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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 55 records · Page 3
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2022

Method to account for natural fracture induced elastic anisotropy in geomechanical characterization of shale gas reservoirs

Shale has been usually recognized as a transverse isotropic (TI) medium in conventional geomechanical log interpretation due to its laminated nature. However, when natural fractures exist in the shale rock, additional elastic anisotropy is introduced, converting laminated Shale to an orthorhombic (OB) medium. Previous studies illustrate that neglecting the natural fracture induced anisotropy in shale geomechanical log interpretation could lead to inaccurate evaluations of elastic moduli and in-situ stresses. In this paper, a new method is developed to account for the natural fracture induced anisotropy in geomechanical log interpretation based upon the TI acoustic model developed by the author and a characterization technique of elastic wave anisotropy (Sayers, 1991). The new OB model incorporates the four acoustic log data inputs and five modeling constraints in a nonlinear optimization algorithm to solve for the nine independent stiffness coefficients of an OB rock, and further to solve for the geomechanical properties and in-situ stress profiles in an OB formation. The new method was validated with a Marcellus Gas Shale field case. Both the new OB model and the conventional TI model were applied to interpret the minimum horizontal stress profile for the same formation. By comparing the results, the OB model is more robust than the TI from two aspects. First, the average stress magnitude predicted by the OB model is closer to the one measured by the Diagnostic Fracture Injection Test (DFIT). Second, the OB model predicts a more obvious stress barrier between the lower Marcellus and upper Onondaga Limestone than the TI model does. Finally, the predicted stress barrier is consistent with the observation of the microseismic events of a horizontal well drilled and completed nearby, which reveals that no hydraulic fracture propagates downward through the bottom boundary of Marcellus Shale into the underlying Onondaga Limestone.

03 NATURAL GAS↗
DOE OSTI2022

The Entropic Braiding Index ( eBI ): A Robust Metric to Account for the Diversity of Channel Scales in Multi‐Thread Rivers

Abstract The Braiding Index ( BI ), defined as the average count of intercepted channels per cross‐section, is a widely used metric for characterizing multi‐thread river systems. However, it does not account for the diversity of channels (e.g., in terms of water discharge) within different cross‐sections, omitting important information related to system complexity. Here we present a modification of BI, the Entropic Braiding Index ( eBI ), which augments the information content in BI by using Shannon Entropy to encode the diversity of channels in each cross section. eBI is interpreted as the number of “effective channels” per cross‐section, allowing a direct comparison with the traditional BI . We demonstrate the potential of the ratio BI/eBI to quantify channel disparity, differentiate types of multi‐thread systems (braided vs. anastomosed), and assess the effect of discharge variability, such as seasonal flooding, on river cross‐section stability.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

A classical equation that accounts for observations of non-Arrhenius and cryogenic grain boundary migration

Observations of microstructural coarsening at cryogenic temperatures, as well as numerous simulations of grain boundary motion that show faster migration at low temperature than at high temperature, have been troubling because they do not follow the expected Arrhenius behavior. This work demonstrates that classical equations, that are not simplified, account for all these oddities and demonstrate that non-Arrhenius behavior can emerge from thermally activated processes. According to this classical model, this occurs when the intrinsic barrier energies of the processes become small, allowing activation at cryogenic temperatures. Additional thermal energy then allows the low energy process to proceed in reverse, so increasing temperature only serves to frustrate the forward motion. This classical form is shown to reconcile and describe a variety of diverse grain boundary migration observations.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2025

Traceable and Scalable Food Balance Sheets from Agricultural Commodity Supply and Utilization Accounts (2010–2022)

Abstract The Food Balance Sheets (FBS), compiled by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), serve as a cornerstone dataset for studies on agricultural development, food security, and dietary health, providing a broad overview of global and regional food systems. However, its limited transparency and scalability hinder its application in empirical analysis and multisector dynamic modeling. Here, we present a traceable Food Balance Sheets (T-FBS) dataset, developed from detailed Supply Utilization Accounts (SUA) using a novel Primary Commodity equivalent (PCe) aggregation approach. This framework enables the aggregation of commodity flows along supply chains while ensuring consistency and balance across multiple dimensions. The T-FBS dataset includes 57 PCe commodities across 195 regions for the period 2010–2022, consolidated from over 500 SUA products. While T-FBS closely aligns with FAO-FBS at aggregate levels for dietary energy and macronutrients, it identifies key uncertainties in other elements (e.g., feed, trade, stocks). By enhancing methodological transparency, traceability, and scalability, T-FBS strengthens the robustness of food system studies and fosters future research and collaboration within the open-source community.

agriculture↗
DOE OSTI2025

Detectable ship tracks account for just 5% of aerosol indirect forcing from ship emissions

Ship emissions are a major source of aerosols over oceans, affecting both air quality and energy balance of the climate. However, estimates of their climate forcing diverge between studies relying on visible ship-tracks and those based on models. Here we show that forcing due to visible ship-tracks accounts for just 5% of the total forcing over the southeast Atlantic shipping-lane. Most forcing from ship emissions comes from aerosols that do not form detectable ship-tracks. They are only tips of the iceberg. We make three forcing calculations, one bottom-up based on visible ship-tracks, one top-down based on spatial relationships, and a hybrid approach that combines top-down or model estimated cloud droplet number concentration changes and cloud adjustments. Although the forcing based on machine learning detected ship tracks is an order of magnitude greater than prior results using manually detected ship-tracks, it remains only 5% of that inferred by top-down or cloud adjustment based methods for pre-2020 shipping. The top-down and the combined cloud adjustments methods show similar forcing for the post-2020 reduction in ships’ sulfur emission, although the methods have important regional differences in cloud adjustments that need further investigation. Our results reconcile a long-standing discrepancy in the literature and have important implications for aerosol indirect forcing and marine cloud brightening.

Yuan, Tianle [NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Accounting for linkages between wildfire-driven shifts in plant-microbial interactions and soil carbon dynamics in Arctic tundra

Increasing wildfire regimes in the rapidly changing Arctic tundra are altering the soil carbon budget through increased permafrost degradation, shrubs expansion, and shifts in microbial activities. Whether future arctic wildfires will result in net C losses or gains in the future will depend on complex biotic and abiotic interactions that regulate belowground C biogeochemical processes, including linkages among biotic communities. One important linkage is plant-microbe interactions. While these interactions are likely shaped or altered by wildfires, they remain little explored in the context of successional trajectories. Yet, incorporating plant-microbe interactions in frameworks for defining and understanding post-fire soil C trajectories is critical to predict belowground C responses to future tundra wildfires. Here, we provide examples of and discuss how fire-mediated changes in plant-soil-microbe (PSM) interactions can impact soil C dynamics in the Arctic tundra. We consider different impacts of wildfires on PSM interactions and their implications to soil C dynamics, as well as the nuances associated with particular wildfire regimes (severity and intensity) and successional timescales. We suggest that accounting for plant-microbial linkages in future wildfire-succession interactions frameworks can inform future experimental designs and reduce uncertainties in our ability to predict the net effect of Arctic wildfires on ecosystem C.

fungi, bacteria↗
DOE OSTI2024

Estimating coccidioidomycosis endemicity while accounting for imperfect detection using spatio - temporal occupancy modeling

Coccidioidomycosis, or Valley fever, is an infectious disease caused by inhaling Coccidioides fungal spores. Incidence has risen in recent years, and it is believed the endemic region for Coccidioides is expanding in response to climate change. While Valley fever case data can help us understand trends in disease risk, using case data as a proxy for Coccidioides endemicity is not ideal because case data suffers from imperfect detection, including false positives (e.g., travel-related cases reported outside of endemic area) and false negatives (e.g., misdiagnosis or underreporting). Here we proposed a Bayesian, spatio-temporal occupancy model to relate monthly, county-level presence/absence data on Valley fever cases to latent endemicity of Coccidioides, accounting for imperfect detection. We used our model to estimate endemicity in the western United States. We estimated high probability of endemicity in southern California, Arizona, and New Mexico, but also in regions without mandated reporting, including western Texas, eastern Colorado, and southeastern Washington. We also quantified spatio-temporal variability in detectability of Valley fever, given an area is endemic to Coccidioides. We estimated an inverse relationship between lagged 3- and 9-month precipitation and case detection, and a positive association with agriculture. This work can help inform public health surveillance needs and identify areas that would benefit from mandatory case reporting.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Parameter inference with non-linear galaxy clustering: accounting for theoretical uncertainties

ABSTRACT We implement euclidemulator (version 1), an emulator for the non-linear correction of the matter power spectrum, into the Markov chain Monte Carlo forecasting code montepython. We compare the performance of halofit, hmcode, and euclidemulator1, both at the level of power spectrum prediction and at the level of posterior probability distributions of the cosmological parameters, for different cosmological models and different galaxy power spectrum wavenumber cut-offs. We confirm that the choice of the power spectrum predictor has a non-negligible effect on the computed sensitivities when doing cosmological parameter forecasting, even for a conservative wavenumber cut-off of $0.2\, h\, {\rm Mpc}^{-1}$. We find that euclidemulator1 is on average up to 17 per cent more sensitive to the cosmological parameters than the other two codes, with the most significant improvements being for the Hubble parameter of up to 42 per cent and the equation of state of dark energy of up to 26 per cent, depending on the case. In addition, we point out that the choice of the power spectrum predictor contributes to the risk of computing a significantly biased mean cosmology when doing parameter estimations. For the four tested scenarios we find biases, averaged over the cosmological parameters, of between 0.5σ and 2σ (from below 1σ up to 6σ for individual parameters). This paper provides a proof of concept that this risk can be mitigated by taking a well-tailored theoretical uncertainty into account as this allows to reduce the bias by a factor of 2 to 5, depending on the case under consideration, while keeping posterior credibility contours small: the standard deviations are amplified by a factor of ≤1.4 in all cases.

Astronomy & Astrophysics↗
DOE OSTI2025

Accounting for electron-beam-induced warping of molecular nanocrystals in MicroED structure determination

High-energy electrons induce sample damage and motion at the nanoscale to fundamentally limit the determination of molecular structures by electron diffraction. Using a fast event-based electron counting (EBEC) detector, we characterize beam-induced, dynamic, molecular crystal lattice reorientations (BIRs). These changes are sufficiently large to bring reciprocal lattice points entirely in or out of intersection with the sphere of reflection, occur as early events in the decay of diffracted signal due to radiolytic damage, and coincide with beam-induced migrations of crystal bend contours within the same fluence regime and at the same illuminated location on a crystal. These effects are observed in crystals of biotin, a series of amino acid metal chelates, and a six-residue peptide, suggesting that incident electrons inevitably warp molecular lattices. The precise orientation changes experienced by a given microcrystal are unpredictable but are measurable by indexing individual diffraction patterns during beam-induced decay. Reorientations can often tilt a crystal lattice several degrees away from its initial position before irradiation, and for an especially beam-sensitive Zn(II)-methionine chelate, are associated with dramatic crystal quakes prior to 1 e − Å −2 electron beam fluence accumulates. Since BIR coincides with the early stages of beam-induced damage, it echoes the beam-induced motion observed in single-particle cryoEM. As with motion correction for cryoEM imaging experiments, accounting for BIR-induced errors during data processing could improve the accuracy of MicroED data.

Vlahakis, Niko (ORCID:0000000250920265)↗
DOE OSTI2024

Constraining effects of aerosol-cloud interaction by accounting for coupling between cloud and land surface

Aerosol-cloud interactions (ACIs) are vital for regulating Earth’s climate by influencing energy and water cycles. Yet, effects of ACI bear large uncertainties, evidenced by systematic discrepancies between observed and modeled estimates. This study quantifies a major bias in ACI determinations, stemming from conventional surface or space measurements that fail to capture aerosol at the cloud level unless the cloud is coupled with land surface. We introduce an advanced approach to determine radiative forcing of ACI by accounting for cloud-surface coupling. By integrating field observations, satellite data, and model simulations, this approach reveals a drastic alteration in aerosol vertical transport and ACI effects caused by cloud coupling. In coupled regimes, aerosols enhance cloud droplet number concentration across the boundary layer more homogeneously than in decoupled conditions, under which aerosols from the free atmosphere predominantly affect cloud properties, leading to marked cooling effects. Our findings spotlight cloud-surface coupling as a key factor for ACI quantification, hinting at potential underassessments in traditional estimates.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

The importance of accounting for landscape position when investigating grasslands: A multidisciplinary characterisation of a Californian coastal grassland

Data from the characterisation of the Point Reyes Field Site, published in AGU Earth's Future under the title: The importance of accounting for landscape position when investigating grasslands: A multidisciplinary characterisation of a Californian coastal grassland. This paper explored the effect of landscape position on the response of a Californian grassland to seasonal changes. All files are csv files. The EMI data contains 8 csv files with a metadata csv explaining the columns. The dataset also includes soil variables including total concentrations calculated from fused samples, then dissolved and measured on ICP-AES for whole-rock elements and ICP-MS for trace elements. Mineral composition was attained using X-ray diffraction at BL 11-3 at SSRL . Data was then run through the High Score database to characterise different mineral phases. total It also includes a table with bulk soil characteristics such as soil pH, cation exchange capacity, and soil textural data. Data from Teros 12 Meter soil moisture, electrical conductivity and temperature sensors are presented in SMS Csv file. While the WL bottom and top files contain data from Piezometers measuring the ground water table. We have included a csv file that contains soil CO2 efflux data from Feb 2021-Oct 2021 in the Point Reyes Grassland Experiment We have included the spatially orientated (easting northing) remotely sensed datasets that were used in the K-means clustering analysis conducted on our site with electrical conductivity, normalised difference vegetation index, elevation, slope, solar radiation, topographic position and wetness index, and a clustering score. Finally there is a list of all the identified grassland species at the site.For more information on flux data, please contact the corresponding author.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

Outline for Feasibility Study on Nuclear Material Accounting and Control Technologies for Pu Fuel Cycle Facilities under Decommissioning at Tokai Site [Slides]

DOE/NNSA and JAEA to conduct a feasibility study on nuclear material accounting and control needs and requirements for non-destructive assay (NDA) measurement of material unaccounted for (MUF) in waste streams at JAEA Tokai fuel cycle facilities during the decommissioning process. Under this study, both sides will exchange information, perform an assessment of needs and requirements, and develop joint recommendations for development of NDA systems at select facilities.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Outline for Feasibility Study on a Nuclear Material Accounting and Control System for Measurement of High-Activity Waste at Tokai Reprocessing Plant during Decommissioning

The objective of this collaboration between the DOE/NNSA International Nuclear Security Program (INS) and JAEA is to conduct a feasibility study on nuclear material accounting and control needs and requirements for NDA measurement of high-activity waste at TRP during the decommissioning process. Under this study, both sides will exchange information, perform an assessment of needs and requirements, and develop joint recommendations for development of the A-HMMS.

98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL P↗
DOE OSTI2023

Formal Experimentation and Analysis of Handheld RFID Readers as a Tool for Nuclear Material Accounting

Commercial, off-the-shelf Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) systems have been successfully deployed for inventory tracking in numerous industries, but their viability in the tracking of complex environments containing nuclear material is less understood. Of primary interest in this setting is a RFID tracking system for nuclear material accounting which can reliably identify as many tags as possible with high accuracy, while also reducing an operator’s exposure to radiation. In this work, we develop a formal statistical approach to identify relevant handheld RFID reader settings which optimize tagging performance. To achieve this goal, we design a full factorial split-plot experiment for a static shelf configuration scene with 50 randomly placed nuclear material containers affixed with RFID tags. We use Bayesian inference to fit a second-order response surface model which expresses the probability of a successful match for each container as a function of the experimental factors. Such effects are allowed to vary across individual containers and the containers’ population in its entirety to estimate overall effects. Uncertainties of estimates and predictions are quantified via their corresponding posterior distributions. Following extensive model checking and validation, the fitted model is used to identify experimental factors which maximize matching probabilities at both the container-level and for the full shelf configuration scene. We also analyze sensitivity of performance to relevant factors.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Planning for Material Control and Accountancy at Liquid Fueled Molten Salt Reactors

The purpose of this report is to provide molten salt reactor (MSR) developers and future US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) license applicants with recommendations for developing an effective and practical material control and accounting (MC&A) plan, focused primarily on MSR designs that use circulating liquid fuel. Because of the breadth of MSR designs, there is no single, generic, detailed MC&A plan that will work for every design. The wide variation of fresh fuel salts, the method and frequency of loading fresh fuel, the reactor system design components (e.g., tanks, filtration systems, chemical processing streams), and waste streams will determine the specific measurement locations and instrumentation that can best meet MC&A objectives throughout an MSR facility. Additionally, MSR designs are rapidly evolving, and new design features and deployment scenarios that will affect MC&A are being explored and pursued. This report defines a generic MC&A approach that was developed for terrestrial (as opposed to maritime) deployments to meet the intent of NRC domestic safeguards and MC&A. MSR license applicants should consider nuclear safeguards (both domestic and international) and security throughout the design, as early as the preconceptual design phase. MC&A of special nuclear material (SNM) is an aspect of the NRC’s domestic safeguards program, alongside physical protection. Because liquid-fueled MSRs are reactors with SNM in nondiscrete (or item) form, it is likely that the NRC may require liquid-fueled MSR license applicants to submit a formal MC&A plan as a part of their license application. Currently, the NRC licensing protocol presents a challenge because the NRC MC&A regulations have not been updated to accommodate advanced reactors, including types of MSRs. Because no liquid-fueled MSR has been licensed for operation at the time of this report, no template or precedence for a successfully licensed MSR MC&A plan exists. However, the MSR license applicant can take advantage of the NRC’s published commitments to performance-based regulations. The authors recommend that the license applicant, or MSR designers, develop an MC&A plan throughout the design lifecycle and plan to submit a detailed MC&A program description, or MC&A plan, to the NRC as a part of a license application. No MC&A plan template or guidance exists that is specific to liquid-fueled MSRs. The authors recommend that license applicants discuss the topic of MC&A during preapplication engagement. Because of the uniqueness of MC&A for liquid fueled MSRs, the authors recommend that liquid fueled MSR developers engage with the NRC on the topic of MC&A in the early phases of its design development and follow up any time there are significant modifications in design plans that would affect MC&A. For example, topics like modifications in fuel handling processes, changes in uranium enrichment, or additional chemical processing streams added to the design could be discussed with the NRC specifically on the topic of MC&A.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Optimization of Solid Oxide Electrolysis Cell Systems Accounting for Long-Term Performance and Health Degradation

This study focuses on optimizing solid oxide electrolysis cell (SOEC) systems for efficient and durable long-term hydrogen (H2) production. While the elevated operating temperatures of SOECs offer advantages in terms of efficiency, they also lead to chemical degradation, which shortens cell lifespan. To address this challenge, dynamic degradation models are coupled with a steady-state, two-dimensional, non-isothermal SOEC model and steady-state auxiliary balance of plant equipment models, within the IDAES modeling and optimization framework. A quasi-steady state approach is presented to reduce model size and computational complexity. Long-term dynamic simulations at constant H2 production rate illustrate the thermal effects of chemical degradation. Dynamic optimization is used to minimize the lifetime cost of H2 production, accounting for SOEC replacement, operating, and energy expenses. Several optimized operating profiles are compared by calculating the Levelized Cost of Hydrogen (LCOH).

Giridhar, Nishant↗