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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

EXCHANGE Campaign 1: A Community-Driven Baseline Characterization of Soils, Sediments, and Water Across Coastal Gradients

The EXploration of Coastal Hydrobiogeochemistry Across a Network of Gradients and Experiments (EXCHANGE) program is a consortium of scientists working together to improve our understanding of how the two-way exchange of water between estuaries or large lake lacustuaries and the terrestrial landscape influence the state and function of ecosystems across the coastal interface. EXCHANGE Campaign 1 (EC1) focuses on the spatial variation in biogeochemical structure and function at the coastal terrestrial-aquatic interface (TAI). In the Fall of 2021, the EXCHANGE Consortium gathered samples from 52 TAIs. Samples collected from EC1 were analyzed for bulk geochemical parameters, bulk physicochemical parameters, organic matter characteristics, and redox-sensitive elements.Please download ec1_README.pdf for a complete list of available data in each .zip folder, package version history, and detailed information about the project. This README will serve as the central place for EC1 Data Package updates. Experimental setup and v1 methods are documented in Myers-Pigg and Pennington et al., 2023 (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-023-02548-7).EC1 Data Package Structure:ec1_README.pdfec1_methods.pdfec1_metadata_v3.zip...ec1_dd.csv...ec1_flmd.csv...ec1_sample_catalog.csv...ec1_metadata_kitlevel.csv...ec1_metadata_collectionlevel.csv...ec1_data_collectionlevel.csv...ec1_igsn_metadata.csvec1_soil_v3.zipec1_sediment_v3.zipec1_water_v3.zipec1_processingscripts_v3.zipThis data package is on v3 and was originally published May 2023 (v1). Subsequent updates will be published here with new version numbers. Please see the Change History section in ec1_README.pdf for detailed changes.---Acknowledging EXCHANGE: General Support and Data Product UseWe ask that users of EXCHANGE data add the following acknowledgement when publishing data in scholarly articles and data repositories:"This research is based on work supported by COMPASS-FME, a multi-institutional project supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Biological and Environmental Research as part of the Environmental System Science Program."

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Contribution of sewage to occurrence of phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors in natural water

Phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors (PDE-5i, such as Sildenafil, Tadalafil and Vardenafil, mainly prescribed to treat erectile dysfunction) and their generic drug equivalents have been widely marketed and consumed in Korea. From the concentrations detected in wastewater, we could deduce that relatively large amounts of PDE-5i were consumed without a legal prescription. Thus, PDE-5i’s presence in the environment via sewage is unavoidable, and their environmental fate within a sewage treatment plant (STP) should be evaluated. In this study, we investigated the occurrence of three PDE-5i analogs in the influent and effluent of two STPs and the receiving water bodies. The PDE-5i concentration in total reached 62 ± 12 (STP#1) and 88 ± 37 ng L -1 (STP#2) in the sewage influent; about 70% of it was Sildenafil in both STPs. However, they were hardly removed by the STPs as the removal efficiency of the STPs was less than 10% ± 5%. Therefore, the pharmaceuticals were detected in the receiving water (lower than 7 ng L -1 as a total amount) and the concentration slightly increased downstream of the STPs. A simple mass balance model applied for the compounds in the STP effluent and receiving water bodies also confirmed that the discharged PDE-5i were quite persistent. Lastly, we identified temporal and regional patterns in the consumption of the drugs from daily variations of PDE-5i in the influent to these two STPs. For instance, the levels of PDE-5i in the sewage significantly increased on weekends (from Friday to Saturday), and especially in the area where adult-entertainment businesses are common. We estimated that the amount of PDE-5i consumption in this area was 31% higher than that in the area with fewer nightlife spots. Considering that they are pharmaceutically active and resistant to treatment processes within an STP, it is advised that a regular monitoring and management program for PDE-5i should be developed to prevent the discharge of the pharmaceuticals into the water environment.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Assessing the life-cycle environmental impacts of the wood pallet sector in the United States

Wood pallets play a critical role in the movement and storage of goods worldwide. They are an important component in the complex global supply chain and used by almost every industry. It is therefore important to assess the environmental implications of the wood pallet supply chain and identify optimization strategies that can be implemented. In this paper, primary 2018 annual production data collected from U.S. pallet manufacturers were used to develop the first industry-average life-cycle inventory (LCI). A new functional unit was proposed to perform a more refined and accurate environmental life-cycle assessment of the wood pallet supply chain. Using the LCI data developed, a cradle-to-grave industry-average life-cycle impact assessment was performed. This novel approach quantifies environmental impacts of a generic multi-use pallet, including repair and remanufacturing. The total global warming impact was 10.4 kg CO 2 e per 45.4 t of pallet loads of product delivered using wood pallets. The manufacturing stage contributed the most, about 35%, followed by the raw material supply stage. About 41% of total primary energy consumption was from renewable sources, with most sourced from biomass. Fossil fuels comprised about 52% of the total (225 MJ per functional unit) primary energy consumption. Total environmental impact was significantly affected by two main parameters: reference service life and load-bearing capacity. Pallet repair was also found to be an important component of the wood pallet supply chain, which has a low environmental footprint compared with the overall impact of a pallet and enables mitigation of overall impact by extending the reference service life. Finally, at end-of-life, common industry practices demonstrated substantial potential environmental benefits that can minimize overall environmental impact.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Effects of Lead and Arsenic in Soils from Former Orchards on Growth of Three Plant Species

Abstract Historical use of lead arsenate as a pesticide in former orchards of eastern Washington State (USA) has resulted in legacy lead (Pb) and arsenic (As) soil contamination. However, the impacts on plant growth in soils with residual Pb and As contamination have not yet been quantified. To this end, a comparative study of plant growth impacts was performed for native bluegrass ( Poa secunda ), invasive cheatgrass ( Bromus tectorum ), and buttercrunch lettuce ( Lactuca sativa ). Using standard plant growth protocols, germination frequency and biomass growth were measured over a wide range of Pb and arsenate concentrations, with maximum concentrations of 3400 and 790 mg kg −1 for Pb and As, respectively. Results indicated that only the biomass growth for all species decreased in soils with the highest concentrations of Pb and As in the soil, with no impacts on soils with lower residual Pb and arsenate concentrations. No impact on percentage of germination was observed at any soil concentration. These results can be used to determine site‐specific soil screening levels for use in ecological risk assessments for Pb and arsenate in soils. Environ Toxicol Chem 2022;41:1459–1465. © 2022 Battelle Memorial Institute. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of SETAC.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

SIMPLE-G: A multiscale framework for integration of economic and biophysical determinants of sustainability

We introduce SIMPLE-G, a Simplified International Model of agricultural Prices, Land use, and the Environment- Gridded version, which is a novel tool for evaluating sustainability policies in a global context while factoring in local heterogeneity in land and water resources and natural ecosystem services. This multi-scale model can provide boundary conditions for local decision makers, as well as capturing feedback from local policies to national and global scales. Additionally, to illustrate its value in environmental analysis, we provide two applications of the model. First, we quantify the local stresses on land and water resources due to global changes in population, income, and productivity. Second, we quantify the global impacts of local policy responses and adaptations to water scarcity.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2020

Anaerobic methane oxidation coupled to manganese reduction by members of the Methanoperedenaceae

Abstract Anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) is a major biological process that reduces global methane emission to the atmosphere. Anaerobic methanotrophic archaea (ANME) mediate this process through the coupling of methane oxidation to different electron acceptors, or in concert with a syntrophic bacterial partner. Recently, ANME belonging to the archaeal family Methanoperedenaceae (formerly known as ANME-2d) were shown to be capable of AOM coupled to nitrate and iron reduction. Here, a freshwater sediment bioreactor fed with methane and Mn(IV) oxides (birnessite) resulted in a microbial community dominated by two novel members of the Methanoperedenaceae, with biochemical profiling of the system demonstrating Mn(IV)-dependent AOM. Genomic and transcriptomic analyses revealed the expression of key genes involved in methane oxidation and several shared multiheme c-type cytochromes (MHCs) that were differentially expressed, indicating the likely use of different extracellular electron transfer pathways. We propose the names “Candidatus Methanoperedens manganicus” and “Candidatus Methanoperedens manganireducens” for the two newly described Methanoperedenaceae species. This study demonstrates the ability of members of the Methanoperedenaceae to couple AOM to the reduction of Mn(IV) oxides, which suggests their potential role in linking methane and manganese cycling in the environment.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Immobilization of active ammonia-oxidizing archaea in hydrogel beads

Abstract Ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) are major players in the nitrogen cycle but their cultivation represents a major challenge due to their slow growth rate and limited tendency to form biofilms. In this study, AOA was embedded in small (~2.5 mm) and large (~4.7 mm) poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)—sodium alginate (SA) hydrogel beads cross-linked with four agents (calcium, barium, light, or sulfate) to compare the differences in activity, the diffusivity of nitrogen species (NH 4 + , NO 2 − , and NO 3 − ), and polymer leakage in batch systems over time. Sulfate-bound PVA-SA beads were the most stable, releasing the lowest amount of polymer without shrinking. Diffusion coefficients were found to be 2 to 3 times higher in hydrogels than in granules, with ammonium diffusivity being ca . 35% greater than nitrite and nitrate. Despite a longer lag phase in small beads, embedded AOA sustained a high per volume rate of ammonia oxidation compatible with applications in research and wastewater treatment.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2024

2024 OES-Environmental 2024 State of the Science Report, Chapter 7: Education and Outreach around Environmental Effects of Marine Renewable Energy

The marine renewable energy (MRE) industry has faced many challenges in getting projects in the water. In many cases, this is due to long consenting timelines, and occasionally active public opposition, often related to concerns about environmental effects or potential conflicts with other uses of the ocean space. While these concerns are very real, some of them are based on misconceptions or lack of familiarity with MRE devices and how they function (Boudet et al. 2020; Karytsas & Theodoropoulou 2014), or uncertainty or misinformation regarding how MRE devices may affect the environment. These misconceptions are common challenges for other renewable energy sectors or other developments in the ocean (Caporale et al. 2020; Scott 2022; Wiersma & Devine-Wright 2014), though the details of device design, site-specific environmental effects, risk and benefit perceptions, and workforce development may be unique to MRE

16 TIDAL AND WAVE POWER↗
NASA NTRS1991

Payload advisory panel recommendations

The Payload Advisory Panel proposes a restructured Earth Observing System (EOS) mission to address high-priority science and environmental policy issues in Earth System Science. These issues have been identified through studies conducted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Committee on Earth and Environmental Sciences (CEES). The restructured EOS defers efforts to improve the understanding of the middle and upper stratosphere and solid earth geophysics. The strategy of the mission combines high priority new measurements with continuation of critical data sets begun by missions which precede EOS. Collaborative arrangements with international partners are an essential part of the program and additional arrangements are posed. The need for continuity in Earth observations and the urgency of environmental questions require launch of some EOS elements as soon as possible. They further require maintenance of the EOS objective of obtaining consistent 15-year measurement records.

Moore, Berrien, III↗
DOE OSTI2026

Genome-resolved insights into microbial diversity and elemental cycling in Winogradsky columns

We retained 18 MAGs with ≥50% completion and <10% contamination (i.e., at least medium quality). Of these, 10 had >90% completion and <5% contamination; however, only one (Paceibacteria Bin.003_MG) can be described as high-quality, as the others lacked a full suite of 5S, 16S, and 23S rRNA genes. To maximize the diversity of our recovered MAGs, we also retained one MAG (Chromatiaceae Bin.008_AM) with >40% (but less than 50%) completion and <5% contamination, as well as one (Rhodopseudomonas Bin.015_MK) with >90% completion and <20% (but>10%) contamination. Interestingly, significant chimerism was not detected in this MAG (40) , suggesting that the elevated contamination (20%) may instead reflect two closely related strains collapsing into a single bin. Consistent with this, contig coverage was bimodal, with roughly 17% of the assembly at ~115x and the remaining 83% at ~282x, while GC content remained uniform across both groups (~64%), arguing against contamination from a taxonomically distinct source.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Landscape rules predict optimal superhighways for the first peopling of Sahul

Archaeological data and demographic modelling suggest that the peopling of Sahul required substantial populations, occurred rapidly within a few thousand years and encompassed environments ranging from hyper-arid deserts to temperate uplands and tropical rainforests. How this migration occurred and how humans responded to the physical environments they encountered have, however, remained largely speculative. By constructing a high-resolution digital elevation model for Sahul and coupling it with fine-scale viewshed analysis of landscape prominence, least-cost pedestrian travel modelling and high-performance computing, here we create over 125 billion potential migratory pathways, whereby the most parsimonious routes traversed emerge. Our analysis revealed several major pathways—superhighways—transecting the continent, that we evaluated using archaeological data. These results suggest that the earliest Australian ancestors adopted a set of fundamental rules shaped by physiological capacity, attraction to visually prominent landscape features and freshwater distribution to maximize survival, even without previous experience of the landscapes they encountered.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2026

Environmental Extremes: Building a New Research Partnership between the University of Nevada Reno and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (Final Report)

This project focused on strengthening research partnership and collaboration between the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) and the Pacific Northwest National laboratory (PNNL) in two focused areas: wildfires and hydrology in the context of environmental extremes. The goal was to overcome barriers and bring UNR university researchers, students, and postdocs up to speed and entrained into DOE/SC/BER /Earth and Environmental System Science Division’s (EESSD) environmental research enterprise. UNR continues to work with the Earth and Biological Sciences Directorate (EBSD) at PNNL to create a broad new collaborative research program connecting scientists and research faculty at the two institutions. This research partnership has been designed to increase the capabilities and velocities of both institutions by developing long-term relationships between researchers from each institution, exposing university researchers to the deep capabilities in the DOE National Laboratories and user facilities, and establishing a pipeline of skilled and experienced graduate students and postdoctoral researchers ready to work alongside DOE scientists to take on grand challenge science problems. These collaborations are intended to ultimately benefit the public by advancing scientific discovery, unleashing the scientific potentials through collaboration and connection, enriching the technical and scientific competitiveness of our nation, and enabling the development of a skilled workforce to tackle the critical scientific challenges that face our nation’s security, infrastructure, and prosperity.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

Publishing Environmental Assessment and Management Science: Crossing the Hurdles

Benefits accrue to scientists, resource managers, companies, and policymakers when environmental scientists publish in peer-reviewed journals. However, environmental scientists and practitioners face challenges, including the sometimes low value placed on journal articles, institutional vested interests in outcomes, and the changing priorities of employers and project sponsors. Confidentiality agreements can also lead scientists to assume publication is not an option. Case studies may be viewed by potential authors as too routine for peer-reviewed journals. On the basis of 30 years of experience, we suggest that publishing hurdles can be overcome and that environmental scientists have a range of options. The topics of manuscripts can include not only results from case studies and perspectives based on them but also byproducts of assessments, including definitions, plans, monitoring methods and models, and decision frameworks. Environmental scientists have unique opportunities to move science forward with their practical knowledge if they can move across the institutional, logistical, data-related, and content-related hurdles.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1992

Mars Environmental Survey (MESUR): Science objectives and mission description

In-situ observations and measurements of Mars are objectives of a feasibility study beginning at the Ames Research Center for a mission called the Mars Environmental SURvey (MESUR). The purpose of the MESUR mission is to emplace a pole-to-pole global distribution of landers on the Martian surface to make both short- and long-term observations of the atmosphere and surface. The basic concept is to deploy probes which would directly enter the Mars atmosphere, provide measurements of the upper atmospheric structure, image the local terrain before landing, and survive landing to perform meteorology, seismology, surface imaging, and soil chemistry measurements. MESUR is intended to be a relatively low-cost mission to advance both Mars science and human presence objectives. Mission philosophy is to: (1) 'grow' a network over a period of years using a series of launch opportunities, thereby minimizing the peak annual costs; (2) develop a level-of-effort which is flexible and responsive to a broad set of objectives; (3) focus on science while providing a solid basis for human exploration; and (4) minimize project cost and complexity wherever possible. In order to meet the diverse scientific objectives, each MESUR lander will carry the following strawman instrument payload consisting of: (1) Atmospheric structure experiment, (2) Descent and surface imagers, (3) Meteorology package, (4) Elemental composition instrument, (5) 3-axis seismometer, and (6) Thermal analyzer/evolved gas analyzer. The feasibility study is primarily to show a practical way to design an early capability for characterizing Mars' surface and atmospheric environment on a global scale. The goals are to answer some of the most urgent questions to advance significantly our scientific knowledge about Mars, and for planning eventual exploration of the planet by robots and humans.

Hubbard, G. Scott↗
DOE OSTI2023

Spatiotemporal Changes in Trace Metal Bioavailability in the Sediment Pore water of a Constructed Wetland Using Passive Pore water Samplers

Sediments in aquatic systems often act as a major sink for contaminants. Diffusive gradient in thin films (DGTs) and in situ equilibrium dialysis samplers (peepers) are two major in situ pore water sampling devices that overcome the problems associated with conventional pore water sampling methods. In the present study, DGTs and peepers were used to study the spatial and seasonal effects (cool months, October–February; warm months, May–September) on metal bioavailability in the H‐02 constructed wetland and the sink versus source role of the sediments by calculating the metal resupply capacity. Data showed similar seasonal trends in metal concentrations using passive samplers, peepers, and DGTs. Pooled Cu and Zn concentrations measured using DGTs were lower in warm months (1.67 ± 1.50 and 2.62 ± 0.68 μg L –1 , respectively, p < 0.001) versus in cool months (2.12 ± 0.65 and 5.58 ± 1.33 μg L –1 , respectively, p < 0.001; mean ± 95% confidence interval). Sulfate (SO 4 2− ) concentrations were significantly (p = 0.0139) lower in warm months (averaged at 0.22 ± 0.05 mg L –1 ) compared to in cool months (0.16 ± 0.05 mg L –1 ). The increase in SO 4 2− concentration is an indicator of the lower activity of sulfate‐reducing bacteria, which need SO 4 2− during anaerobic respiration, in which SO 4 2− is reduced to sulfide (S 2– ) that forms insoluble salts with Cu and Zn, which could partially explain the higher bioavailability of these metals in the cool season. Metal resupply capacity of the sediments was mostly <0.2 for Cu and Zn. Taken together, the H0‐2 wetland sediments mostly acted as a sink to both Cu and Zn over the course of the present study. Environ Toxicol Chem 2023;42:2726–2736. © 2023 The Authors. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of SETAC.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

Changes in water vapor adsorption and water film thickness in clayey materials as a function of relative humidity

Abstract Soil water, with adsorbed water being an important component, plays an important role in fluid flow and chemical movement in the unsaturated zone. The adsorbed water consists of water film and interlayer water, and its content is related to the relative humidity (RH). This study theoretically and experimentally focuses on the variation in adsorbed water content in clayey materials as the RH changes. Based on a slit‐pore model, three types of water (water film, interlayer water, and capillary water) could be present in the water vapor adsorption process. The variation of water film is obtained from the analysis of interfacial forces, and then the total water content can be quantitatively subdivided into these three types of water for different RH values. The slit‐pore adsorption model was used with experimental measurements (water vapor adsorption and N 2 physisorption) to quantify the amounts and interrelationships of these three different types of water to six clayey materials, namely three clay minerals (kaolinite, montmorillonite, and illite–smectite mixed layer) and three clay‐rich sediments from the Jianghan Plain in China. The main results are that (a) the volumes of water vapor adsorption are much greater than those of N 2 adsorption except for kaolinite; (b) interlayer water largely dominates the growth of total water content in montmorillonite and results in a concentration of 0.090 ml g −1 at 95% RH; and (c) the minimum thickness of water film is calculated to be 0.23 nm, and the maximum value is one‐third of the pore width by considering the interfacial forces.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Wastewater reuse benefits for municipal complete retention lagoons: Life cycle assessment and dynamic modeling

Complete retention lagoons with wastewater reuse for agricultural purposes may offer sustainability advantages over alternative systems for small communities in semiarid regions. This study quantifies the environmental life cycle impact of adopting agriculture water reuse systems using case study data to estimate operating and building infrastructure impacts and spatial–temporal modeling to quantify resource trade-offs. Water reuse system benefits are highly dependent on supply–storage–demand dynamics. The relative size of irrigated agricultural land to the lagoon size was the most significant factor influencing site water application rates. The benefits are sensitive to changes in air emissions occurring from the agricultural land and further emphasize the importance of proper fertilizer management when adopting water reuse systems. Wastewater reuse from complete retention lagoons reduce life cycle GHG emissions, primarily through excavation reductions, offset fertilizer use, and especially from increased crop yields from wastewater reuse at previously rainfed sites.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

Challenges and physiological implications of wood feeding in termites

Termites are fascinating insects for a number of reasons, one of which being their specialization on diets of wood lignocellulose. The goal of this review is to consider stress-inducing characteristics of wood and apparent molecular-physiological adaptations in termite guts to overcome these stressors. Defensive factors present in wood include extractive secondary plant metabolites, lignin and related phenolics, crystalline cellulose, and low nitrogen content. Molecular-physiological adaptations of the termite gut to deal with these factors include robust detoxification and antioxidant machinery, the production of a peritrophic matrix and a wide range of cellulases from host and symbiotic sources, and creation of niches available to nitrogen-fixing bacterial symbionts. Considering termite gut physiology and symbioses in the context of stress-response has applied implications. Overall, these outcomes can include development of efficient biomass breakdown strategies, protection of microbes during industrial processing applications, and safeguarding wooden structures from termite damage.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗