way to model the overall effect of the protection system at the scale of a large transmission system. This new data-driven generative modeling of protection is expected to contribute to simulations of disturbances in large grids so that they can better quantify the risk of blackouts. Analysis of the pattern sizes suggests an index that describes how much outages spread in the transmission network at the fast timescale.

Transmission↗

Lessons Learned for Transmission Cost Allocation in U.S. Regional Markets

Expanding electric transmission can facilitate generator interconnection and improve grid reliability. Assigning costs for new transmission infrastructure is highly contentious because these costs can have a direct impact on energy prices and ratepayer bills. In this report, we evaluate what factors influence successful transmission cost allocation agreements. Through a review of legal disputes, existing cost allocation practices, and regional case studies, we identify potential strategies to minimize cost allocation disputes for future projects. The report also highlights the processes by which regions can update their cost allocation methods. While we do not consider cost allocation methods currently under development for compliance with FERC Order 1920, the trends and lessons learned identified in this report can inform discussions on effective cost allocation methods to reduce barriers for transmission development.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

A Resilient Integrated Resource Planning Framework for Transmission Systems: Analysis and Optimization

This article presents a resilient Integrated Resource Planning (IRP) framework designed for transmission systems, with a specific focus on analyzing and optimizing responses to High-Impact Low-Probability (HILP) events. The framework aims to improve the resilience of transmission networks in the face of extreme events by prioritizing the assessment of events with significant consequences. Unlike traditional reliability-based planning methods that average the impact of various outage durations, this work adopts a metric based on the proximity of outage lines to generators to select HILP events. The system’s baseline resilience is evaluated by calculating load curtailment in different parts of the network resulting from HILP outage events. The transmission network is represented as an undirected graph. Graph-theoretic techniques are used to identify islands with or without generators, potentially forming segmented grids or microgrids. This article introduces Expected Load Curtailment (ELC) as a metric to quantify the system’s resilience. The framework allows for the re-evaluation of system resilience by integrating additional generating resources to achieve desired resilience levels. Optimization is performed in the re-evaluation stage to determine the optimal placement of distributed energy resources (DERs) for enhancing resilience, i.e., minimizing ELC. Case studies on the IEEE 24-bus system illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed framework. In the broader context, this resilient IRP framework aligns with energy sustainability goals by promoting robust and resilient transmission networks, as the optimal placement of DERs for resilience enhancement not only strengthens the system’s ability to withstand and recover from disruptions but also contributes to efficient resource utilization, advancing the overarching goal of energy sustainability.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗