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At least 289 records · Page 16

2023 Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) (Annual Report)

For more than 30 years, the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility, which is managed by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science, has provided freely available data and resources to scientists worldwide. Providing these services effectively requires getting out in the field and engaging with the science community. With COVID travel restrictions behind us, we are focused on connecting in person with ARM users, establishing new partnerships, and supporting fieldwork that might have waited during the pandemic.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Towards Cross-Facility Workflows Orchestration through Distributed Automation

Modern science relies on end-to-end workflows that incorporate experimental instruments and utilize edge, cloud, or high-performance computing and storage resources. These components are geographically dispersed across various user facilities and interconnected through high-speed networks. In this paper, we present Zambeze, an automated distributed framework designed to facilitate this new class of cross-facility workflows. Utilizing swarm intelligence principles, Zambeze orchestrates science campaigns by managing distributed autonomous agents. These agents can offer a suite of services, including computing, storage, and data management. We demonstrate the feasibility of Zambeze through a real-world application involving electron microscopy, enhanced with Artificial Intelligence capabilities.

Skluzacek, Tyler↗

Towards Lightweight Data Integration Using Multi-Workflow Provenance and Data Observability

Modern large-scale scientific discovery requires multidisciplinary collaboration across diverse computing facilities, including High Performance Computing (HPC) machines and the Edge-to-Cloud continuum. Integrated data analysis plays a crucial role in scientific discovery, especially in the current AI era, by enabling Responsible AI development, FAIR, Reproducibility, and User Steering. However, the heterogeneous nature of science poses challenges such as dealing with multiple supporting tools, cross-facility environments, and efficient HPC execution. Building on data observability, adapter system design, and provenance, we propose MIDA: an approach for lightweight runtime Multi-workflow Integrated Data Analysis. MIDA defines data observability strategies and adaptability methods for various parallel systems and machine learning tools. With observability, it intercepts the dataflows in the background without requiring instrumentation while integrating domain, provenance, and telemetry data at runtime into a unified database ready for user steering queries. We conduct experiments showing end-to-end multi-workflow analysis integrating data from Dask and MLFlow in a real distributed deep learning use case for materials science that runs on multiple environments with up to 276 GPUs in parallel. We show near-zero overhead running up to 100,000 tasks on 1,680 CPU cores on the Summit supercomputer.

Santos Souza, Renan↗

Softwarized Federations of Science Instruments with Edge-Continuum Containers

Significant expansion of capabilities of DOE science complex of supercomputers, instruments and networks is expected as powerful experimental facilities, exascale computers and terabit networks are added. Combined with the advances in edge and cloud computing technologies, DOE science users now have the promise of unprecedented execution of complex, continuum workflows, namely, small and latency-sensitive computations at the edge and site, massive computations at remote HPC systems, and everything in between on the cloud. But, bringing this capability to the science user requires overcoming the overwhelming complexity of forming the federations of systems, and efficiently and effectively orchestrating the workflows while ensuring high utilization of the expensive facilities. Current manual configuration of the federated systems simply will not scale, since the coordination across sites may take weeks to months, often leading to under-utilized and hard-to-diagnose compositions. A powerful, composable software stack will be developed to (i) wrap the systems so that federations can be composed fast in software, and (ii) containerize computations to be orchestrated across the edge, site, cloud and HPC resources.

Rao, Nageswara S.↗

Photoelectron Spectroscopy and Theoretical Study on Monosolvated Cyanate Analogue Clusters ECX-· Sol (ECX- = NCSe-, AsCSe- and AsCS-; Sol = H2O, CH3CN)

Six monosolvated cyanate analogue clusters ECX-?Sol (ECX– = NCSe-, AsCSe-, and AsCS-; Sol = H2O and CH3CN) were investigated using negative ion photoelectron spectroscopy (NIPES). NIPES experiments show that these clusters possess overall similar spectra compared to their respective isolated ECX- anions but shift to higher electron binding energy with solvent CH3CN stabilizing the excess electrons slightly more than H2O. For the ECX-·H2O series, vertical detachment energies and their increments relative to the bare species are measured to be 3.700 / 0.370, 3.085 / 0.425, 3.085 / 0.430 eV for NCSe-, AsCSe- and AsCS-, respectively, while the corresponding values in ECX-·CH3CN series are 3.835 / 0.505, 3.145 / 0.475, and 3.135 / 0.480 eV. Ab initio electronic structure calculations indicate the excess charges located at the terminal N and Se atoms in NCSe- and migrated to the central C atom in AsCSe- and AsCS-. For NCSe-, the solvation is driven by the interactions with the two negatively charged terminal ends, while for AsCSe- and AsCS-, the solvation revolves around the interactions with the central C atom, where all the excess negative charge is concentrated. Two nearly degenerate isomers for NCSe-·H2O are identified, one forming a single strong N…H-O hydrogen bond (HB) and the other featuring a bidentate HB with two hydroxyl H atoms pointing to N and Se ends. In contrast, the negative central C atom in AsCSe-/AsCS- allows the formation of a bifurcated HB with H2O. Similar effects are observed for the acetonitrile case, in which the three H atoms of methyl group interact with the two negatively charged terminal ends in NCSe-, while prefer binding to the central negative carbon atom in AsCSe-/AsCS-. The different binding motifs derived in this work may suggest distinctly different solvation properties in NCSe- versus AsCSe-/AsCS-, with the former anion leading to asymmetric solvation at the N end of the solute, while the latter species creating more ‘isotropic’ solvation around the central C equatorial plane. This work was supported by U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Chemical Sciences, Geosciences, and Biosciences, and performed using EMSL, a national scientific user facility sponsored by DOE’s Office of Biological and Environmental Research and located at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, which is operated by Battelle Memorial Institute for the DOE. The theoretical calculations were conducted on EMSL’s “Cascade” Supercomputer.

Yuan, Qinqin↗

Advanced Electron Microscopy of Nanophased Synthetic Polymers and Soft Complexes for Energy and Medicine Applications

After decades of developments, electron microscopy has become a powerful and irreplaceable tool in understanding the ionic, electrical, mechanical, chemical, and other functional performances of next-generation polymers and soft complexes. The recent progress in electron microscopy of nanostructured polymers and soft assemblies is important for applications in many different fields, including, but not limited to, mesoporous and nanoporous materials, absorbents, membranes, solid electrolytes, battery electrodes, ion- and electron-transporting materials, organic semiconductors, soft robotics, optoelectronic devices, biomass, soft magnetic materials, and pharmaceutical drug design. For synthetic polymers and soft complexes, there are four main characteristics that differentiate them from their inorganic or biomacromolecular counterparts in electron microscopy studies: (1) lower contrast, (2) abundance of light elements, (3) polydispersity or nanomorphological variations, and (4) large changes induced by electron beams. Since 2011, the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences (CNMS) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory has been working with numerous facility users on nanostructured polymer composites, block copolymers, polymer brushes, conjugated molecules, organic–inorganic hybrid nanomaterials, organic–inorganic interfaces, organic crystals, and other soft complexes. This review crystalizes some of the essential challenges, successes, failures, and techniques during the process in the past ten years. It also presents some outlooks and future expectations on the basis of these works at the intersection of electron microscopy, soft matter, and artificial intelligence. Machine learning is expected to automate and facilitate image processing and information extraction of polymer and soft hybrid nanostructures in aspects such as dose-controlled imaging and structure analysis.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Integration Process for Payloads in the Fluids and Combustion Facility

The Fluids and Combustion Facility (FCF) is an ISS research facility located in the United States Laboratory (US Lab), Destiny. The FCF is a multi-discipline facility that performs microgravity research primarily in fluids physics science and combustion science. This facility remains on-orbit and provides accommodations to multi-user and Principal investigator (PI) unique hardware. The FCF is designed to accommodate 15 PI's per year. In order to allow for this number of payloads per year, the FCF has developed an end-to-end analytical and physical integration process. The process includes provision of integration tools, products and interface management throughout the life of the payload. The payload is provided with a single point of contact from the facility and works with that interface from PI selection through post flight processing. The process utilizes electronic tools for creation of interface documents/agreements, storage of payload data and rollup for facility submittals to ISS. Additionally, the process provides integration to and testing with flight-like simulators prior to payload delivery to KSC. These simulators allow the payload to test in the flight configuration and perform final facility interface and science verifications. The process also provides for support to the payload from the FCF through the Payload Safety Review Panel (PSRP). Finally, the process includes support in the development of operational products and the operation of the payload on-orbit.

Free, James M.↗

ARM Cloud and Precipitation Measurements and Science Group (CPMSG) 2024 Workshop Report

The mission of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility is to improve the understanding and representation of cloud and aerosol processes and their interaction with the Earth's surface in Earth system models (ESMs) by providing comprehensive field observations and supporting advanced data analytics. The ARM Cloud and Precipitation Measurements and Science Group (CPMSG) was chartered in March 2019 to help improve the performance and scientific impact of ARM measurements of clouds and precipitation. The group aims to identify and address gaps in measurement capabilities, maximize the scientific impact of ARM data, and effectively serve the scientific community. To achieve these goals, the group includes experts in cloud and precipitation science, as well as representatives from ARM infrastructure, including instrument mentors, engineers, data quality officers, and data product translators. Prior to CPMSG, early discussions on cloud and precipitation measurements primarily focused on improving radar systems, but have since evolved to include a broader scope involving radiometers and other instruments. Since its formation, the CPMSG has gathered feedback using science traceability matrices. CPMSG aims to keep these as living documents to show the measurement needs, scientific drivers, roadblocks, maturity of measurements and retrievals, and pathways to model improvements. The group meets quarterly to discuss and prioritize measurement and operational improvements.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

ARM Cloud and Precipitation Measurements and Science Group (CPMSG) 2024 Workshop Report

The mission of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility is to improve the understanding and representation of cloud and aerosol processes and their interaction with the Earth's surface in Earth system models (ESMs) by providing comprehensive field observations and supporting advanced data analytics. The ARM Cloud and Precipitation Measurements and Science Group (CPMSG) was chartered in March 2019 to help improve the performance and scientific impact of ARM measurements of clouds and precipitation. The group aims to identify and address gaps in measurement capabilities, maximize the scientific impact of ARM data, and effectively serve the scientific community. To achieve these goals, the group includes experts in cloud and precipitation science, as well as representatives from ARM infrastructure, including instrument mentors, engineers, data quality officers, and data product translators. Prior to CPMSG, early discussions on cloud and precipitation measurements primarily focused on improving radar systems, but have since evolved to include a broader scope involving radiometers and other instruments. Since its formation, the CPMSG has gathered feedback using science traceability matrices. CPMSG aims to keep these as living documents to show the measurement needs, scientific drivers, roadblocks, maturity of measurements and retrievals, and pathways to model improvements. The group meets quarterly to discuss and prioritize measurement and operational improvements.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

ARM Cloud and Precipitation Measurements and Science Group (CPMSG) 2024 Workshop Report

The mission of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility is to improve the understanding and representation of cloud and aerosol processes and their interaction with the Earth's surface in Earth system models (ESMs) by providing comprehensive field observations and supporting advanced data analytics. The ARM Cloud and Precipitation Measurements and Science Group (CPMSG) was chartered in March 2019 to help improve the performance and scientific impact of ARM measurements of clouds and precipitation. The group aims to identify and address gaps in measurement capabilities, maximize the scientific impact of ARM data, and effectively serve the scientific community. To achieve these goals, the group includes experts in cloud and precipitation science, as well as representatives from ARM infrastructure, including instrument mentors, engineers, data quality officers, and data product translators. Prior to CPMSG, early discussions on cloud and precipitation measurements primarily focused on improving radar systems, but have since evolved to include a broader scope involving radiometers and other instruments. Since its formation, the CPMSG has gathered feedback using science traceability matrices. CPMSG aims to keep these as living documents to show the measurement needs, scientific drivers, roadblocks, maturity of measurements and retrievals, and pathways to model improvements. The group meets quarterly to discuss and prioritize measurement and operational improvements.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Distonic radical anion species in cysteine oxidation processes

Oxidation of cysteine residues constitutes an important regulatory mechanism in the function of biological systems. Much of this behavior is controlled by the specific chemical properties of the thiol side-chain group, where reac-tions with reactive oxygen species take place. Herein, we in-vestigated the entire cysteine oxidation cycle Cys-SH ? Cys-SOnH (n = 1, 2, 3) using cryogenic negative ion photoelectron spectroscopy and quantum-chemical calculations. The conven-tional view on the first reversible oxidation step (n = 1) is as-sociated with sulfinate species. Yet our results indicate that an alternative option exists in the form of novel distonic radical anion •OS-CH2CH(NH2)-COO- with an unpaired electron on the thiol group and excess negative charge on the carboxylate. Higher order oxidation states (n = 2, 3) are thought to be asso-ciated with irreversible oxidative damage, and our results show that excess negative charge in those cases migrates to -SOn- group. Furthermore, these species are stable towards 1e oxidation, as opposed to the n = 1 case that undergoes intra-molecular proton transfer. The molecular level insights report-ed in this work provide direct spectroscopic evidences towards unique chemical versatility of Cys-sulfenic acid (Cys-SOH) in post-translational modifications of protein systems. This research was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Chemical Sciences, Geosciences and Biosciences (X.-B. W. and M. V.) and was performed at the EMSL, a national scientific user facility sponsored by DOE's Office of Biological and Environmental Research and located at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Z. B. Q. acknowledges additional support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 21873003 and 21503003) and the Special Program for Applied Research on Super Computation of the NSFC-Guangdong Joint Fund (the second phase) (Grant No. U1501501) and Super Computation of Shenzhen.

Qin, Zhengbo↗

A shared-world conceptual model for integrating space station life sciences telescience operations

Mental models of the Space Station and its ancillary facilities will be employed by users of the Space Station as they draw upon past experiences, perform tasks, and collectively plan for future activities. The operational environment of the Space Station will incorporate telescience, a new set of operational modes. To investigate properties of the operational environment, distributed users, and the mental models they employ to manipulate resources while conducting telescience, an integrating shared-world conceptual model of Space Station telescience is proposed. The model comprises distributed users and resources (active elements); agents who mediate interactions among these elements on the basis of intelligent processing of shared information; and telescience protocols which structure the interactions of agents as they engage in cooperative, responsive interactions on behalf of users and resources distributed in space and time. Examples from the life sciences are used to instantiate and refine the model's principles. Implications for transaction management and autonomy are discussed. Experiments employing the model are described which the authors intend to conduct using the Space Station Life Sciences Telescience Testbed currently under development at Ames Research Center.

Johnson, Vicki↗

Conference Support for 2024 MagNetUS Meeting

The 4th annual MagNetUS meeting was held from April 14-18, 2024 in Los Angeles, California at the UCLA Lake Arrowhead Conference Center. The goal of the meeting was to continue the successful template of a mix of invited talks, contributed talks, posters, and discussion sessions established by the first three MagNetUS meetings, in order to 1) communicate physics advances relevant for basic magnetized plasma research which can be performed at small and mid-size experimental facilities; 2) allow collaborator facilities to connect and interact with existing users and potential new users; and 3) grow the community of potential users of collaborator facilities, as well as scientists who focus on theory/modeling and spacecraft observations. The meeting was attended by 77 participants (71 in person) from 23 unique institutions and included 14 invited talks, 19 contributed talks, 22 posters, and six discussion sessions. Topics covered by the meeting included fusion research, space and astrophysical systems (including laboratory analogs), magnetic reconnection, plasma thrusters, turbulence, waves, dusty plasmas, laser plasmas, plasma vortices, plasma sources, and software ecosystems. Discussion sessions included discussions on science communication, with NSF and DOE program managers, on the MagNetUS application process for new users, on experimental facility capabilities, and as a tie-in to the Solar Wind Machine meeting.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

The NASA Facility for Astromaterials Research at the Johnson Space Center – A National Laboratory for Planetary Research

The Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science (ARES) Division at the NASA Johnson Space Center houses a unique combination of laboratories, instruments, infrastructure, technical ex-pertise, and other assets for conducting broad-based world-class planetary research. These facilities have been accessed for decades by hundreds of external scientists, including faculty, post-docs, students, and interns, most at no cost and on a collaborative basis. With funding through NASA’s Planetary Science Enabling Facilities (PSEF) program, we have estab-lished the NASA Facility for Astromaterials Research (NFAR) to expand access to and enhance these labora-tories for a diverse and inclusive external user base, thus maximizing the science return from research funded by R&A programs in NASA’s Planetary Sci-ence Division (PSD). NFAR enables cutting edge planetary sample analyses, making new scientific dis-coveries possible, in addition to training the next-generation of planetary scientists. NFAR laboratories are co-located with JSC Curation that houses all NASA-controlled astromaterials collections, thus ena-bling direct access to both research and curation exper-tise, to facilitate specialized sample handling and anal-ysis of allocated samples (from JSC and other sample collections) to PIs, particularly those affiliated with institutions that historically have limited or no access to in-house analytical or experimental facilities.

J Filiberto↗

5G Enabled Energy Innovation: Advanced Wireless Networks for Science (Workshop Report)

Rapidly expanding, new telecommunications infrastructure based on 5G technologies will disrupt and transform how we design, build, operate, and optimize scientific infrastructure and the experiments and services enabled by that infrastructure, from continental-scale sensor networks to centralized scientific user facilities, from intelligent Internet of Things devices to supercomputers. Concurrently, 5G will introduce, or exacerbate, challenges related to protecting infrastructure and associated scientific data as well as to fully leveraging opportunities related to expanded infrastructure scale and complexity. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science operates scientific infrastructure, supporting some of the nation’s most advanced intellectual discoveries, spanning the country and including 30 world-class user facilities from supercomputers to accelerators. Along with field experiments and remote observatories, every aspect of DOE’s scientific enterprise will be affected by 5G, which amounts to a complete renovation of the underpinnings of the nation’s information infrastructure. In this report we explore the scientific opportunities and new research challenges associated with 5G, ranging from scalability to heterogeneity to cybersecurity. The rapid commercial deployment of 5G opens the opportunity to rethink and reinvent DOE’s scientific infrastructure and experimentation, from intelligent sensor networks at unprecedented scales to a digital continuum of cyberinfrastructure spanning low-power sensors, high-performance computing embedded within and at the edge of the network, and DOE’s large-scale user instrument and computing facilities. New programming paradigms, workflow and data frameworks, and AI-based system design, operation, and autonomous adaptation and optimization will be necessary in order to exploit these new opportunities. Field deployments and centralized scientific instruments can also be revolutionized, moving (without traditional performance penalties) from wired to wireless connectivity for data and control systems, improving flexibility, and opening new sensing modalities, including the use of the 5G electromagnetic spectrum itself as an environmental probe. For DOE science, in contrast to commercial 5G applications and settings, devices will be deployed in extreme environments such as cryogenically cooled instrument control systems and in remote settings with harsh conditions, requiring the design of new materials for RF communication and edge processing to operate in these regimes. Concurrently, 5G infrastructure comprises both hardware and sophisticated software systems - currently closed and proprietary. The cybersecurity challenges to 5G-empowered reinvention mirror the complexity and variety of new 5G features, from virtualization to private network slices to ubiquitous access. Research is also needed in order to accelerate the development of secure and open 5G software infrastructure, reducing reliance on hardware and software produced outside the United States and providing the transparency and rigorous evaluation and testing afforded through open software. Twelve broad research thrusts are laid out in four chapters, with a companion fifth chapter (and three additional research thrusts) underscoring the needs and opportunities for an aggressive testbed program co-designed by networking experts and scientists involved in the 15 research thrusts. The urgency of undertaking this research is fueled by a global, accelerating deployment of new telecommunications infrastructure that is designed for entertainment and commercial applications - barely scratching the surface of what 5G can do to extend U.S. leadership in scientific discovery.

42 ENGINEERING↗

U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science Biological and Environmental Research (BER) Brochure

The Biological and Environmental Research (BER) program advances fundamental research and scientific user facilities to support Department of Energy (DOE) missions in scientific discovery and innovation, energy security, and environmental responsibility. BER seeks to understand the biological, biogeochemical, and physical principles needed to predict a continuum of processes occurring across scales, from molecular and genomics-controlled mechanisms at the smallest scales to environmental and Earth system change at the largest scales.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗