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At least 451 records · Page 25

Spectro-Microscopy Studies of Atmospheric Particles

Our project investigated composition and physical properties of individual atmospheric particles collected in field campaigns organized by the DOE Atmospheric Systems Research and Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ASR/ARM) programs, such as the Green Ocean Amazon (GoAmazon, 2014/5), the Holistic Interactions of Shallow Clouds, Aerosols, and Land-Ecosystems (HI-SCALE, 2016/7), the Aerosol and Cloud Experiment in the Eastern North Atlantic (ACE-ENA, 2017/8), the Aerosol–Ice Formation Closure Pilot Study (AEROICESTUDY, 2019) and in additional small-scale supporting field experiments focused on the investigation of the light-absorbing (aka brown carbon) atmospheric particles. In these studies, we investigated the contribution of natural and anthropogenic sources to populations of atmospheric particles during representative atmospheric conditions; characterized particle composition and evaluated their hygroscopic properties and propensity to act as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) and ice nuclei (IN); correlated typical particle-type and mixing state characteristics with real-time measurements in the areas of studies. We used multi-modal spectro-microscopy techniques to examine elemental and molecular composition, mixing state, size, and higher order morphology for individual particles. Specifically, we used computer-controlled scanning electron microscopy and X-ray microanalysis for quantitative analysis of particle elemental composition, and we used transmission electron microscopy to provide additional information on the distribution of different components within individual particles (particle heterogeneity). We used synchrotron-based scanning transmission X-ray microscopy for quantitative description of the mixing state and molecular bonding of carbon in particles. The particle composition, mixing state, and morphology from analyzed periods was then combined with the real-time ARM measurements of aerosol size distribution, CCN concentration, hygroscopicity, and aerosol bulk composition. Combined together, results of our studies allowed us to assess the major particle sources (biogenic vs. anthropogenic, primary vs secondary) and gain insight into the atmospheric processing of aerosol particles resulting from condensation, coagulation, oxidative aging, and cloud processing. In collaboration with other scientists involved in field campaigns, we carried out statistical analysis of particle properties and their source-specific contributions to regional aerosol loading under representative air mass, meteorological, and cloud conditions.

scanning transmission X-ray microscopy↗

Methods for Mapping of Surface Charge Density on Arbitrary Dielectric Objects

A system to map surface charge densities on dielectric objects – e.g. PTFE, PMMA, and PA6 – is described to study maximum surface charge limits discharge and decay characteristics. Two electromechanical movements are used to achieve these goals: a three-axis robotic arm with an electrostatic probe and a three-axis auxiliary movement fitted with a current viewing resistor and laser displacement sensor. Dielectric objects no larger than a cylinder of eight-inch diameter and twelve inches in height are analyzed to create surface point clouds and generate a set of scan points. The arbitrary object is positioned upon a rotational axis with a laser displacement sensor oriented radially towards the rotational axis of the platform to determine the object’s physical limits.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Using Machine Learning to Generate a GISS ModelE Calibrated Physics Ensemble (CPE)

A neural network (NN) surrogate of the NASA GISS ModelE atmosphere (version E3) is trained on a perturbed parameter ensemble (PPE) spanning 45 physics parameters and 36 outputs. The NN is leveraged in a Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) Bayesian parameter inference framework to generate a second posterior constrained ensemble coined a “calibrated physics ensemble,” or CPE. The CPE members are characterized by diverse parameter combinations and are, by definition, close to top-of-atmosphere radiative balance, and must broadly agree with numerous hydrologic, energy cycle and radiative forcing metrics simultaneously. Global observations of numerous cloud, environment, and radiation properties (provided by global satellite products) are crucial for CPE generation. The inference framework explicitly accounts for discrepancies (or biases) in satellite products during CPE generation. We demonstrate that product discrepancies strongly impact calibration of important model parameter settings (e.g., convective plume entrainment rates; fall speed for cloud ice). Structural improvements new to E3 are retained across CPE members (e.g., stratocumulus simulation). Notably, the framework improved the simulation of shallow cumulus and Amazon rainfall while not degrading radiation fields, an upgrade that neither default parameters nor Latin Hypercube parameter searching achieved. Analyses of the initial PPE suggested several parameters were unimportant for output variation. However, many “unimportant” parameters were needed for CPE generation, a result that brings to the forefront how parameter importance should be determined in PPEs. From the CPE, two diverse 45-dimensional parameter configurations are retained to generate radiatively-balanced, auto-tuned atmospheres that were used in two E3 submissions to CMIP6.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Evaluation of a New Approach for Entrainment and Detrainment Rate Estimation

Entrainment and detrainment rates (ε and δ) constitute the most critical free parameters in mass flux schemes commonly employed for cumulus parameterizations. Recently, Zhu et al. (2021) introduced a new approach that utilizes aircraft observations to simultaneously estimate ε and δ for cumulus clouds, overcoming the limitation of other observation-based approaches that solely yield ε without offering insights into δ. This study aims to comprehensively evaluate the reliability of this new approach. First, evaluation using an Explicit Mixing Parcel Model demonstrates the capability of the new approach to back-calculate predetermined ε and δ based on the physical properties before and after the entrainment mixing. Second, evaluation using large-eddy simulations illustrates that the new approach yields consistent ε and δ profiles compared to the traditional approach. Sensitivity tests indicate a weak sensitivity of the estimated δ with the new approach to the entrained air source. A decrease in the proportion of cloudy air in the assumed detrained air leads to a reduction in the estimated δ, while ε remains unaffected. Finally, the most appropriate assumptions for entrained and detrained air are discussed. Estimating ε for cumulus parameterizations involves acquiring ambient air more than 500 m away from the cloud edge as entrained air. Due to implicit mean field approximations in the traditional approach, determining the optimal assumption for detrained air properties proves challenging. Finally, this study confirms the reliability of the new approach in estimating ε and δ, providing confidence in its application to extensive observational data and advancement in parameterization.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Idealized Simulations of the Tropical Climate and Variability in the Single Column Atmosphere Model (SCAM): Radiative-Convective Equilibrium

To explore the interactions among column processes in the Community Atmosphere Model (CAM), the single-column version of CAM (SCAM) is integrated for 1000 days in radiative-convective equilibrium (RCE) with tropical values of boundary conditions, spanning a parameter or configuration space of model physics versions (v5 vs. v6), vertical resolution (standard and 60 levels), sea surface temperature (SST), and some interpretation-driven experiments. The simulated time-mean climate is reasonable, near observations and RCE of a cyclic cloud-resolving model. Updraft detrainment in the deep convection scheme produces distinctive grid-scale structures in humidity and cloud, which also interact with radiative transfer processes. These grid artifacts average out in multi-column RCE results reported elsewhere, illustrating the nuts-and-bolts interpretability that SCAM adds to the hierarchy of model configurations. Multi-day oscillations of precipitation arise from descent of warm convection-capping layers starting near the tropopause, eventually reset by a burst of convective deepening. Experiments reveal how these oscillations depend critically on an internal parameter that controls the number of neutral buoyancy levels allowed for determining cloud top and computing dilute convective available potential energy in the deep convection scheme, and merely modified a little by disabling cloud-base radiation (heating of cloud base). This strong dependence of transient behavior in 1D on this parameter will be tested in the second part of this work, in which SCAM is coupled to a parameterized dynamics of two-dimensional, linearized gravity wave, and in the 3D simulations in future study.

Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences↗

The Energy Exascale Earth System Model Version 3: 2. Overview of the Coupled System

The Energy Exascale Earth System Model version 3 (E3SMv3) represents the latest advancement in Earth system modeling developed by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Building upon previous versions, E3SMv3 introduces significant updates across its coupled components to enhance capability and improve fidelity. The atmosphere component incorporates advancements in chemistry, aerosol-cloud interactions, convection, and microphysics. The ocean features a new time-stepping scheme and a higher-resolution unstructured mesh with sub-ice-shelf cavities, while the sea ice model integrates advanced snow and ice physics for more realistic cryospheric simulations. The land model introduces prognostic vegetation dynamics and a new sub-grid topographic treatment of solar radiation. A new tri-grid configuration harmonizes the horizontal grids of the land and river components for improved process coupling. It is enabled by a new non-linear remapping between the atmosphere and land. E3SMv3 underwent extensive testing through a comprehensive simulation campaign, including pre-industrial control, idealized CO 2 experiments, and historical simulations spanning 1850–2024. The model demonstrates significant improvements in simulating the evolution of the historical surface temperature, particularly addressing the “pothole cooling” bias in earlier versions. Reduced aerosol-related forcing contributes to more realistic radiative forcing and better alignment with the observational record. Ocean heat content (OHC) and sea ice trends are also improved as a result.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Second ARM Mobile Facility (AMF2) Aerosol Observing System (AOS) Instrument Handbook

The U.S. Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility’s second mobile facility (AMF2) Aerosol Observing System, designated AOS02, entered service in October of 2010 at Steamboat Springs, Colorado for the Storm Peak Laboratory Cloud Property Validation Experiment (StormVEx). The Aerosol Observing S ystem is meant to be a standalone, autonomous, aerosol sampling system. It requires only power, 208 or 440 VAC 1φ, and an internet connection to be operational. The physical structure is a standard-sized shipping container, 20 feet long by 8 feet wide. Inside, the walls, ceiling, and floors are insulated using >3.5” of spray polyurethane foam with an R-value of 6.2/inch of insulation. The interior walls, floor, and ceiling are lined with ¾” plywood for durability and have integrated unistrut for mounting equipment.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Evaluation of a cloudy cold-air pool in the Columbia River basin in different versions of the High-Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR) model

The accurate forecast of persistent orographic cold-air pools in numerical weather prediction models is essential for the optimal integration of wind energy into the electrical grid during these events. Model development efforts during the second Wind Forecast Improvement Project (WFIP2) aimed to address the challenges related to this. We evaluated three versions of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) High-Resolution Rapid Refresh model with two different horizontal grid spacings against in situ and remote sensing observations to investigate how developments in physical parameterizations and numerical methods targeted during WFIP2 impacted the simulation of a persistent cold-air pool in the Columbia River basin. Differences amongst model versions were most apparent in simulated temperature and low-level cloud fields during the persistent phase of the cold-air pool. The model developments led to an enhanced low-level cloud cover, resulting in better agreement with the observations. This removed a diurnal cycle in the near-surface temperature bias at stations throughout the basin by reducing a cold bias during the night and a warm bias during the day. However, low-level clouds did not clear sufficiently during daytime in the newest model version, which leaves room for further model developments. The model developments also led to a better representation of the decay of the cold-air pool by slowing down its erosion.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Edge-computing with enhanced standoff sensors

A system senses analytes through one or more sensors that detect or measure a physical characteristic. The one or more sensor generate a spectroscopic-data signal corresponding to the detection. An edge device communicatively couples the one or more sensors that communicatively couples a wide-area network coupling a cloud service. The edge device includes a data acquisition device that receives spectroscopic data signals from the one or more sensor and a processor that processes the spectroscopic-data signals to identify an analyte. The edge device also includes a transceiver that transmits data identifying the analytes to the cloud service.

Passian, Ali↗

Soft x-ray spectroscopy of ammonium sulfate aerosols at varied pH conditions

Aqueous aerosols are useful model systems for understanding the physical chemistry that takes place in the Earth’s atmosphere, as well as the chemistry of other solar system objects. Ammonium sulfate aerosols are impacted by anthropogenic sources such as farming and shipping and are understood to be important seeds of cloud nucleation in the atmosphere, affecting climate. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and near edge x-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy were used in tandem to probe the surface and bulk properties of aqueous (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 , respectively. Aerosolized solutions of (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 , some altered with NaOH to modify pH, were introduced via an aerodynamic lens to a velocity map imaging instrument for detection. The results show that as pH and sodium cation concentration increase, sulfate anion and ammonia become more prevalent at the surface, and the aerosol surface appears to become drier. However, most of the aerosol remains aqueous, with ion concentrations insensitive to the addition of NaOH. Density functional theory calculations were also performed to probe the coordination environment at the aerosol surfaces to understand the underlying phenomena. Finally, the changes seen on the surface of the aerosol underscore the importance of pH in regulating the structure and chemical properties of atmospherically relevant aerosols.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Tightly-coupled camera/LiDAR integration for point cloud generation from GNSS/INS-assisted UAV mapping systems

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) equipped with integrated global navigation satellite systems/inertial navigation systems (GNSS/INS) together with cameras and/or LiDAR sensors are being widely used for topographic mapping in a variety of applications such as precision agriculture, coastal monitoring, and archaeological documentation. Integration of image-based and LiDAR point clouds can provide a comprehensive 3D model of the area of interest. For such integration, ensuring a good alignment between data from the different sources is critical. Although many works have been conducted on this topic, there is still a need for a rigorous integration approach that minimizes the discrepancy between camera and LiDAR data caused by inaccurate system calibration parameters and/or trajectory artifacts. This study proposes an automated tightly-coupled camera/LiDAR integration workflow for GNSS/INS-assisted UAV systems. The proposed strategy is conducted in three main steps. First, an image-based point cloud is generated using a LiDAR/GNSS/INS-assisted structure from motion (SfM) strategy. Then, feature correspondences between image-based and LiDAR point clouds are automatically identified. Finally, an integrated-bundle adjustment procedure including image points, LiDAR raw measurements, and GNSS/INS information is conducted to minimize the discrepancy between point clouds from different sensors while estimating system calibration parameters and refining the trajectory information. The proposed SfM strategy and integration framework are evaluated using five datasets. The SfM results show that using LiDAR data can facilitate feature matching and further increase the number of reconstructed 3D points. The experimental results also illustrate that the developed automated camera/LiDAR integration strategy is capable of accurately estimating system calibration parameters to achieve good alignment among camera/LiDAR data from single/multiple systems. Finally, an absolute accuracy in the range of 3–5 cm is achieved for the image/LiDAR point clouds after the integration process.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Electron Activity (Secondary Electron & Field Emission ) Suppression by Magnetic Field Placed on the Surface of Metals And Dielectric [Slides]

Secondary electron emission happens when the surface is exposed to an oscillating electromagnetic field. It has extremely dangerous effect when resonance condition of this oscillating field and higher SEY conditions are met. The dependence of the secondary electron on primary electron energy is shown in the figure. This multiplication effect on the number of electrons in oscillating electromagnetic field is called multipacting. The problem with multipacting exist in many scientific fields like LHC, ISS, ITER involving particle accelerator, space science and fusion research. In high intensity proton rings this multiplies electron get trapped inside the potential created by proton beam called electron cloud. In High power microwave sources, rf couplers and rf window to couple the power also hugely affected by multipacting.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Description of the Three-Dimensional Large-Scale Forcing Data from the 3D Constrained Variational Analysis (VARANAL3D)

This technical report introduces a Three-Dimensional Constrained Variational Analysis (3DCVA) (Tang and Zhang 2015) and its product of three-dimensional large-scale forcing data to drive single-column models (SCM), cloud-resolving models (CRM), and large-eddy simulation (LES) models, and to evaluate model results. The 3DCVA algorithm is an extension of the original 1D constrained variational analysis (1DCVA) (Zhang and Lin 1997, Zhang et al. 2001). The three-dimensional structure of the forcing data allows studies of spatial variation of the large-scale forcing fields and tests of physical parameterizations across scales. In the U.S. Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility, the 3D forcing data are assigned the datastream name varanal3d. In this technical report, 3DCVA will be used to refer to the algorithm, while VARANAL3D will be used to refer to the data product.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Tests of Dark MACHOs: lensing, accretion, and glow

Dark matter could take the form of dark massive compact halo objects (dMACHOs); i.e., composite objects that are made up of dark-sector elementary particles, that could have a macroscopic mass from the Planck scale to above the solar mass scale, and that also admit a wide range of energy densities and sizes. Concentrating on the gravitational interaction of dMACHOs with visible matter, we map out the mass-radius parameter space that is consistent with gravitational lensing experiments, as well as anisotropies of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) based on the spherical accretion of matter onto a dMACHO in the hydrostatic approximation. For dMACHOs with a uniform-density mass profile and total mass in the range of ~ 10 -12 - 10 M , we find that a dMACHO could explain 100% of the dark matter if its radius is above ≈ 3 times the Einstein radius of the lensing system. For a larger mass above 10 M , a dMACHO with radius above ~ 1×10 8 cm×(M/100 M ) 9/2 is consistent with CMB observables. For a lighter dMACHO with mass below ~ 10 -12 M , there still is not a good experimental probe. Finally, we point out that heavier dMACHOs with masses ~ 0.1 M may be observed by X-ray and optical telescopes if they reside at rest in a large molecular cloud, nearby to our solar system, and accrete ordinary matter to emit photons.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Search for continuous gravitational wave signals from luminous dark photon superradiance clouds with LVK O3 observations

Superradiance clouds of kinetically mixed dark photons around spinning black holes can produce observable multimessenger electromagnetic and gravitational wave signals. The cloud generates electric fields of up to a teravolt-per-meter, which leads to a cascade production of charged particles, yielding a turbulent quasiequilibrium plasma around the black hole, and resulting in electromagnetic fluxes ranging from supernova to pulsar-like luminosities. For stellar mass black holes, such systems resemble millisecond pulsars and are expected to emit pulsating radio waves and continuous gravitational waves (CWs) within the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK) sensitivity band. We select 44 sources with approximately coincident frequencies or positive frequency drifts from existing pulsar catalogs as potential candidates of long-lasting superradiance clouds around old Galactic black holes. For a subset of 34 sources that are well measured and have not been previously targeted, we perform the first search for CW emission in LVK data from the third observing run. We find no evidence of a CW signal and place 95% confidence level upper limits on the emitted strain amplitude. We interpret these results, together with limits from previous searches, in terms of the underlying dark photon theory by performing an analysis of the expected signals from superradiance clouds from Galactic black holes. Finally, we find that, even for moderately spinning black holes, the absence of an observed CW signal disfavors a discrete set of dark photon masses between about 10 −13 and 10 −12 eV/c 2 and kinetic mixing couplings in the range of 10 −9 –10 −7 , subject to assumptions about the properties of the black hole population and the cloud’s electromagnetic emission.

astronomical black holes↗

NANT Site - ASSIST / Thermodynamic retrievals TROPoe / Derived Data

This dataset contains daily files with thermodynamic profiles retrieved with the optimal estimation physical retrieval TROPoe (Turner and Löhnert 2014; Turner and Blumberg 2019; Turner and Löhnert 2021). The profiles are retrieved every 10 minutes from instantaneous radiances observed with an Atmospheric Sounder Spectrometer by Infrared Spectral Technology (ASSIST, Rochette et al. 2009) operated by NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory on Nantucket Island for WFIP3. The spectral bands used in the retrieval are in the wavenumber range from 612 - 905.4 cm-1 and are specified in Turner and Löhnert (2021). Additional input data in TROPoe are cloud base height from a collocated ceilometer operated by NOAA GML and temperature, water vapor mixing ratio, and pressure from a sensor attached to the ASSIST housing. In addition to these temporally resolved input data, TROPoe requires an a priori dataset (prior) that provides mean climatological estimates of thermodynamic profiles and specifies how temperature and humidity covary with height as an input (for details see, e.g., Djalalova et al. 2022). The prior is a key component of the retrieval and provides a constraint on the ill-posed inversion problem. A monthly prior was computed from operational radiosonde launches at Upton, NY.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

Complex plant-derived organic aerosol as ice-nucleating particles – more than the sums of their parts?

Quantifying the impact of complex organic particles on the formation of ice crystals in clouds remains challenging, mostly due to the vast number of different sources ranging from sea spray to agricultural areas. In particular, there are many open questions regarding the ice nucleation properties of organic particles released from terrestrial sources such as decaying plant material. In this work, we present results from laboratory studies investigating the immersion freezing properties of individual organic compounds commonly found in plant tissue and complex organic aerosol particles from vegetated environments, without specifically investigating the contribution from biological particles, which may contribute to the overall ice nucleation efficiency observed at high temperatures. To characterize the ice nucleation properties of plant-related aerosol samples for temperatures between 242 and 267 K, we used the Aerosol Interaction and Dynamics in the Atmosphere (AIDA) cloud chamber and the Ice Nucleation SpEctrometer of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (INSEKT), which is a droplet freezing assay. Individual plant components (polysaccharides, lignin, soy and rice protein) were mostly less ice active, or similarly ice active, compared to microcrystalline cellulose, which has been suggested by recent studies to be a proxy for quantifying the primary cloud ice formation caused by particles originating from vegetation. In contrast, samples from ambient sources with a complex organic matter composition (agricultural soils and leaf litter) were either similarly ice active or up to 2 orders of magnitude more ice active than cellulose. Of all individual organic plant components, only carnauba wax (i.e., lipids) showed a similarly high ice nucleation activity as that of the samples from vegetated environments over a temperature range between 245 and 252 K. Hence, based on our experimental results, we suggest considering cellulose as being representative for the average ice nucleation activity of plant-derived particles, whereas lignin and plant proteins tend to provide a lower limit. In contrast, complex biogenic particles may exhibit ice nucleation activities which are up to 2 orders of magnitude higher than observed for cellulose, making ambient plant-derived particles a potentially important contributor to the population of ice-nucleating particles in the troposphere, even though major uncertainties regarding their transport to cloud altitude remain.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Do Ultrafine Cloud Condensation Nuclei Invigorate Deep Convection?

Numerical simulations of the impact of ultrafine cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) on deep convection are analyzed herein to investigate the idea proposed by Fan et al. that addition of ultrafine CCN to an otherwise pristine environment leads to convective invigoration. The piggybacking methodology is applied, allowing rigorous separation of the impact of aerosols from different flow realizations that typically occur when even a small element of the model physics or modeling setup is changed. The setup follows the case of daytime convective development over land based on observations during the Large-Scale Biosphere–Atmosphere (LBA) experiment in Amazonia. Overall, the simulated impacts of ultrafine CCN are similar to the previous study by the authors on the impact of pollution on deep convection. There is no convective invigoration above the freezing level, but there is a small invigoration (increase in vertical velocities) below due to the supersaturation and buoyancy differences in conditions with additional ultrafine CCN compared to unperturbed pristine conditions. As in the previous study, the most significant impact is on the upper-tropospheric convective anvils that feature higher cloud fractions in conditions with ultrafine CCN. The increase comes from purely microphysical considerations as the increased cloud droplet concentrations from ultrafine CCN lead to increased ice crystal concentrations and, consequently, smaller sizes and fall velocities, and longer residence times. Mesoscale organization due to low-level shear has a small effect on the simulated ultrafine CCN impacts. Finally, an alternative explanation of increased lightning above oceanic shipping lines seen in satellite observations and argued to result from convective invigoration is provided.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗