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At least 829 records · Page 46

Influence of Transport on Two-Dimensional Model Simulation. Tracer Sensitivity to 2-D Model Transport: Long Lived Tracers - 1

In this study, we examine the sensitivity of long lived tracers to changes in the base transport components in our 2-D model. Changes to the strength of the residual circulation in the upper troposphere and stratosphere and changes to the lower stratospheric K(sub zz) had similar effects in that increasing the transport rates decreased the overall stratospheric mean age, and increased the rate of removal of material from the stratosphere. Increasing the stratospheric K(sub yy) increased the mean age due to the greater recycling of air parcels through the middle atmosphere, via the residual circulation, before returning to the troposphere. However, increasing K(sub yy) along with self-consistent increases in the corresponding planetary wave drive, which leads to a stronger residual circulation, more than compensates for the K(sub yy)-effect, and produces significantly younger ages throughout the stratosphere. Simulations with very small tropical stratospheric K(sub yy) decreased the globally averaged age of air by as much as 25% in the middle and upper stratosphere, and resulted in substantially weaker vertical age gradients above 20 km in the extratropics. We found only very small stratospheric tracer sensitivity to the magnitude of the horizontal mixing across the tropopause, and to the strength of the mesospheric gravity wave drag and diffusion used in the model. We also investigated the transport influence on chemically active tracers and found a strong age-tracer correlation, both in concentration and calculated lifetimes. The base model transport gives the most favorable overall comparison with a variety of inert tracer observations, and provides a significant improvement over our previous 1995 model transport. Moderate changes to the base transport were found to provide modest agreement with some of the measurements. Transport scenarios with residence times ranging from moderately shorter to slightly longer relative to the base case simulated N2O lifetimes that were within the observational estimates of Volk et al. [1997]. However, only scenarios with rather fast transport rates were comparable with the Volk et al. estimates of CFCl3 lifetimes. This is inconsistent with model-measurement comparisons of mean age in which the base model or slightly slower transport rates compared the most favorably with balloon SF6 data. For all comparisons shown, large transport changes away from the base case resulted in simulations that were outside the range of measurements, and in many cases, far outside this range.

Fleming, Eric L.↗

Canadian MSAT field trial program user requirements

A wide range of mobile satellite service offerings will be available in late 1993 with the launch of Canada's first satellite devoted almost exclusively to mobile and transportable services. During the last seven years, the Dept. of Communications has been meeting with potential MSAT users in government and the private sector as part of a $20M Communications Trials Program. User trials will be conducted using leased capacity as well as capacity on Canada's MSAT satellite. User requirements are discussed which were identified under the Communications Trials Program. Land, marine, aeronautical, and fixed applications are described from the perspective of the end users. Emphasis is placed on field trials being accomplished using leased capacity such as the marine data trial being implemented by Ultimateast Data Communications, trials using transportable briefcase terminals and additional field trials being considered for implementation with the TMI Mobile Data Service. The pre-MSAT trials that will be conducted using leased capacity are only a limited sample of the overall end user requirements that have been identified to date. Additional end user applications are discussed, along with a summary of user benefits.

Pedersen, Allister↗

Integrated modeling framework (FVCOM-ICM/Toxi) to simulate the fate and transport of polychlorinated biphenyls in urban estuaries–Case study for Puget Sound, WA

Puget Sound is an urban estuary that exhibits persistent polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) contamination despite years of remediation efforts. For robust management actions, determining the timing, location, and magnitude of PCB loading sources and transport pathways using field data alone is challenging due to complex water circulation and biogeochemical processes. Here, this study aims to develop an integrated modeling framework that couples complex estuarian circulation with biogeochemical processes and associated interactions with PCB kinetics. The model simulates PCB accumulation in the lower tropic food web, demonstrating PCB intrusion into primary producers and its biomagnification in pelagic consumers. The PCB data from a new field survey was used to calibrate/validate the new PCB modeling framework for Puget Sound. The software program of the modeling framework is available to the user community for the applications of toxic contaminants transport in marine waters.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Freight Analysis Framework Version 5 (FAF5) Base Year 2017 Data Development Technical Report

The Freight Analysis Framework (FAF) integrates data from a variety of sources to create a comprehensive national picture of freight movements among states and major metropolitan areas by all modes of transportation. The latest of this data series is FAF5, which is the fifth generation FAF and is benchmarked on Commodity Flow Survey (CFS) 2017. Except for FAF1 that provided estimates for truck, rail, and water tonnage for calendar year 1998, later generations of FAF (FAF2 through FAF5) were built based on their benchmark year CFS data, for 2002, 2007, 2012, and 2017 respectively. The FAF is produced under a partnership between Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). As a major data product of the FAF program, the FAF regional database provides a national picture of freight flows to, from, and within the United States (among regions and states), by commodity and mode for the base year, as well as for forecasts up to 30 years into the future in a 5-year interval. Additional FAF data products also include FAF network flows database, where truck movements are routed onto the national highway network, estimates of annual projections, and synchronized historical data series. This report is a technical document prepared to describe the data sources and methodologies applied in the process of building the FAF5 base-year 2017 regional database, released as FAF5.0 in February 2021. This report offers a description of the diverse data sources and modeling methods used in constructing the base year FAF5 regional database. The FAF5 base-year database is used as the base for development of forecasts and for assignment of truck flows on highway network. Similarly, the FAF5 base-year database will be used as the base to generate FAF5 annual estimates. In addition to this report, users are encouraged to refer to the FAF5 User’s Guide, which provides basic information of the data, including definitions of the data attributes, information on how to access the data and tool, as well as detailed data dictionary and code tables.

42 ENGINEERING↗

An Evaluation of Aircraft Emissions Inventory Methodology by Comparisons with Reported Airline Data

This report provides results of work done to evaluate the calculation methodology used in generating aircraft emissions inventories. Results from the inventory calculation methodology are compared to actual fuel consumption data. Results are also presented that show the sensitivity of calculated emissions to aircraft payload factors. Comparisons of departures made, ground track miles flown and total fuel consumed by selected air carriers were made between U.S. Dept. of Transportation (DOT) Form 41 data reported for 1992 and results of simplified aircraft emissions inventory calculations. These comparisons provide an indication of the magnitude of error that may be present in aircraft emissions inventories. To determine some of the factors responsible for the errors quantified in the DOT Form 41 analysis, a comparative study of in-flight fuel flow data for a specific operator's 747-400 fleet was conducted. Fuel consumption differences between the studied aircraft and the inventory calculation results may be attributable to several factors. Among these are longer flight times, greater actual aircraft weight and performance deterioration effects for the in-service aircraft. Results of a parametric study on the variation in fuel use and NOx emissions as a function of aircraft payload for different aircraft types are also presented.

Daggett, D. L.↗

Thermal Neutron Scattering Law (TNSL) Implementation and Testing in FUDGE

Thermal neutron scattering law processing capabilities have been recently implemented in the LLNL code FUDGE (For Updating Data and Generating Evaluations). FUDGE is now capable of producing processed TNSL data for use in Monte Carlo or deterministic transport. To test this new capability, LLNL scientists performed an extensive intercomparison between the Mercury, Ardra, COG and MCNP transport codes. This intercomparison helped probe differences between how TNSL data are handled by the transport codes and by two different processing codes (LLNL’s FUDGE and LANL’s NJOY). This report summarizes recent improvements in FUDGE TNSL capabilities as well as results from the code intercomparison.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Mapping Inundation from Hurricane Florence (2018) with L-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar, Commercial Imagery, and Ancillary Data via Machine Learning Classification

During and after flooding events, mapping the extent of floodwaters aids in the distribution of resources, recovery efforts, and damage assessment practices. Development of a land cover classification system focused on mapping inundation after major hurricane events using synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data could allow for the production of near-real-time inundation mapping, enabling government and emergency response entities to get a preliminary idea of a developing situation. Complimentary optical and SAR images from domestic and foreign entities are brought together through activations of the International Charter: Space and Major Disasters to support response efforts, from true-color, near-infrared, and thermal remote sensing data obtained by NASA, NOAA, and international satellites to the collection of high-resolution true color aerial photography by NOAA and the National Geodetic Survey. In response to Hurricane Florence of 2018, NASA JPL collected numerous swaths of quad-pol L-band SAR data with the Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR) instrument observing the record-setting river stages across North and South Carolina. The resulting fully-polarized SAR images allow for mapping of inundation extent at a high spatial resolution with a unique advantage over optical imaging stemming from the sensor’s ability to penetrate cloud cover and dense vegetation. In this study, true-color NOAA aerial and commercial satellite imagery are used in conjunction with four UAVSAR data swaths centered on the Lumberton and Cape Fear River basins in southeastern North Carolina to develop a Random Forest classification model focused on mapping open water and floodwater otherwise obscured by vegetation or lingering cloud cover. Ancillary building footprint, transportation route, and population data will also be incorporated into the classification scheme to estimate the societal impacts of flooding based on the proximity of features to detected inundation. Preliminary results from the Hurricane Florence case study will be discussed in addition to the limitations of available validation data for assessment of the classifier’s accuracy.

Alexander M Melancon↗

From roads to roofs: How urban and rural mobility influence building energy consumption

In this article, understanding the relationship between travel behavior and building energy use at an urban scale is crucial for developing effective energy management strategies. Mobility patterns significantly impact building occupancy, which in turn affects energy consumption. However, existing methods often focus on individual buildings, whereas geographical influences on energy usage are not adequately examined. This study addresses this gap by using transportation origin-destination (OD) data to estimate building occupancy and energy. The proposed method assigns OD trips from census block groups to the building level, incorporating building, travel survey, and census data to derive building occupancy profiles. This method was applied to urban and rural areas with 4062 buildings in 70 census block groups. We found that the OD-informed occupancy profile exhibits smoother energy consumption patterns compared with that of Department of Energy reference occupancy profiles. Our analysis reveals distinct building energy consumption patterns among groups with long and short commutes, emphasizing the effect of commute times and work schedules on residential energy usage. This framework is useful for practitioners in transportation agencies and utility companies, enabling the estimation of building energy based on mobility patterns. Overall, this study shows the potential of integrating transportation and building energy data to inform cross-sector energy management strategies.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Noise measurements from a large-scale lift fan transport in the 40- by 80-foot wind tunnel

Noise data measurements from a large scale lift fan transport model aircraft were made in the 40- by 80-foot wind tunnel. The model had two lift fans in deep inlets in the forward fuselage and two lift-cruise fans in pods on the aft fuselage. The noise data measurements are presented as listings and plots of sounds pressure level versus 1/3-octave center frequency.

Atencio, A., Jr.↗

Data supporting the article titled "Heterogeneous Multiphase Flow Properties of Volcanic Rocks and Implications for Noble Gas Transport from Underground Nuclear Explosions"

The submission is a Reproducible Research (RR) data archive that contains the supporting multiphase fluid flow and curve fitting results of the Vadose Zone Journal article titled: "Heterogeneous Multiphase Flow Properties of Volcanic Rocks and Implications for Noble Gas Transport from Underground Nuclear Explosions." The article's DOI number is the following: https://doi.org/10.1002/vzj2.20123. Please see the "Methods and Materials" section of the journal article and the ReadMe.txt in the RR_ARCHIVE folder for further details. Sandia National Laboratories is a multimission laboratory managed and operated by National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International Inc., for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-NA0003525. SAND Number: SAND2021-3407 O.

mercury injection capillary pressure↗

Alternative Fuel Vehicle Usage and Owner Demographics in New York State

With mounting concerns over climate change and the environmental impact of fossil fuels, the United States has witnessed a growing interest in alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs). In 2021, approximately 1.5 million battery EVs (BEVs), 0.8 million plug-in hybrid EVs (PHEVs), and 5.5 million hybrid EVs (HEVs) were registered in the United States. In the state of New York, a total of 51,900 BEVs, 44,600 PHEVs, and 221,600 HEVs were registered in 2021. The current report presents the results of an analysis of AFV adoption patterns in New York State and the rest of the United States based on data from the 2017 National Household Travel Survey (NHTS). Overall, the report reveals the demographics and mobility factors (e.g., household income, homeownership, and trip length) that contribute to the adoption of AFVs. This study provides insights that can inform policy decisions aimed at promoting sustainable transportation solutions.The 2017 NHTS data showed that the percentage of households owning at least one AFV is lower in New York City compared with that in other regions of New York State. From the NHTS samples, of the 25 households that owned at least one BEV in New York State, 15 households (60%) lived within a 5-mile radius, based on the great circle distance, of the nearest charging station, and 23 households (92%) lived within a 10-mile radius of the nearest charging station. Furthermore, among the 40 households in New York State that own at least one PHEV, 48% (19 households) lived within a 5-mile radius of the closest EV charging station, and 83% (33 households) lived within a 10-mile radius of the nearest charging station. The rest of the United States had a higher percentage of households that own at least one AFV compared with that of New York State. A comparison was made between EV adoption levels using NHTS and EValuateNY, which is a tool that gathers statistics on the electric car market in New York State. The estimates obtained from New York State household samples in NHTS were slightly lower than the data provided by EValuateNY. In New York State and the rest of the United States, households with higher incomes tended to have a higher proportion of AFV ownership compared with those with lower incomes. For example, households in New York State earning $\$ $150,000 or more had an approximately 6% share of owning at least one AFV, which was markedly higher than those earning less than $\$ $100,000 (less than 3%). Additionally, homeowners in New York State and the rest of the United States also exhibited a significantly higher share of AFV ownership compared with that of renters. In New York State, households that own at least one AFV tended to travel farther and had longer travel times compared with their counterparts without an AFV. In terms of households with at least one AFV, households with HEVs tended to have more person trips, longer person miles of travel, and more vehicle miles traveled, resulting in longer travel times than that of households with BEVs or PHEVs. Notably, households with AFVs had a slightly lower share of family and personal business trips but a higher share of social and recreational trips compared with households without AFVs. Additionally, households with at least one AFV tended to have a slightly higher share of walking trips than their counterparts without an AFV. However, the comparisons were not statistically significant. These travel patterns observed in New York State were consistent with those observed in other regions of the United States.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗

United States Nuclear Power Reactor Used Nuclear Fuel Database and Applications

The Unified Database (UDB) within STANDARDS serves as the foundational data infrastructure for managing the United States' spent nuclear fuel inventory of 315,111 discharged assemblies totaling 91,036 metric tons of heavy metal. The database organizes this complex inventory through over 200 interconnected tables structured into eight primary attribute categories, supporting integrated analyses across storage, transportation, and disposal domains. Data enters the UDB through the GC-859 Nuclear Fuel Data Survey, which transitioned to web-based collection in 2023, improving data quality through real-time validation. The UDB enables automated generation of input files for nuclear safety analyses, reducing preparation time from weeks to hours while maintaining traceability. Applications include national inventory reporting, Certificate of Compliance assessments, and facility optimization. The three-tier distribution model balances accessibility with security requirements for federal agencies, national laboratories, and research organizations. The UDB provides essential data infrastructure as spent fuel management transitions from site-specific to integrated national campaigns.

Stefanovic, Peter↗

Enabling event-by-event precision in γ-ray cascades for neutron-induced reactions

Neutron-induced γ-ray spectra provide key inputs for modern active interrogation applications. A precise modeling of the nuclear reaction and subsequent emission of γ rays is challenging and often impossible due to limitations on evaluated data file formats and nuclear transport simulation codes. We present a framework that addresses these challenges by combining experimental data and reaction-model calculation outputs into an extended candidate version of the Generalized Nuclear Data Structure (GNDS) file, the successor format for the legacy Evaluated Nuclear Data File (ENDF-6). This proposed GNDS hierarchical format contains all the necessary ingredients for inline γ-ray cascade reproduction with event-by-event precision, including continuum–continuum and continuum–discrete transitions following neutron-capture and inelastic neutron scattering reactions. Cascade-event generation based on our approach demonstrates improved energy conservation on an event-by-event basis and permits the use of γ-γ coincidences in applications. This work offers, for the first time, a method to generate neutron-capture and inelastic neutron-scattering γ-ray cascades where energy conservation, correlations, and experimental primaries are fully accounted for.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Transport of trace species deduced from LIMS observations

One of the critical problems in the middle atmosphere at this time is understanding the interaction between atmospheric motions and photochemistry, and the way in which these two processes maintain the distributions of photochemically active species such as ozone. Recent work has shown that a great deal can be learned by considering the zonally averaged distributions and transports, i.e., working in the latitude-altitude plane. This 2-dimensional approach has been used in the past in Eulerian formation. Recent work (DUNKERTON, 1978) has shown that formulating the transport problems in terms of the residual mean circulation, which has similarity to the Lagrangian mean motion, results in a more physical picture of the way in which the transport takes place. Here, data from the Limb Infrared Monitor of the Stratosphere (LIMB) experiment are used to investigate how well the residual mean formulation works with real data, in the sense of asking how well the predicted ozone changes match those in regions of the lower stratosphere in which chemical changes may be neglected. This allows a test of the approximations that are made, and of the strengths and weaknesses of this approach to transport calculation.

Gille, J. C.↗

Variability of ozone loss during Arctic winter (1991 to 2000) estimated from UARS Microwave Limb Sounder measurement

A comprehensive analysis of version 5 Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) ozone data using a Lagrangian Transport (LT) model provides estimates of chemical ozone depletion for the 1991-1992 through 1997-1998 Arctic winters. These new estimates give a consistent, three-dimensional picture of ozone loss during seven Arctic winters; previous Arctic ozone loss estimates from MLS were based on various earlier data versions and were done only for late winter and only for a subset of the years observed by MLS. We find large interannual variability in the amount, timing, and patterns of ozone depletion and in the degree to which chemical loss is masked by dynamical processes.

Arctic ozone loss↗

Overview of the preparation and use of an OV-10 aircraft for wake vortex hazards flight experiments

An overview is presented of the development, use, and current flight-test status of a highly instrumented North American Rockwell OV-10A Bronco as a wake-vortex-hazards research aircraft. A description of the operational requirements and measurements criteria, the resulting instrumentation systems and aircraft modifications, system-calibration and research flights completed to date, and current flight status are included. These experiments are being conducted by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration as part of an effort to provide the technology to safely improve the capacity of the nation's air transportation system and specifically to provide key data in understanding and predicting wake vortex decay, transport characteristics, and the dynamics of encountering wake turbulence. The OV-10A performs several roles including meteorological measurements platform, wake-decay quantifier, and trajectory-quantifier for wake encounters. Extensive research instrumentation systems include multiple airdata sensors, video cameras with cockpit displays, aircraft state and control-position measurements, inertial aircraft-position measurements, meteorological measurements, and an on-board personal computer for real-time processing and cockpit display of research data. To date, several of the preliminary system check flights and two meteorological-measurements deployments have been completed. Several wake encounter and wake-decay-measurements flights are planned for the fall of 1995.

Stuever, Robert A.↗

Tropospheric Methane Over the Pacific Basin During TRACE-P

We received funding for the acquisition, statistical analysis, interpretation, and publication of atmospheric methane data collected during the Transport and Chemical Evolution over the Pacific (TRACE-P) mission, flown February through April of 2001. These high precision measurements were made aboard the NASA DC-8 and P-3B aircraft using a fast response, tunable diode laser system, the DACOM instrument. Our analysis focused on the vertical and geographical distribution of this key trace gas, particularly in the context of other data available from the region such as those from the Pacific NOAA CMDL surface sites, and earlier NASA aircraft missions (such as PEM-West A and B). The paper reporting these results, "Large-Scale Distribution of CH4 in the Western Pacific: Sources and Transport from the Asian Continent" by authors K.B. Bartlett, G.W. Sachse, T. Slate, C. Harward, and D.R. Blake, is attached. The dataset of roughly 13,800 CH4 measurements ranged between 1602 ppb in stratospherically impacted air and 2149 ppb in highly polluted air. Overall, we found that CH4 concentrations were highly correlated with trace gases characteristic of a mix of anthropogenic industrial and combustion sources. They were strikingly correlated with ethane (C2H6) in particular, whose major sources are natural gas leakage and biomass burning. Correlation between the two hydrocarbons indicated that these sources may dominate for CH4 as well at this time.

Bartlett, Karen B.↗