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At least 289 records · Page 16
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2022

Hands-On Computer Science: The Array of Things Experimental Urban Instrument

Chicago's Array of Things (AoT) project is aptly described as a technology experiment or a "smart city" prototype. The concept of such an extensible "instrument" arose within a larger translational research vision applying computer science and engineering research for the multidimensional benefit of people and communities in cities. The AoT project hypothesized that wireless intelligent sensor networks could enable both quantitative social science and urban monitoring while also stimulating youth interest in science and technology. Successful deployment of such sensor networks could provide open data from urban measurements not only in support of diverse research questions-in environmental dynamics, urban architecture, engineering, and social sciences-but also informing community groups and city planners. Further, the AoT project and its successor SAGE project are a computer science and engineering experiment, but its success is inextricably tied to community engagement and experiential education. Simply put, community acceptance is a prerequisite to installing and testing the instrument.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2022

A Succession of Cloud, Precipitation, Aerosol and Air Quality Field Experiments in the Coastal Urban Environment

The interactions and feedbacks among clouds, aerosols, pollutants, and the thermodynamic and kinematic environment remains an area of active research with important implications for our understanding of climate, weather and air quality. These linkages are further complicated in coastal and urban environments where local circulations and anthropogenic influences impact each of these components and their interactions. Within this context, fundamental questions regarding the lifecycle of convective clouds, aerosols and pollutants have brought together a diverse, integrated, and interagency collaboration of scientists to collect and analyze measurements, in the Houston, Texas, area, from the summer of 2021 through the summer of 2022, with subsequent modeling studies to address these important research objectives. Herein, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Facility and Atmospheric System Research (ASR) Program, the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Physical and Dynamic Meteorology Program, the National Aeronautic and Space Administration’s (NASA’s) Tropospheric Composition Research and Health and Air Quality Applied Sciences Programs and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) are collaborating on a joint set of field campaigns to study the interactions of cloud, aerosol, and pollutants within the coastal, urban environment. In the Houston area, onshore flow from the Gulf of Mexico and the associated sea breeze circulation generates numerous isolated convective cells, particularly in the summer months, that interact with a variety of urban and industrial emissions.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

CROCUS 3-D wind data from Argonne Deployable Mast during Urban Canyon IOP July 2024

During the Community Research on Climate and Urban Science (CROCUS) Urban Integrated Field Laboratory (UIFL) project, led by Argonne National Laboratory, this dataset was collected by METEK uSonic-3 Class A MP sonic anemometer at 10 meter height of the Argonne Deployable Mast (ADM) from July 26 to July 28, 2024, .As part of the CROCUS 2024 Urban Canyon Intensive Observation Period (IOP), 3-D sonic anemometer on the ADM was set up to provide continuous measurements of wind and temperature in Chicago during July 2024. These measurements cover winds in X-, Y- and Z- direction and sonic temperature at 30-Hz resolution. The data are formatted as NetCDF (.nc) files, making them easily accessible using common software such as MATLAB, R, and Python.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

CROCUS Urban Canyons - Space Science and Engineering Center (SPARC) Doppler lidar data

This is the netCDF format output from the Halo Photonics Streamline XR Doppler lidar that was deployed next to the Space Science and Engineering Center (SPARC) trailer at the University of Illnois-Chicago greenhouse parking lot during CROCUS Urban Canyons. The purpose of collecting this dataset is to provide vertical and horizontal wind profiles for studying the characteristics of turbulence over the urban canyon of Chicago. This data contains the radial velocity, intensity, and backscatter from the vertical profile, range height indicator, and sector scans that were performed over both Intensive Operating Period 1 and 2 of CROCUS Urban Canyons. There are four different types of files: * The Range Height Indicator (RHI) files contain scans that are along a constant azimuth, spanning the entire hemisphere of elevation values above the surface. * The Velocity Azimuth Display (VAD) files contain the raw radial velocity data from the 6-beam, 60 degree scans. * The User1 files contain stacked Plan Position Indicator scans over a 45 degree quadrant over downtown Chicago. * The Stare files contain vertically pointing scans. These are standard netCDF files that can be opened using xarray. The VAD scans can be processed from their raw radial velocities to horizontal wind speeds with the Atmospheric data Community Toolkit (https://arm-doe.github.io/ACT/).

EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC WINDS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Monitoring urban hydrological environment monitoring using fiber optical sensing

The goal of this research is to develop an innovative approach to monitoring urban dynamic hydrological environment using optical-fiber-based distributed acoustic sensing (DAS). We propose to employ surface-wave dispersion inversion and coda-wave interferometry inversion based on natural and anthropogenic seismic ambient noises acquired using a DAS array to accurately invert for time-lapse changes of groundwater in urban areas. Through this work, we aim to provide the first cost-effective, city-scale, high-resolution approach to monitoring urban groundwater changes that is otherwise difficult or expensive to achieve using conventional techniques. This work will create LANL’s DAS-based near-surface and groundwater monitoring capability, which can also be leveraged in solving relevant applied energy and national security problems.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2023

Initial Systems-Level Assessment of a Distributed Direct Air Capture System Concept at the Urban-scale (UrbanDAC)

Direct Air Capture (DAC) systems offer a promising solution for mitigating global carbon emissions by directly removing ambient carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) from the atmosphere. While future DAC facilities are typically envisioned as being large and centralized, small-scale systems present an alternative approach with advantages such as adaptability and lower uptake costs. By harnessing waste heat from the built environment, such small-scale systems become distributed DAC at the urban scale (UrbanDAC) that benefit from existing urban infrastructure, while presenting challenges such as identifying eligible buildings and sustainable transportation and storage of captured CO 2 . Collaborating with engineering experts and developers of a DAC unit that can be co-located with cooling towers of existing commercial buildings, this study explores the systems-level implications of UrbanDAC using a geographically explicit multi-decision criteria analysis (MCDA) framework. By considering various infrastructure and environmental factors, network analysis and geospatial techniques are applied to identify optimal building candidates for distributed DAC units within Knoxville, Tennessee, USA, as a representative mid-size city. The selected outputs of the MCDA are used to explore a scenario that assumes a CO 2 collection and transport route for 20 high-ranking candidate buildings; total carbon emissions, EV energy consumption, and net carbon dioxide removal (CDR) are then calculated. Results suggest that the spatial variation of optimal candidates between thriving commercial areas is an important planning consideration. Examining the feasibility of UrbanDAC at an urban planning level provides valuable insights into the barriers and enabling conditions for CDR in cities, where the vast majority of CO 2 emissions are produced, and supports decision-making processes for the implementation of decarbonization initiatives. Through this initial assessment, this research acts as a pilot study for an emerging technology that highlights the importance of distributed DAC technologies in addressing climate change and emphasizes the need for further research and exploration in this domain.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2024

Urban Heat Island Effects to Air and Water Quality in the Augusta Metropolitan Area

The Urban Heat Island (UHI) is the longest-known anthropogenic impact on weather and climate. Urbanization in the 21st century has led to an amplification in UHI effects, which poses environmental concerns as well as public health risks. While the UHI is often observed in larger metropolitan areas, it is less studied in smaller or moderately-sized cities that are still developing. The population of the Augusta Metropolitan Area (AMA) has increased over 10% in the last decade. Because of increasing urban sprawl in conjunction with overall increased anthropogenic warming, it is critical to define Augusta’s UHI impact and model how it could change in the future.

Wermter, Joseph E.↗
DOE OSTI2023

Urban Combined Heat and Power with Integrated Renewables and Energy Storage

This project demonstrated how incorporating a diverse generation and storage portfolio allows an urban district energy system to improve its efficiency by at least 50% and increase its backup power by at least 40% with a return on investment of at least ten years. The improvement was evaluated against the baseline operations for two urban district energy systems (DESs): a synthetic DES and a George Washington University DES. The DES techno-economic framework we developed yields reliability, resilience, and vulnerability indices for urban DESs (including generation and storage) with designation of which technologies improve the security and resiliency metrics by at least 20% compared to the status quo. The indices are benchmarked against baseline scenarios, and cost projections (capital cost and return on investment) to achieve the 20% improvement are reported. The energy management system we developed to conduct these analyses was incorporated into a user-friendly interface that can be used for decision-making by a user with no technical or programming background.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2026

Desert-Urban System Integrated Atmospheric Monsoon (DUSTIEAIM) in the Southwestern United States Science Plan

The Desert-Urban System Integrated Atmospheric Monsoon (DUSTIEAIM) campaign is a groundbreaking, high-impact scientific mission that will transform how we understand and respond to energy and water challenges in one of America’s fastest-growing and most heat-stressed urban regions: Phoenix, Arizona. Starting in April 2026, this 18-month field campaign harnesses the full power of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility and an interdisciplinary science team including national laboratories, universities, and agencies with a broad range of subject-matter expertise. With cutting-edge instruments, active and passive ground-based sensors, radars, and integrated modeling, DUSTIEAIM will deliver the most comprehensive environmental data set ever collected for a desert-urban-agricultural interface.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Time Delay of Wide Area Damping Control in Urban Power Grid: Model-Based Analysis and Data-Driven Compensation

Due to the rapid development of economies, large urban cities consume an increasing amount of energy and have a higher requirement for power quality. Voltage source converter based high voltage direct current (VSC-HVDC) is a promising device to transmit clean power from remote regions to urban power systems, while also providing wide area damping control (WADC) for frequency stabilization. However, the time-delay naturally existing in the VSC-HVDC system may degrade the performance of WADC and even result in instability. To address this issue, this paper develops a time-delay correction control strategy for VSC-HVDC damping control in urban power grids. First, a small signal model of WADC is built to analyze the negative impacts of time delay. Then, a data-driven approach is proposed to compensate for the inherent time delay in VSC-HVDC damping control. The extensive training data will be generated under various disturbances. After offline training, the long short-term memory network (LSTM) can be implemented online to predict the actual frequency deviation based on real-time measurements. Finally, the proposed method is validated through MATLAB-Simulink in a two-area four-machine system. The results indicate that the data-driven compensation has a strong generalization ability for random delay time constants and can improve the performance of WADC significantly.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2024

Native Microalgae-Bacteria Consortia: A Sustainable Approach for Effective Urban Wastewater Bioremediation and Disinfection

Urban wastewater is a significant by-product of human activities. Conventional urban wastewater treatment plants have limitations in their treatment, mainly concerning the low removal efficiency of conventional and emerging contaminants. Discharged wastewater also contains harmful microorganisms, posing risks to public health, especially by spreading antibiotic-resistant bacteria and genes. Therefore, this study assesses the potential of a native microalgae-bacteria system (MBS) for urban wastewater bioremediation and disinfection, targeting NH4+-N and PO43−-P removal, coliform reduction, and antibiotic resistance gene mitigation. The MBS showed promising results, including a high specific growth rate (0.651 ± 0.155 d−1) and a significant average removal rate of NH4+-N and PO43−-P (9.05 ± 1.24 mg L−1 d−1 and 0.79 ± 0.06 mg L−1 d−1, respectively). Microalgae-induced pH increase rapidly reduces coliforms (r > 0.9), including Escherichia coli, within 3 to 6 days. Notably, the prevalence of intI1 and the antibiotic resistance genes sul1 and blaTEM are significantly diminished, presenting the MBS as a sustainable approach for tertiary wastewater treatment to combat eutrophication and reduce waterborne disease risks and antibiotic resistance spread.

Sousa, Joana F.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Urban Land Surface Temperature Downscaling in Chicago: Addressing Ethnic Inequality and Gentrification

In this study, we developed a XGBoost-based algorithm to downscale 2 km-resolution land surface temperature (LST) data from the GOES satellite to a finer 70 m resolution, using ancillary variables including NDVI, NDBI, and DEM. This method demonstrated a superior performance over the conventional TsHARP technique, achieving a reduced RMSE of 1.90 °C, compared to 2.51 °C with TsHARP. Our approach utilizes the geostationary GOES satellite data alongside high-resolution ECOSTRESS data, enabling hourly LST downscaling to 70 m—a significant advancement over previous methodologies that typically measure LST only once daily. Applying these high-resolution LST data, we examined the hottest days in Chicago and their correlation with ethnic inequality. Our analysis indicated that Hispanic/Latino communities endure the highest LSTs, with a maximum LST that is 1.5 °C higher in blocks predominantly inhabited by Hispanic/Latino residents compared to those predominantly occupied by White residents. This study highlights the intersection of urban development, ethnic inequality, and environmental inequities, emphasizing the need for targeted urban planning to mitigate these disparities. The enhanced spatial and temporal resolution of our LST data provides deeper insights into diurnal temperature variations, crucial for understanding and addressing the urban heat distribution and its impact on vulnerable communities.

Lee, Jangho (ORCID:0000000289421092)↗
DOE OSTI2025

Identifying Urban Pluvial Frequency Flooding Hotspots Using the Topographic Control Index and Remote Sensing Radar Images for Early Warning Systems

Identifying areas that frequently experience post-rainfall ponding is essential for effective flood mitigation and planning. This study integrates Sentinel-1 radar imagery and the Topographic Control Index (TCI) to identify 378 flood-prone urban depressions in Beaumont, Texas. Out of 159 major rainfall events, only six had Sentinel-1 radar imagery acquired within six hours of peak rainfall, and these were used to generate the flood frequency map; the ground-based flood sensor data were used to verify that these selected events corresponded to actual peak rainfall and to validate radar-detected water pixels. Validation results showed 100% precision, 70.87% recall, an F1-score of 82.95%, and 71.32% overall accuracy. Approximately 84% of medium-to-high TCI depressions overlapped with Beaumont’s two-year inundation map, confirming a strong relationship between TCI and observed flooding. A total of 124 depressions retained significant water, and after excluding 25 engineered detention ponds, 99 natural depressions remained flood vulnerable. Among these, 74 depressions with medium or high TCI were identified as the highest-priority nuisance flooding hotspots. The results demonstrate that combining TCI with radar imagery provides a reliable and cost-effective approach for identifying areas prone to frequent urban ponding. This framework supports practical decision-making for drainage improvements, hotspot identification, and early-warning system development in urban flood-prone regions.

Sentinel-1 radar imagery↗
DOE OSTI2022

Quantifying System Level Impact of Connected and Automated Vehicles in an Urban Corridor

Numerous studies have demonstrated significant energy reduction for an ego vehicle by up to 20% leveraging Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) technologies [1-4]. Some studies have also analyzed the impact of such vehicles on the energy consumption of other vehicles in a suburban or a highway corridor [5, 6], but the impact in an urban setting has not been studied yet. Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), in collaboration with Continental and Hyundai, is currently working on a Department of Energy funded project that is focused on quantifying the impact of multiple ego vehicles (smart vehicles) on the total energy consumption of the corridor under various traffic conditions, vehicle electrification level, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) technology penetration, and the number of smart (ego) vehicles in an urban setting. A six-kilometer-long urban corridor from Columbus, Ohio was modeled and calibrated with real-world data in PTV Vissim traffic microsimulation software. Five forward-looking powertrain models, consisting of two battery electric vehicles (BEVs), a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV), and two internal combustion engine (ICE) powered vehicles, were developed to estimate the energy consumption of vehicles on the corridor. A comprehensive full factorial simulation study was performed. The simulation results indicate that for a traffic mix based on projected new vehicles sales in 2025, a 15% corridor-level energy consumption reduction can be achieved. The paper details the development and validation of the simulation framework, design of experiments conducted, a discussion of challenges faced, and results under various test conditions.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2023

Seasonal variations in composition and sources of atmospheric ultrafine particles in urban Beijing based on near-continuous measurements

Abstract. Understanding the composition and sources of atmospheric ultrafine particles (UFPs) is essential in evaluating their exposure risks. It requires long-term measurements with high time resolution, which are scarce to date. We performed near-continuous measurements of UFP composition during four seasons in urban Beijing using a thermal desorption chemical ionization mass spectrometer, accompanied by real-time size distribution measurements. We found that UFPs in urban Beijing are dominated by organic components, varying seasonally from 68 % to 81 %. CHO organics (i.e., molecules containing carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen) are the most abundant in summer, while sulfur-containing organics, some nitrogen-containing organics, nitrate, and chloride are the most abundant in winter. With the increase of particle diameter, the contribution of CHO organics decreases, while that of sulfur-containing and nitrogen-containing organics, nitrate, and chloride increases. Source apportionment analysis of the UFP organics indicates contributions from cooking and vehicle sources, photooxidation sources enriched in CHO organics, and aqueous/heterogeneous sources enriched in nitrogen- and sulfur-containing organics. The increased contributions of cooking, vehicle, and photooxidation components are usually accompanied by simultaneous increases in UFP number concentrations related to cooking emission, vehicle emission, and new particle formation, respectively, while the increased contribution of the aqueous/heterogeneous composition is usually accompanied by the growth of UFP mode diameters. The highest UFP number concentrations in winter are due to the strongest new particle formation, the strongest local primary particle number emissions, and the slowest condensational growth of UFPs to larger sizes. This study provides a comprehensive understanding of urban UFP composition and sources and offers valuable datasets for the evaluation of UFP exposure risks.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

CoURAGE Urban Gas-Phase NH3

1-second Picarro gas-phase ammonia (NH3) measurements were collected as part of a 3-month intensive operation period (IOP) from mid-March through mid-June that was funded by the DOE Biological and Environment Research project in conjunction with the DOE ARM CoURAGE deployment to the greater Baltimore region. To complement the NH3 measurements at the Mt. Airy regional background S2 site, the Picarro G2103 NH3 analyzer was deployed at the urban atmospheric chemistry supersite ( 39.32057 N, 76.6246 W) to be able to compare and contrast urban vs regional NH3 and urban vs regional aerosol physicochemical properties.

Aerosol Acidity↗
DOE OSTI2024

Collaborative Design of Robust Adaptation Pathways for Urban Flooding Resilience in Baltimore

Urban pluvial flooding poses a growing threat to the city of Baltimore, driven by changes in climate and rainfall, increased impervious area, aging infrastructure, and severe social inequity. Adaptations to urban flooding should strengthen community-scale resilience while navigating the uncertainties associated with future actions. However, the highly uncertain future climate and conflicting stakeholder objectives complicate the selection of effective and socially acceptable strategies. This study addresses these challenges through a community-informed Multi Objective Robust Decision Making (MORDM) process, coupled with Dynamic Adaptation Policy Pathways (DAPP). Community stakeholders are engaged on a large scale through community partnerships, including priority identification sessions, focus groups, and metric identification workshops. The combination of community partnership, MORDM, and DAPP will create an original set of adaptation pathways which are aligned with community goals and values, and furthermore are adjustable under changing future constraints and conditions. This framework will enhance the city's capacity to respond to evolving pluvial flood conditions while accounting for diverse stakeholder interests and will provide guidance for addressing both the immediate and long-term challenges of urban flooding in Baltimore.

BSEC↗
DOE OSTI2026

Community-Engaged Modeling of Urban Flood Adaptation Pathways

Climate change is intensifying the hydrologic cycle, leading to more frequent and severe rainfall-driven (pluvial) flooding in urban areas. In the mid-Atlantic US cities, aging and under-designed stormwater infrastructure is increasingly strained by these events, resulting in recurring damage to property and disruptions to transportation networks. In this study, we combine community engagement with hydrologic modeling to develop and evaluate potential urban flood adaptation strategies. Over a three-year period, local technical experts and community representatives met regularly to discuss flooding concerns, identify priorities, and co-develop adaptation strategies. These discussions informed the development of an urban flooding model (EPA Storm Water Management Model) for the Baltimore Harbor watershed, the focus location of this study. The flooding model integrates complex surface and subsurface stormwater infrastructure data, local expert knowledge, and community insights. We simulate stakeholder-prioritized adaptations, such as green and gray infrastructure strategies. Model results demonstrate that enhanced infrastructure maintenance is the most effective adaptation for reducing flood depths, but has varied effects across the watershed, and can increase flooding in some locations. Spatially concentrated greening provides limited benefit to the watershed as a whole, but moderate benefit in community priority areas. Together, these adaptations have the potential to reduce flood depths by as much as 58% in some locations, greatly reducing property damage and mobility impacts, primary concerns of stakeholders. Future work will implement robust optimization tools to search for adaptations which meet stakeholder objectives and perform highly under varied future climate conditions. This work contributes to the expanding literature on collaborative modeling and demonstrates that community-engaged approaches can enhance model credibility and generate more actionable insights for communities seeking to strengthen climate resilience.

Spangler, Ava [Pennsylvania State University] (ORC↗