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At least 1,009 records · Page 56

CO2 and CH4 Production in Low-Temperature Soil Incubations from Low and High Centered Polygons, Utqiagvik (Barrow), Alaska, 2012-2013

The dataset consists of respiration and methane production rates obtained from soil microcosm studies carried out under controlled temperature and incubation conditions. Soils represent the low- and high-centered polygon active layers and permafrost (when present) from the NGEE-Arctic Intensive Study Site 1. This dataset includes 1 .csv file, 1 .xlsx file, and 1 .pdf file. 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↗

CO2 and CH4 Production and CH4 Oxidation in Low Temperature Soil Incubations from Flat- and High-Centered Polygons, Utqiagvik (Barrow), Alaska, 2012

The dataset consists of respiration and methane production rates and methane oxidation potential obtained from soil microcosm studies carried out under controlled temperature and incubation conditions. Soils cores collected in 2012 represent the flat- and high-centered polygon active layers and permafrost (when present) from the NGEE Arctic Intensive Study Site 1, Barrow, Alaska. Data presented here will improve our understanding of the temperature controls on the temporal variation in microbially mediated carbon loss potentials from soils impacted by a characteristic microtopographic feature in the Arctic tundra ecosystems. Such an understanding will in turn help parameterize fine-scale models that constrain soil biogeochemistry, particularly relevant to methane cycle under water saturated and oxic conditions. There are three files in this dataset, two csvs and one .pdf.The Next-Generation Ecosystem Experiments: Arctic (NGEE Arctic), was a 10-year research effort (2012-2022) 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↗

Soil Mesocosm CO2 Emissions after 13C-glucose Addition, Soil Physical and Chemical Characteristics, and Microbial Biomass, Barrow, Alaska, 2014-2016

Measurements made from a 2014-2016 field glucose addition experiment. Dataset includes measurements of surface trace gas emissions (Delta13C of ecosystem respiration and source-partitioned surface CO2 flux, CH4 flux, and GPP), soil profile information (concentrations of carbon, nitrogen, and soil microbial biomass carbon, Delta13C of soil organic matter and microbial biomass, gravimetric water content, and bulk density), soil mineral nitrogen availability, and field-measured soil temperature, air temperature and soil moisture. Experiment was conducted in a region of high-centered polygons on the BEO. Data will be available Summer 2018.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Plant Physiology, Alder and Willow Species, Seward Peninsula, Alaska, 2019

Photosynthetic parameters (Vcmax and Jmax), CO2 response (ACi) curves and dark respiration (Rdark) measurements of tundra shrub species. Data were collected at the NGEE-Arctic Kougarok and Teller study sites on the Seward Peninsula, AK, USA in July 2019. Four species were measured using LI-COR LI-6400 portable gas exchange systems: Alnus viridis ssp. fruticosa, Salix richardsonii and Salix pulchra. The data package files include data files, metadata files, dGPS locations and the complete instrument output for all gas exchange measurements in .csv format. See the related data packages for foliar trait data (leaf mass per area, leaf nitrogen concentration), and leaf spectral reflectance data collected simultaneously on the same shrubs (NGA210, NGA212).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↗

Adaptation to high CO2 concentration in an optimal environment: radiation capture, canopy quantum yield and carbon use efficiency

The effect of elevated [CO2] on wheat (Triticum aestivum L. Veery 10) productivity was examined by analysing radiation capture, canopy quantum yield, canopy carbon use efficiency, harvest index and daily C gain. Canopies were grown at either 330 or 1200 micromoles mol-1 [CO2] in controlled environments, where root and shoot C fluxes were monitored continuously from emergence to harvest. A rapidly circulating hydroponic solution supplied nutrients, water and root zone oxygen. At harvest, dry mass predicted from gas exchange data was 102.8 +/- 4.7% of the observed dry mass in six trials. Neither radiation capture efficiency nor carbon use efficiency were affected by elevated [CO2], but yield increased by 13% due to a sustained increase in canopy quantum yield. CO2 enrichment increased root mass, tiller number and seed mass. Harvest index and chlorophyll concentration were unchanged, but CO2 enrichment increased average life cycle net photosynthesis (13%, P < 0.05) and root respiration (24%, P < 0.05). These data indicate that plant communities adapt to CO2 enrichment through changes in C allocation. Elevated [CO2] increases sink strength in optimal environments, resulting in sustained increases in photosynthetic capacity, canopy quantum yield and daily C gain throughout the life cycle.

Non-NASA Center↗

The influence of altered gravity on carbohydrate metabolism in excised wheat leaves

We developed a system to study the influence of altered gravity on carbohydrate metabolism in excised wheat leaves by means of clinorotation. The use of excised leaves in our clinostat studies offered a number of advantages over the use of whole plants, most important of which were minimization of exogenous mechanical stress and a greater amount of carbohydrate accumulation during the time of treatment. We found that horizontal clinorotation of excised wheat leaves resulted in significant reductions in the accumulation of fructose, sucrose, starch and fructan relative to control, vertically clinorotated leaves. Photosynthesis, dark respiration and the extractable activities of ADP glucose pyrophosphorylase (EC 2.7.7.27), sucrose phosphate synthase (EC 2.4.4.14), sucrose sucrose fructosyltransferase (EC 2.4.1.99), and fructan hydrolase (EC 3.2.1.80) were unchanged due to altered gravity treatment.

NASA Center KSC↗

Carbon dioxide exchange of lettuce plants under hypobaric conditions

Growth of plants in a Controlled Ecological Life Support System (CELSS) may involve the use of hypobaric pressures enabling lower mass requirements for atmospheres and possible enhancement of crop productivity. A controlled environment plant growth chamber with hypobaric capability designed and built at Ames Research Center was used to determine if reduced pressures influence the rates of photosynthesis (Ps) and dark respiration (DR) of hydroponically grown lettuce plants. The chamber, referred to as a plant volatiles chamber (PVC), has a growing area of about 0.2 m2, a total gas volume of about 0.7 m3, and a leak rate at 50 kPa of <0.1%/day. When the pressure in the chamber was reduced from ambient to 51 kPa, the rate of net Ps increased by 25% and the rate of DR decreased by 40%. The rate of Ps increased linearly with decreasing pressure. There was a greater effect of reduced pressure at 41 Pa CO2 than at 81 Pa CO2. This is consistent with reports showing greater inhibition of photorespiration (Pr) in reduced O2 at low CO2 concentrations. When the partial pressure of O2 was held constant but the total pressure was varied between 51 and 101 kPa, the rate of CO2 uptake was nearly constant, suggesting that low pressure enhancement of Ps may be mainly attributable to lowered partial pressure of O2 and the accompanying reduction in Pr. The effects of lowered partial pressure of O2 on Ps and DR could result in substantial increases in the rates of biomass production, enabling rapid throughput of crops or allowing flexibility in the use of mass and energy resources for a CELSS.

NASA Program CELSS↗

Sympathetic restraint of respiratory sinus arrhythmia: implications for vagal-cardiac tone assessment in humans

Clinicians and experimentalists routinely estimate vagal-cardiac nerve traffic from respiratory sinus arrhythmia. However, evidence suggests that sympathetic mechanisms may also modulate respiratory sinus arrhythmia. Our study examined modulation of respiratory sinus arrhythmia by sympathetic outflow. We measured R-R interval spectral power in 10 volunteers that breathed sequentially at 13 frequencies, from 15 to 3 breaths/min, before and after beta-adrenergic blockade. We fitted changes of respiratory frequency R-R interval spectral power with a damped oscillator model: frequency-dependent oscillations with a resonant frequency, generated by driving forces and modified by damping influences. beta-Adrenergic blockade enhanced respiratory sinus arrhythmia at all frequencies (at some, fourfold). The damped oscillator model fit experimental data well (39 of 40 ramps; r = 0.86 +/- 0.02). beta-Adrenergic blockade increased respiratory sinus arrhythmia by amplifying respiration-related driving forces (P < 0.05), without altering resonant frequency or damping influences. Both spectral power data and the damped oscillator model indicate that cardiac sympathetic outflow markedly reduces heart period oscillations at all frequencies. This challenges the notion that respiratory sinus arrhythmia is mediated simply by vagal-cardiac nerve activity. These results have important implications for clinical and experimental estimation of human vagal cardiac tone.

NASA Discipline Cardiopulmonary↗

Respiratory modulation of human autonomic rhythms

We studied the influence of three types of breathing [spontaneous, frequency controlled (0.25 Hz), and hyperventilation with 100% oxygen] and apnea on R-R interval, photoplethysmographic arterial pressure, and muscle sympathetic rhythms in nine healthy young adults. We integrated fast Fourier transform power spectra over low (0.05-0.15 Hz) and respiratory (0.15-0.3 Hz) frequencies; estimated vagal baroreceptor-cardiac reflex gain at low frequencies with cross-spectral techniques; and used partial coherence analysis to remove the influence of breathing from the R-R interval, systolic pressure, and muscle sympathetic nerve spectra. Coherence among signals varied as functions of both frequency and time. Partialization abolished the coherence among these signals at respiratory but not at low frequencies. The mode of breathing did not influence low-frequency oscillations, and they persisted during apnea. Our study documents the independence of low-frequency rhythms from respiratory activity and suggests that the close correlations that may exist among arterial pressures, R-R intervals, and muscle sympathetic nerve activity at respiratory frequencies result from the influence of respiration on these measures rather than from arterial baroreflex physiology. Most importantly, our results indicate that correlations among autonomic and hemodynamic rhythms vary over time and frequency, and, thus, are facultative rather than fixed.

Non-NASA Center↗

Higher sympathetic nerve activity during ventricular (VVI) than during dual-chamber (DDD) pacing

OBJECTIVES: We determined the short-term effects of single-chamber ventricular pacing and dual-chamber atrioventricular (AV) pacing on directly measured sympathetic nerve activity. BACKGROUND: Dual-chamber AV cardiac pacing results in greater cardiac output and lower systemic vascular resistance than does single-chamber ventricular pacing. However, it is unclear whether these hemodynamic advantages result in less sympathetic nervous system outflow. METHODS: In 13 patients with a dual-chamber pacemaker, we recorded the electrocardiogram, noninvasive arterial pressure (Finapres), respiration and muscle sympathetic nerve activity (microneurography) during 3 min of underlying basal heart rate and 3 min of ventricular and AV pacing at rates of 60 and 100 beats/min. RESULTS: Arterial pressure was lowest and muscle sympathetic nerve activity was highest at the underlying basal heart rate. Arterial pressure increased with cardiac pacing and was greater with AV than with ventricular pacing (change in mean blood pressure +/- SE: 10 +/- 3 vs. 2 +/- 2 mm Hg at 60 beats/min; 21 +/- 5 vs. 14 +/- 2 mm Hg at 100 beats/min; p < 0.05). Sympathetic nerve activity decreased with cardiac pacing and the decline was greater with AV than with ventricular pacing (60 beats/min -40 +/- 11% vs. -17 +/- 7%; 100 beats/min -60 +/- 9% vs. -48 +/- 10%; p < 0.05). Although most patients showed a strong inverse relation between arterial pressure and muscle sympathetic nerve activity, three patients with severe left ventricular dysfunction (ejection fraction < or = 30%) showed no relation between arterial pressure and sympathetic activity. CONCLUSIONS: Short-term AV pacing results in lower sympathetic nerve activity and higher arterial pressure than does ventricular pacing, indicating that cardiac pacing mode may influence sympathetic outflow simply through arterial baroreflex mechanisms. We speculate that the greater incidence of adverse outcomes in patients treated with single-chamber ventricular rather than dual-chamber pacing may be due in part to increased sympathetic nervous outflow.

NASA Discipline Cardiopulmonary↗

Fundamental relations between short-term RR interval and arterial pressure oscillations in humans

BACKGROUND: One of the principal explanations for respiratory sinus arrhythmia is that it reflects arterial baroreflex buffering of respiration-induced arterial pressure fluctuations. If this explanation is correct, then elimination of RR interval fluctuations should increase respiratory arterial pressure fluctuations. METHODS AND RESULTS: We measured RR interval and arterial pressure fluctuations during normal sinus rhythm and fixed-rate atrial pacing at 17.2+/-1.8 (SEM) beats per minute greater than the sinus rate in 16 healthy men and 4 healthy women, 20 to 34 years of age. Measurements were made during controlled-frequency breathing (15 breaths per minute or 0.25 Hz) with subjects in the supine and 40 degree head-up tilt positions. We characterized RR interval and arterial pressure variabilities in low-frequency (0.05 to 0.15 Hz) and respiratory-frequency (0.20 to 0.30 Hz) ranges with fast Fourier transform power spectra and used cross-spectral analysis to determine the phase relation between the two signals. As expected, cardiac pacing eliminated beat-to-beat RR interval variability. Against expectations, however, cardiac pacing in the supine position significantly reduced arterial pressure oscillations in the respiratory frequency (systolic, 6.8+/-1.8 to 2.9 +/-0.6 mm Hg2/Hz, P=.017). In contrast, cardiac pacing in the 40 degree tilt position increased arterial pressure variability (systolic, 8.0+/-1.8 to 10.8 +/-2.6, P=.027). Cross-spectral analysis showed that 40 degree tilt shifted the phase relation between systolic pressure and RR interval at the respiratory frequency from positive to negative (9 +/-7 degrees versus -17+/-11 degrees, P=.04); that is, in the supine position, RR interval changes appeared to lead arterial pressure changes, and in the upright position, RR interval changes appeared to follow arterial pressure changes. CONCLUSIONS: These results demonstrate that respiratory sinus arrhythmia can actually contribute to respiratory arterial pressure fluctuations. Therefore, respiratory sinus arrhythmia does not represent simple baroreflex buffering of arterial pressure.

NASA Discipline Cardiopulmonary↗

Conservation and Recycling for Radiological-Contaminated Laundry Applications - 16044

Recovery and reuse of materials exposed to radioactive environments is a critical element for those whom are involved with processing such materials. In order to minimize the disposal of radiological-contaminated Personal Protective Equipment (PPE, laundry, respirators, etc.) the need for environmentally-friendly and cost-effective technologies to provide laundering services is needed for current and future processes. A by-product of the laundry process is contaminated water. In order to reduce waste generation, we developed a radiological water filtration system custom-designed for laundry applications, which is used as both a filtration device as well as a water recycling system. The filtration process utilizes membrane filtration, suspended solids and organic filtration, ion-exchange capture, and ozonization/UV as germicidal reducers. In addition, ultrafiltration is used as a final step in order to return clean water back to the washing process system. The system was originally designed for non-radiological industrial laundry applications (hospitality, health care, correctional and governmental settings, etc). This process reduces the water consumption and discharge by up to 75% while retaining heat to minimize energy input costs. Principle components of the system include lint shakers and collection tanks with ozone injection, suspended solids filter, activated charcoal, ultraviolet lamp treatment cell, ion exchange columns, ultrafiltration filters, and final holding tank with ozone injection. Although up-front equipment costs are required, we believe that the reduction in waste generated through recycle and reuse of the water, along with avoiding premature disposal of PPE as radioactive waste, greatly outweighs up-front effort. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Sensitivity of Global Terrestrial Gross Primary Production to Hydrologic States Simulated by the Community Land Model Using Two Runoff Parameterizations

The terrestrial water and carbon cycles interact strongly at various spatio-temporal scales. To elucidate how hydrologic processes may influence carbon cycle processes, differences in terrestrial carbon cycle simulations induced by structural differences in two runoff generation schemes were investigated using the Community Land Model 4 (CLM4). Simulations were performed with runoff generation using the default TOPMODEL-based and the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) model approaches under the same experimental protocol. The comparisons showed that differences in the simulated gross primary production (GPP) are mainly attributed to differences in the simulated leaf area index (LAI) rather than soil moisture availability. More specifically, differences in runoff simulations can influence LAI through changes in soil moisture, soil temperature, and their seasonality that affect the onset of the growing season and the subsequent dynamic feedbacks between terrestrial water, energy, and carbon cycles. As a result of a relative difference of 36% in global mean total runoff between the two models and subsequent changes in soil moisture, soil temperature, and LAI, the simulated global mean GPP differs by 20.4%. However, the relative difference in the global mean net ecosystem exchange between the two models is small (2.1%) due to competing effects on total mean ecosystem respiration and other fluxes, although large regional differences can still be found. Our study highlights the significant interactions among the water, energy, and carbon cycles and the need for reducing uncertainty in the hydrologic parameterization of land surface models to better constrain carbon cycle modeling.

carbon↗

Pathways and transformations of dissolved methane and dissolved inorganic carbon in Arctic tundra watersheds: Evidence from analysis of stable isotopes

Arctic soils contain a large pool of terrestrial C and are of interest due to their potential for releasing significant carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and methane (CH 4 ) to the atmosphere. Due to substantial landscape heterogeneity, predicting ecosystem-scale CH 4 and CO 2 production is challenging. This study assessed dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC = Σ (total) dissolved CO 2 ) and CH 4 in watershed drainages in Barrow, Alaska as critical convergent zones of regional geochemistry, substrates, and nutrients. In July and September of 2013, surface waters and saturated subsurface pore waters were collected from 17 drainages. Based on simultaneous DIC and CH 4 cycling, we synthesized isotopic and geochemical methods to develop a subsurface CH 4 and DIC balance by estimating mechanisms of CH 4 and DIC production and transport pathways and oxidation of subsurface CH 4 . We observed a shift from acetoclastic (July) toward hydrogenotropic (September) methanogenesis at sites located toward the end of major freshwater drainages, adjacent to salty estuarine waters, suggesting an interesting landscape-scale effect on CH 4 production mechanism. The majority of subsurface CH 4 was transported upward by plant-mediated transport and ebullition, predominantly bypassing the potential for CH 4 oxidation. Thus, surprisingly, CH 4 oxidation only consumed approximately 2.51± 0.82% (July) and 0.79 ± 0.79% (September) of CH 4 produced at the frost table, contributing to <0.1% of DIC production. DIC was primarily produced from respiration, with iron and organic matter serving as likely e- acceptors. Furthermore, this work highlights the importance of spatial and temporal variability of CH 4 production at the watershed scale and suggests broad scale investigations are required to build better regional or pan-Arctic representations of CH 4 and CO 2 production.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

The effect of regional groundwater on carbon dioxide and methane emissions from a lowland rainforest stream in Costa Rica

In the tropical rainforest at La Selva Biological Station in Costa Rica, regional bedrock groundwater high in dissolved carbon discharges into some streams and wetlands, with the potential for multiple cascading effects on ecosystem carbon pools and fluxes. We investigated carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and methane (CH 4 ) degassing from two streams at La Selva: the Arboleda, where ~1/3 of the streamflow is from regional groundwater, and the Taconazo, fed exclusively by local groundwater recharged within the catchment. The regional groundwater inflow to the Arboleda had no measurable effect on stream gas exchange velocity, dissolved CH 4 concentration, or CH 4 emissions but significantly increased stream CO 2 concentration and degassing. CO 2 evasion from the reach of the Arboleda receiving regional groundwater (lower Arboleda) averaged 5.5 mol C m -2 d -1 , ~7.5x higher than the average (0.7 mol C m -2 d -1 ) from the stream reaches with no regional groundwater inflow (the Taconazo and upper Arboleda). Carbon emissions from both streams were dominated by CO 2 ; CH 4 accounted for only 0.06-1.70% of the total (average of both streams: 5 x10 -3 mol C m -2 d -1 ). Annual stream degassing fluxes normalized by watershed area were 48 and 299 g C m -2 for the Taconazo and Arboleda, respectively. CO 2 degassing from the Arboleda is a significant carbon flux, similar in magnitude to the average net ecosystem exchange estimated by eddy covariance. As a result, examining the effects of catchment connections to underlying hydrogeological systems can help avoid overestimation of ecosystem respiration and advance our understanding of carbon source/sink status and overall terrestrial ecosystem carbon budgets.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Short-term favorable weather conditions are an important control of interannual variability in carbon and water fluxes

Ecosystem models often perform poorly in reproducing interannual variability in carbon and water fluxes, resulting in considerable uncertainty when estimating the land-carbon sink. While many aggregated variables (growing season length, seasonal precipitation, or temperature) have been suggested as predictors for interannual variability in carbon fluxes, their explanatory power is limited and uncertainties remain as to their relative contributions. Recent results show that the annual count of hours where evapotranspiration (ET) is larger than its 95th percentile is strongly correlated with the annual variability of ET and gross primary production (GPP) in an ecosystem model. This suggests that the occurrence of favorable conditions has a strong influence on the annual carbon budget. Here we analyzed data from eight forest sites of the AmeriFlux network with at least 7 years of continuous measurements. We show that for ET and the carbon fluxes GPP, ecosystem respiration (RE), and net ecosystem production, counting the “most active hours/days” (i.e., hours/days when the flux exceeds a high percentile) correlates well with the respective annual sums, with correlation coefficients generally larger than 0.8. Phenological transitions have much weaker explanatory power. By exploiting the relationship between most active hours and interannual variability, we classify hours as most active or less active and largely explain interannual variability in ecosystem fluxes, particularly for GPP and RE. Our results suggest that a better understanding and modeling of the occurrence of large values in high-frequency ecosystem fluxes will result in a better understanding of interannual variability of these fluxes.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗