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NASA NTRS2004

NASA Education Forum at SAO on the Structure and Evolution of the Universe

Overview. The past year for the new SEU Forum has been a highly productive one and has moved us forward on three major objectives: Involving the public in the major scientific discoveries in our SEU theme this past year, especially the exciting discoveries about dark energy, cosmology, and black holes. Implementing the recommendations of the Knappenberger Report in order to strengthen the educational coherence of our collective activities. Developing strategic partnerships with underserved communities and other key customers . Among our activities for the past year are the following: Serving the Informal Science Education Communities: Summary of Goals, Plans and Activities for the Year 9/15/04 - 9/14/05. Interactions with the Space Science Community.

Gould, Roy↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

TPSAS-NF1676L-32652-DND

Space weather is an important driver of the exposure of aircrew and passengers to cosmic rays at flight altitudes. The assessment of the corresponding radiation doses can be realized by measurements or model calculations that cover the whole range of the radiation field in terms of geomagnetic shielding, atmospheric shielding, and the effects of space weather. Since the radiation field at aviation altitudes is very complex in terms of particle composition and energy distribution, the accurate experimental determination of doses at aviation altitudes is still a challenging task. Accordingly, the amount of data with comparatively small uncertainties is scarce. The Community Coordinated Modeling Center invited the Federal Aviation Administration, the German Aerospace Center, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to make their radiation models for aviation CARI-7A, PANDOCA, and NAIRAS available for interested users via the Community Coordinated Modeling Center web site. A concomitant comparison of model calculations with measuring data provided information on the predicting capabilities and the uncertainties of the current versions of these models under quiet space weather conditions.

Matthias M Meier↗

NASA NTRS2020

Aerosol-Ice Formation Closure Pilot Study (AEROICSTUDY) Field Campaign Report

The aerosol-ice formation closure pilot study (AEROICESTUDY) was a field campaign conducted at the U.S. Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility at the Southern Great Plains (SGP) observatory from October 7 to 28, 2019. The purpose of this campaign was to test a field observational approach for conducting an aerosol-ice formation closure study. In other words, the goal was to predict the number of ice nucleating particles (INPs) from the measurements of physical and chemical aerosol properties and compare those to measured INP number concentrations. This project was motivated by the fact that the aerosol community has widely conducted aerosol radiative closure, aerosol-cloud condensation nuclei (CCN), and CCN-droplet closure studies to test the physical models and parameterizations that cloud-resolving and climate models rely on to perform reliable simulations of the Earth system and energy budget. However, very few closure studies related to INPs have been conducted, and to our knowledge, none using robust, size-resolved, ambient aerosol composition measurements as model inputs.

aerosol-ice formation↗

NASA NTRS2020

Aerosol-Ice Formation Closure Pilot Study (AEROICESTUDY) Field Campaign Report

AEROICESTUDY↗

NASA NTRS1975

Energy recovery from solid waste. Volume 2: Technical report

A systems analysis of energy recovery from solid waste demonstrates the feasibility of several current processes for converting solid waste to an energy form. The social, legal, environmental, and political factors are considered in depth with recommendations made in regard to new legislation and policy. Biodegradation and thermal decomposition are the two areas of disposal that are considered with emphasis on thermal decomposition. A technical and economic evaluation of a number of available and developing energy-recovery processes is given. Based on present technical capabilities, use of prepared solid waste as a fuel supplemental to coal seems to be the most economic process by which to recover energy from solid waste. Markets are considered in detail with suggestions given for improving market conditions and for developing market stability. A decision procedure is given to aid a community in deciding on its options in dealing with solid waste, and a new pyrolysis process is suggested. An application of the methods of this study are applied to Houston, Texas.

Huang, C. J.↗

NASA NTRS1982

Development status of the small community solar power system

The development status and test results for the Small Community Solar Thermal Power Experiment are presented. Activities on the phase 2 power module development effort are presented with emphasis on the receiver, the plant control subsystem, and the energy transport subsystem. The components include a single prototype power module consisting of a parabolic dish concentrator, a power conversion assembly (PCA), and a multiple-module plant control subsystem. The PCA consists of a cavity receiver coupled to an organic Rankine cycle engine-alternator unit defined as the power conversion subsystem; the PCA is mounted at the focus of a parabolic dish concentrator. At a solar insolation of 100 W/sq m and ambient temperature of 28 C (82 F), the power module produces approximately 20 kW of 3-phase, 3 kHz ac power, depending on the concentrator employed. A ground-mounted rectifier to the central collection site where it is supplied directly to the common dc bus which collects the power from all modules in the plant.

Pons, R. L.↗

NASA NTRS2004

Seasonal-to-Interannual Variability and Land Surface Processes

Atmospheric chaos severely limits the predictability of precipitation on subseasonal to interannual timescales. Hope for accurate long-term precipitation forecasts lies with simulating atmospheric response to components of the Earth system, such as the ocean, that can be predicted beyond a couple of weeks. Indeed, seasonal forecasts centers now rely heavily on forecasts of ocean circulation. Soil moisture, another slow component of the Earth system, is relatively ignored by the operational seasonal forecasting community. It is starting, however, to garner more attention. Soil moisture anomalies can persist for months. Because these anomalies can have a strong impact on evaporation and other surface energy fluxes, and because the atmosphere may respond consistently to anomalies in the surface fluxes, an accurate soil moisture initialization in a forecast system has the potential to provide additional forecast skill. This potential has motivated a number of atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM) studies of soil moisture and its contribution to variability in the climate system. Some of these studies even suggest that in continental midlatitudes during summer, oceanic impacts on precipitation are quite small relative to soil moisture impacts. The model results, though, are strongly model-dependent, with some models showing large impacts and others showing almost none at all. A validation of the model results with observations thus naturally suggests itself, but this is exceedingly difficult. The necessary contemporaneous soil moisture, evaporation, and precipitation measurements at the large scale are virtually non-existent, and even if they did exist, showing statistically that soil moisture affects rainfall would be difficult because the other direction of causality - wherein rainfall affects soil moisture - is unquestionably active and is almost certainly dominant. Nevertheless, joint analyses of observations and AGCM results do reveal some suggestions of land-atmosphere feedback in the observational record, suggestions that soil moisture can affect precipitation over seasonal timescales and across certain large continental areas. The strength of this observed feedback in nature is not large but is still significant enough to be potentially useful, e.g., for forecasts. This talk will address all of these issues. It will begin with a brief overview of land surface modeling in atmospheric models but will then focus on recent research - using both observations and models - into the impact of land surface processes on variability in the climate system.

Koster, Randal↗

NASA NTRS2018

Challenges Beyond the Standard Model: An Examination and Evaluation of Alternatives with Respect to Unsolved Problems in Energetics and Signaling

The standard model of particle physics is regarded as one of the greatest achievements of modern physics. It has successfully predicted the existence of numerous hadrons; e.g. the Higgs Boson, the W and Z Bosons, B mesons, etc. Moreover it accurately models many phenomena such as Beta and Radioactive decay, pair production, hadron mass splitting, and others. In spite of this, the standard model has many shortfalls. For example it fails to account for or explain the presence of dark matter and dark energy. Many alternative models of the substructure of matter etc. have been proposed. Some of these are examined. In addition the strongly related standard model of cosmology, that is the big bang theory, accounts for all observed celestial phenomena. What it cannot do is satisfactorily justify all astrophysical events. As noted, dark matter and dark energy are not well understood yet they are core elements of the big bang model. Many elements of this standard model of cosmology are challenged regularly, yet somehow the community always fits the problems with the model into another mysterious element. This model and others are examined for consistency and reconciliation. Evidence of particles that move faster than the speed of light has long been sought, but remains elusive. Some of the known space-like observations of physics are examined. Potential consequences of such particles are likewise investigated. Some conclusions are drawn with respect to the framework of tachyons in a rational but non-rigorous sense. Finally, some of my ideas are presented, concerning all of the above material. The framework of theories of everything is examined, considering what such a theory requires for validity. Sociological notes on the structure of research in physics are given.

Coxe, Alexander M.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Observatory Implementation and Challenges

NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (Roman) is a deep space infrared observatory with a Hubble-sized telescope and wide field of regard with a boresight view greater than 200 times that of the Hubble Wide Field Camera 3infrared field of view, that will conduct a suite of science surveys to characterize dark energy and expand the census of exoplanets in our galaxy. Roman will also demonstrate exoplanet coronagraphy with active wavefront control technology and provide general investigator opportunities for the science community. Roman is finishing the critical design phase and is planning for launch in 2026. It will operate at the second Sun-Earth-Moon Lagrange for a five-year primary mission life. The Observatory features a telescope with an existing, repurposed 2.4m primary mirror, a Wide Field Instrument with a near-infrared detector focal plane array and optical elements for imaging and spectroscopy, as well as a Coronagraph instrument technology demonstration for direct imaging and spectroscopy of exoplanets. The telescope and instruments are mounted to an Instrument Carrier for optical metering and isolation from Spacecraft-induced disturbances. The Spacecraft includes a Bus, Solar Array Sunshield, Deployable Aperture Cover, Outer Barrel Assembly, and Star Tracker/Inertial Reference Unit Bench. When fully integrated, Roman will be the largest Observatory assembled and tested at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. The development of scientific satellites is challenging and pushes engineering boundaries to broaden scientific knowledge. The Roman mission implementation is a prime example and expected challenges have been amplified by the foundational decision to use existing, repurposed telescope components. Other unique aspects of the Roman mission, including its survey nature, large data volume, and Observatory packaging, create constrained design spaces that drive competing requirements across Observatory subsystems. Given these challenges, systems engineering has been a critical discipline in balancing implementation decisions and will continue to play a key role in the development of the Roman mission. This paper will discuss details of the Roman Observatory configuration, systems engineering challenges and the decision-making process used to mature the Roman Space Telescope from preliminary design to implementation.

Lisa M L Bartusek↗

NASA NTRS2006

Floating the Ball: Advances in the Technology of Electrostatic Levitation

Electrostatic Levitation (ESL) is an emerging technology. The MSFC ESL is a NASA facility that supports investigations of refractory solids and melts. The facility can be used to process a wide variety of materials including metals, alloys, ceramics, glasses and semiconductors. Containerless processing via ESL provides a high-purity environment for the study of high temperature materials and access to metastable states. Scientific topics investigated in the facility include nucleation, undercooling, metastable state formation and metallic glass formation. Additionally, the MSFC ESL provides data for the determination of phase diagrams, time-temperature-transition diagrams, viscosity, surface tension, density, heat capacity and creep resistance. In order to support a diverse research community, the MSFC ESL facility has developed a number of technical capabilities, including a portable system for in situ studies of structural tran$hrmations during processing at the high-energy X-ray beamline at the Advanced Photon Source of Argonne National Laboratory. The capabilities of the MSFC ESL facilities will be discussed and selected results of materials processing and characterization studies will be presented.

Rogers, Jan R.↗

NASA NTRS2012

Earth Radiation Imbalance from a Constellation of 66 Iridium Satellites: Climate Science Aspects

The "global warming hiatus" since the 1998 El Nino, highlighted by Meehl et al., and the resulting "missing energy" problem highlighted by Trenberth et al., has opened the door to a more fundamental view of climate change than mere surface air temperature. That new view is based on two variables which are strongly correlated: the rate of change of ocean heat content d(OHC)/dt; and Earth Radiation Imbalance (ERI) at the top of the atmosphere, whose guesstimated range is 0.4 to 0.9 Watts per square meters (this imbalance being mainly due to increasing CO2). The Argo float array is making better and better measurements of OHC. But existing satellite systems cannot measure ERI to even one significant digit. So, climate model predictions of ERI are used in place of real measurements of it, and the satellite data are tuned to the climate model predictions. Some oceanographers say "just depend on Argo for understanding the global warming hiatus and the missing energy", but we don't think this is a good idea because d(OHC)/dt and ERI have different time scales and are never perfectly correlated. We think the ERB community needs to step up to measuring ERI correctly, just as oceanographers have deployed Argo to measure OHC correctly. This talk will overview a proposed constellation of 66 Earth radiation budget instruments, hosted on Iridium satellites, that will actually be able to measure ERI to at least one significant digit, thus enabling a crucial test of climate models. This constellation will also be able to provide ERI at two-hourly time scales and 500-km spatial scales without extrapolations from uncalibrated narrowband geostationary instruments, using the highly successful methods of GRACE to obtain spatial resolution. This high time resolution would make ERI a synoptic variable like temperature, and allow studies of ERI's response to fast-evolving phenomena like dust storms and hurricanes and even brief excursions of Total Solar Irradiance. Time permitting, we will also discuss the emerging view of clear vs. cloudy and its implications for the traditional ERB approach.

Wiscombe, W.↗

NASA NTRS2016

Global Carbon Budget 2016

Accurate assessment of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and their redistribution among the atmosphere, ocean, and terrestrial biosphere the global carbon budget is important to better understand the global carbon cycle, support the development of climate policies, and project future climate change. Here we describe data sets and methodology to quantify all major components of the global carbon budget, including their uncertainties, based on the combination of a range of data, algorithms, statistics, and model estimates and their interpretation by a broad scientific community. We discuss changes compared to previous estimates and consistency within and among components, alongside methodology and data limitations. CO2 emissions from fossil fuels and industry (EFF) are based on energy statistics and cement production data, respectively, while emissions from land-use change (ELUC), mainly deforestation, are based on combined evidence from land-cover change data, fire activity associated with deforestation, and models. The global atmospheric CO2 concentration is measured directly and its rate of growth (GATM) is computed from the annual changes in concentration. The mean ocean CO2 sink (SOCEAN) is based on observations from the 1990s, while the annual anomalies and trends are estimated with ocean models. The variability in SOCEAN is evaluated with data products based on surveys of ocean CO2 measurements. The global residual terrestrial CO2 sink (SLAND) is estimated by the difference of the other terms of the global carbon budget and compared to results of independent dynamic global vegetation models. We compare the mean land and ocean fluxes and their variability to estimates from three atmospheric inverse methods for three broad latitude bands. All uncertainties are reported as +/- 1(sigma), reflecting the current capacity to characterize the annual estimates of each component of the global carbon budget. For the last decade available (2006-2015), EFF was 9.3+/-0.5 GtC/yr, ELUC 1.0+/-0.5 GtC/yr,GATM 4.5+/-0.1 GtC/yr, SOCEAN 2.6+/-0.5 GtC/yr, and SLAND 3.1+/-0.9 GtC/yr. For year 2015 alone, the growth in EFF was approximately zero and emissions remained at 9.9+/-0.5 GtC/yr, showing a slowdown in growth of these emissions compared to the average growth of 1.8/yr that took place during 2006-2015.Also, for 2015, ELUC was 1.3+/-0.5 GtC/yr, GATM was 6.3+/-0.2 GtC/yr, SOCEAN was 3.0+/-0.5 GtC/yr, and SLAND was 1.9+/-0.9 GtC/yr. GATM was higher in 2015 compared to the past decade (2006-2015), reflecting a smaller SLAND for that year. The global atmospheric CO2 concentration reached 399.4+/-0.1 ppm averaged over 2015. For 2016, preliminary data indicate the continuation of low growth in EFF with +0.2% (range of -1.0 to +1.8% ) based on national emissions projections for China and USA, and projections of gross domestic product corrected for recent changes in the carbon intensity of the economy for the rest of the world. In spite of the low growth of EFF in 2016, the growth rate in atmospheric CO2 concentration is expected to be relatively high because of the persistence of the smaller residual terrestrial sink (SLAND) in response to El Nino conditions of 2015-2016. From this projection of EFF and assumed constant ELUC for 2016, cumulative emissions of CO2 will reach 565+/-55 GtC (2075+/-205 GtCO2) for 1870-2016, about 75% from EFF and 25% from ELUC. This living data update documents changes in the methods and data sets used in this new carbon budget compared with previous publications of this data set.

Quéré, Corinne Le↗

NASA NTRS2017

Electrochemical Detection of Biological Catalysts as Signatures of Extant Life

Liquid water is the quintessential ingredient for life. Biochemistry as we know it is not possible without it. There are two places in the Solar System, other than the Earth, where liquid water is known to exist: Europa and Enceladus. Cassini’s recent discovery of Enceladus’ ocean plumes has excited the scientific community about the possibility for liquid sampling and search for life. Characteristics of life are self-sustainability, its ability to evolve, and self-enclosure. To enable these, chemical energy must be utilized, information must be stored, and enclosing membranes must be built. Many of these processes are accomplished with the use of biological catalysts. To search for life in the ocean worlds, detection of biological catalysts serves as a strong marker of biological activity and thus life.

Koehne, J. E.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA GLOBE CLOUD GAZE: Creating Data Quality Flags for Citizen Science Cloud Observations Matched to NASA Satellite Data

The GLOBE Program, NASA’s largest and longest lasting citizen science program about the Earth, has been collecting cloud observations matched to multiple satellite data daily. The program’s cloud protocol is historically the most popular protocol as your eyes are the only instruments you need to collect observations of the sky. This dataset includes over 3,300,000 cloud observations with variables like total cloud cover, cloud type and opacity that are collocated to the nearest overpass times of geostationary satellites (GOES-15, GOES-16, GOES-17, Meteosat-8, Meteosat-11, or Himawari-8), or to Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES) instruments onboard Aqua and Terra, or the Cloud–Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) satellite. In order to increase the usability of this dataset, the Community science project Leveraging Online and User Data through GLOBE And Zooniverse Engagement (CLOUD GAZE) has been developed to generate data quality flags of these ground-up and top-down perspectives of sky and clouds. Recently funded through NASA’s Citizen Science for Earth Systems Program, CLOUD GAZE has partnered with the Zooniverse online platform to obtain reference data and image tagging of sky photographs collected through The GLOBE Program’s clouds protocol. This paper will present the GLOBE Clouds dataset matched to NASA satellite data, integration of CLOUD GAZE to develop data quality flags, and research applications of the dataset (includes ground-up and top-down perspective comparisons, ground observations of dust storms and smoke plumes, and cloud observations in polar regions). The paper will also present on techniques and recommendations for classroom use and for community engagement, particularly for those looking to online resources.

Marilé Colón Robles↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

TPSAS-NF1676L-10735-DND

The Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) project has now surpassed the 10-year mark, has combined rigorous calibration, improved scene identification, and multi-satellite data fusion to produce a climate-accuracy data set of global 1° gridded radiative surface and TOA fluxes, and cloud properties. CERES provides the climate community with four observed TOA flux products. The ERBE-like product uses the same algorithms as ERBE in order to be compared with the ERBE time period. The SSF product uses the improved scene identification and radiance to flux conversion. The SYN product uses GEO derived clouds and fluxes to provide diurnally complete TOA fluxes. The EBAF product provides net balanced fluxes tied to the ocean heat storage term. This product is suited for climate modelers estimating the global mean energy budget. Each successive CERES flux product applies the improvements over the previous product. This presentation will focus on the diurnal averaging improvements by the inclusion of imager radiances from 5 geostationary (GEO) satellites at 3-hourly intervals to estimate the flux in between CERES observations. The regional monthly mean flux differences based on SYN (CERES/GEO) and SSF (CERES-only) can exceed 20 Wm^-2. CERES shortwave and longwave fluxes have been rigorously validated and are key elements in evaluating the ability of climate models to predict both past and future climate states. The CERES normalization of GEO derived fluxes in order to maintain the CERES instrument calibration and are consistent globally within 0.1 Wm^-2, even if the GEO calibration is artificially altered by ±5%, twice the anticipated calibration error. The predicted GEO TOA fluxes normalized to Terra have been compared at Aqua times to Aqua flux observations, as well as with GERB hourly fluxes over the METEOSAT domain. Similarly ground based radiometers have been used to validate the CERES radiative transfer computed surface fluxes and have confirmed that the CERES/GEO fluxes have improved the computed surface flux product. Although the GEO based fluxes are of inferior quality then the CERES observed fluxes, they capture the diurnal signal more effectively than using constant meteorology between CERES measurements. The validation of the GEO derived fluxes and clouds will be shown.

D. R. Doelling↗

NASA NTRS2000

Cylodextrin Polymer Nitrate

The development of the use of cyclodextrin nitrates as possible components of insensitive, high-energy energetics is outlined over a time period of 12 years. Four different types of cyclodextrin polymers were synthesized, nitrated, and evaluated regarding their potential use for the military and aerospace community. The synthesis of these novel cyclodextrin polymers and different nitration techniques are shown and the potential of these new materials is discussed.

Kosowski, Bernard↗

NASA NTRS2002

Towards a Multisensor Approach to Improve on Current TRMM Retrievals of Clouds and Precipitation

The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) was designed to measure tropical rainfall and its variation from a low inclination orbiting satellite. The TRMM payload was carefully chosen to overcome a number of limitations of past satellite observing systems. This payload is predicated on the combination of active and passive observations from the TRMM Precipitation Radar (PR) and TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI) and Visible and Infrared Scanner (VIRS). Our research over the past three years has been devoted to the challenge of developing the most effective way of combining complementary information from these sensors to provide the most consistent estimate of precipitation. We have approached this problem from three directions. The first was to carry out preliminary analysis of passive microwave and infrared data from the TMI and VIRS instruments to understand the character of clear and cloudy skies in the basis defined by polarization and brightness temperature differences. Using this information as a foundation, the properties of two retrieval algorithms were analyzed, one for retrieving ice clouds from VIRS that was developed in parallel with this project and the other for rainfall from the TMI. Finally, the knowledge gleaned from each of these studies, coupled with ancillary data from NWP models and a broadband radiative transfer model, was used to create and algorithm for synthesizing the principal components of the Earth's energy budget from the basic building blocks of the atmosphere, gases, clouds, and precipitation. Principal results from each of these areas of research and their role in the TRMM and climate communities are summarized.

Stephens, Graeme L.↗

NASA NTRS2004

Potential Application of Anaerobic Extremophiles for Hydrogen Production

During substrate fermentation many anaerobes produce the hydrogen as a waste product, which often regulates the growth of the cultures as an inhibitor. In nature the hydrogen is usually removed from the ecosystem due to its physical properties or by consumption of hydrogen by secondary anaerobes, which sometimes behave as competitors for electron donors as is seen in the classical example in anaerobic microbial communities via the interaction between methanogens and sulfate- or sulfur- reducers. It was demonstrated previously on mixed cultures of anaerobes at neutral pH that bacterial hydrogen production could provide an alternative energy source. But at neutral pH the original cultures can easily be contaminated by methanogens, a most unpleasant side effect of these conditions is the development of pathogenic bacteria. In both cases the rate of hydrogen production was dramatically decreased since some part of the hydrogen was transformed to methane, and the cultivation of human pathogens on a global scale is very dangerous. In our laboratory, experiments with obligately alkaliphilic bacteria that excrete hydrogen as the end metabolic product were performed at different temperature regimes. Mesophilic and moderately thermophilic bacterial cultures have been studied and compared for the most effective hydrogen production. For high-mineralized media with pH 9.5-10.0 not many methanogens are known to exist. Furthermore, the development of pathogenic contaminant microorganisms is virtually impossible: carbonate-saturated solutions are used as antiseptics in medicine. Therefore the cultivation of alkaliphilic hydrogen producing bacteria could be considered as most safe process for global Scale industry in future. Here we present experimental data on the rates of hydrogen productivity for mesophilic, alkaliphilic, obligately anaerobic bacterium Spirocheta americana ASpG1 and moderately thermophilic, alkaliphilic, facultative anaerobe Anoxybacillus pushchinoensis K1 and discuss the potential implications for alternative energy sources.

Pikuta, Elena V.↗