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At least 703 records · Page 39
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2014

Airborne flux measurements of Biogenic Isoprene over California

Biogenic Volatile Organic Compound (BVOC) fluxes were measured onboard the CIRPAS Twin Otter aircraft as part of the California Airborne BVOC Emission Research in Natural Ecosystem Transects (CABERNET) campaign during June 2011. The airborne virtual disjunct eddy covariance (AvDEC) approach used measurements from a PTR-MS and a wind radome probe to directly determine fluxes of isoprene, MVK+MAC, methanol, monoterpenes, and MBO over ~10,000-km of flight paths focusing on areas of California predicted to have the largest emissions of isoprene. The Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) approach was used to calculate fluxes over long transects of more than 15 km, most commonly between 50 and 150 km. The Continuous Wavelet Transformation (CWT) approach was used over the same transects to also calculate "instantaneous" fluxes with localization of both frequency and time independent of non-stationarities. Vertical flux divergence of isoprene is expected due to its relatively short lifetime and was measured directly using "racetrack" profiles at multiple altitudes. It was found to be linear and in the range 5% to 30% depending on the ratio of aircraft altitude to PBL height (z/zi). Fluxes were generally measured by flying consistently 1 at 400 m ±50 m (a.g.l.) altitude, and extrapolated to the surface according to the determined flux divergence. The wavelet-derived surface fluxes of isoprene averaged to 2 km spatial resolution showed good correspondence to Basal Emission Factor (BEF) landcover datasets used to drive biogenic VOC (BVOC) emission models. The surface flux of isoprene was close to zero over Central Valley crops and desert shrublands, but was very high (up to 15 mg m-2 h-1) above oak woodlands, with clear dependence of emissions on temperature and oak density. Isoprene concentrations of up to 8 ppb were observed at aircraft height on the hottest days and over the dominant source regions. While isoprene emissions from agricultural crop regions, shrublands, and coniferous forests were extremely low, high concentrations of methanol and monoterpenes were found above some of these regions. These observations demonstrate the ability to measure fluxes from specific sources by eddy covariance from an aircraft, and suggest the utility of measurements using fast response chemical sensors to constrain emission inventories and map out source distributions for a much broader array of trace gases than was observed in this study. This paper reports the first regional direct eddy covariance fluxes of isoprene. The emissions of VOCs measured from aircraft with 2 km spatial resolution can quantify the distribution of major sources providing the observations required for testing statewide emission inventories of these important trace gases. These measurements will be used in a future study to assess BVOC emission models and their driving variable datasets.

Misztal, P.↗
DOE OSTI2019

Air mass back trajectories during cold-air outbreaks (CAOs) at Andenes and Bear Island, Norway

For each CAO hour identified from interpolated sounding, a 36-hour back trajectory was calculated using the NOAA HYSPLIT model. We used three different meteorological data as inputs to HYSPLIT: GFS 0.25 deg, GDSA 1deg, and NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis. The trajectories were calculated at four elevations: 500 m, 1000 m, 2000 m, and 5000 m. Locations (latitudes and longitudes) for each hour of the trajectory were reported in the data files.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Simulation-Based Model for Facility-Scale Eagle Presence Mapping

This talk presents the recent progress in building a predictive movement model for predicting conflict between soaring raptors and wind turbines. In particular, it details the recently developed numerical tool called Stochastic Soaring Raptor Simulator for simulating updraft-subsidized paths for soaring raptors through variety of wind conditions and the associated directional intent.

agent-based model↗
DOE OSTI2017

Direct and inverse cascades in the acceleration region of the fast solar wind

Alfvén waves are believed to play an important role in the heating and acceleration of the fast solar wind emanating from coronal holes. Nonlinear interactions between the dominant z{sub +} waves and minority z{sub −} waves have the potential to transfer wave energy either to smaller perpendicular scales (“direct cascade”) or to larger scales (“inverse cascade”). In this paper we use reduced magnetohydrodynamic (RMHD) simulations to investigate how the cascade rates ϵ{sub ±} depend on perpendicular wavenumber and radial distance from the Sun center. For models with a smooth background atmosphere, we find that an inverse cascade (ϵ{sub +}<0) occurs for the dominant waves at radii between 1.4 and 2.5 R{sub ⊙} and dimensionless wavenumbers in the inertial range (15 0) occurs elsewhere. For a model with density fluctuations, there are multiple regions with an inverse cascade. In both cases, the cascade rate ϵ{sub +} varies significantly with perpendicular wavenumber, indicating that the cacsade is a highly nonlocal process. As a result of the inverse cascades, the energy dissipation rates are much lower than expected from a phenomenological model and are insufficient to maintain the temperature of the background atmosphere. We conclude that RMHD models are unable to reproduce the observed properties of the fast solar wind.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Influences of the South American Low-Level Jet on the Convective Environment in Central Argentina Using a Convection-Permitting Simulation

This study documents the spatial and temporal distribution of the South American low-level jet (SALLJ) and quantifies its impact on the convective environment using a 6.5-month convection-permitting simulation during the Remote Sensing of Electrification, Lightning, And Mesoscale/Microscale Processes with Adaptive Ground Observations and Clouds, Aerosols, and Complex Terrain Interactions (RELAMPAGO-CACTI) campaigns. Overall, the simulation reproduces the observed SALLJ characteristics in central Argentina near the Sierras de Córdoba (SDC), a focal point for terrain-focused upscale growth. SALLJs most frequently occur in the summer with maxima to the northwest and east of the SDC and minima over the higher terrain. The shallower SALLJs (<1750 m) have a strong overnight skew, while the elevated jets are more equally spread throughout the day. SALLJ periods often have higher amounts of low-level moisture and instability compared to non-SALLJ periods, with these impacts increasing over time when the SALLJ is present and decreasing afterward. The SALLJ may enhance low-level wind shear magnitudes (particularly when accounting for the jet height); however, enhancement is somewhat limited due to the presence of speed shear in most situations. SALLJ periods are associated with low-level directional shear favorable for organized convection and an orientation of cloud-layer wind shear parallel to the terrain, which could favor upscale growth. A case study is shown in which the SALLJ influenced both the magnitude and direction of wind shear concurrent with convective upscale growth near the SDC. This study highlights the complex relationship between the SALLJ and its impacts during periods of widespread convection.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Lidar - HilFlowS - LLNL ZephIR300 - MOP - Processed Data

The ZephIR300 is a continuous wave LIDAR with a range of 10 m to 300 m. During HilFlowS the ZephIR300 was programmed to measure from 10 m to 150 m. In addition, the ZephIR300 provided a measurement at 1 m height using an onboard meteorological sensor. The ZephIR300 has a 30° scanning cone angle, data sampling rate of approximately 15 s, wind speed accuracy of 0.5 percent, and direction accuracy of 0.5°.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Lidar - HilFlowS - LLNL ZephIR300 - WOP - Processed Data

The ZephIR300 is a continuous wave LIDAR with a range of 10 m to 300 m. During HilFlowS the ZephIR300 was programmed to measure from 10 m to 150 m. In addition, the ZephIR300 provided a measurement at 1 m height using an onboard meteorological sensor. The ZephIR300 has a 30° scanning cone angle, data sampling rate of approximately 15 s, wind speed accuracy of 0.5 percent, and direction accuracy of 0.5°.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2017

Quasar Feedback in the Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxy F11119+3257: Connecting the Accretion Disk Wind with the Large-scale Molecular Outflow

In Tombesi et al., we reported the first direct evidence for a quasar accretion disk wind driving a massive (>100 M {sub ⊙} yr{sup −1}) molecular outflow. The target was F11119+3257, an ultraluminous infrared galaxy (ULIRG) with unambiguous type 1 quasar optical broad emission lines. The energetics of the accretion disk wind and molecular outflow were found to be consistent with the predictions of quasar feedback models where the molecular outflow is driven by a hot energy-conserving bubble inflated by the inner quasar accretion disk wind. However, this conclusion was uncertain because the mass outflow rate, momentum flux, and mechanical power of the outflowing molecular gas were estimated from the optically thick OH 119 μm transition profile observed with Herschel. Here, we independently confirm the presence of the molecular outflow in F11119+3257, based on the detection of ∼±1000 km s{sup −1} blue- and redshifted wings in the CO(1−0) emission line profile derived from deep ALMA observations obtained in the compact array configuration (∼2.″8 resolution). The broad CO(1−0) line emission appears to be spatially extended on a scale of at least ∼7 kpc from the center. Mass outflow rate, momentum flux, and mechanical power of (80–200) R{sub 7}{sup −1} M {sub ⊙} yr{sup −1}, (1.5–3.0) R{sub 7}{sup −1} L {sub AGN}/c, and (0.15–0.40)% R{sub 7}{sup −1} L{sub AGN}, respectively, are inferred from these data, assuming a CO-to-H{sub 2} conversion factor appropriate for a ULIRG (R {sub 7} is the radius of the outflow normalized to 7 kpc, and L {sub AGN} is the AGN luminosity). These rates are time-averaged over a flow timescale of 7 × 10{sup 6} yr. They are similar to the OH-based rates time-averaged over a flow timescale of 4 × 10{sup 5} yr, but about a factor of 4 smaller than the local (“instantaneous”; ≲10{sup 5} yr) OH-based estimates cited in Tombesi et al. The implications of these new results are discussed in the context of time-variable quasar-mode feedback and galaxy evolution. The need for an energy-conserving bubble to explain the molecular outflow is also reexamined.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Solar wind conditions leading to efficient radiation belt electron acceleration: A superposed epoch analysis

In this study by determining preferential solar wind conditions leading to efficient radiation belt electron acceleration is crucial for predicting radiation belt electron dynamics. Using Van Allen Probes electron observations (>1 MeV) from 2012 to 2015, we identify a number of efficient and inefficient acceleration events separately to perform a superposed epoch analysis of the corresponding solar wind parameters and geomagnetic indices. By directly comparing efficient and inefficient acceleration events, we clearly show that prolonged southward Bz, high solar wind speed, and low dynamic pressure are critical for electron acceleration to >1 MeV energies in the heart of the outer radiation belt. We also evaluate chorus wave evolution using the superposed epoch analysis for the identified efficient and inefficient acceleration events and find that chorus wave intensity is much stronger and lasts longer during efficient electron acceleration events, supporting the scenario that chorus waves play a key role in MeV electron acceleration.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

The Observed Effects of Cold Pools on Convection Triggering and Organization during DYNAMO/AMIE

Cold pools that form from existing convection can generate new clouds nearby, a process that has been suggested to contribute to cloud organization. However, some disagreement exists on the role of cold pools in cloud organization over tropical oceans, and much remains to be understood on how this role depends on the state of large-scale disturbances such as the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO). Here, this study addresses this question by examining the intraseasonal variability in the properties of cold pools and their effects on convection triggering using observations. The unique set of surface meteorology data and ground-based radars deployed during the DYNAMO/AMIE field campaign are used to identify cold pools and the associated spatiotemporal evolution of rainfall. The results suggest that cold pools enhance rainfall at their expected speed of 3–8 m s –1 , which includes the Doppler-shifting effect by the background wind. The cold pools also enhance rainfall mainly within a 20 km radius, especially in the direction of boundary-layer vertical wind shear. However, gravity waves appear to contribute predominantly to the propagation of convection over a wider range of distances due to their faster propagation speeds. The interface of convection triggering and propagation at different speeds of cold pools and gravity waves seems to contribute to cloud organization. The effectiveness of cold pools and gravity waves on cloud organization also depends highly on the MJO due to the combined effects of changes in environmental humidity and boundary to lower-tropospheric wind.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2018

Southern Ocean Heat Uptake, Redistribution, and Storage in a Warming Climate: The Role of Meridional Overturning Circulation

Climate models show that most of the anthropogenic heat resulting from increased atmospheric CO 2 enters the Southern Ocean near 60°S and is stored around 45°S. This heat is transported to the ocean interior by the meridional overturning circulation (MOC) with wind changes playing an important role in the process. To isolate and quantify the latter effect, we apply an overriding technique to a climate model and decompose the total ocean response to CO 2 increase into two major components: one due to wind changes and the other due to direct CO 2 effect. We find that the poleward-intensified zonal surface winds tend to shift and strengthen the ocean Deacon cell and hence the residual MOC, leading to anomalous divergence of ocean meridional heat transport around 60°S coupled to a surface heat flux increase. In contrast, at 45°S we see anomalous convergence of ocean heat transport and heat loss at the surface. As a result, the wind-induced ocean heat storage (OHS) peaks at 46°S at a rate of 0.07 ZJ yr −1 (° lat) −1 (1 ZJ = 10 21 J), contributing 20% to the total OHS maximum. The direct CO 2 effect, on the other hand, very slightly alters the residual MOC but primarily warms the ocean. It induces a small but nonnegligible change in eddy heat transport and causes OHS to peak at 42°S at a rate of 0.30 ZJ yr −1 (° lat) −1 , accounting for 80% of the OHS maximum. We also find that the eddy-induced MOC weakens, primarily caused by a buoyancy flux change as a result of the direct CO 2 effect, and does not compensate the intensified Deacon cell.

Liu, Wei↗
DOE OSTI2021

Tools for Assessing Performance Project: FY2021 Quarter 4 Report

The rotatable building located at Texas Tech’s Reese Technology Center is approximately 14 m wide (width being defined as more normal to the wind than parallel), 9 m long (aligned more with the wind than perpendicular), and 4 m tall. By placing 29 sonic anemometers downwind of the building, see Fig. 1, this facility provided a chance to collect data concerning both the wake velocity deficit distribution in the downstream and crosssteam directions (relative to the mean wind) behind an isolated building. A preliminary comparison between this data and the recently- developed fast-running diffusive wake model, which was developed based on wind tunnel and LES (performed with JOULES) simulations, for the purpose of either validating this model of understanding potential persistent differences between the idealized wind tunnel or LES conditions and those of full-scale real world phenomena. For this preliminary exploration, we utilized the diffusive wake model implemented in the QUIC model.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2017

Evolving Waves and Turbulence in the Outer Corona and Inner Heliosphere: The Accelerating Expanding Box

Alfvénic fluctuations in the solar wind display many properties reflecting an ongoing nonlinear cascade, e.g., a well-defined spectrum in frequency, together with some characteristics more commonly associated with the linear propagation of waves from the Sun, such as the variation of fluctuation amplitude with distance, dominated by solar wind expansion effects. Therefore, both nonlinearities and expansion must be included simultaneously in any successful model of solar wind turbulence evolution. Because of the disparate spatial scales involved, direct numerical simulations of turbulence in the solar wind represent an arduous task, especially if one wants to go beyond the incompressible approximation. Indeed, most simulations neglect solar wind expansion effects entirely. Here we develop a numerical model to simulate turbulent fluctuations from the outer corona to 1 au and beyond, including the sub-Alfvénic corona. The accelerating expanding box (AEB) extends the validity of previous expanding box models by taking into account both the acceleration of the solar wind and the inhomogeneity of background density and magnetic field. Our method incorporates a background accelerating wind within a magnetic field that naturally follows the Parker spiral evolution using a two-scale analysis in which the macroscopic spatial effect coupling fluctuations with background gradients becomes a time-dependent coupling term in a homogeneous box. In this paper we describe the AEB model in detail and discuss its main properties, illustrating its validity by studying Alfvén wave propagation across the Alfvén critical point.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Wake steering optimization under uncertainty

Turbines in wind power plants experience significant power losses when wakes from upstream turbines affect the energy production of downstream turbines. A promising plant-level control strategy to reduce these losses is wake steering, where upstream turbines are yawed to direct wakes away from downstream turbines. However, there are significant uncertainties in many aspects of the wake steering problem. For example, infield sensors do not give perfect information, and inflow to the plant is complex and difficult to forecast with available information, even over short time periods. Here, we formulate and solve an optimization under uncertainty (OUU) problem for determining optimal plant-level wake steering strategies in the presence of independent uncertainties in the direction, speed, turbulence intensity, and shear of the incoming wind, as well as in turbine yaw positions. The OUU wake steering strategy is first examined for a two-turbine test case to explore the impacts of different types of inflow uncertainties, and it is then demonstrated for a more realistic 11-turbine wind power plant. Of the sources of uncertainty considered, we find that wake steering strategies are most sensitive to uncertainties in the wind speed and direction. When maximizing expected power production, the OUU strategy also tends to favor smaller yaw angles, which have been shown in previous work to reduce turbine loading. Ultimately, the plant-level wake steering strategy formulated using an OUU approach yields 0.48?% more expected annual energy production for the 11-turbine wind plant than a strategy that neglects uncertainty when considering stochastic inputs. Thus, not only does the present OUU strategy produce more power in realistic conditions, but it also reduces risk by prescribing strategies that call for less extreme yaw angles.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

SOURCE REGIONS OF THE TYPE II RADIO BURST OBSERVED DURING A CME–CME INTERACTION ON 2013 MAY 22

We report on our study of radio source regions during the type II radio burst on 2013 May 22 based on direction-finding analysis of the Wind /WAVES and STEREO /WAVES (SWAVES) radio observations at decameter–hectometric wavelengths. The type II emission showed an enhancement that coincided with the interaction of two coronal mass ejections (CMEs) launched in sequence along closely spaced trajectories. The triangulation of the SWAVES source directions posited the ecliptic projections of the radio sources near the line connecting the Sun and the STEREO-A spacecraft. The WAVES and SWAVES source directions revealed shifts in the latitude of the radio source, indicating that the spatial location of the dominant source of the type II emission varies during the CME–CME interaction. The WAVES source directions close to 1 MHz frequencies matched the location of the leading edge of the primary CME seen in the images of the LASCO/C3 coronagraph. This correspondence of spatial locations at both wavelengths confirms that the CME–CME interaction region is the source of the type II enhancement. Comparison of radio and white-light observations also showed that at lower frequencies scattering significantly affects radio wave propagation.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2022

The sound of a Martian dust devil

Dust devils (convective vortices loaded with dust) are common at the surface of Mars, particularly at Jezero crater, the landing site of the Perseverance rover. They are indicators of atmospheric turbulence and are an important lifting mechanism for the Martian dust cycle. Improving our understanding of dust lifting and atmospheric transport is key for accurate simulation of the dust cycle and for the prediction of dust storms, in addition to being important for future space exploration as grain impacts are implicated in the degradation of hardware on the surface of Mars. Here we describe the sound of a Martian dust devil as recorded by the SuperCam instrument on the Perseverance rover. The dust devil encounter was also simultaneously imaged by the Perseverance rover’s Navigation Camera and observed by several sensors in the Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer instrument. Combining these unique multi-sensorial data with modelling, we show that the dust devil was around 25 m large, at least 118 m tall, and passed directly over the rover travelling at approximately 5 m s –1 . Acoustic signals of grain impacts recorded during the vortex encounter provide quantitative information about the number density of particles in the vortex. The sound of a Martian dust devil was inaccessible until SuperCam microphone recordings. This chance dust devil encounter demonstrates the potential of acoustic data for resolving the rapid wind structure of the Martian atmosphere and for directly quantifying wind-blown grain fluxes on Mars.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2015

Imaging doppler lidar for wind turbine wake profiling

An imaging Doppler lidar (IDL) enables the measurement of the velocity distribution of a large volume, in parallel, and at high spatial resolution in the wake of a wind turbine. Because the IDL is non-scanning, it can be orders of magnitude faster than conventional coherent lidar approaches. Scattering can be obtained from naturally occurring aerosol particles. Furthermore, the wind velocity can be measured directly from Doppler shifts of the laser light, so the measurement can be accomplished at large standoff and at wide fields-of-view.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Monitoring the Intensity of Ice Formation on Overhead Electric Power Lines and Contact Networks

The conditions for ice to form on a conductor are explained. A hypothesis on the existence of a functional relation between the rate of growth of a mass deposited on a non-live conductor, the dew and desublimation points, and the temperature of the wire surface when there is no wind is suggested and proved. Equations for determining the density, maximum possible mass of the coating and the intensity with which they are formed are proposed, which take into account the temperature of the conductor, the temperature and humidity of the air, the direction and velocity of the wind and the electric field strength of the conductor. The equations are the basis of a proposed thermodynamic method of monitoring the intensity of ice formation. Versions of a technical method and algorithms of the functioning of ice-formation monitoring are proposed.

42 ENGINEERING↗