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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.

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At least 253 records · Page 14
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2020

Coherent Streamflow Variability in Monsoon Asia Over the Past Eight Centuries—Links to Oceanic Drivers

The Monsoon Asia region is home to ten of the world’s biggest rivers, supporting the lives of 1.7 billion people who rely on streamflow for water, energy, and food. Yet, a synoptic understanding of multi-centennial streamflow variability for this region is lacking. Here we produce the first large scale streamflow reconstruction over Monsoon Asia (63 stations in 16 countries), using a novel climate-informed dynamic algorithm that is skillful over 92% of the gauging stations. In this work, we show that streamflow in Monsoon Asia is spatially coherent, owing to common drivers from the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic Oceans that exert their greatest influence over the Mekong and Chao Phraya basins. This work increases our understanding of streamflow variability over Monsoon Asia. We suggest that future water management in the region should be coordinated between basins, taking into account the states of the oceans.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

Variability and origins of grain boundary electric potential detected by electron holography and atom-probe tomography

A number of grain boundary phenomena in ionic materials, in particular, anomalous (either depressed or enhanced) charge transport, have been attributed to space charge effects. Developing effective strategies to manipulate transport behaviour requires deep knowledge of the origins of the interfacial charge, as well as its variability within a polycrystalline sample with millions of unique grain boundaries. Electron holography is a powerful technique uniquely suited for studying the electric potential profile at individual grain boundaries, whereas atom-probe tomography provides access to the chemical identify of essentially every atom at individual grain boundaries. Using these two techniques, we show in this paper that the space charge potential at grain boundaries in lightly doped, high-purity ceria can vary by almost an order of magnitude. We further find that trace impurities (<25 ppm), rather than inherent thermodynamic factors, may be the ultimate source of grain boundary charge. These insights suggest chemical tunability of grain boundary transport properties. A number of grain boundary phenomena in ionic materials, such as anomalous charge transport, have been attributed to space charge effects. Space charge potential at grain boundaries in lightly doped, high-purity ceria is now shown to vary by almost an order of magnitude.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Emergence of unprecedented climate change in projected future precipitation

The future time of emergence when precipitation changes due to anthropogenic influences begins to continuously exceed the previous maximum value is defined as the ‘tipping year’ Historical experiments and future experiments simulated by state-of-the-art climate models were utilized. A total of 510,000 time series from year 1856 to 2095 were generated by sampling the natural internal variability in precipitation. The time evolutions of internal variability in the whole time period were estimated from the combination of past and future experiments with preindustrial control experiments. A large ensemble size enabled an estimation of the probability density function of the tipping year at each grid point, providing precise information on the uncertainty of the projection. The tipping year of average precipitation emerges earlier in high latitudes than in lower latitudes. In some regions in lower latitudes and mid-latitudes, the tipping year of intense precipitation emerges faster than that of average precipitation. The tipping years of average and intense precipitation are earlier for higher anthropogenic forcing scenarios than for lower scenarios. The global average of the tipping year for intense precipitation might be attributed to the enhancement of the thermodynamic effect (moisture) rather than the dynamic effect (vertical motion).

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2017

The metagenomic data life-cycle: standards and best practices

Metagenomics data analyses from independent studies can only be compared if the analysis workflows are described in a harmonised way. In this overview, we have mapped the landscape of data standards available for the description of essential steps in metagenomics: (1) material sampling, (2) material sequencing (3) data analysis and (4) data archiving & publishing. Taking examples from marine research, we summarise essential variables used to describe material sampling processes and sequencing procedures in a metagenomics experiment. These aspects of metagenomics dataset generation have been to some extent addressed by the scientific community but greater awareness and adoption is still needed. We emphasise the lack of standards relating to reporting how metagenomics datasets are analysed and how the metagenomics data analysis outputs should be archived and published. We propose best practice as a foundation for a community standard to enable reproducibility and better sharing of metagenomics datasets, leading ultimately to greater metagenomics data reuse and repurposing.

96 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND PRESERVATION↗
DOE OSTI2025

Randomized Adiabatic Quantum Linear Solver Algorithm with Optimal Complexity Scaling and Detailed Running Costs

Solving linear systems of equations is a fundamental problem with a wide variety of applications across many fields of science, and there is increasing effort to develop quantum linear solver algorithms. Subaşı et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 122, 060504 (2019)] proposed a randomized algorithm inspired by adiabatic quantum computing, based on a sequence of random Hamiltonian simulation steps, with suboptimal scaling in the condition number 𝜅 of the linear system and the target error 𝜖. Here we go beyond these results in several ways. Firstly, using filtering [Lin and Tong, Quantum 4, 361 (2020)] and Poissonization techniques [Cunningham and Roland, ArXiv:2406.03972 (2024)], the algorithm complexity is improved to the optimal scaling 𝑂⁡(𝜅⁢log (1/𝜖))—an exponential improvement in 𝜖, and a shaving of a log 𝜅 scaling factor in 𝜅. Secondly, the algorithm is further modified to achieve constant factor improvements, which are vital as we progress towards hardware implementations on fault-tolerant devices. We introduce a cheaper randomized walk operator method replacing Hamiltonian simulation—which also removes the need for potentially challenging classical precomputations; randomized routines are sampled over optimized random variables; circuit constructions are improved. We obtain a closed formula rigorously upper bounding the expected number of times one needs to apply a block-encoding of the linear system matrix to output a quantum state encoding the solution to the linear system. The upper bound is 837⁢𝜅 at 𝜖 = 10 −10 for Hermitian matrices.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2017

The emerging role of 4D synchrotron X-ray micro-tomography for climate and fossil energy studies: five experiments showing the present capabilities at beamline 8.3.2 at the Advanced Light Source

Here, continuous improvements at X-ray imaging beamlines at synchrotron light sources have made dynamic synchrotron X-ray micro-computed tomography (SXR-µCT) experiments more routinely available to users, with a rapid increase in demand given its tremendous potential in very diverse areas. In this work a survey of five different four-dimensional SXR-µCT experiments is presented, examining five different parameters linked to the evolution of the investigated system, and tackling problems in different areas in earth sciences. SXR-µCT is used to monitor the microstructural evolution of the investigated sample with the following variables: (i) high temperature, observing in situ oil shale pyrolysis; (ii) low temperature, replicating the generation of permafrost; (iii) high pressure, to study the invasion of supercritical CO 2 in deep aquifers; (iv) uniaxial stress, to monitor the closure of a fracture filled with proppant, in shale; (v) reactive flow, to observe the evolution of the hydraulic properties in a porous rock subject to dissolution. For each of these examples, it is shown how dynamic SXR-µCT was able to provide new answers to questions related to climate and energy studies, highlighting the significant opportunities opened recently by the technique.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2023

Fault Detection via Occupation Kernel Principal Component Analysis

Reliable operation of automatic systems is heavily dependent on the ability to detect faults in the underlying dynamics. While traditional model-based methods have been widely used for fault detection, data-driven approaches have garnered increasing attention due to their ease of deployment and minimal need for expert knowledge. In this letter, we present a novel principal component analysis (PCA) method that uses occupation kernels. Occupation kernels result in feature maps that are tailored to the measured data, have inherent noise-robustness due to the use of integration, and can utilize irregularly sampled system trajectories of variable lengths for PCA. The occupation kernel PCA method is used to develop a reconstruction error approach to fault detection and its efficacy is validated using numerical simulations.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2021

Droplet Number Concentration Value-Added Product

The ndrop_mfrsr value-added product (VAP) provides an estimate of the cloud droplet number concentration of overcast water clouds retrieved from cloud optical depth from the multi-filter rotating shadowband radiometer (MFRSR) instrument and liquid water path (LWP) retrieved from the microwave radiometer (MWR). When cloud layer information is available from vertically pointing lidar and radars in the Active Remote Sensing of Clouds (ARSCL) product, the VAP also provides estimates of the adiabatic LWP and an adiabatic parameter (beta) that indicates how divergent the LWP is from the adiabatic case. quality control (QC) flags (qc_drop_number_conc), an uncertainty estimate (drop_number_conc_toterr), and a cloud layer type flag (cloud_base_type) are useful indicators of the quality and accuracy of any given value of the retrieval. Examples of these major input and output variables are given in sample plots in section 6.0.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2017

Hydrogeochemical Investigation of Recharge Pathways to Intermediate and Regional Groundwater in Canon de Valle and Technical Area 16, Los Alamos National Laboratory

In aquifers consisting of fractured or porous igneous rocks, as well as conglomerate and sandstone products of volcanic formations, silicate minerals actively dissolve and precipitate (Eby, 2004; Eriksson, 1985; Drever, 1982). Dissolution of hydrated volcanic glass is also known to influence the character of groundwater to which it is exposed (White et al., 1980). Hydrochemical evolution, within saturated zones of volcanic formations, is modeled here as a means to resolve the sources feeding a perched groundwater zone. By observation of solute mass balances in groundwater, together with rock chemistry, this study characterizes the chemical weathering processes active along recharge pathways in a mountain front system. Inverse mass balance modeling, which accounts for mass fluxes between solid phases and solution, is used to contrive sets of quantitative reactions that explain chemical variability of water between sampling points. Model results are used, together with chloride mass balance estimation, to evaluate subsurface mixing scenarios generated by further modeling. Final model simulations estimate contributions of mountain block and local recharge to various contaminated zones.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

An Investigation of Nanoindentation as Quality Control [Slides]

Nanoindentation Continuous Stiffness Measurement (CSM) mapping, and Strain Rate Jump Testing (SRJT) proved effective to highlight and visualize the extent of property differences between the samples. From the analysis, Lot A has a significant dead zone at its center, especially when compared with the cross section of Lot B. Quick identification of property issues from one of the two feed stocks, both of which fit the specification. Mechanical performance was connected to the microstructure. Thus, using the structure-property results, it is noted that the processing of Lot A may have been insufficient. Nanoindentation allows for the sampling of quality control variables such as hardness and modulus in a short time span at high resolution, which is cheaper and faster than traditional strength experiments (tension and compression tests).

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Extreme Wind and Waves in U.S. East Coast Offshore Wind Energy Lease Areas

The Outer Continental Shelf along the U.S. east coast exhibits abundant wind resources and is now a geographic focus for offshore wind deployments. This analysis derives and presents expected extreme wind and wave conditions for the sixteen lease areas that are currently being developed. Using the homogeneous ERA5 reanalysis dataset it is shown that the fifty-year return period wind speed (U50) at 100 m a.s.l. in the lease areas ranges from 29.2 to 39.7 ms -1 . After applying corrections to account for spectral smoothing and averaging period, the associated pseudo-point U50 estimates are 34 to 46 ms -1 . The derived uncertainty in U50 estimates due to different distributional fitting is smaller than the uncertainty associated with under-sampling of the interannual variability in annual maximum wind speeds. It is shown that, in the northern lease areas, annual maximum wind speeds are generally associated with intense extratropical cyclones rather than cyclones of tropical origin. Extreme wave statistics are also presented and indicate that the 50-year return period maximum wave height may substantially exceed 15 m. From this analysis, there is evidence that annual maximum wind speeds and waves frequently derive from the same cyclone source and often occur within a 6 h time interval.

16 TIDAL AND WAVE POWER↗
DOE OSTI2018

Use of High-Throughput Automated Microbioreactor System for Production of Model IgG1 in CHO Cells

Automated microscale bioreactors (15 mL) can be a useful tool for cell culture engineers. They facilitate the simultaneous execution of a wide variety of experimental conditions while minimizing potential process variability. Applications of this approach include: clone screening, temperature and pH shifts, media and supplement optimization. Furthermore, the small reactor volumes are conducive to large Design of Experiments that investigate a wide range of conditions. This allows upstream processes to be significantly optimized before scale-up where experimentation is more limited in scope due to time and economic constraints. Automated microscale bioreactor systems offer various advantages over traditional small scale cell culture units, such as shake flasks or spinner flasks. However, during pilot scale process development significant care must be taken to ensure that these advantages are realized. When run with care, the system can enable high level automation, can be programmed to run DOE's with a higher number of variables and can reduce sampling time when integrated with a nutrient analyzer or cell counter. Integration of the expert-derived heuristics presented here, with current automated microscale bioreactor experiments can minimize common pitfalls that hinder meaningful results. In the extreme, failure to adhere to the principles laid out here can lead to equipment damage that requires expensive repairs. Furthermore, the microbioreactor systems have small culture volumes making characterization of cell culture conditions difficult. The number and amount of samples taken in-process in batch mode culture is limited as operating volumes cannot fall below 10 mL. This method will discuss the benefits and drawbacks of microscale bioreactor systems.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

Follow-up Studies of Five Cataclysmic Variable Candidates Discovered by LAMOST

We report follow-up observations of five cataclysmic variable candidates from the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) published by Hou et al. LAMOST J024048.51+195226.9 is the most unusual of the five; an early-M type secondary star contributes strongly to its spectrum, and its spectral and photometric behavior are strikingly reminiscent of the hitherto-unique propeller system AE Aqr. We confirm that a 7.34 hr period discovered in the Catalina survey data is orbital. Another object, LAMOST J204305.95+341340.6, appears to be a near twin of the novalike variable V795 Her, with an orbital period in the so-called 2–3 hr “gap.” LAMOST J035913.61+405035.0 is evidently an eclipsing, weakly outbursting dwarf nova with a 5.48 hr period. Our spectrum of LAMOST J090150.09+375444.3 is dominated by a late-type secondary and shows weak, narrow Balmer emission moving in phase with the absorption lines, but at lower amplitude; we do not see the He ii λ4686 emission evident in the published discovery spectrum. We again confirm that a period from the Catalina data, in this case 6.80 hr, is orbital. LAMOST J033940.98+414805.7 yields a radial-velocity period of 3.54 hr, and its spectrum appears to be typical of novalike variables in this period range. The spectroscopically selected sample from LAMOST evidently includes some interesting cataclysmic variables that have been unrecognized until now, apparently because of the relatively modest range of their photometric variations.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

The Most Massive Active Galactic Nuclei at 1 ≲ z ≲ 2

We obtained near-infrared spectra of 26 Sloan Digital Sky Survey quasars at 0.7<z<2.5 with reported rest-frame ultraviolet M {sub BH} ∼ 10{sup 10} M {sub ⊙} to critically examine the systematic effects involved with their mass estimations. We find that active galactic nuclei (AGNs) heavier than 10{sup 10} M {sub ⊙} often display double-peaked Hα emission, extremely broad Fe ii complex emission around Mg ii, and highly blueshifted and broadenedC iv emission. The weight of this evidence, combined with previous studies, cautions against the use of M {sub BH} values based on any emission line with a width over 8000 km s{sup −1}. Also, the M {sub BH} estimations are not positively biased by the presence of ionized narrow line outflows, anisotropic radiation, or the use of line FWHM instead of σ for our sample, and unbiased with variability, scatter in broad line equivalent width, or obscuration for general type-1 quasars. Removing the systematically uncertain M {sub BH} values, ∼10{sup 10} M {sub ⊙} black holes (BHs) in 1 ≲ z ≲ 2 AGNs can still be explained by anisotropic motion of the broad line region from ∼10{sup 9.5} M {sub ⊙} BHs, although current observations support that they are intrinsically most massive, and overmassive to the host’s bulge mass.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Data from: Temporal dynamics of free‐living nitrogen fixation in the switchgrass rhizosphere

Here we present data associated with the manuscript, Temporal dyanmics of free-living nitrogen fixation in the switchgrass rhizosphere. Free-living nitrogen fixation (FLNF) represents an important terrestrial N source and is gaining interest for its potential to contribute plant available N to bioenergy cropping systems. Switchgrass, a cellulosic bioenergy crop, may be reliant on FLNF when particularly when grown on low N marginal lands. These potential contributions of FLNF to switchgrass and the controls on this process are not well understood. We evaluated drivers of FLNF rates and N-fixing microbial community composition in field-grown switchgrass systems over two years with high temporal sampling. We found climate variables to be strong drivers of FLNF in switchgrass systems, compared to other environmental and biological factors including soil nutrients and N-fixing microbial community composition. Increased soil moisture availability tended to promote FLNF, but extreme rainfall events appeared to be detrimental. These climate-related responses suggest FLNF-derived N contributions may be reduced under projected climate shifts. We also found a significant, but weak correlation between N-fixing microbial community composition and FLNF rates including an observed shift in community composition between 2017 and 2018 and a similarly significant difference in FLNF rates between years. Lastly, we found that seasonal FLNF N contributions, based on measurement with high temporal resolution, may meet up to 80% of switchgrass N demands.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2021

OzDES reverberation mapping program: Lag recovery reliability for 6-yr C iv analysis

ABSTRACT We present the statistical methods that have been developed to analyse the OzDES reverberation mapping sample. To perform this statistical analysis we have created a suite of customizable simulations that mimic the characteristics of each source in the OzDES sample. These characteristics include: the variability in the photometric and spectroscopic light curves, the measurement uncertainties, and the observational cadence. By simulating the sources in the OzDES sample that contain the C iv emission line, we developed a set of criteria that rank the reliability of a recovered time-lag depending on the agreement between different recovery methods, the magnitude of the uncertainties, and the rate at which false positives were found in the simulations. These criteria were applied to simulated light curves and these results used to estimate the quality of the resulting Radius–Luminosity relation. We grade the results using three quality levels (gold, silver, and bronze). The input slope of the R–L relation was recovered within 1σ for each of the three quality samples, with the gold standard having the lowest dispersion with a recovered a R–L relation slope of 0.454 ± 0.016 with an input slope of 0.47. Future work will apply these methods to the entire OzDES sample of 771 AGN.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Analyzing the Effect of Ocean Internal Variability on Depth-Integrated Steric Sea-Level Rise Trends Using a Low-Resolution CESM Ensemble

Ocean heat uptake is a key indicator of climate change, in part because it contributes to sea-level rise. Quantifying the uncertainties surrounding ocean heat uptake and sea-level rise are important in assessing climate-related risks. Here, comprehensive global climate model ensembles are used to evaluate uncertainties surrounding decadal trends in depth-integrated global steric sea-level rise due to thermal expansion of the ocean. Results are presented against observational estimates, which are used as a guide to the state of recent literature. The first ensemble uses the Community Earth System Model (CESM), which samples the effects of internal variability within the coupled Earth system including contributions from the sub-surface ocean. We compare and contrast these results with an ensemble based on the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5), which samples the combined effects of structural model differences and internal variability. The effects of both internal variability and structural model differences contribute substantially to uncertainties in modeled steric sea-level trends for recent decades, and the magnitude of these effects varies with depth. The 95% range in total sea-level rise trends across the CESM ensemble is 0.151 mm·year –1 for 1957–2013, while this range is 0.895 mm·year –1 for CMIP5. These ranges increase during the more recent decade of 2005–2015 to 0.509 mm·year –1 and 1.096 mm·year –1 for CESM and CMIP5, respectively. The uncertainties are amplified for regional assessments, highlighting the importance of both internal variability and structural model differences when considering uncertainties surrounding modeled sea-level trends. Results can potentially provide useful constraints on estimations of global and regional sea-level variability, in particular for areas with few observations such as the deep ocean and Southern Hemisphere.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2018

Tracking of Nuclear Cable Insulation Polymer Structural Changes using the Gel Fraction and Uptake Factor Method

Cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) cable insulation samples were exposed to heat and gamma radiation at a series of temperatures, dose rates, and exposure times to evaluate the effects of these variables on material degradation. The samples were tested using the solvent incubation method to collect gel fraction and uptake factor data in order to assess the crosslinking and chain scission occurring in polymer samples with aging. Consistent with previous reports, gel fraction values were observed to increase and uptake factor values to decrease with radiation and thermal exposure. The trends seen were also more prominent as exposure time increased, suggesting this to be a viable method of tracking structural changes in the XLPE-insulated cable material over extended periods. For the conditions explored, the cable insulation material evaluated did not indicate signs of anomalous aging such as inverse temperature effect in which radiation-induced aging is more severe at lower temperature. Ongoing aging under identical radiation conditions and at lower temperature will further inform conclusions regarding the importance of inverse temperature effects for this material under these conditions.

cable aging↗