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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 37 records · Page 2
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2026

Novel Cell-Type-Specific Drought-Responsive Proteins in Root Tips of Field-Grown Perennial Switchgrass

The root-tip region of plants, including the root cap, forms the most basal terminal of the root and exhibits a high degree of cellular complexity in terms of morphology, cytological function, and interaction with environmental cues in the soil. Cells in this region follow a developmental trajectory, transitioning from stem cells to meristematic cells, and ultimately to fully differentiated cell types. However, our understanding of root-tip cell-type specific proteomic responses to abiotic stresses, such as drought, particularly under field conditions, remains limited. This study aimed to identify spatially resolved, cell type-specific proteomes in switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) root tips under drought stress. Root tips were collected from seven-year-old, field-grown switchgrass ‘Alamo’ plants excavated under both well-watered and long-term drought conditions. Cell type-specific proteins were identified using laser capture microdissection (LCM) coupled with nanoPOTS (Nanodroplet Processing in One Pot for Trace Samples) and nano-LC-MS proteomics analysis. Five distinct cell types were targeted: (1) cells in the quiescent center and stem cell niche (QuC), (2) protodermal epidermal cells (PEC) in the meristematic zone, (3) epidermal cells in the transition and elongation zones above the root cap (Epi), (4) peripheral root cap cells (PRC), forming 2–3 layers below the PEC and 1–2 layers above the root border cells, and (5) columella root cap cells (Col) comprising of the columella initials and a single underlying layer of cells undergoing active growth. Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed clear separation among the five targeted cell types, confirming distinct proteomic profiles. Proteins predominantly enriched in each cell type were linked to distinct cellular functions, with QuC cells showing involvement in chromosomal behavior, DNA replication, and mitosis—key processes for stem cell niche regulation. Drought stress resulted in alterations of proteostasis, as evidenced by significant decreases in ribosomal proteins and increases in protein synthesis inhibitors. Moreover, drought stress induced unique cell-type–specific proteins involved in phytohormone biosynthesis and signaling pathways, including auxin, cytokinin, and jasmonic acid. In particular, QuC cells were more highly enriched in proteins associated with DNA repair and mitotic processes. Metabolic pathways related to amino acids, carbohydrates, and lipids were differentially affected in a cell-type–dependent manner, whereas general stress-responsive proteins exhibited consistent changes across all five cell types. Overall, this study provides unique spatially resolved, cell-type-specific proteomic profiles in root tips, representing a significant advancement in our understanding of the cellular mechanisms underlying plant responses to drought stress in natural field conditions.

perennial grass↗
DOE OSTI2025

Diet outperforms microbial transplant to drive microbiome recovery in mice

A high-fat, low-fibre Western-style diet (WD) induces microbiome dysbiosis characterized by reduced taxonomic diversity and metabolic breadth, which in turn increases risk for a wide array of metabolic, immune and systemic pathologies. Recent work has established that WD can impair microbiome resilience to acute perturbations such as antibiotic treatment, although little is known about the mechanism of impairment and the specific consequences for the host of prolonged post-antibiotic dysbiosis. Here, in this study, we characterize the trajectory by which the gut microbiome recovers its taxonomic and functional profile after antibiotic treatment in mice on regular chow (RC) or WD, and find that only mice on RC undergo a rapid successional process of recovery. Metabolic modelling indicates that a RC diet promotes the development of syntrophic cross-feeding interactions, whereas in mice on WD, a dominant taxon monopolizes readily available resources without releasing syntrophic byproducts. Intervention experiments reveal that an appropriate dietary resource environment is both necessary and sufficient for rapid and robust microbiome recovery, whereas microbial transplant is neither. Furthermore, prolonged post-antibiotic dysbiosis in mice on WD renders them susceptible to infection by the intestinal pathogen Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium. Our data challenge widespread enthusiasm for faecal microbiota transplant (FMT) as a strategy to address dysbiosis, and demonstrate that specific dietary interventions are, at a minimum, an essential prerequisite for effective FMT, and may afford a safer, more natural and less invasive alternative.

Kennedy, M. S. [University of Chicago, IL (United ↗
DOE OSTI2024

From Coherence to Function: Exploring the Connection in Chemical Systems

The role of quantum mechanical coherences or coherent superposition states in excited state processes has received considerable attention in the last two decades largely due to advancements in ultrafast laser spectroscopy. These coherence effects hold promise for enhancing the efficiency and robustness of functionally relevant processes, even when confronted with energy disorder and environmental fluctuations. Understanding coherence deeply drives us to unravel mechanisms and dynamics controlled by order and synchronization at a quantum mechanical level, envisioning optical control of coherence to enhance functions or create new ones in molecular and material systems. In this frontier, the interplay between electronic and vibrational dynamics, specifically the influence of vibrations in directing electronic dynamics, has emerged as the leading principle. Here, two energetically disparate quantum degrees of freedom work in-sync to dictate the trajectory of an excited state reaction. Moreover, with the vibrational degree being directly related to the structural composition of molecular or material systems, new molecular designs could be inspired by tailoring certain structural elements. In the realm of chemical kinetics, our understanding of the dynamics of chemical transformations is underpinned by fundamental theories, such as transition state theory, activated rate theory, and Marcus theory. These theories elucidate reaction rates by considering the energy barriers that must be overcome for reactants to transform into products. Those barriers are surmounted by the stochastic nature of energy gap fluctuations within reacting systems, emphasizing that the reaction coordinate, the pathway from reactants to products, is not rigidly defined by a specific vibrational motion but encompasses a diverse array of molecular motions. While less is known about the involvement of specific intramolecular vibrational modes, their significance in certain cases cannot be overlooked. In this Account, we summarize key experimental findings that offer deeper insights into the complex electronic–vibrational trajectories encompassing excited states afforded from state-of-the-art ultrafast laser spectroscopy in three exemplary processes: photoinduced electron transfer, singlet–triplet intersystem crossing, and intramolecular vibrational energy flow in molecular systems. We delve into the rapid decoherence, or loss of phase and amplitude correlations, of vibrational coherences along promoter vibrations during subpicosecond intersystem crossing dynamics in a series of binuclear platinum complexes. This rapid decoherence illustrates the vibration-driven reactive pathways from the Franck–Condon state to the curve crossing region. We also explore the generation of new vibrational coherences induced by impulsive reaction dynamics rather than by the laser pulse in these systems, which sheds light on specific energy dissipation pathways and thereby on the progression of the reaction trajectory in the vicinity of the curve crossing on the product side. Another property of vibrational coherences, amplitude, reveals how energy can flow from one vibration to another in the electronic excited state of a terpyridine–molybdenum complex hosting a nonreactive dinitrogen substrate. In conclusion, a slight change in vibrational energy triggers a quasi-resonant interaction, leading to constructive wavepacket interference and ultimately intramolecular vibrational redistribution from a Franck–Condon active terpyridine vibration to a dinitrogen stretching vibration, energizing the dinitrogen bond.

Electrical energy↗
DOE OSTI2025

Along-Trajectory Acoustic Signal Variations Observed During the Hypersonic Re-Entry of the OSIRIS-REx Sample Return Capsule

The re-entry of the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) sample return capsule (SRC) on 24 September 2023 presented a rare opportunity to study atmospheric entry dynamics through a dense network of ground-based infrasound sensors. As the first interplanetary capsule to re-enter over the United States since Stardust in 2006, this event allowed for unprecedented observations of infrasound signals generated during hypersonic descent. We deployed 39 single-sensor stations across Nevada and Utah, strategically distributed to capture signals from distinct trajectory points. Infrasound data were analyzed to examine how signal amplitude and period vary with altitude and propagation path for a nonablating hypersonic object with well-defined physical and aerodynamic properties. Raytracing simulations incorporated atmospheric specifications from the ground-2-space model to estimate source altitudes for observed signals. Results confirmed ballistic arrivals at all stations, with source altitudes ranging from 44 to 62 km along the trajectory. Signal period and amplitude exhibited strong dependence on source altitude, with higher altitudes corresponding to lower amplitudes, longer periods, and reduced high-frequency content. Regression analysis demonstrated strong correlations between signal characteristics and both altitude and propagation geometry. Our results suggest, when attenuation is considered, the amplitude is primarily determined by the source, with the propagation path playing a secondary role over the distances examined. These findings emphasize the utility of controlled SRC re-entries for advancing our understanding of natural meteoroid dynamics, refining atmospheric entry models, and improving methodologies for planetary defense. The OSIRIS-REx SRC campaign represents the most comprehensive infrasound study of a hypersonic re-entry to date, showcasing the potential of coordinated geophysical observational networks for high-energy atmospheric phenomena, including space debris re-entries.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

CRCNS22 Learning Rules in the Hippocampus and their Mapping to Neuromorphic Systems (Final Technical Report)

Large scale biologically-realistic computational models are key to investigating the interplay between structure and function in nervous systems, thus paving the way to new clinical methods and neuro-inspired computing solutions. This project focuses on the hippocampus, in particular the CA3-CA1 regions, due to their role in associative learning and memory, pattern separation and completion, and spatial navigation. Investigations into the neuronal organization and learning rule(s) of this circuit can shed light into how declarative memories are formed, stored, recalled and forgotten and inform computational, experimental and clinical neuroscience work. Our project aims at developing a novel data-driven methodology supported by a broad heterogeneous base of neuroscience experimental knowledge and inspired from advances in computer science and engineering. Specifically, this work will benchmark existing and new learning rules within a full-scale spiking neural network simulation of the CA3-CA1 region. The model will be based on an open-source repository, called the Hippocampome, which contains neuronal morphologies, firing patterns, synapse probabilities, and most other required parameters for all known neuron types in the rodent hippocampal formation. The model will be first trained in a supervised fashion for associative memory tasks using backpropagation through time traditionally used in computer science, enhanced with a new technique called the surrogate gradient method. This optimization method will be used to obtain a global loss minimization, but it is not biologically inspired as it assumes the use of data not locally available to the synapses. However, we propose its use as a benchmarking tool, to compare the training performance of local biologically plausible and hardware-mappable learning rules at scale. New rules or combinations will be proposed and tested as needed, based on the obtained results. Progress in this area will also drive the development of novel hardware-mappable algorithms for continual lifelong learning and categorization of new events from few presented examples. This project goes beyond the existing state-of-the-art by looking at large scale realistic neuronal circuits as networks trainable via global optimization methods such as surrogate gradient descent. The objective function of the brain that supports learning is largely unknown, but it is likely that it operates through local learning rules. Studying network trajectories around local minima as proposed in this work represents a useful strategy for understanding whether a network is training by using a specific (set of) learning rule(s). Starting from a completely untrained network is a challenging test since it is difficult to determine how the learning rule affects the trajectory of the network. This interdisciplinary project will help understand what rule governs learning in these regions or if multiple learning rules are involved. The work will develop a robust methodology to measure if the network is converging to the target solution, oscillating around it, or diverging away.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Command of three-dimensional solitary waves via photopatterning

Multidimensional solitons are prevalent in numerous research fields. In orientationally ordered soft matter system, three-dimensional director solitons exemplify the localized distortion of molecular orientation. However, their precise manipulation remains challenging due to unpredictable and uncontrolled generation. Here, we utilize preimposed programmable photopatterning in nematics to control the kinetics of director solitons. This enables both unidirectional and bidirectional generation at specific locations and times, confinement within micron-scaled patterns of diverse shapes, and directed propagation along predefined trajectories. A focused dynamical model provides insight into the origins of these solitons and aligns closely with experimental observations, underscoring the pivotal role of anchoring conditions in soliton manipulation. Our findings pave the way for diverse fundamental research avenues and promising applications, including microcargo transportation and optical information processing.

Science & Technology - Other Topics↗
DOE OSTI2024

Signatures of rotating black holes in quantum superposition

A new approach for operationally studying the effects of spacetime in quantum superpositions of semiclassical states has recently been proposed by some of the authors. This approach was applied to the case of a (2+1)-dimensional Bañados-Teitelboim-Zanelli (BTZ) black hole in a superposition of masses, where it was shown that a two-level system interacting with a quantum field residing in the spacetime exhibits resonant peaks in its response at certain values of the superposed masses. Here, we extend this analysis to a mass-superposed rotating BTZ black hole, considering the case where the two-level system corotates with the black hole in a superposition of trajectories. We find similar resonances in the detector response function at rational ratios of the superposed outer horizon radii, specifically in the case where the ratio of the inner and outer horizons is fixed. This suggests a connection with Bekenstein’s seminal conjecture concerning the discrete horizon spectra of black holes in quantum gravity, generalized to the case of rotating black holes. Here, our results further indicate that deeper insights into quantum-gravitational phenomena may be accessible via tools in relativistic quantum information and curved spacetime quantum field theory.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2025

Capturing Ring Opening in Photoexcited Enolic Acetylacetone upon Hydrogen Bond Dissociation by Ultrafast Electron Diffraction

Photoinduced biological and chemical reactions are often based on key structural transformations of a molecule driven across multiple electronic states. Acetylacetone (AcAc) is a prototypical system for complex chemical pathways involving several conical intersections (CI) and singlet–triplet intersystem crossings (ISC) characterized by distinct geometries. In the gas phase, AcAc is predominantly in a planar ring-like enolic form stabilized by a strong intramolecular O–H···O hydrogen bond. Following excitation into the S 2 (ππ*) state at 266 nm, acetylacetone undergoes rapid internal conversion followed by intersystem crossing. Such relaxation pathways are associated with structural changes including ring opening, deplanarization, and bond elongation. In this work, ultrafast electron diffraction (UED) at the SLAC MeV-UED setup is employed as a direct structural probe with a time resolution of 160 fs. Together with trajectory surface hopping simulations, analysis of the UED data provides a new perspective on the early time nuclear dynamics in acetylacetone. Specifically, AcAc is observed to undergo ring opening, deplanarization, and bond elongation all within the first 700 fs after photoexcitation. The monitored dynamics is associated mainly with the nuclear motion on the S 1 potential energy surface, formed after very rapid transfer from S 2 to S 1 , allowing AcAc to reach the conical intersection to intersystem crossing. Such time scales of nuclear motion are contrasted with the time scales of electronic transitions in AcAc that were previously characterized with spectroscopic methods, specifically internal conversion (<100 fs) and intersystem crossing (∼1.5 ps).

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2024

Axial H-Bonding Solvent Controls Inhomogeneous Spectral Broadening, While Peripheral H-Bonding Solvent Controls Vibronic Broadening: Cresyl Violet in Methanol

The dynamics of the nuclei of both a chromophore and its condensed-phase environment control many spectral features, including the vibronic and inhomogeneous broadening present in spectral line shapes. For the cresyl violet chromophore in methanol, we here analyze and isolate the effect of specific chromophore–solvent interactions on simulated spectral densities, reorganization energies, and linear absorption spectra. Employing both chromophore and its condensed-phase environment control many spectral features, including the vibronic and inhomogeneous broadening present in spectral line shapes. For the cresyl violet chromophore in methanol, we here analyze and isolate the effect of specific chromophore–solvent interactions on simulated spectral densities, reorganization energies, and linear absorption spectra. Employing both force field and ab initio molecular dynamics trajectories along with the inclusion of only certain solvent molecules in the excited-state calculations, we determine that the methanol molecules axial to the chromophore are responsible for the majority of inhomogeneous broadening, with a single methanol molecule that forms an axial hydrogen bond dominating the response. Furthermore, the strong peripheral hydrogen bonds do not contribute to spectral broadening, as they are very stable throughout the dynamics and do not lead to increased energy-gap fluctuations. We also find that treating the strong peripheral hydrogen bonds as molecular mechanical point charges during the molecular dynamics simulation underestimates the vibronic coupling. Including these peripheral hydrogen bonding methanol molecules in the quantum-mechanical region in a geometry optimization increases the vibronic coupling, suggesting that a more advanced treatment of these strongly interacting solvent molecules during the molecular dynamics trajectory may be necessary to capture the full vibronic spectral broadening.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2026

CRADA Number NFE-24-10495 with Algaeo, LLC (CRADA Final Report)

This study investigated the potential for a synthetic consortium of mutualistic terrestrial microbes— comprising the fungi Laccaria bicolor and Serendipita indica alongside bacterial Pseudomonas strains—to influence the growth and productivity of the freshwater microalgae Chlorella vulgaris. The project aimed to determine if microbial complexes engineered to enhance terrestrial plant growth could provide similar growth-promoting benefits or pathogen resistance within an aquatic algal system. Using a quantitative experimental design, C. vulgaris was co-cultured with the microbial mix under controlled laboratory conditions, with growth rates, biomass density, and metabolic activity monitored over a standard cultivation period. The results demonstrated no significant symbiotic relationship or growth enhancement between these terrestrial microbes and the microalgae, as the C. vulgaris maintained independent growth trajectories unaffected by the fungal or bacterial inoculants. We conclude that the specialized mutualisms of these fungi and bacteria are likely niche-specific to vascular plants and do not readily translate to the phycosphere of C. vulgaris. These findings are valuable to synthetic biologists and bioenergy researchers, as they define the functional boundaries of inter-kingdom microbial engineering and underscore the necessity of selecting niche-compatible species when designing consortia for industrial algal cultivation.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

StOKeDMD: Streaming Occupation kernel dynamic mode decomposition

Dynamic mode decomposition (DMD) has become a common technique for constructing surrogate models for dynamical systems from observed system states. The Occupation Kernel DMD (OKDMD) method proposed in (Rosenfeld et al., 2022) and (Rosenfeld et al., 2024) is a Liouville operator based method that builds surrogate models from system state trajectories. Here, this paper proposes an extension of OKDMD to the case when the system states are observed in a streaming fashion, i.e., only a small fraction of the state trajectory is available at a given time. The developed method, Streaming Occupation Kernel DMD (StOKeDMD), accommodates the streaming data input by leveraging properties of specific choices of kernel functions and occupation kernels. We apply the StoKeDMD method as a compression method for streaming data, analyze the memory complexity, and demonstrate the performance of StoKeDMD in the compression of streaming data generated from a Lorenz system and a fluid flow simulation.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2026

Methodology For Determining The Effective Aircraft Impact Area For Irregularly Shaped Facilities

This report presents a computational methodology for determining the effective aircraft impact area for irregularly shaped facilities, extending the approach in Department of Energy (DOE) Standard 3014 by decomposing “critical areas” into multiple rectangular nodes rather than relying on a single bounding cuboid. This method reduces unnecessary conservatism that can arise when non-critical space is enveloped by a single footprint. The facility’s critical areas are partitioned into nodes of constant height, a baseline aircraft impact trajectory is established, and the facility perspective is rotated to accommodate arbitrary heading angles. For each node, analytic expressions are provided to construct the node-specific effective impact polygon that accounts for skid distance, structural footprint, fly-in (shadow) region driven by building height and descent angle, and wingspan offsets capturing wing-only strikes.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2026

The role of source geometry and atmospheric propagation in global bolide infrasound detectability

Global infrasound monitoring provides a persistent means of detecting energetic bolide atmospheric entries, complementing optical observations and extending coverage over remote regions. We present a global assessment of the physical factors governing bolide infrasound detectability by correlating 623 bolide events reported by the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies between 2007 and 2025 with waveform data from the International Monitoring System. We identify 311 events with confirmed infrasound detections, corresponding to a detection rate of approximately 50%, substantially higher than inferred from earlier surveys, reflecting both the maturation of the global infrasound network and advances in automated, multi-frequency array processing. Analysis of flight parameters shows that infrasound detectability is selective rather than uniform across the bolide population. Detected events are preferentially associated with steeper entry angles and lower-altitude energy deposition, while shallow, high-altitude trajectories are less consistently observed. Very high-energy events remain detectable regardless of geometry, but for the more common lower-energy regime, observability depends on specific combinations of entry parameters and propagation conditions. This geometric dependence persists across comparable energy ranges and atmospheric conditions, indicating that entry angle exerts a primary control on detectability, with energy and propagation acting as secondary modulating factors. Furthermore, these results provide new physical constraints on bolide-atmosphere interactions and improve interpretation of global infrasound observations for planetary defense and atmospheric-entry studies.

Bolides↗
DOE OSTI2025

Back Trajectories during SAIL

This data set contains air mass back trajectories generated during the Surface Atmosphere Integrated Field Laboratory (SAIL) campaign using the Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory model (HYSPLIT, Stein et al. 2015, Rolph et al. 2017). For each hour from January 1, 2021 to June 30, 2023, a 96-hour back trajectory was initiated at the SAIL sampling site, starting 100 m above ground level. The calculations used the GDAS meteorological data set with model vertical velocity. The files within this dataset show location and meteorological parameters of the back trajectory analysis. There are 21 columns within each data file. The first 2 columns pertain to back trajectory parameters: the trajectory number (which is always 1) and the meteorological grid number. The next 9 columns pertain to spatiotemporal information: the year, month, day, hour (0-23), and minute of the trajectory, the previous time of the trajectory (in negative hours), and the airmass location (latitude, longitude, and height in m AGL). The rest of the parameters within each file pertains to surface and meteorological characteristics of the airmass: pressure (in hPa), potential temperature (in K), temperature (in K), precipitation rate (in mm/hr), mixing depth (in m), relative humidity (in % relative to liquid water), specific humidity (in g/kg), H2O mixing ratio (in g/kg), underlying terrain height (in meters above sea level), and incoming radiation (in W/m^2).

back trajectory↗
DOE OSTI2026

Multimodal Instrument Concepts for Chemical Sciences at Second Target Station

The development of advanced chemical and energy systems is inherently complex, relying heavily on their unique pathways. Because no two catalysts or batteries follow exactly the same kinetic trajectories, conventional sequential measurements often obscure crucial relationships between structure and dynamics through statistical averaging. This report introduces two neutron scattering instrument concepts for the Second Target Station (STS) specifically designed to overcome this barrier: the Extended Q-range Diffractometer (EQD) and the Multimodal Chemical Spectrometer (MCS).

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2025

sourcePy

Pollutant source identification techniques (of which there are many variations) are either locked behind researchers writing their own code for each use case or GUI platforms that are easy to use but inflexible and opaque. The Python package sourcePy brings together many of the pollutant source identification algorithms, giving the user full control out of the box. It aims to create a platform for source identification experiments where the full analysis from beginning to end can be done in Python, with a level of specificity in design that isn't available in the GUI options. sourcePy provides users with a few key features: -A Python interface with HYSPLIT, which can be used to generate trajectories and concentration plumes -Several Python classes which standardize the preparation and processing of data related to source identification experiments -Example scripts and notebooks that allow even new python users to get started with their own experiments quickly -Visualization methods

Arseneau, Isaac [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (OR↗
DOE OSTI2024

From Sim to Real: A Pipeline for Training and Deploying Traffic Smoothing Cruise Controllers

Designing and validating controllers for connected and automated vehicles to enhance traffic flow presents significant challenges, from the complexity of replicating real-world stop-and-go traffic dynamics in simulation, to the intricacies involved in transitioning from simulation to actual deployment. In this work, we present a full pipeline from data collection to controller deployment. Specifically, we collect 772 km of driving data from the I-24 in Tennessee, and use it to build a one-lane simulator, placing simulated vehicles behind real-world trajectories. Using policy-gradient methods with an asymmetric critic, we improve fuel efficiency by over 10% when simulating congested scenarios. Our comprehensive approach includes reinforcement learning for controller training, software verification, hardware validation and setup, and navigating various sim-to-real challenges. Furthermore, we analyze the controller's behavior and wave-smoothing properties, and deploy it on four Toyota Rav4’s in a real-world validation experiment on the I-24. Lastly, we release the driving dataset, the simulator and the trained controller, to enable future benchmarking and controller design.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2026

“One Table to Rule Them All”: How a Single Table can Enable Extensive Insights, Analytics and Assessment on Human Mobility Data

While much research has been conducted in Human Mobility Science, most studies on the analytics/insights part generally focus on one of the following: processing and analytics on human stop-trip behavior, design of individual mobility metrics (often in silos), calculation and characterization of only a handful (typically 5-6) of human mobility metrics on geospatial-temporal human mobility data of interest. Although human mobility research offers a vast and diverse array of available metrics, most individual studies typically compute only a small subset of five or six metrics at a time when analyzing trajectory datasets of human mobility across different areas of interest. This paper is motivated by the critical need to repeatedly compute an extensive array of human mobility metrics across several trajectory datasets and perform individual metric-level benchmarking to establish a new, standardized Test and Evaluation (T&E) suite for the field of Human Mobility Science. We first present our findings on the minimal yet sufficient pre-processing required to reliably and efficiently compute a wide range of human mobility metrics. The key findings are specifically related to the proposed Composite Stop Locations table, which serves as a core pre-processing data layer. Subsequently, we present a case study demonstrating how the Composite Stop Locations table facilitates computation of at least 14 distinct human mobility metrics (unlike 5-6 different set of metrics used for studies in the literature) using the popular and open-source OpenPFLOW dataset. Finally, we have also presented an example of our benchmarking methodology to evaluate the quality and performance of the trajectory dataset of interest, assessed across multiple human mobility metrics.

De, Debraj [ORNL] (ORCID:0000000233630020)↗