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At least 253 records · Page 14
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2022

Western Sonoran Desert Water Resources: Evaluating Rock Pool Hydroperiod Fluctuation using Climate Variables to Inform Habitat Monitoring and Protection in the Western Sonoran Desert

Ephemeral freshwater rock pools, known as tinajas, have great biologic and cultural importance as sources of surface water in the western Sonoran Desert (WSD). Tinaja flooding and drying cycles, known as hydroperiods, vary based on meteorologic and climatologic conditions; however, a lack of extensive research relating climatic impacts to tinajas puts these critical ecosystems further at risk. The National Park Service (NPS) and the University of Arizona monitor the physical and ecological condition of tinajas in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument (OPCNM), AZ, using resource-intensive strategies: in situ trail cameras and direct measurements. To aid monitoring efforts, the NASA DEVELOP team aimed to incorporate remote sensing into NPS strategies by analyzing spatiotemporal climate data and tinaja hydroperiods in OPCNM between 1979–2022. Using Aqua and Terra Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometers (MODIS), University of Idaho Gridded Surface Meteorological Dataset (gridMET), and OpenET data, the team generated climatology maps and time series for OPCNM. The team compared these data to daily in situ hydroperiod observations from the University of Arizona between 2019–2022. Climate maps and time series showed increases in temperature and solar radiation (p<0.05), while analyses of in situ data showed correlations of hydroperiods with precipitation and evapotranspiration. End products identified high-risk tinajas and demonstrated that Earth observations can successfully be correlated with in situ hydroperiod observations. These results will support NPS efforts to prioritize water resource management and inform protocols driving the conservation of tinajas in OPCNM.

Anne Britton↗
NASA NTRS1992

Characterization of the Water Soluble Component of Inedible Residue from Candidate CELSS Crops

Recycling of inorganic nutrients required for plant growth will be a necessary component of a fully closed, bioregenerative life support system. This research characterized the recovery of plant nutrients from the inedible fraction of three crop types (wheat, potato, and soybean) by soaking, or leaching, in water. A considerable portion of the dry weight of the inedible biomass was readily soluble (29 percent for soybean, 43 percent for wheat, and 52 percent for potato). Greater weight loss from potato was a result of higher tissue concentrations of potassium, nitrate, and phosphate. Approximately 25 percent of the organic content of the biomass was water soluble, while the majority of most inorganic nutrients, except for calcium and iron, were recovered in the leachate. Direct use of the leachates in hydroponic media could provide between 40-90 percent of plant nutrient demands for wheat, and 20-50 percent of demand for soybean and potato. Further evaluation of leaching as a component of resource recovery scheme in a bioregenerative system requires study of (1) utilization of plant leachates in hydroponic plant culture; and (2) conversion of organic material (both soluble and insoluble) into edible, or other useful, products.

Garland, Jay↗
NASA NTRS1999

The evolution of Crew Resource Management training in commercial aviation

In this study, we describe changes in the nature of Crew Resource Management (CRM) training in commercial aviation, including its shift from cockpit to crew resource management. Validation of the impact of CRM is discussed. Limitations of CRM, including lack of cross-cultural generality are considered. An overarching framework that stresses error management to increase acceptance of CRM concepts is presented. The error management approach defines behavioral strategies taught in CRM as error countermeasures that are employed to avoid error, to trap errors committed, and to mitigate the consequences of error.

Non-NASA Center↗
NASA NTRS2018

Science Diplomacy Through Cities: Applying NASA Earth Observations at the Urban Scale

NASA's scientific expertise and data products are enhancing cities' environmental monitoring activities by pioneering applications of remote sensing and model-based Earth Observations at the urban scale. The above activities have greatly benefitted from engaging stakeholders and city practitioners from the start. Further, NASA's collaborations with cities have: Advanced NASA science, in testing new products and validating of satellite datasets, while meeting the needs of city governments. Broadened Rio de Janeiro's regional viewpoint and strengthened its relationships with neighboring cities. Scientific collaborations with cities benefit from: Selecting city partners with a high level of technical capacity and willing to make strong investments in joint projects. Sustained communication and face-to-face interactions. Well-defined deliverables, with dedicated resources and personnel. Pairing global datasets and projections with in situ measurements and local knowledgeSensitivity to local working culture and politics.

urban environment↗
NASA NTRS2021

Real-Time Culture-Independent Microbial Profiling Onboard the International Space Station using Nanopore Sequencing

For the past two decades, microbial monitoring of the International Space Station (ISS) has relied on culture-dependent methods that require return to Earth for analysis. This has a number of limitations, with the most significant being bias towards the detection of culturable organisms and the inherent delay between sample collection and ground-based analysis. In recent years, portable and easy-to-use molecular-based tools, such as Oxford Nanopore Technologies’ MinION™ sequencer and miniPCR bio’s miniPCR™ thermal cycler, have been validated onboard the ISS. Here, we report on the development, validation, and implementation of a swab-to-sequencer method that provides a culture-independent solution to real-time microbial profiling onboard the ISS. Method development focused on analysis of swabs collected in a low-biomass environment with limited facility resources and stringent controls on allowed processes and reagents. ISS-optimized procedures included enzymatic DNA extraction from a swab tip, bead-based purifications, altered buffers, and the use of miniPCR and the MinION. Validation was conducted through extensive ground-based assessments comparing current standard culture-dependent and newly developed culture-independent methods. Similar microbial distributions were observed between the two methods; however, as expected, the culture-independent data revealed microbial profiles with greater diversity. Protocol optimization and verification was established during NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) analog missions 21 and 22, respectively. Unique microbial profiles obtained from analog testing validated the swab-to-sequencer method in an extreme environment. Finally, four independent swab-to-sequencer experiments were conducted onboard the ISS by two crewmembers. Microorganisms identified from ISS swabs were consistent with historical culture-based data, and primarily consisted of commonly observed human-associated microbes. This simplified method has been streamlined for high ease-of-use for a non-trained crew to complete in an extreme environment, thereby enabling environmental and human health diagnostics in real-time as future missions take us beyond low-Earth orbit.

microbiology↗
DOE OSTI2024

The Near-Gapless Penicillium fuscoglaucum Genome Enables the Discovery of Lifestyle Features as an Emerging Post-Harvest Phytopathogen

Penicillium spp. occupy many diverse biological niches that include plant pathogens, opportunistic human pathogens, saprophytes, indoor air contaminants, and those selected specifically for industrial applications to produce secondary metabolites and lifesaving antibiotics. Recent phylogenetic studies have established Penicillium fuscoglaucum as a synonym for Penicillium commune, which is an indoor air contaminant and toxin producer and can infect apple fruit during storage. During routine culturing on selective media in the lab, we obtained an isolate of P. fuscoglaucum Pf_T2 and sequenced its genome. The Pf_T2 genome is far superior to available genomic resources for the species. Our assembly exhibits a length of 35.1 Mb, a BUSCO score of 97.9% complete, and consists of five scaffolds/contigs representing the four expected chromosomes. It was determined that the Pf_T2 genome was colinear with a type specimen P. fuscoglaucum and contained a lineage-specific, intact cyclopiazonic acid (CPA) gene cluster. For comparison, a highly virulent postharvest apple pathogen, P. expansum strain TDL 12.1, was included and showed a similar growth pattern in culture to our Pf_T2 isolate but was far more aggressive in apple fruit than P. fuscoglaucum. The genome of Pf_T2 serves as a major improvement over existing resources, has superior annotation, and can inform forthcoming omics-based work and functional genetic studies to probe secondary metabolite production and disparities in aggressiveness during apple fruit decay.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Ecological information and approaches needed for risk communication dialogs for acute or chronic environmental crises

Scientists, social scientists, risk communicators, and many others are often thrust into a crisis situation where they need to interact with a range of stakeholders, including governmental personnel (tribal, U.S. federal, state, local), local residents, and other publics, as well as other scientists and other risk communicators in situations where information is incomplete and evolving. This paper provides: (1) an overall framework for thinking about communication during crises, from acute to chronic, and local to widespread, (2) a template for the types of ecological information needed to address public and environmental concerns, and (3) examples to illustrate how this information will aid risk communicators. The main goal is providing an approach to the knowledge needed by communicators to address the challenges of protecting ecological resources during an environmental crisis, or for an on-going, chronic environmental issue. To understand the risk to these ecological resources, it is important to identify the type of event, whether it is acute or chronic (or some combination of these), what receptors are at risk, and what stressors are involved (natural, biological, chemical, radiological). For ecological resources, the key information a communicator needs for a crisis is whether any of the following are present: threatened or endangered species, species of special concern, species groups of concern (e.g., neotropical bird migrants, breeding frogs in vernal ponds, rare plant assemblages), unique or rare habitats, species of commercial and recreational interest, and species/habitats of especial interest for medicinal, cultural, or religious activities. Communication among stakeholders is complicated with respect to risk to ecological receptors because of differences in trust, credibility, empathy, perceptions, world view valuation of the resources, and in many cases, a history of misinformation, disinformation, or no information. Exposure of salmon spawning in the Columbia River to hexavalent chromium from the Hanford Site is used as an example of communication challenges with different stakeholders, including Native Americans with Tribal Treaty rights to the land.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1975

Remote Sensing of Earth Resources (1970-1973 Supplement): A Literature Survey with Indexes

This literature survey cites 4930 reports, articles and other documents that were announced between March 1970 and December 1973 in Scientific and Technical Aerospace Reports (STAR) or in International Aerospace Abstracts (IAA). This publication supplements Remote Sensing of Earth Resources (NASA-SP-7036) that cited documents announced between January 1962 and February 1970. Beginning in 1974, a quarterly publication, Earth Resources, A Continuing Bibliography (NASA-SP-7041) was initiated. The first issue, NASA-SP-7041(01), was published in June covering the document announced between January 1974 and March 1974. The coverage includes documents related to the identification and evaluation by means of sensors in spacecraft and aircraft of vegetation, minerals, and other natural resources, and the techniques and potentialities of surveying and keeping up-to-date inventories of such riches. It encompasses studies of such natural phenomena as earthquakes, volcanoes, ocean currents and magnetic fields; and such cultural phenomena as cities, transportation networks, and irrigation systems. Descriptions of the components and use of remote sensing and geophysical instrumentation, their subsystems, observational procedures, signature and analyses and interpretive techniques for gathering data are also included. Reports generated under NASA's Earth Resources Survey Program and announced during the period covered by this bibliography are included.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1975

Earth Resources: A continuing bibliography with indexes, issue 2

Reports, articles, and other documents announced between April and June 1974 in Scientific and Technical Aerospace Reports (STAR), and International Aerospace Abstracts (IAA) are cited. Documents related to the identification and evaluation by means of sensors in spacecraft and aircraft of vegetation, minerals, and other natural resources, and the techniques and potentialities of surveying and keeping up-to-date inventories of such riches are included along with studies of such natural phenomena as earthquakes, volcanoes, ocean currents, and magnetic fields; and such cultural phenomena as cities, transportation networks, and irrigation systems. The components and use of remote sensing and geophysical instrumentation, their subsystems, observational procedures, signature and analyses and interpretive techniques for gathering data are, described. All reports generated under NASA's Earth Resources Survey Program for the time period covered are included.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1995

The effects of Crew Resource Management (CRM) training in airline maintenance: Results following three year's experience

An airline maintenance department undertook a CRM training program to change its safety and operating culture. In 2 1/2 years this airline trained 2200 management staff and salaried professionals. Participants completed attitude surveys immediately before and after the training, as well as two months, six months, and one year afterward. On-site interviews were conducted to test and confirm the survey results. Comparing managers' attitudes immediately after their training with their pretraining attitudes showed significant improvement for three attitudes. A fourth attitude, assertiveness, improved significantly above the pretraining levels two months after training. The expected effect of the training on all four attitude scales did not change significantly thereafter. Participants' self-reported behaviors and interview comments confirmed their shift from passive to more active behaviors over time. Safety, efficiency, and dependability performance were measured before the onset of the training and for some 30 months afterward. Associations with subsequent performance were strongest with positive attitudes about sharing command (participation), assertiveness, and stress management when those attitudes were measured 2 and 12 months after the training. The two month follow-up survey results were especially strong and indicate that active behaviors learned from the CRM training consolidate and strengthen in the months immediately following training.

Taylor, J. C.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Decision Support Tool for Risk Assessment & Maneuver Planning in Collision Avoidance

As the quantity of orbital debris continues to grow, so too does the rate of conjunction messages that suggest possible collisions between high value payloads and debris. The abundance of these conjunction messages, and eventual misses, has led to a culture of ignored alerts, and an increase in satellite operation costs as a result of the frequent need to plan resources for maneuver planning and execution. The loss of “trust” in conjunction alerts is due to the poorly characterized evolution in probability of collision (Pc) as time approaches the time of closest approach (TCA) between two objects, as well as the interpretation of Pc in the context of maneuver planning. To address these problems, and in collaboration with the NASA Conjunction Assessment Risk Analysis (CARA) program, the Industrial Sciences Group has developed a novel Maneuver Decision Support System (MDSS) to assist satellite operations in conjunction assessment and Maneuver planning. It provides a meaningful and intuitive Urgency metric for actionable maneuver decisions, based on the physical dynamics of conjunctions. It is based on a forecast of the evolution of Pc over time and represents an advance over current methods that are in use for satellite conjunction monitoring and planning. The result is to give satellite operators a validated decision support systems to plan for maneuver execution or mitigation or monitoring up to 3 days before TCA.

Decision Support Tool↗
NASA NTRS1991

The use of activity-based cost estimation as a management tool for cultural change

It will be shown that the greatest barrier to American exploration of the planet Mars is not the development of the technology needed to deliver humans and return them safely to earth. Neither is it the cost of such an undertaking, as has been previously suggested, although certainly, such a venture may not be inexpensive by some measures. The predicted costs of exploration have discouraged serious political dialog on the subject. And, in fact, even optimistic projections of the NASA budget do not contain the resources required, under the existing development and management paradigm, for human space exploration programs. It will be demonstrated that the perception of the costs of such a venture, and the cultural responses to the perceptions are factors inhibiting American exploration of the moon and the planet Mars. Cost models employed in the aerospace industry today correctly mirror the history of past space programs, and as such, are representative of the existing management and development paradigms. However, if, under this current paradigm no major exploration programs are feasible, then cost analysis methods based in the past may not have great utility in exploring the needed cultural changes. This paper explores the use of a new type of model, the activity based cost model, which will treat management style as an input variable, in a sense providing a tool whereby a complete, affordable program might be designed, including both the technological and management aspects.

Mandell, Humboldt↗
NASA NTRS2003

Native Peoples-Native Homelands Climate Change Workshop: Lessons Learned

The Native Peoples-Native Homelands Climate Change Workshop was held on October 28 through November 01,1998, as part of a series of workshops being held around the U.S. to improve the understanding of the potential consequences of climate variability and change for the Nation. This workshop was specifically designed by Native Peoples to examine the impacts of climate change and extreme weather variability on Native Peoples and Native Homelands from an indigenous cultural and spiritual perspective and to develop recommendations as well as identify potential response actions. The workshop brought together interested Native Peoples, representatives of Tribal governments, traditional elders, Tribal leaders, natural resource managers, Tribal College faculty and students, and climate scientists fiom government agencies and universities. It is clear that Tribal colleges and universities play a unique and critical role in the success of these emerging partnerships for decision-making in addition to the important education function for both Native and non-Native communities such as serving as a culturally-appropriate vehicle for access, analysis, control, and protection of indigenous cultural and intellectual property. During the discussions between scientists and policy-makers from both Native and non-Native communities, a number of important lessons emerged which are key to building more effective partnerships between Native and non-Native communities for collaboration and decision-making for a more sustainable future. This talk summarizes the key issues, recommendations, and lessons learned during this workshop.

Maynard, Nancy G.↗
NASA NTRS1972

Analysis of ERTS imagery of Wyoming and its application to evaluation of Wyoming's natural resources

The author has identified the following significant results. The Wyoming ERTS investigation has been hindered only slightly by incomplete ERTS data sets and lack of coverage. Efforts to map cultural development, vegetation distributions, and various geomorphologic features are underway. Tectonic analysis of the Rock Springs area has isolated two linear features that may be very significant with regard to the regional structure of central Wyoming. Studies of the fracture systems of the Wind River Mountains are being completed. The fracture map, constructed from ERTS-1 interpretations, contains a great deal of structural information which was previously unavailable. Mapping of the Precambrian metasedimentary and metavolcanic terrain of the Granite Mountains is nearing completion, and interpretation of ERTS supporting aircraft data has revealed deposits of iron formation.

Houston, R. S.↗
DOE OSTI2023

Mechanisms of metabolic adaptation in the duckweed Lemna gibba: an integrated metabolic, transcriptomic and flux analysis

Abstract Background Duckweeds are small, rapidly growing aquatic flowering plants. Due to their ability for biomass production at high rates they represent promising candidates for biofuel feedstocks. Duckweeds are also excellent model organisms because they can be maintained in well-defined liquid media, usually reproduce asexually, and because genomic resources are becoming increasingly available. To demonstrate the utility of duckweed for integrated metabolic studies, we examined the metabolic adaptation of growing Lemna gibba cultures to different nutritional conditions. Results To establish a framework for quantitative metabolic research in duckweeds we derived a central carbon metabolism network model of Lemna gibba based on its draft genome. Lemna gibba fronds were grown with nitrate or glutamine as nitrogen source. The two conditions were compared by quantification of growth kinetics, metabolite levels, transcript abundance, as well as by 13 C-metabolic flux analysis. While growing with glutamine, the fronds grew 1.4 times faster and accumulated more protein and less cell wall components compared to plants grown on nitrate. Characterization of photomixotrophic growth by 13 C-metabolic flux analysis showed that, under both metabolic growth conditions, the Calvin-Benson-Bassham cycle and the oxidative pentose-phosphate pathway are highly active, creating a futile cycle with net ATP consumption. Depending on the nitrogen source, substantial reorganization of fluxes around the tricarboxylic acid cycle took place, leading to differential formation of the biosynthetic precursors of the Asp and Gln families of proteinogenic amino acids. Despite the substantial reorganization of fluxes around the tricarboxylic acid cycle, flux changes could largely not be associated with changes in transcripts. Conclusions Through integrated analysis of growth rate, biomass composition, metabolite levels, and metabolic flux, we show that Lemna gibba is an excellent system for quantitative metabolic studies in plants. Our study showed that Lemna gibba adjusts to different nitrogen sources by reorganizing central metabolism. The observed disconnect between gene expression regulation and metabolism underscores the importance of metabolic flux analysis as a tool in such studies.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1982

Some closing thoughts: Practical payoffs from satellite systems

The benefits-to-cost ratio of satellite remote sensing, both as a substitute for conventional methods of monitoring and assessing resources, and as a supplement to these methods is examined using a model which analyzes the cost of aerial photography versus satellite scanner for producing and interpreting an image of the Earth's surface sized to LANDSAT dimensions. Examples of cost savings are tabulated for ground surveys, aerial photos, and LANDSAT. Possible additional benefits from LANDSAT D are assessed. The way in which satellites fit into more comprehensive models for resources management is discussed. It is shown that remote sensing is but one essential component in a complex system that aggregates technical. Socioeconomics, political, cultural, and other factors in the human decision process.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2014

Ecological Impacts of the Space Shuttle Program at John F. Kennedy Space Center, Florida

The Space Shuttle Program was one of NASAs first major undertakings to fall under the environmental impact analysis and documentation requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). Space Shuttle Program activities at John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and the associated Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (MINWR) contributed directly and indirectly to both negative and positive ecological trends in the region through the long-term, stable expenditure of resources over the 40 year program life cycle. These expenditures provided support to regional growth and development in conjunction with other sources that altered land use patterns, eliminated and modified habitats, and contributed to cultural eutrophication of the Indian River Lagoon. At KSC, most Space Shuttle Program related actions were conducted in previously developed facilities and industrial areas with the exception of the construction of the shuttle landing facility (SLF) and the space station processing facility (SSPF). Launch and operations impacts were minimal as a result of the low annual launch rate. The majority of concerns identified during the NEPA process such as potential weather modification, acid rain off site, and local climate change did not occur. Launch impacts from deposition of HCl and particulates were assimilated as a result of the high buffering capacity of the system and low launch and loading rates. Metals deposition from exhaust deposition did not display acute impacts. Sub-lethal effects are being investigated as part of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) regulatory process. Major positive Space Shuttle Program effects were derived from the adequate resources available at the Center to implement the numerous environmental laws and regulations designed to enhance the quality of the environment and minimize impacts from human activities. This included reduced discharges of domestic and industrial wastewater, creation of stormwater management systems, remediation of past contamination sites, implementation of hazardous waste management systems, and creation of a culture of sustainability. Working with partners such as the USFWS and the St Johns River Water Management District (SJRWMD), wetlands and scrub restoration and management initiatives were implemented to enhance fish and wildlife populations at the Center. KSC remains the single largest preserve on the east coast of Florida in part due to NASAs commitment to stewardship. Ongoing Ecological Program projects are directed at development of information and knowledge to address future KSC management questions including the transition to a joint government and commercial launch facility, enhanced habitat management requirements for wetlands and scrub, potential impacts of emerging contaminants, and adaptation to climate change including projected sea level rise over the next 50-75 years.

Space Shuttle Program↗