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At least 397 records · Page 22

Remote sensing in the detection of regional change.

Investigation of the impact of the California State Water Project on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley, using aerial photo mosaics and high-altitude photography for 1957 and 1971. Particular attention is paid to a determination of gross land use change and to the detection of specific patterns of development emerging from this change. Information derived from the mapping and tabulating of data acquired in this study indicates a definite trend toward the development of an agricultural landscape and increasing intensification of land use on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley. The introduction of water into this arid region is resulting in large acreages of land being brought under cultivation. Consequently, cropland is assuming a more dominant position with respect to areal extent.

Estes, J. E.↗

Geology Before Pluto: Pre-Encounter Considerations

Pluto, its large satellite Charon, and its four known satellites represent the first trans-Neptunian Kuiper Belt objects populating the outer-most solar system beyond the gas giant planets to be studied in detail from a spacecraft (New Horizons). A complete picture of the solar nebula, and solar system formation cannot be confidently formulated until representatives of this group of bodies at the edge of solar space have been examined. The Pluto system is composed of unique lunar- and intermediate-sized objects that can tell us much about how objects with volatile icy compositions evolve. Modeling of the interior suggests that geologic activity may have been to some degree, and observations of frost on the surface could imply the need for a geologic reservoir for the replenishment of these phases. However, the putative indicators of Pluto's geologic history are inconclusive and unspecific. Detailed examination of Pluto's geologic record is the only plausible means of bridging the gap between theory and observations. In this talk I will examine the potential importance of these tentative indications of geologic activity and how specific spacecraft observations have been designed and used to constrain the Pluto system's geologic history. The cameras of New Horizons will provide robust data sets that should be immanently amenable to geological analysis of the Pluto System's landscapes. In this talk, we begin with a brief discussion of the planned observations by New Horizons' cameras that will bear most directly on geological interpretability. Then I will broadly review major geological processes that could potentially operate of the surfaces of Pluto and its moons. I will first survey exogenic processes (i.e., those for which energy for surface modification is supplied externally to the planetary surface): impact cratering, sedimentary processes (including volatile migration) and the work of wind. I will conclude with an assessment of prospects for endogenic activity in the form of tectonics and cryo-volcanism.

Pluto↗

A Comprehensive X-ray Report on AT2019wey

The Galactic low-mass X-ray binary AT2019wey (ATLAS19bcxp, SRGAJ043520.9+552226, SRGEJ043523.3+552234, ZTF19acwrvzk) was discovered as a new optical transient in Dec 2019, and independently as an X-ray transient in Mar 2020. In this paper, we present comprehensive NICER, NuSTAR, Chandra, Swift, and MAXI observations of AT2019wey from ~1 year prior to the discovery to the end of September 2020. AT2019wey appeared as a ~ 1 mCrab source and stayed at this flux density for several months, displaying a hard X-ray spectrum that can be modeled as a power-law with photon index Γ ~ 1.8. In June 2020 it started to brighten and reached ~20 mCrab in ~2 months. The inclination of this system can be constrained to I ≲ 30° by modelling the reflection spectrum. Starting from late-August (~ 59082 MJD), AT2019wey entered into the hard-intermediate state (HIMS), and underwent a few week-long timescale outbursts, where the brightening in soft X-rays is correlated with the enhancement of a thermal component. Low-frequency quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) was observed in the HIMS. We detect no pulsation and in timing analysis of the NICER and NuSTAR data. The X-ray states and power spectra of AT2019wey are discussed against the landscape of low-mass X-ray binaries.

Individual X-rays↗

Yakima River Basin Temporal Study: Sensor and Sample Data from Wenas Creek following the Evans Canyon Fire in Washington, USA

The Evans Canyon Fire occurred in Washington in August 2020 and burned 76,000 acres of the semi-arid shrub-steppe landscape at low to moderate severities. This fire burned across the Wenas Creek watershed, allowing for a sampling design that included a portion of the stream within the burned area and a reference site upstream of the burn. Monthly data was collected at an unburned (W10) and burned (W20) site from November 2020 to August 2022 for in situ hydrological and water chemistry sensor data, handheld sensor water chemistry data, general environmental context photos, and field metadata. This dataset is comprised of one folder with field photos and one main data folder containing (1) sensor and sample field protocols; (2) file-level metadata (flmd); (3) data dictionary (dd); (4) international geo-sample number (IGSN) mapping file; (5) field metadata; (6) readme; (7) methods codes; (8) dissolved organic carbon (DOC; measured as non-purgeable organic carbon; NPOC); (9) total nitrogen (TN); (10) total suspended solids (TSS); (11) sensor data (specific conductance, pH, total dissolved solids, temperature, pressure, dissolved oxygen, and turbidity) averages; and (12) sensor installation methods. All files are .csv, .jpg, .jpeg, or .pdf.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Controls From Above and Below: Snow, Soil, and Steepness Drive Diverging Trends of Subsurface Water and Streamflow Dynamics

ABSTRACT The importance of subsurface water dynamics, such as water storage and flow partitioning, is well recognised. Yet, our understanding of their drivers and links to streamflow generation has remained elusive, especially in small headwater streams that are often data‐limited but crucial for downstream water quantity and quality. Large‐scale analyses have focused on streamflow characteristics across rivers with varying drainage areas, often overlooking the subsurface water dynamics that shape streamflow behaviour. Here we ask the question: What are the climate and landscape characteristics that regulate subsurface dynamic storage, flow path partitioning, and dynamics of streamflow generation in headwater streams? To answer this question, we used streamflow data and a widely‐used hydrological model (HBV) for 15 headwater catchments across the contiguous United States. Results show that climate characteristics such as aridity and precipitation phase (snow or rain) and land attributes such as topography and soil texture are key drivers of streamflow generation dynamics. In particular, steeper slopes generally promoted more streamflow, regardless of aridity. Streams in flat, rainy sites (< 30% precipitation as snow) with finer soils exhibited flashier regimes than those in snowy sites (> 30% precipitation as snow) or sites with coarse soils and deeper flow paths. In snowy sites, less weathered, thinner soils promoted shallower flow paths such that discharge was more sensitive to changes in storage, but snow dampened streamflow flashiness overall. Results here indicate that land characteristics such as steepness and soil texture modify subsurface water storage and shallow and deep flow partitioning, ultimately regulating streamflow response to climate forcing. As climate change increases uncertainty in water availability, understanding the interacting climate and landscape features that regulate streamflow will be essential to predict hydrological shifts in headwater catchments and improve water resources management.

Kerins, Devon [Department of Civil and Environment↗

Homomorphic data compression for real time photon correlation analysis

The construction of highly coherent X-ray sources, combined with next-generation detectors that are larger and faster, has enabled new research opportunities across the scientific landscape. Among the techniques that benefit most from these advancements is X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy (XPCS), where faster acquisition unlocks the ability to study faster dynamics within samples. However, faster acquisition on larger detectors also introduces unprecedented challenges for online data processing and offline data storage. Such challenges are particularly prominent for XPCS, where real time analyses require simultaneous calculation of all the previously acquired data in the time series. We present a homomorphic compression scheme to effectively reduce the computational time and memory space required for XPCS analysis. Leveraging similarities in the mathematical expression between a matrix-based compression algorithm and the correlation calculation, our approach allows direct operation on the compressed data without their decompression. The offline compression scheme extends storage capacity by a factor of 40 while preserving key features in the lossy compressed data. Meanwhile, the online compression scheme reduces the computational time to below 1 ms, enabling real time calculation of the correlation functions at kHz framerate. Our demonstration of a homomorphic compression of scientific data provides an effective solution to the big data challenge at coherent light sources. Beyond the example shown in this work, the framework can be extended to facilitate real-time operations directly on a compressed data stream for other techniques.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

FIFE data analysis: Testing BIOME-BGC predictions for grasslands

The First International Satellite Land Surface Climatology Project (ISLSCP) Field Experiment (FIFE) was conducted in a 15 km by 15 km research area located 8 km south of Manhattan, Kansas. The site consists primarily of native tallgrass prairie mixed with gallery oak forests and croplands. The objectives of FIFE are to better understand the role of biology in controlling the interactions between the land and the atmosphere, and to determine the value of remotely sensed data for estimating climatological parameters. The goals of FIFE are twofold: the upscale integration of models, and algorithm development for satellite remote sensing. The specific objectives of the field campaigns carried out in 1987 and 1989 were the simultaneous acquisition of satellite, atmospheric, and surface data; and the understanding of the processes controlling surface energy and mass exchange. Collected data were used to study the dynamics of various ecosystem processes (photosynthesis, evaporation and transpiration, autotrophic and heterotrophic respiration, etc.). Modelling terrestrial ecosystems at scales larger than that of a homogeneous plot led to the development of simple, generalized models of biogeochemical cycles that can be accurately applied to different biomes through the use of remotely sensed data. A model was developed called BIOME-BGC (for BioGeochemical Cycles) from a coniferous forest ecosystem model, FOREST-BGC, where a biome is considered a combination of a life forms in a specified climate. A predominately C4-photosynthetic grassland is probably the most different from a coniferous forest possible, hence the FIFE site was an excellent study area for testing BIOME-BGC. The transition from an essentially one-dimensional calculation to three-dimensional, landscape scale simulations requires the introduction of such factors as meteorology, climatology, and geomorphology. By using remotely sensed geographic information data for important model inputs, process-based ecosystem simulations at a variety of scales are possible. The second objective of this study is concerned with determining the accuracy of the estimated fluxes from BIOME-BGC, when extrapolated spatially over the entire 15-km by 15-km FIFE site. To accomplish this objective, a topographically distributed map of soil depth at the FIFE site was developed. These spatially-distributed fluxes were then tested with data from aircraft by eddy-flux correlation obtained during the FIFE experiment.

Hunt, E. Raymond, Jr.↗

Chemoproteogenomic stratification of the missense variant cysteinome

Abstract Cancer genomes are rife with genetic variants; one key outcome of this variation is widespread gain-of-cysteine mutations. These acquired cysteines can be both driver mutations and sites targeted by precision therapies. However, despite their ubiquity, nearly all acquired cysteines remain unidentified via chemoproteomics; identification is a critical step to enable functional analysis, including assessment of potential druggability and susceptibility to oxidation. Here, we pair cysteine chemoproteomics—a technique that enables proteome-wide pinpointing of functional, redox sensitive, and potentially druggable residues—with genomics to reveal the hidden landscape of cysteine genetic variation. Our chemoproteogenomics platform integrates chemoproteomic, whole exome, and RNA-seq data, with a customized two-stage false discovery rate (FDR) error controlled proteomic search, which is further enhanced with a user-friendly FragPipe interface. Chemoproteogenomics analysis reveals that cysteine acquisition is a ubiquitous feature of both healthy and cancer genomes that is further elevated in the context of decreased DNA repair. Reference cysteines proximal to missense variants are also found to be pervasive, supporting heretofore untapped opportunities for variant-specific chemical probe development campaigns. As chemoproteogenomics is further distinguished by sample-matched combinatorial variant databases and is compatible with redox proteomics and small molecule screening, we expect widespread utility in guiding proteoform-specific biology and therapeutic discovery.

Desai, Heta (ORCID:0000000343621707)↗

Topological structure of complex predictions

Abstract Current complex prediction models are the result of fitting deep neural networks, graph convolutional networks or transducers to a set of training data. A key challenge with these models is that they are highly parameterized, which makes describing and interpreting the prediction strategies difficult. We use topological data analysis to transform these complex prediction models into a simplified topological view of the prediction landscape. The result is a map of the predictions that enables inspection of the model results with more specificity than dimensionality-reduction methods such as tSNE and UMAP. The methods scale up to large datasets across different domains. We present a case study of a transformer-based model previously designed to predict expression levels of a piece of DNA in thousands of genomic tracks. When the model is used to study mutations in the BRCA1 gene, our topological analysis shows that it is sensitive to the location of a mutation and the exon structure of BRCA1 in ways that cannot be found with tools based on dimensionality reduction. Moreover, the topological framework offers multiple ways to inspect results, including an error estimate that is more accurate than model uncertainty. Further studies show how these ideas produce useful results in graph-based learning and image classification.

Computer Science↗

Modeling Electric Vehicle Charging Load Using Origin-Destination Data

The accelerating adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) poses challenges to the power grid, necessitating precise representation of mobility patterns for effective infrastructure upgrades. Traditional simulation-based charging demand estimation faces limitations in generating trip chains reflective of actual travel patterns without complex network modeling. Hence, an innovative agent-based trip chain generation model is introduced to overcome these challenges. Drawing from the National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) and the NextGen NHTS origin-destination add-on data for Clarke County, Georgia, this study proposes a simulation method capturing both temporal and spatial mobility patterns without relying on extensive network topology data. The resulting trip chains predict EV charging load at the Census Block Group level, validated with a 1.03 correlation to actual trip counts, affirming their reflective accuracy. Two charging scenarios, residential-only and charging-everywhere, reveal distinct demand profiles. The charging-everywhere scenario aligns closely with the trip profile, while the residential-only scenario exhibits an afternoon peak slightly surpassing the former. This study contributes a data-driven charging demand estimation methodology, offering critical insights for grid resiliency planning amid the evolving landscape of EV adoption.

Pan, Melrose↗

Where Is the Provenance? Ethical Replicability and Reproducibility in GIScience and Its Critical Applications

As replicability and reproducibility (R&R) crises develop within emerging convergent inquiry, ethical use of provenance information is central to the establishment and preservation of trust in critical applications of GIScience and geospatial technologies. Today large volumes of geospatial data are generated at high velocity from satellite sensors and unmanned aircraft systems, citizen sensors, geolocation-based data services, global navigation satellite systems, and so on. The extensive use of these data for applications such as disaster and humanitarian response raises the issue of R&R from competing perspectives of location privacy and geospatial data quality. Although geospatial data can be integrated and linked with contextual information to identify individuals’ movements, steps taken to ensure privacy can complicate the multiuser development of high-quality geospatial workflows. Provenance information as digital records of historical (retrospective) and potential future (prospective) geospatial processes is often overlooked, misunderstood, or inadequately addressed. We explore the relationship between provenance information, location privacy, and geospatial data quality in the context of R&R with a focus on disaster analytics. Here, we argue that in the era of big data and deep learning, GIScientists and associated institutions bear greater responsibility both for geospatial workflow quality and for location privacy. Given vastly heterogenous computational landscapes, we provide practical recommendations for ethically driven provenance and R&R research and development within the GIScience community and beyond.

96 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND PRESERVATION↗

A hierarchical evaluation framework for assessing climate simulations relevant to the energy-water-land nexus (Final Report)

The overarching goal was to construct a hierarchy of new and well-tested metrics and analysis tools that support both fundamental and use-inspired research. Motivating this goal was a convergence of needs from climate scientists and stakeholders alike for a systematic, robust framework of model evaluation and diagnosis to provide scientific insights, inform model development, support best practices for the use of climate model outputs, and facilitate communication of climate information in the evolving landscapes of multi-model, multi-resolution, and large ensemble simulations that generate terabytes of data for any single climate run. Steps toward attaining these goals benefited from expertise and established capability of the project team, which included leadership of the North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program (NARCCAP) and the Coordinated Regional Downscaling Experiment (CORDEX), development of hierarchical model evaluation approaches, and successful research in the analysis and diagnosis of climate model skill, as well as the understanding and modeling of regional climate processes in North America. As part of the overarching goal, the project worked to disseminate a suite of methodologies, algorithms, and software components that the wider community can employ to advance climate science and applications. With rigorous demonstration, the evaluation framework and the mix of standard and high risk / high reward approaches helped form the basis for future development of a computationally enabled user-friendly system for community use.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

Evaluation of Landsat Thematic Mapper for vegetated alluvium soils information

Landsat Thematic Mapper data acquired over Mississippi County, Arkansas, on August 22, 1982, were evaluated whether TM provides information that could be used for soil association maps and if soil properties (variability within vegetated fields) can be detected with the new bands on TM. It was found that TM data - especially the mid-IR and thermal bands - show the capability for separating vegetated soil landscapes on a broad basis. Analysis at the field level with a crop growing indicates that TM, with its additional and narrower bands and improved spatial resolution is influenced by within-field variability due to soils.

Thompson, D. R.↗

Quantitative modeling of soil genesis processes

For fine spatial scale simulation, a model is being developed to predict changes in properties over short-, meso-, and long-term time scales within horizons of a given soil profile. Processes that control these changes can be grouped into five major process clusters: (1) abiotic chemical reactions; (2) activities of organisms; (3) energy balance and water phase transitions; (4) hydrologic flows; and (5) particle redistribution. Landscape modeling of soil development is possible using digitized soil maps associated with quantitative soil attribute data in a geographic information system (GIS) framework to which simulation models are applied.

Levine, E. R.↗

Sampling Soil for Characterization and Site Description

The sampling scheme for soil characterization within the GLOBE program is uniquely different from the sampling methods of the other protocols. The strategy is based on an understanding of the 5 soil forming factors (parent material, climate, biota, topography, and time) at each study site, and how each of these interact to produce a soil profile with unique characteristics and unique input and control into the atmospheric, biological, and hydrological systems. Soil profile characteristics, as opposed to soil moisture and temperature, vegetative growth, and atmospheric and hydrologic conditions, change very slowly, depending on the parameter being measured, ranging from seasonally to many thousands of years. Thus, soil information, including profile description and lab analysis, is collected only one time for each profile at a site. These data serve two purposes: 1) to supplement existing spatial information about soil profile characteristics across the landscape at local, regional, and global scales, and 2) to provide specific information within a given area about the basic substrate to which elements within the other protocols are linked. Because of the intimate link between soil properties and these other environmental elements, the static soil properties at a given site are needed to accurately interpret and understand the continually changing dynamics of soil moisture and temperature, vegetation growth and phenology, atmospheric conditions, and chemistry and turbidity in surface waters. Both the spatial and specific soil information can be used for modeling purposes to assess and make predictions about global change.

Levine, Elissa↗

Spectral modelling of multicomponent landscapes in the Sahel

Simple additive models are used to examine the infuence of differing soil types on the spatial average spectral reflectance and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). The spatial average NDVI is shown to be a function of the brightness (red plus near-infrared reflectances), the NDVI, and the fractional cover of the components. In landscapes where soil and vegetation can be considered the only components, the NDVI-brightness model can be inverted to obtain the NDVI of vegetation. The red and near-infrared component reflectances of soil and vegetation are determined on the basis of aerial photoradiometer data from Mali. The relationship between the vegetation component NDVI and plant cover is found to be better than between the NDVI of the entire landscape and plant cover. It is concluded that the usefulness of this modeling approach depends on the existence of clearly distinguishable landscape components.

Hanan, N. P.↗

Strategic Energy Management Program Persistence and Cost Effectiveness An Analysis of the SEM Program Landscape

This study examines the relationship between strategic energy management (SEM) programs and their persistence and cost effectiveness, with analysis based on interview data from 24 SEM program administrators, SEM program evaluations, and other reports. The 80 interview questions focused on the topics of program design, energy savings, energy savings persistence, cost effectiveness, and customer SEM persistence. The generosity of interview respondents provided a wealth of data, resulting in a report of sufficient length to warrant inclusion of this brief guide of the report structure. The major sections are listed below with brief descriptions. Individual sections of this report are mainly stand-alone and do not require reading of other sections. As a result, there is some duplication between sections, but with differing levels of detail. Executive Summary: Presents three key conclusions of this work with a short description of potential actions to advance the understanding of each key finding. Brief Observations: Lists a large number of bulleted observations resulting from this research, arranged by the five major topic areas included in the interviews. Analysis details are provided in the Analysis of Interview Results section. Foundations for this Research: Provides an overview of SEM, SEM frameworks, SEM programs, the topics of persistence and cost effectiveness, and the focus of this research. Methodology: Details the approach and strategy of this research, providing background information relevant to the formulation of interview questions and the identification of which SEM programs to interview. Observations from Compiled Evaluations and Other Reports: Reports observations from the collection and analysis of program evaluations, annual reports, utility planning documents, and SEM-related white papers. This section, presented in bullet form, highlights challenges in data collection and ultimately a comparison of program practices as they pertain to persistence and cost effectiveness. Analysis of Interview Results: Presents detailed analysis of responses from SEM program administrators, arranged by the five major categories examined: program design, energy savings, energy savings persistence, cost effectiveness, and customer SEM persistence. Interview questions are generally grouped together into subsections when it makes sense to examine them together. SEM Programs Challenge Traditional Cost-Effectiveness Metrics: Details an analysis based on five key factors showing that applying traditional cost-effectiveness metrics to SEM programs is not straightforward. This invites the opportunity to consider whether traditional cost-effectiveness metrics are applicable to SEM programs, either individually or at large. Resolution of Research Hypotheses: Tabulates a set of hypotheses that were developed to address the fundamental nature of the research at hand. Analysis of responses to multiple questions informs an understanding of each hypothesis and can be used to better understand the SEM program environment at large.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Power Profile Monitoring and Tracking Evolution of System-Wide HPC Workloads

The power & energy demands of HPC machines have grown significantly. Modern exascale HPC systems require tens of megawatts of combined power for computing resources and cooling facilities at full capacity. The current energy trend is not sustainable for future HPC systems, and there is a need to work toward the energy efficiency aspect of HPC performance. Energy awareness of the HPC applications at the job level is essential for running an efficient HPC system. This work aims to develop a pipeline to provide a production-level system-wide overview of the HPC workloads' power profile while handling evolving workloads exhibiting new power trends. We developed an open-set classification model for HPC jobs based on the properties of power profiles to continuously provide a system-wide holistic view of recently completed jobs. The pipeline helps continuously monitor the job-level power usage pattern of HPC and enables us to capture the new trends in applications' power behavior. We employed a comprehensive set of techniques to generate job-level data, custom-designed feature extraction methods to extract critical features from jobs' power profiles, clustering techniques powered by generative modeling, and open-set classification for identifying job profiles into known classes or an unknown set. With extensive evaluations, we demonstrate the effectiveness of each component in our pipeline. We provide an analysis of the resulting clusters that characterize the power profile landscape of the Summit supercomputer from more than 60K jobs executed in a year. The open-set classification classifies the known data sets into known classes with high accuracy and identifies unknown data noints with over 85% accuracy.

Karimi, Ahmad Maroof↗