Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “MEL”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

79 records · Page 5

An Assessment of Irrigated Agriculture and Drought-related Hazard Risks for the Aral Sea Region

This was part of a larger UNDP/Uzbekistan project on the Aral Sea Region, which is a prominent ecological disaster caused by water diversion and unsustainable land use management. Columbia University CCSR and the Climate Impacts Group are working with the UNDP to explore climate change impacts on irrigated agriculture in the region, particularly with regards to yield changes and drought risk for wheat and cotton systems in the Amu Darya River Basin. My talk described our project plan and described the types of data that we would need from project partners in the country in order to connect our global satellites and models to local conditions.

Irrigated agriculture↗

Perceptions of Climate Risk and Use of Climate Risk Information by Natural Resource Conservation Stakeholders Participating in ADVANCE Projects in Asia and Latin America

Integrating climate risk information into resilience-building activities in the field is important to ensure that adaptation is based on the best available science. Despite this, many challenges exist when developing, communicating, and incorporating climate risk information. There are limited resources on how stakeholders perceive risks, use risk information, and what barriers exist to limit knowledge integration. This paper seeks to define the following: 1) What do conservation stakeholders consider to be the most significant climate risks they face now and possibly in the future? 2) What have been the most significant barriers to their using climate risk information? 3) What sources and types of knowledge would be most useful for these managers to overcome these barriers? A survey was conducted among stakeholders (n = 224) associated with World Wildlife Fund projects in tropical and subtropical countries. A very high proportion of stakeholders used climate risk information and yet faced integration-related challenges, which included too much uncertainty and the lack of a relevant scale for planning. The main factors preventing the use of climate risk information in decision-making were unavailability of climate risk information, no or limited financial or human resources available to respond, lack of organizational mandate or support, and no or limited institutional incentives. Comparing perceived current and future risks revealed a decline in concern for some future climate hazards. Survey respondents identified scientific reports, climate scientists, and online sources as the most useful information sources of climate risk information, while (i) maps and illustrations; (ii) scenarios format; and (iii) data tables, graphs, and charts were identified as user-friendly formats.

Climate risk↗

A Systematic Framework for Investigating Climate Impact-Drivers in NASA GISS ModelE Configurations: Towards Improving ESM Development for Impact Applications

Earth System Model (ESM) development benefits from attention to the downstream applications for nature and society. The evaluation of ESMs often focuses on a limited set of climatic impact-drivers (CIDs)1 and numerous large-scale parameters that are not directly relevant for impact analysis. To address this limitation, we propose a comprehensive framework for impact-relevant model version comparison. This framework explores both the intended and unintended consequences of shifts in model components, parameters, and resolutions, emphasizing the perspectives of the climate impacts community. We have selected a core set of CIDs as a basis for comparing model versions.

earth system models↗

Effect of Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Engine Thrust and Isp Tradeoffs and Alternate Propellants on ΔV Budget and Architecture Mass for Crewed Mars Vehicles

This paper will provide an overview of a spacecraft architecture model developed at AMA as well as an insight into some of the results provided. Currently, preliminary analysis has been completed with this model on evaluating different thrust to weight ratios of Nuclear Thermal Propulsion based vehicles using hydrogen as the propellant by altering the number of engines in the engine block. Gravity losses are incorporated into this analysis as different thrust to weight ratios will provide different burn times. So far, this analysis has shown that in terms of the vehicle mass, it is best to trade the gravity losses for lower vehicle mass as the engines considered add significant dry mass to the vehicle. The final version of this paper will compare gravity losses and vehicle masses for vehicles using different engine masses as well as the ammonia propellant.

Master equipment list↗

Downscaled and Bias-Adjusted Climate Projections for Afghanistan

Climate change is already having devastating impacts on human communities and natural landscapes, from increasing severity and frequency of natural disasters to drought and desertification that degrade both natural ecosystems and human livelihoods. However, the impacts of climate change are not evenly distributed across the world—some places are at far greater risk than others. These highly vulnerable places should be a higher priority for investments and interventions to help people and nature adapt to changing climatic conditions. Afghanistan is one of the most at-risk countries from climate change. Within the country, the river basins are particularly sensitive as climate change will dramatically alter their water regimes upon which ecosystems and a vast proportion of the Afghan population and millions of people in neighbouring countries rely. As part of an EU-funded project implemented by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), WCS conducted a vulnerability assessment for the Amu Darya River Basin that drains c. 14% of Afghanistan’s land area and is critically important for supporting both people and sensitive biodiversity (Elsen et al., 2023). Central to the vulnerability assessment was the development of downscaled and bias-adjusted climate projections, produced by the Center for Climate Systems Research (CCSR)1. The climate projections were produced at a much higher resolution (1 km2) than were otherwise available and were tailored to the local environment.

climate projections↗