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At least 271 records · Page 15
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2003

Seasonal Variation and Ecosystem Dependence of Emission Factors for Selected Trace Gases and PM2.5 for Southern African Savanna Fires

In this paper we present the first early dry season (early June-early August) emission factor measurements for carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), methane (Ca), nonmethane hydrocarbons (NMHC), and particulates with a diameter less than 2.5 microns (pM2.5) for southern African grassland and woodland fires. Seasonal emission factors for grassland fires correlate linearly with the proportion of green grass, used as a surrogate for the fuel moisture content, and are higher for products of incomplete combustion in the early part of the dry season compared with later in the dry season. Models of emission factors for NMHC and PM(sub 2.5) versus modified combustion efficiency (MCE) are statistically different in grassland compared with woodland ecosystems. We compare predictions based on the integration of emissions factors from this study, from the southern African Fire-Atmosphere Research Initiative 1992 (SAFARI-92), and from SAFARI-2000 with those based on the smaller set of ecosystem-specific emission factors to estimate the effects of using regional-average rather than ecosystem-specific emission factors. We also test the validity of using the SAFARI-92 models for emission factors versus MCE to predict the early dry season emission factors measured in this study. The comparison indicates that the largest discrepancies occur at the low end (0.907) and high end (0.972) of MCE values measured in this study. Finally, we combine our models of MCE versus proportion of green grass for grassland fires with emission factors versus MCE for selected oxygenated volatile organic compounds measured in the SAFARI-2000 campaign to derive the first seasonal emission factors for these compounds. The results of this study demonstrate that seasonal variations in savanna fire emissions are important and should be considered in modeling emissions at regional to continental scales.

Korontzi, S.↗
NASA NTRS2021

Climate-driven Chemistry and Aerosol Feedbacks in CMIP6 Earth System Models

Feedbacks play a fundamental role in determining the magnitude of the response of the climate system to external forcing, such as from anthropogenic emissions. The latest generation of Earth system models includes aerosol and chemistry components that interact with each other and with the biosphere. These interactions introduce a complex web of feedbacks that is important to understand and quantify. This paper addresses multiple pathways for aerosol and chemical feedbacks in Earth system models. These focus on changes in natural emissions (dust, sea salt, dimethyl sulfide, biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) and lightning) and changes in reaction rates for methane and ozone chemistry. The feedback terms are then given by the sensitivity of a pathway to climate change multiplied by the radiative effect of the change. We find that the overall climate feedback through chemistry and aerosols is negative in the sixth Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6) Earth system models due to increased negative forcing from aerosols in a climate with warmer surface temperatures following a quadrupling of CO2 concentrations. This is principally due to increased emissions of sea salt and BVOCs which are sensitive to climate change and cause strong negative radiative forcings. Increased chemical loss of ozone and methane also contributes to a negative feedback. However, overall methane lifetime is expected to increase in a warmer climate due to increased BVOCs. Increased emissions of methane from wetlands would also offset some of the negative feedbacks. The CMIP6 experimental design did not allow the methane lifetime or methane emission changes to affect climate, so we found a robust negative contribution from interactive aerosols and chemistry to climate sensitivity in CMIP6 Earth system models.

Aerosol feedbacks↗
NASA NTRS1981

Organic compounds in meteorites and their origins

The current investigation represents an extensively updated version of a review conducted by Anders et al. (1973). The investigation takes into account the literature through mid-1980. It is pointed out that Type 1 carbonaceous chondrites (C1) contain 6% of their cosmic complement of carbon, mainly in the form of organic matter. Most authors now agree that this material represents primitive prebiotic matter. The principal questions remaining are what abiotic processes formed the organic matter, and to what extent these processes took place in locales other than the solar nebula, such as interstellar clouds or meteorite parent bodes. The problem is approached in three stages. It is attempted to reconstruct the physical conditions during condensation from the clues contained in the inorganic matrix of the meteorite. The condensation behavior of carbon under these conditions is determined on the basis of thermodynamic calculations. Model experiments on the condensation of carbon are performed, and the synthesized compounds are compared with those actually found in meteorites.

Hayatsu, R.↗
NASA NTRS1974

The distributions of odd nitrogen and odd hydrogen in the natural and perturbed stratosphere

In order to quantitatively illustrate the effects of quasi-horizontal transport of certain gases and of the reactions influencing their concentrations, a vertical-meridional pole-to-pole stratospheric model is presented which explicitly predicts concentrations of odd nitrogen and odd hydrogen compounds in the natural stratosphere and also in a perturbed stratosphere incorporating artificial injection of nitrogen oxides by an SST fleet. The northern hemisphere SST operations clearly have a very large local effect on the nitrogen oxide distribution and also have a significant effect on the southern hemisphere. The largest changes are seen at the point of injection of the nitrogen oxides. Results are in agreement with previous one-dimensional models.

Prinn, R. G.↗
NASA NTRS1977

On the formation and destruction of chlorine negative ions in the D region

We have investigated the possible reactions of chlorine atoms, chlorine monoxide, and hydrogen chloride with D region negative ions. The mesospheric concentrations of the neutral chlorine gases have been predicted with a diurnally varying one-dimensional model of the upper atmosphere. Despite the low abundances of chlorine compounds in air their high reactivity leads to the formation of substantial quantities of clorine negative ions at high altitudes. The concentration of chlorine ions is limited in daylight by rapid reactions with oxygen and hydrogen atoms and at night by the competitive production of other stable ions. The presence of chlorine negative ions in the upper atmosphere is consistent with in situ mass spectrometer observations of charged species. The abundance of chlorinated ions in the D region may be correlated with mesospheric nitric oxide and water vapor concentrations.

Turco, R. P.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Photocatalytic oxidation mechanism of alkanes in contact with titanium dioxide

Isobutane was photooxidized on titanium dioxide between -16 and +180 C in tertiary butanol and acetone. The formation of tertiary butanol preceded the formation of acetone. Above 20 C the latter compound became clearly predominant. The reaction kinetics obeyed a steady state model of oxygen chemisorption with the involvement of isobutane in the physisorbed phase.

Formenti, M.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Crystal Growth Research in Space

The objectives of this work are to develop growth techniques and theory leading to improved bulk growth of semiconductor single crystals. Ground based experiments will be complemented by experiments carried out in the low-g environment provided by the space shuttle. Analytical studies and laboratory investigations are being conducted to better define the causes of crystalline defects and inhomogeneities. The compound semiconductor lead-tin-telluride is being used as the modeling material. Theoretical techniques are being developed to predict the thermal and solutal fields which are present during bulk growth from a melt. Techniques for measuring the thermophysical properties of semiconductors at high temperatures have been developed. During the past year electrochemical etching techniques have been developed for delineation of inhomogeneous regions in crystals. Thermal diffusivity measurements have been completed for the solid and liquid phases of PbTe and PbSnTe. Preliminary results have been obtained on the effects on crystal morphology of gravity, interface shape and interaction between the melt and the container.

Crouch, R. K.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Stratospheric ozone - Impact of human activity

The current knowledge of the chemistry of the stratosphere is reviewed, with particular consideration given to the measurements from the Atmospheric Trace Molecule Spectroscopy (ATMOS) experiment and from the Airborne Antarctic Ozone Experiment. Analysis of the ATMOS data at 30 deg N suggests that the current understanding of the contemporary-stratosphere chemistry at mid-latitudes is relatively complete, except for possible problems with the diurnal variations of N2O5 at low altitudes, and with ClNO3 at higher altitudes. Except for some difficulties with these two compounds, the data from ATMOS agree well with the gas phase models for nitrogen and chlorine species at 30 deg N in spring. It is emphasized that, in addition to the HOCl mechanism proposed by Solomon et al. (1986), the ClO-BrO scheme proposed by McElroy et al. (1986), and the ClO dimer mechanism introduced by Molina and Molina (1987), other processes exist that are responsible for ozone removal.

Mcelroy, Michael B.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Neonatal rat heart cells cultured in simulated microgravity

In vitro characteristics of cardiac cells cultured in simulated microgravity are reported. Tissue culture methods performed at unit gravity constrain cells to propagate, differentiate, and interact in a two dimensional (2D) plane. Neonatal rat cardiac cells in 2D culture organize predominantly as bundles of cardiomyocytes with the intervening areas filled by non-myocyte cell types. Such cardiac cell cultures respond predictably to the addition of exogenous compounds, and in many ways they represent an excellent in vitro model system. The gravity-induced 2D organization of the cells, however, does not accurately reflect the distribution of cells in the intact tissue. We have begun characterizations of a three-dimensional (3D) culturing system designed to mimic microgravity. The NASA designed High-Aspect-Ratio-Vessel (HARV) bioreactors provide a low shear environment which allows cells to be cultured in static suspension. HARV-3D cultures were prepared on microcarrier beads and compared to control-2D cultures using a combination of microscopic and biochemical techniques. Both systems were uniformly inoculated and medium exchanged at standard intervals. Cells in control cultures adhered to the polystyrene surface of the tissue culture dishes and exhibited typical 2D organization. Cells in cultured in HARV's adhered to microcarrier beads, the beads aggregated into defined clusters containing 8 to 15 beads per cluster, and the clusters exhibited distinct 3D layers: myocytes and fibroblasts appeared attached to the surfaces of beads and were overlaid by an outer cell type. In addition, cultures prepared in HARV's using alternative support matrices also displayed morphological formations not seen in control cultures. Generally, the cells prepared in HARV and control cultures were similar, however, the dramatic alterations in 3D organization recommend the HARV as an ideal vessel for the generation of tissue-like organizations of cardiac cells in simulated microgravity.

Akins, Robert E.↗
NASA NTRS1996

U-Groove aluminum weld strength improvement

Though butt-welds are among the most preferred joining methods in aerostructures, their strength dependence on inelastic mechanics is generally the least understood. This study investigated experimental strain distributions across a thick aluminum U-grooved weld and identified two weld process considerations for improving the multipass weld strength. The extreme thermal expansion and contraction gradient of the fusion heat input across the groove tab thickness produces severe peaking, which induces bending under uniaxial loading. The filler strain-hardening decreased with increasing filler pass sequence, producing the weakest welds on the last pass side. Current welding schedules unknowingly compound these effects which reduce the weld strength. A depeaking index model was developed to select filler pass thicknesses, pass numbers, and sequences to improve depeaking in the welding process. The intent is to combine the strongest weld pass side with the peaking induced bending tension to provide a more uniform stress and stronger weld under axial tensile loading.

Verderaime, V.↗
NASA NTRS1997

U-Groove Aluminum Weld Strength Improvement

Though butt-welds are among the most preferred joining methods in aerostructures, their strength dependence on inelastic mechanics is generally the least understood. This study investigated experimental strain distributions across a thick aluminum U-grooved weld and identified two weld process considerations for improving the multipass weld strength. One is the source of peaking in which the extreme thermal expansion and contraction gradient of the fusion heat input across the groove tab thickness produces severe angular distortion that induces bending under uniaxial loading. The other is the filler strain hardening decreasing with increasing filler pass sequences, producing the weakest welds on the last weld pass side. Both phenomena are governed by weld pass sequences. Many industrial welding schedules unknowingly compound these effects, which reduce the weld strength. A depeaking index model was developed to select filler pass thickness, pass numbers, and sequences to improve depeaking in the welding process. The result was to select the number and sequence of weld passes to reverse the peaking angle such as to combine the strongest weld pass side with the peaking induced bending tension component side to provide a more uniform stress and stronger weld under axial tensile loading.

Verderaime, V.↗
NASA NTRS1997

Bulk Growth of Wide Band Gap II-VI Compound Semiconductors by Physical Vapor Transport

The mechanism of physical vapor transport of II-VI semiconducting compounds was studied both theoretically, using a one-dimensional diffusion model, as well as experimentally. It was found that the vapor phase stoichiometry is critical in determining the vapor transport rate. The experimental heat treatment methods to control the vapor composition over the starting materials were investigated and the effectiveness of the heat treatments was confirmed by partial pressure measurements using an optical absorption technique. The effect of residual (foreign) gas on the transport rate was also studies theoretically by the diffusion model and confirmed experimentally by the measurements of total pressure and compositions of the residual gas. An in-situ dynamic technique for the transport rate measurements and a further extension of the technique that simultaneously measured the partial pressures and transport rates were performed and, for the first time, the experimentally determined mass fluxes were compared with those calculated, without any adjustable parameters, from the diffusion model. Using the information obtained from the experimental transport rate measurements as guideline high quality bulk crystal of wide band gap II-VI semiconductor were grown from the source materials which undergone the same heat treatment methods. The grown crystals were then extensively characterized with emphasis on the analysis of the crystalline structural defects.

Su, Ching-Hua↗
NASA NTRS1997

Bulk Growth of Wide Band Gap II-VI Compound Semiconductors by Physical Vapor Transport

The mechanism of physical vapor transport of II-VI semiconducting compounds was studied both theoretically, using a one-dimensional diffusion model, as well as experimentally. It was found that the vapor phase stoichiometry is critical in determining the vapor transport rate. The experimental heat treatment methods to control the vapor composition over the starting materials were investigated and the effectiveness of the heat treatments was confirmed by partial pressure measurements using an optical absorption technique. The effect of residual (foreign) gas on the transport rate was also studies theoretically by the diffusion model and confirmed experimentally by the measurements of total pressure and compositions of the residual gas. An in-situ dynamic technique for the transport rate measurements and a further extension of the technique that simultaneously measured the partial pressures and transport rates were performed and, for the first time, the experimentally determined mass fluxes were compared with those calculated, without any adjustable parameters, from the diffusion model. Using the information obtained from the experimental transport rate measurements as guideline high quality bulk crystal of wide band gap II-VI semiconductor were grown from the source materials which undergone the same heat treatment methods. The grown crystals were then extensively characterized with emphasis on the analysis of the crystalline structural defects.

Su, Ching-Hua↗
NASA NTRS1984

Photochemistry of porphyrins: a model for the origin of photosynthesis

A series of porphyrins and catalysts has been prepared as a model for the origin of photosynthesis on the primordial earth. These compounds have been used to test the hypotheses that (1) the biosynthetic pathway to chlorophyll recapitulates the evolutionary history of photosynthesis, and (2) the proto-photosythetic function of biogenetic porphyrins (biosynthetic chlorophyll precursors) was the oxidation of organic molecules by photoexcited porphyrins with the attendant emission of molecular hydrogen. This paper describes experiments in which photoexcited biogenetic porphyrins oxidize ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA). The concomitant reduction of protons to hydrogen gas occurs in the presence of a colloidal platinum catalyst. The addition of methyl viologen, a one-electron shuttle, increases the amount of molecular hydrogen generated during long irradiations and the quantum yield of hydrogen production. When the porphyrin and catalyst are held in association by molecular complexes, the increased efficiency of electron transfer produces higher yields of hydrogen gas.

Hydrogen/chemistry↗
NASA NTRS1997

Neonatal rat heart cells cultured in simulated microgravity

In vitro characteristics of cardiac cells cultured in simulated microgravity are reported. Tissue culture methods performed at unit gravity constrain cells to propagate, differentiate, and interact in a two-dimensional (2D) plane. Neonatal rat cardiac cells in 2D culture organize predominantly as bundles of cardiomyocytes with the intervening areas filled by nonmyocyte cell types. Such cardiac cell cultures respond predictably to the addition of exogenous compounds, and in many ways they represent an excellent in vitro model system. The gravity-induced 2D organization of the cells, however, does not accurately reflect the distribution of cells in the intact tissue. We have begun characterizations of a three-dimensional (3D) culturing system designed to mimic microgravity. The NASA-designed High-Aspect Ratio Vessel (HARV) bioreactors provide a low shear environment that allows cells to be cultured in static suspension. HARV-3D cultures were prepared on microcarrier beads and compared to control-2D cultures using a combination of microscopic and biochemical techniques. Both systems were uniformly inoculated and medium exchanged at standard intervals. Cells in control cultures adhered to the polystyrene surface of the tissue culture dishes and exhibited typical 2D organization. Cells cultured in HARVs adhered to microcarrier beads, the beads aggregated into defined clusters containing 8 to 15 beads per cluster, and the clusters exhibited distinct 3D layers: myocytes and fibroblasts appeared attached to the surfaces of beads and were overlaid by an outer cell type. In addition, cultures prepared in HARVs using alternative support matrices also displayed morphological formations not seen in control cultures. Generally, the cells prepared in HARV and control cultures were similar; however, the dramatic alterations in 3D organization recommend the HARV as an ideal vessel for the generation of tissuelike organization of cardiac cells in vitro.

Non-NASA Center↗
NASA NTRS2009

Investigation of Isovaline Enantiomeric Excesses and Other C5 Amino Acids in Carbonaceous Meteorites

The origin of biological homochirality is one of the most perplexing puzzles to understanding the emergence of life on Earth. While many models have been proposed, the only reported non-biologically generated. compounds that show a significant enantiomeric excess are a few amino acids in the CM2 Murchison and Murray meteorites (e.g. Pizzarello and Cronin 2000; Pizzarello et al, 2008). Of these isovaline (alpha-ethyl-alanine) is of particular interest since it is typically abundant in CM2 meteorites, is exceedingly rare in biology, and due to its chemical structure is likely to maintain its primordial D/L ratio. Instead of the gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) technique employed by Pizzarello et al., we have used liquid chromatography-fluorescence detection/time of flight-mass spectrometry (LC-FD/ToF-MS) to study the enantiomeric ratio of isovaline in the CM2 meteorites Murchison and LEW90500 and the CR2 QUE99177. We have placed particular emphasis on understanding the suite of C5 amino acids in these meteorites. In doing so, we have determined that D and L 3-aminopentanoic acid co-elutes with Lisovaline and L-valine under common chromatographic conditions (Glavin and Dworkin 2006) for omicron-phthaldialdehyde/N-acetyl-L-cysteine (OPA/NAC). We have devised a method to separate these compounds and we will report the actual D/ L ratios of isovaline in these meteorites and how they compare to the GC-MS measurements of Pizzarello and co-workers.

Dworkin, Jason P.↗
NASA NTRS2016

A Review of Recent Advances in Research on Extreme Heat Events

Reviewing recent literature, we report that changes in extreme heat event characteristics such as magnitude, frequency, and duration are highly sensitive to changes in mean global-scale warming. Numerous studies have detected significant changes in the observed occurrence of extreme heat events, irrespective of how such events are defined. Further, a number of these studies have attributed present-day changes in the risk of individual heat events and the documented global-scale increase in such events to anthropogenic-driven warming. Advances in process-based studies of heat events have focused on the proximate land-atmosphere interactions through soil moisture anomalies, and changes in occurrence of the underlying atmospheric circulation associated with heat events in the mid-latitudes. While evidence for a number of hypotheses remains limited, climate change nevertheless points to tail risks of possible changes in heat extremes that could exceed estimates generated from model outputs of mean temperature. We also explore risks associated with compound extreme events and nonlinear impacts associated with extreme heat.

Heat events↗
NASA NTRS2018

Flood Hazard Assessment from Storm Tides, Rain and Sea Level Rise for a Tidal River Estuary

Cities and towns along the tidal Hudson River are highly vulnerable to flooding through the combination of storm tides and high streamflows, compounded by sea level rise. Here a three-dimensional hydrodynamic model, validated by comparing peak water levels for 76 historical storms, is applied in a probabilistic flood hazard assessment. In simulations, the model merges streamflows and storm tides from tropical cyclones (TCs), offshore extratropical cyclones (ETCs) and inland "wet extratropical" cyclones (WETCs). The climatology of possible ETC and WETC storm events is represented by historical events (1931-2013), and simulations include gauged streamflows and inferred ungauged streamflows (based on watershed area) for the Hudson River and its tributaries. The TC climatology is created using a stochastic statistical model to represent a wider range of storms than is contained in the historical record. TC streamflow hydrographs are simulated for tributaries spaced along the Hudson, modeled as a function of TC attributes (storm track, sea surface temperature, maximum wind speed) using a statistical Bayesian approach. Results show WETCs are important to flood risk in the upper tidal river (e.g., Albany, New York), ETCs are important in the estuary (e.g., New York City) and lower tidal river, and TCs are important at all locations due to their potential for both high surge and extreme rainfall. The raising of floods by sea level rise is shown to be reduced by approximately 30-60 percent at Albany due to the dominance of streamflow for flood risk. This can be explained with simple channel flow dynamics, in which increased depth throughout the river reduces frictional resistance, thereby reducing the water level slope and the upriver water level.

Tidal river↗