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At least 937 records · Page 52

A Comparison of TOMS Version 8 Total Column Ozone Data with Data from Groundstations

The Nimbus-7 and Earth Probe Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) data have been reprocessed with a new retrieval algorithm, (Version 8) and an updated calibration procedure. These data have been systematically compared to total ozone data from Brewer and Dobson spectrophotometers for 73 individual ground stations. The comparisons were made as a function of latitude, solar zenith angle, reflectivity and total ozone. Results show that the accuracy of the TOMS retrieval'is much improved when aerosols are present in the atmosphere, when snow/ice and sea glint are present, and when ozone in the northern hemisphere is extremely low. TOMS overpass data are derived from the single TOMS best match measurement, almost always located within one degree of the ground station and usually made within an hour of local noon. The version 8 Earth Probe TOMS ozone values have decreased by an average of about 1% due to a much better understanding of the calibration of the instrument. The remaining differences between TOMS and ground stations suggest that there are still small errors in the TOMS retrievals. But if TOMS is used as a transfer standard to compare ground stations, the large station-to-station differences suggest the possibility of significant instrument errors at some ground stations.

Labow, G. J.↗

Molybdenum-silicon multilayer mirrors for the extreme ultraviolet

Multilayer structures of molybdenum and silicon have been synthesized by sputter deposition onto flat silicon single-crystal silicon substrates and spherically ground (0.5and 22.0-m radii) fused silica substrates; and the reflectivities for 170.4-A (72.8-eV), 160.1-A (77.4-eV), and 228-A (54.4-eV) light measured at near normal incidence. Observed peak values ranged from 26.2 to 78 percent, the highest reflectivities occurring closest to normal incidence. Energy resolutions were about 10 in all cases. Model calculations were performed using optical constants and experimentally determined multilayer structural parameters. In all cases the measured reflectivities were equal to or larger (by up to a factor of 2) than the calculated values, a result attributed to uncertainty in the optical constants used in the calculations. Experimental and calculated angular-peak positions and energy resolutions were in good agreement. The high reflectivities of these molybdenum-silicon structures will make possible application of traditional optics approaches in the EUV and support new developments including free-electron lasers.

Barbee, T. W., Jr.↗

Select Electronic Parts Operation at Extreme Low Temperature

The purpose of the study presented in this paper is to extend the test period of a selected set of electronics parts at cryogenic condition to dwell period of about 24 hours to demonstrate extreme cold operational capability of these components. The parts tested are tantalum polymer, BX and P90 type ceramic capacitors, thick film resistors, analog multiplexers, a digital inverter, and a D-flip-flop. These parts were tested to assist identifying candidate components that can be used for development of a cold capable telemetry board. There are several past investigations that have shown that COTS (commercial-off-the-shelf) capacitors and resistors tested at cryogenic temperatures and frequencies up to 10MHz did not exhibit significant changes in capacitance and resistance values. Also, there are several test results for active parts. These past tests collected measurements during a temperature sweep from room temperature down to cryogenic temperature with very short dwell time at cryogenic temperature, and back to room temperature. This study extends the operational dwell time to at least 24 hours and returning to room temperature operation without significant degradation in performance, thus, demonstrating the potential for longer dwell time in actual operation in these extreme cold temperatures and a method for identifying the cold operability.

Ashtijou, Mohammad↗

Validation of Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulations for Biological Performance Assessment in Hydropower units (Final Report)

The biological performance assessment (BioPA) toolset developed by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) estimates the relative biological performance of fish passage at a hydroelectric power turbine unit. The tool is based on the use of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and fish biological response relationships. The recent release, BioPA-v3, is based on directly computed trajectory and collision of material Lagrangian particles using CFD simulation codes rather than the prior version that relies on Tecplot to compute streamtrace trajectories. Before modifying the toolset, a series of validation tests were performed at the various steps of modification in the toolset. Validation is a critical step of any numerical investigation that reflects the accuracy and reliability of the predicted results. It raises the confidence level of the user to use the modified version of the BioPA toolset. Several test cases were simulated and compared, where available, to observed data. The trajectory and collision of the small spherical and cylindrical particles in a water flume were compared to in-house experiments. The CFD predicted collision rate and flow field compared well with experimental observation for vane array and large cylinder as target bodies. Next, the CFD-predicted flow field and hydraulic performance of a laboratory-scale model of a Francis turbine was also successfully validated. Note that the trajectory of the particles is significantly affected by the flow field in such extreme conditions. In addition to the particle trajectories and flow field, the collision detection method employed in the CFD simulations was also successfully validated. The CFD predicted impact velocity, collision time, velocity, and trajectory of a sphere excellently matched with analytical value for a bouncing ball in the elastic collision. A similar approach was also tested and successfully validated for a collision of sphere with a 45° inclined plane. After successfully validating different cases, the BioPA toolset was modified to use direct output of the CFD prediction and the new version can be used in evaluating biological performance at hydroelectric turbines.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗

Data release for A search for extremely-high-energy neutrinos and first constraints on the ultra-high-energy cosmic-ray proton fraction with IceCube

<h1 id="summary">Summary</h1> <p>Title: Data Release for A search for extremely-high-energy neutrinos and first constraints on the ultra-high-energy cosmic-ray proton fraction with IceCube</p> <p>The IceCube observatory analyzed 12.6 years of data in search of extremely-high-energy (EHE) neutrinos above 5 PeV. The resultant limit of the search (Fig 1), and the effective area of the event selection (Fig 7), are provided in this data release.</p> <h1 id="contents">Contents</h1> <ul> <li><p>README file: this file</p> </li> <li><p><code>differential_limit_and_sensitivity.csv</code>: a comma separated value file, giving the observed experimental differential limit, and sensitivity, of the search as a function of neutrino energy. This is the content of Fig 1 in the paper. The first column is the neutrino energy in GeV. The second column is the limit in units of GeV/cm2/s/sr. The third column is the sensitivity in units of GeV/cm2/s/sr.</p> </li> <li><p><code>effective_area.csv</code>: a comma separated value file, giving the effective area of the search as a function of energy. This is the content of Fig 7 in the paper. The first column is the neutrino energy in GeV. The second column is the total effective area of the search, summed across neutrino flavors, and averaged across neutrinos and antineutrinos, in meters-squared. The third column is the effective area of the search for the average of electron neutrino and electron antineutrinos in units of meters-squared. The fourth column is the same as the third, but for muon-flavor neutrinos. The fifth column is the same as the third and fourth, but for tau-flavor neutrinos.</p> </li> <li><p><code>demo.py</code>: a short python script to demonstrate how to read the files. Run like <code>python demo.py</code>. A standard base python installation is sufficient, as the only dependencies are numpy and matplotlib.</p> </li> </ul> <h1 id="contacts">Contacts</h1> <p>For any questions about this data release, please write to analysis@icecube.wisc.edu</p>

Astronomy and Astrophysics↗

Physiologic regulation of body energy storage

Both new and published data (rats, mice, and human beings) on three parameters - fat mass, fat-free body mass (FFBM), and total body mass in some cases - are evaluated. Steady state values of the parameters are analyzed for changes in response to specific perturbing agents and for their frequency distributions. Temporal sequences of values on individuals are examined for evidence of regulatory responses. The results lead to the hypothesis that the FFBM is regulated, but probably not as a unit, and that mass of fat is regulated with a high priority near the range extremes but with a much lower priority in the mid-range. Properties and advantages of such a mechanism are discussed.

Pitts, G. C.↗

Search for ultraviolet emission lines from a hot gaseous halo in the edge-on galaxy NGC 4244

Short and long wavelength IUE spectra of the halo region in the edge-on galaxy NGC 4244 are analyzed in order to identify evidence of line emission at the level of 0.000001 ergs per cu cm sr/s. Features are found at 1245 A and 1402 A, having peaks four times greater than the rms intensity fluctuations of nearby spectra. The spectral features are identified with semi-forbidden N V, semi-forbidden S IV at 1240 A, and Si IV and semi-forbidden O IV multiplets at 1400 A, respectively. The appearance of high-peak features and the lack of astrophysically important lines in the sample are evidence of a gas near T = 10 exp 5.2 and emission measure (EM) equal to about 0.000001 pc. However, the case for the existence of such a gas is weakened due to the existence of two other similarly sized features with no identifiable astrophysical origin and the extremely faint nature of the candidate features. The assumed upper limit for the line intensities in NGC 4244 leads to the conclusion that at T less than 100,000 K any emitting gas is either highly clumped or has a p/k value of less than 1000 per cu cm K. It is suggested that if the observed low level features in the short wavelength spectrum are real, the temperature and emission measures allow for a single component gas in the halo of NGC 4244, and are in agreement with those derived by Paresce et al. (1983).

Deharveng, J.-M.↗

Solar Electromagnetic Radiation Study for Solar Cycle 22: Solar Ultraviolet Irradiance, 120 to 300 NM: Report of Working Groups 2 and 3 of SOLERS 22

This report summarizes the activities of Working Group 2 and Working Group 3 of the SOLax Electromagnetic Radiation Study for Solar Cycle 22 (SOLERS22) Program. The international (SOLERS22) is Project 1.2 of the Solar-Terrestrial Energy Program (STEP) sponsored by SCOSTEP, a committee of the International Council of Scientific Unions). SOLERS22 is comprised of five Working Groups, each concentrating on a specific wave-length range: WG-1 - visible and infrared, WG-2 - mid-ultraviolet (200 < A < 300 nm), WG-3 - Far-ultraviolet (lambda greater than 100 and lambda less than 200 nanometers), WG-4 - extreme-ultraviolet (lambda greater than 10 and lambda less than 100 nm), and WG-5 - X-ray (lambda greater than 1 and lambda less than 10 nano meters). The overarching goals of SOLERS22 are to: 1) establish daily solar irradiance values in the specified wavelength ranges, 2) consider the evolving solar structures as the cause of temporal variations, and 3) understand the underlying physical processes driving these changes.

Rottman, G. J.↗

Achieving Innovation and Affordability Through Standardization of Materials Development and Testing

The successful expansion of development, innovation, and production within the aeronautics industry during the 20th century was facilitated by collaboration of government agencies with the commercial aviation companies. One of the initial products conceived from the collaboration was the ANC-5 Bulletin, first published in 1937. The ANC-5 Bulletin had intended to standardize the requirements of various government agencies in the design of aircraft structure. The national space policy shift in priority for NASA with an emphasis on transferring the travel to low earth orbit to commercial space providers highlights an opportunity and a need for the national and global space industries. The same collaboration and standardization that is documented and maintained by the industry within MIL-HDBK-5 (MMPDS-01) and MIL-HBDK-17 (nonmetallic mechanical properties) can also be exploited to standardize the thermal performance properties, processing methods, test methods, and analytical methods for use in aircraft and spacecraft design and associated propulsion systems. In addition to the definition of thermal performance description and standardization, the standardization for test methods and analysis for extreme environments (high temperature, cryogenics, deep space radiation, etc) would also be highly valuable to the industry. Its subsequent revisions and conversion to MIL-HDBK-5 and then MMPDS-01 established and then expanded to contain standardized mechanical property design values and other related design information for metallic materials used in aircraft, missiles, and space vehicles. It also includes guidance on standardization of composition, processing, and analytical methods for presentation and inclusion into the handbook. This standardization enabled an expansion of the technologies to provide efficiency and reliability to the consumers. It can be established that many individual programs within the government agencies have been overcome with development costs generated from these nonstandard requirements. Without industry standardization and acceptance, the programs are driven to shoulder the costs of determining design requirements, performance criteria, and then material qualification and certification. A significant investment that the industry could make to both reduce individual program development costs and schedules while expanding commercial space flight capabilities would be to invest in standardizing material performance properties for high temperature, cryogenic, and deep space environments for both metallic and nonmetallic materials.

Bray, M. H.↗

AgMIP Local, National and Global Assessments of Food System Challenges in A Changing Climate

Food systems connect a diverse network of stakeholders around the world, with complex dynamics governing production, processing, transportation, trade and consumption of food products. Extreme conditions can disrupt multiple components of the food system, with systemic connections providing structure that can both buffer and exacerbate risks. Climate change is shifting current practices in agricultural production and the broader food system, encouraging shifts toward more diverse value chains capable of drawing from multiple food producing regions to reduce the chance that an entire value chain be subject to simultaneous impacts. The IPCC Working Group I report assessed that heat waves, fires, floods and severe storms are becoming more pronounced and widespread with each degree of global warming, increasing food system risk. Food system disruptions can also come from outside the climate system, including from viral outbreaks, geopolitical conflict and socioeconomic changes. This presentation will highlight how the Agricultural Model Intercomparison and Improvement Project (AgMIP) develops modeling approaches that connect climate, biophysical and socioeconomic models in order to capture complex responses of the food system and potential interventions by diverse stakeholders in the public and private sectors. Models are applied on a range of scales that match decision contexts. These include households in specific agricultural production regions (e.g., within a country), national-level policymakers considering policies, sustainability and development priorities for a country’s agricultural sector, and global food market models that balance production and consumption around the world with competition for land, water, energy and sustainability priorities. Models are capable of capturing many important responses, but further development is needed to represent key systemic risks and the possibility for additional interventions beyond the farm gate. Improved food system models will provide important insights into our society’s ability to cope with climate change, as well as our ability to identify agricultural adaptation and mitigation opportunities to reduce overall risk.

Food systems↗

The Effect of Natural Disasters and Extreme Weather on Household Location Choice and Economic Welfare

Natural disasters have increased in the United States in recent decades. At the same time, there has been a shift in population away from the states in the Northeast and Midwest to areas in the Sun Belt, many of which face increased risks from natural disasters. Spatial equilibrium theory predicts that households trade off risk for income in making location decisions. This study estimates a spatial equilibrium model of household location choice to understand these trade-offs. The results show that households require as much as 0.40% of annual household income to endure an additional disaster over the course of a decade. They also show that these values differ substantially depending on household skill level with higher-skill, higher-income households willing to pay three times more in annual income to avoid an additional natural disaster. Furthermore, these results have important implications for policymakers thinking about climate change adaptation and environmental justice.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Achieving ultrahigh modulus of resilience and enhanced thermal stability in ZnO x /SU-8 interpenetrating network polymer nanocomposite nanopillars

The modulus of resilience, a mechanical property that quantifies the maximum strain energy density a material can store during elastic deformation, is a crucial parameter for materials used in flexible displays, micro/nano-electro-mechanical system (M/NEMS) actuators, and ultra-sensitive pressure sensors. In this study, ZnO x /SU-8 nanocomposite nanopillars with a diameter of 300 nm, fully infiltrated with a uniformly distributed, interpenetrating amorphous ZnO x filler network, were synthesized via vapor-phase infiltration (VPI). In-situ uniaxial nano-compression tests revealed that the modulus of resilience of ZnO x /SU-8 reaches ∼ 12 MJ/m 3 , which is an ultrahigh value among all engineering materials with comparable strength. In addition, the synthesis fidelity, inorganic infiltration depth, and mechanical performance were all significantly improved compared to VPI-synthesized AlO x nanocomposites. Thermal stability, another key requirement for M/NEMS device materials operating under extreme environments, was also notably enhanced. Furthermore, partial crystallization of the amorphous ZnO x fillers during annealing contributed to an additional increase in modulus of resilience, reaching up to ∼ 13.9 MJ/m 3 . This work presents an effective fabrication strategy for producing nanostructured organic–inorganic hybrid nanocomposites with ultrahigh modulus of resilience and superior thermal stability, paving the way for their integration into next-generation flexible displays and high-performance M/NEMS devices working under harsh environments.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Urban Versus Lake Impacts on Heat Stress and Its Disparities in a Shoreline City

Abstract Shoreline cities are influenced by both urban‐scale processes and land‐water interactions, with consequences on heat exposure and its disparities. Heat exposure studies over these cities have focused on air and skin temperature, even though moisture advection from water bodies can also modulate heat stress. Here, using an ensemble of model simulations covering Chicago, we find that Lake Michigan strongly reduces heat exposure (2.75°C reduction in maximum average air temperature in Chicago) and heat stress (maximum average wet bulb globe temperature reduced by 0.86°C) during the day, while urbanization enhances them at night (2.75 and 1.57°C increases in minimum average air and wet bulb globe temperature, respectively). We also demonstrate that urban and lake impacts on temperature (particularly skin temperature), including their extremes, and lake‐to‐land gradients, are stronger than the corresponding impacts on heat stress, partly due to humidity‐related feedback. Likewise, environmental disparities across community areas in Chicago seen for skin temperature are much higher (1.29°C increase for maximum average values per $10,000 higher median income per capita) than disparities in air temperature (0.50°C increase) and wet bulb globe temperature (0.23°C increase). The results call for consistent use of physiologically relevant heat exposure metrics to accurately capture the public health implications of urbanization.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Supporting multiple hardware architectures at CMS: the integration and validation of POWER9

Computing resources in the Worldwide LHC Computing Grid (WLCG) have been based entirely on the x86 architecture for more than two decades. In the near future, however, heterogeneous non-x86 resources, such as ARM, POWER and Risc-V, will become a substantial fraction of the resources that will be provided to the LHC experiments, due to their presence in existing and planned world-class HPC installations. The CMS experiment, one of the four large detectors at the LHC, has started to prepare for this situation, with the CMS software stack (CMSSW) already compiled for multiple architectures. In order to allow for a production use, the tools for workload management and job distribution need to be extended to be able to exploit heterogeneous architectures. Profiting from the opportunity to exploit the first sizable IBM Power9 allocation available on Marconi100 HPC system at CINECA, CMS developed all the needed modifications to the CMS workload management system. After a successful proof of concept, a full physics validation has been performed in order to bring the system in production. The experiences are of very high value, when it comes to commissioning of the similar (even larger) Summit HPC system at Oak Ridge, where CMS is also expecting a resource allocation. Moreover the compute power of those systems is being provided also via GPUs and this represents an extremely valuable opportunity to exploit the offloading capability already implemented in CMSSW. The status of the current integration including the exploitation of the GPUs, the results of the validation as well as the future plans will be shown and discussed.

Boccali, Tommaso [INFN, Pisa]↗

A combined biological and chemical flue gas utilization system towards carbon dioxide capture from coal-fired power plants (Final Report)

Photosynthetic algal cultivation has been intensively studied for CO 2 capture and utilization for several decades. The footprint for using algae to capture CO 2 emitted from carbon-intensive industrial processes (power plants, cement plants, and fermentation processes) is extremely large, which creates serious technical and economic hurdles that must be cleared if algal technologies are to be commercially implemented. Fortunately, algal biomass is rich in proteins, carbohydrates, and lipids, providing a good chemical source for organic absorbents and other value-added chemical feedstocks. In particular, amino acids from algal protein can be used to generate amino acid salt solutions that have been proven to be effective for capturing CO 2 . In order to take advantage of both algal cultivation and biomass utilization, the goal of the proposed project is to develop a combined biological and chemical system for coal-fired power plants for sequestering CO 2 in biological absorbents and generating value-added products. This approach significantly reduces the land and energy footprint of CO 2 capture, and minimizes capital and operational expenses. Three specific objectives are targeted: 1) optimizing the growth of the selected algal strain to maximize biomass accumulation from the coal-fired flue gas; 2) developing a cascade biomass utilization to produce amino acid absorbents, polyurethanes, biodiesel, and methane; and 3) conducting techno-economic analysis (TEA) and life cycle assessment (LCA) of the proposed process. Three key technical outcomes were achieved: (1) With the selected robust algal strain and unique photobioreactor design, long-term culture stability can be extended, and algal biomass productivity reached 0.5 g dry biomass/L/day year-round at a biomass concentration of 1.2 g/L in the pilot photobioreactor; (2) The biomass utilization process led to complete utilization of the algal biomass to produce amino acid salt absorbent, polyurethanes, and methane; and (3) The combined biological and chemical flue gas utilization process concluded a technically and economically feasible commercial-scale system that completely captures CO 2 in coal-fired flue gas with greatly reduced energy consumption.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗

Radar investigation of asteroids

The number of radar detected asteroids has climbed from 6 to 40 (27 mainbelt plus 13 near-Earth). The dual-circular-polarization radar sample now comprises more than 1% of the numbered asteroids. Radar results for mainbelt asteroids furnish the first available information on the nature of these objects at macroscopic scales. At least one object (2 Pallas) and probably many others are extraordinarily smooth at centimeter-to-meter scales but are extremely rough at some scale between several meters and many kilometers. Pallas has essentially no small-scale structure within the uppermost several meters of the regolith, but the rms slope of this regolith exceeds 20 deg., much larger than typical lunar values (approx. 7 deg.). The origin of these slopes could be the hypervelocity impact cratering process, whose manifestations are likely to be different on low-gravity, low-radius-of-curvature objects from those on the terrestrial planets. The range of mainbelt asteroid radar albedoes is very broad and implies big variations in regolith porosity or metal concentration, or both. The highest albedo estimate, for 16 Psyche, is consistent with a surface having porosities typical of lunar soil and a composition nearly completely metallic. Therefore, Psyche might be the collisionally stripped core of a differentiated small plant, and might resemble mineralogically the parent bodies of iron meteorites.

Ostro, S. J.↗

Reliability Analysis and Reliability-Based Design Optimization of Circular Composite Cylinders Under Axial Compression

This report describes the preliminary results of an investigation on component reliability analysis and reliability-based design optimization of thin-walled circular composite cylinders with average diameter and average length of 15 inches. Structural reliability is based on axial buckling strength of the cylinder. Both Monte Carlo simulation and First Order Reliability Method are considered for reliability analysis with the latter incorporated into the reliability-based structural optimization problem. To improve the efficiency of reliability sensitivity analysis and design optimization solution, the buckling strength of the cylinder is estimated using a second-order response surface model. The sensitivity of the reliability index with respect to the mean and standard deviation of each random variable is calculated and compared. The reliability index is found to be extremely sensitive to the applied load and elastic modulus of the material in the fiber direction. The cylinder diameter was found to have the third highest impact on the reliability index. Also the uncertainty in the applied load, captured by examining different values for its coefficient of variation, is found to have a large influence on cylinder reliability. The optimization problem for minimum weight is solved subject to a design constraint on element reliability index. The methodology, solution procedure and optimization results are included in this report.

Rais-Rohani, Masoud↗