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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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DOE OSTI2018

Data-driven Thermal Model Inference with ARMAX, in Smart Environments, based on Normalized Mutual Information

Understanding the models that characterize the thermal dynamics in a smart building is important for the comfort of its occupants and for its energy optimization. Here, a significant amount of research has attempted to utilize thermodynamics (physical) models for smart building control, but these approaches remain challenging due to the stochastic nature of the intermittent environmental disturbances. This paper presents a novel data-driven approach for indoor thermal model inference, which combines an Autoregressive Moving Average with eXogenous inputs model (ARMAX) with a Normalized Mutual Information scheme (NMI). Based on this information-theoretic method, NMI, causal dependencies between the indoor temperature and exogenous inputs are explicitly obtained as a guideline for the ARMAX model to find the dominating inputs. For validation, we use three datasets based on building energy systems-against which we compare our method to an autoregressive model with exogenous inputs (ARX), a regularized ARMAX model, and state-space models.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

DOE OSTI2021

Heavy Ion Minibeam Therapy: Side Effects in Normal Brain

The purpose of this work was to investigate whether minibeam therapy with heavy ions might offer improvements of the therapeutic ratio for the treatment of human brain cancers. To assess neurotoxicity, we irradiated normal juvenile rats using 120 MeV lithium-7 ions at an absorbed integral dose of 20 Gy. Beams were configured either as a solid parallel circular beam or as an array of planar parallel minibeams having 300-micron width and 1-mm center-to-center spacing within a circular array. We followed animals for 6 months after treatment and utilized behavioral testing and immunohistochemical studies to investigate the resulting cognitive impairment and chronic pathologic changes. We found both solid-beam therapy and minibeam therapy to result in cognitive impairment compared with sham controls, with no apparent reduction in neurotoxicity using heavy ion minibeams instead of solid beams under the conditions of this study.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2023

Estimating Field-Level Perennial Bioenergy Grass Biomass Yields Using the Normalized Difference Red-Edge Index and Linear Regression Analysis for Central Virginia, USA

We investigated the indicative power of the normalized difference red-edge index (NDRE) for estimating field-level perennial bioenergy grass biomass yields utilizing Sentinel-2 imagery and a linear regression model as a rapid, cost-effective method for biomass yield estimations for bioenergy. We used 2019 data from three study sites containing mature perennial bioenergy grass stands in central Virginia, USA. Of the simulated daily NDRE values based on the temporally weighted averaging of two temporal neighbors, we found the strongest index–yield correlation on 11 August (R = 0.85). We estimated the perennial bioenergy grass biomass yields for (1) all sites using the data pooled from the three sites (all-site estimation) and (2) each site using the data pooled from the other two sites (cross-site estimation). The estimated field-level perennial bioenergy grass biomass yields strongly correlated with the recorded yields (average R2 = 0.76), with a root mean square error (RMSE) of 1.5 Mg/ha and a mean absolute error (MAE) of 1.2 Mg/ha for the all-site estimation. For the cross-site estimation, the site with diverse perennial grass types had the weakest correlation (R2 = 0.44) of the sites, indicating a difficulty in accounting for heterogeneous index–yield relationships in a single model. In addition to identifying a strong indicative power of the NDRE for estimating the overall perennial bioenergy grass biomass yields at a field level, the findings from this study call for an analysis across multiple perennial grasses and a comparison using multiple sites to understand (1) if the indicative power of the index shifts from the biomass of the specific perennial bioenergy grass type to the overall biomass during the growing season and (2) the level of perennial bioenergy grass heterogeneity that may hinder the remotely sensed biomass yield estimation using a single model.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

DOE OSTI2025

Simulation Results of a Thermal Power Dispatch System from a Generic Pressurized Water Reactor in Normal and Abnormal Operating Conditions

Amid economic pressures in the U.S. electricity market, nuclear utilities are exploring new revenue streams, including hydrogen production. A generic pressurized water reactor simulator was modified to incorporate a novel design for a TPD system coupled to a hydrogen production plant. Standard malfunctions were included in the simulation design, including steam line breaks at various system locations and flow interruptions in the hydrogen plant due to multiple faults, reflecting anticipated operational challenges. It is imperative that the TPD system operation has a minimal effect on the reactor power, primary coolant system, and turbine system operation and performance. Due to the specific design and application of this TPD system, with the proposed turbine control system changes, the overall impact on the existing plant systems is low. Normal TPD operating scenarios resulted in minor effects on the existing plant systems: reactor power changes by at most 0.2%, and gross generator output changes by 20.5 MWe from 100 MWt of TPD. The most severe malfunction analyzed in this work is a full TPD steam line break downstream of the extraction location, which results in an increase in reactor power of about 0.5%. The gross generator output decreases by 36 MWe, a total decrease of 60 MWe from the full power steady state (FPSS) condition. These results indicate that an industrial hydrogen production plant could be coupled thermally to a nuclear power plant with limited effects on the existing system operation and safety.

08 HYDROGEN↗

DOE OSTI2024

Improving Cathode Testing with a High-Gradient Cryogenic Normal Conducting RF Photogun

Future electron accelerator applications such as X-ray free electron lasers and colliders are dependent on significantly increasing beam brightness. With the observation that linac beam manipulation’s best preservation of max brightness is at the cathode, we are incentivized to create an environment where we can study how to achieve the highest possible photogun brightness. In order to do so, we intend to extract beams from high-brightness photocathodes with the highest achievable accelerating gradients we can manage in a klystron-powered radiofrequency (RF) photogun. We utilize here cryogenic normal conducting cavities to achieve ultra-high gradients via limitation of breakdown rates (BDR). The low temperatures should also reduce cathode emittance by reducing the mean transverse energy (MTE) of electrons near the photoemission threshold. To this end, we have designed and produced a new CrYogenic Brightness-Optimized Radiofrequency Gun (CYBORG) for use in a new beamline at UCLA. We will introduce the enabling RF and photoemission physics as a primer for the new regime of high field low temperature cathodes we intend to enter. We further report the current status of the beamline commissioning, including the cooling of the photogun to 100 K, and producing 0.5 MW of RF feed power, which corresponds to cathode accelerating fields in the range of 80–90 MV/m. We further plan iterative improvements to both to 77 K and 1 MW corresponding to our ultimate goal >120 MV/m. Our discussion will include future beamline tests and the consideration of the initial realization of an ultra-high-gradient photoinjector concept.

Lawler, Gerard Emile (ORCID:0000000160113435)↗

DOE OSTI2017

A Dynamic Landsat Derived Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) Product for the Conterminous United States

Satellite derived vegetation indices (VIs) are broadly used in ecological research, ecosystem modeling, and land surface monitoring. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), perhaps the most utilized VI, has countless applications across ecology, forestry, agriculture, wildlife, biodiversity, and other disciplines. Calculating satellite derived NDVI is not always straight-forward, however, as satellite remote sensing datasets are inherently noisy due to cloud and atmospheric contamination, data processing failures, and instrument malfunction. Readily available NDVI products that account for these complexities are generally at coarse resolution; high resolution NDVI datasets are not conveniently accessible and developing them often presents numerous technical and methodological challenges. Here, we address this deficiency by producing a Landsat derived, high resolution (30 m), long-term (30+ years) NDVI dataset for the conterminous United States. We use Google Earth Engine, a planetary-scale cloud-based geospatial analysis platform, for processing the Landsat data and distributing the final dataset. We use a climatology driven approach to fill missing data and validate the dataset with established remote sensing products at multiple scales. We provide access to the composites through a simple web application, allowing users to customize key parameters appropriate for their application, question, and region of interest.

42 ENGINEERING↗

DOE OSTI2016

Scale-dependent normalized amplitude and weak spectral anisotropy of magnetic field fluctuations in the solar wind turbulence

Turbulence in the solar wind was recently reported to be anisotropic, with the average power spectral index close to −2 when sampling parallel to the local mean magnetic field B{sub 0} and close to −5/3 when sampling perpendicular to the local B{sub 0}. This result was widely considered to be observational evidence for the critical balance theory (CBT), which is derived by making the assumption that the turbulence strength is close to one. However, this basic assumption has not yet been checked carefully with observational data. Here we present for the first time the scale-dependent magnetic-field fluctuation amplitude, which is normalized by the local B{sub 0} and evaluated for both parallel and perpendicular sampling directions, using two 30-day intervals of Ulysses data. From our results, the turbulence strength is evaluated as much less than one at small scales in the parallel direction. An even stricter criterion is imposed when selecting the wavelet coefficients for a given sampling direction, so that the time stationarity of the local B{sub 0} is better ensured during the local sampling interval. The spectral index for the parallel direction is then found to be −1.75, whereas the spectral index in the perpendicular direction remains close to −1.65. These two new results, namely that the value of the turbulence strength is much less than one in the parallel direction and that the angle dependence of the spectral index is weak, cannot be explained by existing turbulence theories, like CBT, and thus will require new theoretical considerations and promote further observations of solar-wind turbulence.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2018

Searching for Cool Dust. II. Infrared Imaging of The OH/IR Supergiants, NML Cyg, VX Sgr, S Per, and the Normal Red Supergiants RS Per and T Per

New MMT/MIRAC (9–11 μm), SOFIA/FORCAST (11–37 μm), and Herschel/PACS (70 and 160 μm) infrared (IR) imaging and photometry is presented for three famous OH/IR red supergiants (NML Cyg, VX Sgr, and S Per) and two normal red supergiants (RS Per and T Per). We model the observed spectral energy distributions (SEDs) using radiative-transfer code DUSTY. Azimuthal average profiles from the SOFIA/FORCAST imaging, in addition to dust mass distribution profiles from DUSTY, constrain the mass-loss histories of these supergiants. For all of our observed supergiants, the DUSTY models suggest that constant mass-loss rates do not produce enough dust to explain the observed infrared emission in the stars’ SEDs. Combining our results with Shenoy et al. (Paper I), we find mixed results with some red supergiants showing evidence for variable and high mass-loss events while others have constant mass loss over the past few thousand years.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2016

The theoretical foundation of 3D Alfvén resonances: normal modes

We consider the resonant coupling of fast and Alfvén magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves in a 3D equilibrium. Numerical solutions to normal modes (∝exp (−iωt)) are presented, along with a theoretical framework to interpret them. The solutions we find are fundamentally different from those in 1D and 2D. In 3D there exists an infinite number of possible resonant solutions within a “Resonant Zone,” and we show how boundary conditions and locally 2D regions can favor particular solutions. A unique feature of the resonance in 3D is switching between different permissible solutions when the boundary of the Resonant Zone is encountered. The theoretical foundation that we develop relies upon recognizing that, in 3D, the orientation of the resonant surface will not align in a simple fashion with an equilibrium coordinate. We present a method for generating the Alfvén wave natural frequencies for an arbitrarily oriented Alfvén wave, which requires a careful treatment of scale factors describing the background magnetic field geometry.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2017

Characterizing Dust Attenuation in Local Star-forming Galaxies: Near-infrared Reddening and Normalization

We characterize the near-infrared dust attenuation for a sample of ∼5500 local (z≲0.1) star-forming galaxies and obtain an estimate of their average total-to-selective attenuation k(λ). We utilize data from the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope and the Two-Micron All Sky Survey, which is combined with previously measured UV–optical data for these galaxies. The average attenuation curve is slightly lower in the far-ultraviolet than in local starburst galaxies by roughly 15% but appears similar at longer wavelengths with a total-to-selective normalization of R{sub V}=3.67{sub −0.35}{sup +0.44}. Under the assumption of energy balance, the total attenuated energy inferred from this curve is found to be broadly consistent with the observed infrared dust emission (L{sub TIR}) in a small sample of local galaxies for which far-infrared measurements are available. However, the significant scatter in this quantity among the sample may reflect large variations in the attenuation properties of individual galaxies. We also derive the attenuation curve for subpopulations of the main sample, separated according to mean stellar population age (via D{sub n}4000), specific star formation rate, stellar mass, and metallicity, and find that they show only tentative trends with low significance, at least over the range that is probed by our sample. These results indicate that a single curve is reasonable for applications seeking to broadly characterize large samples of galaxies in the local universe, while applications to individual galaxies would yield large uncertainties and is not recommended.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2017

The Nickel Mass Distribution of Normal Type II Supernovae

Core-collapse supernova (SN) explosions expose the structure and environment of massive stars at the moment of their death. We use the global fitting technique of Pejcha and Prieto to estimate a set of physical parameters of 19 normal SNe II, such as their distance moduli, reddenings, {sup 56}Ni masses M{sub Ni}, and explosion energies E{sub exp} from multicolor light curves and photospheric velocity curves. We confirm and characterize known correlations between M{sub Ni} and bolometric luminosity at 50 days after the explosion, and between M{sub Ni} and E{sub exp}. We pay special attention to the observed distribution of M{sub Ni} coming from a joint sample of 38 SNe II, which can be described as a skewed-Gaussian-like distribution between 0.005 M{sub ⊙} and 0.280 M{sub ⊙}, with a median of 0.031 M{sub ⊙}, mean of 0.046 M{sub ⊙}, standard deviation of 0.048 M{sub ⊙}, and skewness of 3.050. We use a two-sample Kolmogorov–Smirnov test and two-sample Anderson–Darling test to compare the observed distribution of M{sub Ni} to results from theoretical hydrodynamical codes of core-collapse explosions with the neutrino mechanism presented in the literature. Our results show that the theoretical distributions obtained from the codes tested in this work, KEPLER and Prometheus Hot Bubble, are compatible with the observations irrespective of different pre-SN calibrations and different maximum mass of the progenitors.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2017

Star Formation at z = 2.481 in the Lensed Galaxy SDSS J1110+6459. II. What is Missed at the Normal Resolution of the Hubble Space Telescope?

For lensed galaxy SGAS J111020.0+645950.8 at redshift z = 2.481, which is magnified by a factor of 28 ± 8, we analyze the morphology of star formation, as traced by rest-frame ultraviolet emission, in both the highly magnified source plane and simulations of how this galaxy would appear without lensing magnification. Were this galaxy not lensed, but rather drawn from a Hubble Space Telescope deep field, we would conclude that almost all its star formation arises from an exponential disk (Sérsic index of 1.0 ± 0.4) with an effective radius of r{sub e}=2.7±0.3 kpc measured from two-dimensional fitting to F606W using Galfit, and r{sub e}=1.9±0.1 kpc measured by fitting a radial profile to F606W elliptical isophotes. At the normal spatial resolution of the deep fields, there is no sign of clumpy star formation within SGAS J111020.0+645950.8. However, the enhanced spatial resolution enabled by gravitational lensing tells a very different story; much of the star formation arises in two dozen clumps with sizes of r = 30–50 pc spread across the 7 kpc length of the galaxy. The color and spatial distribution of the diffuse component suggests that still-smaller clumps are unresolved. Despite this clumpy, messy morphology, the radial profile is still well-characterized by an exponential profile. In this lensed galaxy, stars are forming in complexes with sizes well below 100 pc; such sizes are wholly unexplored by surveys of galaxy evolution at 1<z<3.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2018

Gaia17biu/SN 2017egm in NGC 3191: The Closest Hydrogen-poor Superluminous Supernova to Date Is in a “Normal,” Massive, Metal-rich Spiral Galaxy

Hydrogen-poor superluminous supernovae (SLSNe-I) have been mainly found in low-metallicity, star-forming dwarf galaxies. Here we identify Gaia17biu/SN 2017egm as an SLSN-I occurring in a "normal" spiral galaxy (NGC 3191) in terms of stellar mass (several times 10 10 M ⊙ ) and metallicity (roughly solar). At redshift z = 0.031, Gaia17biu is also the lowest-redshift SLSN-I to date, and the absence of a larger population of SLSNe-I in dwarf galaxies of similar redshift suggests that metallicity is likely less important to the production of SLSNe-I than previously believed. With the smallest distance and highest apparent brightness for an SLSN-I, we are able to study Gaia17biu in unprecedented detail. Its pre-peak near-ultraviolet to optical color is similar to that of Gaia16apd and among the bluest observed for an SLSN-I, while its peak luminosity (M g = –21 mag) is substantially lower than that of Gaia16apd. Due to the high signal-to-noise ratios of our spectra, we identify several new spectroscopic features that may help to probe the properties of these enigmatic explosions. We detect polarization at the ~0.5% level that is not strongly dependent on wavelength, suggesting a modest, global departure from spherical symmetry. Furthermore, we put the tightest upper limit yet on the radio luminosity of an SLSN-I with <5.4 × 10 26 erg s –1 Hz –1 at 10 GHz, which is almost a factor of 40 better than previous upper limits and one of the few measured at an early stage in the evolution of an SLSN-I. This limit largely rules out an association of this SLSN-I with known populations of gamma-ray-burst-like central engines.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2020

The Young and Nearby Normal Type Ia Supernova 2018gv: UV-optical Observations and the Earliest Spectropolarimetry

The nondetection of companion stars in SN Ia progenitor systems lends support to the notion of double-degenerate systems and explosions triggered by the merging of two white dwarfs. This very asymmetric process should lead to a conspicuous polarimetric signature. By contrast, observations consistently find very low continuum polarization as the signatures from the explosion process largely dominate over the pre-explosion configuration within several days. Critical information about the interaction of the ejecta with a companion and any circumstellar matter is encoded in the early polarization spectra. In this study, we obtain spectropolarimetry of SN 2018gv with the ESO Very Large Telescope at -13.6 days relative to the B-band maximum light, or ~5 days after the estimated explosion—the earliest spectropolarimetric observations to date of any SN Ia. These early observations still show a low continuum polarization (lesssim0.2%) and moderate line polarization (0.30% ± 0.04% for the prominent Si ii λ6355 feature and 0.85% ± 0.04% for the high-velocity Ca component). The high degree of spherical symmetry implied by the low-line and continuum polarization at this early epoch is consistent with explosion models of delayed detonations and is inconsistent with the merger-induced explosion scenario. Finally, the dense UV and optical photometry and optical spectroscopy within the first ~100 days after the maximum light indicate that SN 2018gv is a normal SN Ia with similar spectrophotometric behavior to SN 2011fe.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2022

Solar Energetic Particle Acceleration at a Spherical Shock with the Shock Normal Angle $θ$ $B_n$ Evolving in Space and Time

We present a 2D kinematic model to study the acceleration of solar energetic particles (SEPs) at a shock driven by a coronal mass ejection. The shock is assumed to be spherical about an origin that is offset from the center of the Sun. This leads to a spatial and temporal evolution of the angle between the magnetic field and the shock-normal direction (θ Bn ) as it propagates through the Parker spiral magnetic field from the lower corona to 1 au. We find that the high-energy SEP intensity varies significantly along the shock front due to the evolution of θ Bn . Generally, the west flank of the shock preferentially accelerates particles to high energies compared to the east flank and shock nose. This can be understood in terms of the rate of acceleration, which is higher at the west flank. Double power-law energy spectra are reproduced in our model as a consequence of the local acceleration and transport effects. These results will help us to better understand the evolution of SEP acceleration and provide new insights into large SEP events observed by multiple spacecraft, especially those close to the Sun, such as Parker Solar Probe and Solar Orbiter.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2016

Protection of Hardware: Powering Systems (Power Converter, Normal Conducting, and Superconducting Magnets)

Along with the protection of magnets and power converters, we have added a section on personnel protection because this is our highest priority in the design and operation of power systems. Thus, our topics are the protection of people, power converters, and magnet loads (protected from the powering equipment), including normal conducting magnets and superconducting magnets.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

DOE OSTI2024

Improving the National Solar Radiation Database (NSRDB) Using a Physics-Based Direct Normal Irradiance (DNI) Model

The National Solar Radiation Database (NSRDB) is a widely used resource providing satellite-derived solar data across the United States and globally. While the NSRDB employs a physical model for computing global horizontal irradiance (GHI), its current method for estimating cloudy-sky direct normal irradiance (DNI) relies on surface observations and empirical models. Recently, a novel physics-based approach, the Fast All-Sky Radiation Model for Solar applications with DNI (FARMS-DNI), was developed to enhance the DNI forecasting. FARMS-DNI incorporates both direct and scattered solar radiation within the circumsolar region, resulting in improved day-ahead DNI predictions when integrated into the Weather Research and Forecasting model with Solar extensions (WRF-Solar). This study integrates FARMS-DNI into the NSRDB algorithm to generate high-resolution DNI data from satellite resources. Our findings reveal that FARMS-DNI effectively mitigates the substantial DNI overestimation present in the conventional NSRDB across surface sites, particularly in conditions categorized as cloudy overcast. Consequently, this innovative model substantially enhances the overall accuracy of the NSRDB.

Xie, Yu↗

DOE OSTI2023

UAS remote sensing (3DR SOLO platform): multispectral reflectance and normalized difference vegetation index, Seward Peninsula, Alaska, 2022

Airborne remote sensing data collected using a Parrot Sequoia+ multispectral sensor installed on a 3DR SOLO unoccupied aerial system (UAS) – operated by the Terrestrial Ecosystem Science & Technology group https://www.bnl.gov/envsci/testgroup/ at Brookhaven National Laboratory. This package includes data from 19 flights flown over the NGEE-Arctic, Kougarok Mile Marker (MM) 80, Kougarok Fire Complex (KFC) and Teller MM 27 sites in July 2022. Derived image products include point cloud, ortho-mosaiced multispectral image, a digital surface model (DSM) using the structure from motion (SfM) technique, and a normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) map. Unprocessed and processed data products are included in this package (processing levels 0-2). Data and metadata are provided as text (*.txt, *.json, *hdr,), tabular (*.dat, *.csv), point cloud (*.laz), Cloud Optimized GeoTIFF (COG, *.tif), and image (*.jpg, *.tif, *png) formats.The Next-Generation Ecosystem Experiments: Arctic (NGEE Arctic), was a research effort to reduce uncertainty in Earth System Models by developing a predictive understanding of carbon-rich Arctic ecosystems and feedbacks to climate. NGEE Arctic was supported by the Department of Energy's Office of Biological and Environmental Research. The NGEE Arctic project had two field research sites: 1) located within the Arctic polygonal tundra coastal region on the Barrow Environmental Observatory (BEO) and the North Slope near Utqiagvik (Barrow), Alaska and 2) multiple areas on the discontinuous permafrost region of the Seward Peninsula north of Nome, Alaska. Through observations, experiments, and synthesis with existing datasets, NGEE Arctic provided an enhanced knowledge base for multi-scale modeling and contributed to improved process representation at global pan-Arctic scales within the Department of Energy's Earth system Model (the Energy Exascale Earth System Model, or E3SM), and specifically within the E3SM Land Model component (ELM).

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗