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At least 1,009 records · Page 56

Aspen Global Change Institute: 25 Years of Interdisciplinary Global Change Science

Global environmental changes such as climate change result from the interaction of human and natural systems. Research to understand these changes and options for addressing them requires the physical, environmental, and social sciences, as well as engineering and other applied fields. In this essay, we describe how the Aspen Global Change Institute (AGCI) has provided leadership in global change science over the past 25 years—in particular how it has contributed to the integration of the natural and social sciences needed to research the drivers of change, Earth system response, natural and human system impacts, and options for risk management. We illustrate the ways the history of AGCI has been intertwined with the evolution of global change science as it has become an increasingly interdisciplinary endeavor.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Science & Technology Review July/August 2016

At Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, we focus on science and technology research to ensure our nation’s security. We also apply that expertise to solve other important national problems in energy, bioscience, and the environment. Science & Technology Review is published eight times a year to communicate, to a broad audience, the Laboratory’s scientific and technological accomplishments in fulfilling its primary missions. The publication’s goal is to help readers understand these accomplishments and appreciate their value to the individual citizen, the nation, and the world. In this issue for the months of July and August 2016, there are two features: one on Science and Technology in Support of Nuclear Nonproliferation, and another on Seeking Out Hidden Radioactive Materials. Then there are highlights are three research projects--on optics, plasma science, and the nature of neutrinos--along with a news section and patents and awards.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Biological and Environmental Research Exascale Requirements Review. An Office of Science review sponsored jointly by Advanced Scientific Computing Research and Biological and Environmental Research, March 28-31, 2016, Rockville, Maryland

Understanding the fundamentals of genomic systems or the processes governing impactful weather patterns are examples of the types of simulation and modeling performed on the most advanced computing resources in America. High-performance computing and computational science together provide a necessary platform for the mission science conducted by the Biological and Environmental Research (BER) office at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). This report reviews BER’s computing needs and their importance for solving some of the toughest problems in BER’s portfolio. BER’s impact on science has been transformative. Mapping the human genome, including the U.S.-supported international Human Genome Project that DOE began in 1987, initiated the era of modern biotechnology and genomics-based systems biology. And since the 1950s, BER has been a core contributor to atmospheric, environmental, and climate science research, beginning with atmospheric circulation studies that were the forerunners of modern Earth system models (ESMs) and by pioneering the implementation of climate codes onto high-performance computers. See http://exascaleage.org/ber/ for more information.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

ARM Aerosol Measurement Science Group Strategic Planning Workshop 2017

The Aerosol Measurement Science Group (AMSG) was tasked with evaluating the status of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility’s existing aerosol instrumentation, measurement strategies, and data products in the context of ARM and Atmospheric System Research (ASR) science directions and the current and future needs of ARM data users. A workshop comprising the AMSG members and external experts in aerosol measurements was convened in February 2017 to delineate specific measurements and efforts in data product development that would align the ARM aerosol program investments well with the needs of the scientific community. Topics of discussion in the workshop included priority measurements and instrumentation to be deployed at the range of ARM sites, physical system configurations that impact the character of observables and quality of observations, calibration strategies, overarching deployment strategies for aerosol observing systems (AOS), and communication about and accessibility of data. This report provides an account of workshop discussions and prioritized recommendations for ARM supported activities that will bring measurements to quality and science-ready data products relevant to the ASR and larger science community.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

SMART Mobility. Mobility Decision Science Capstone Report

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Systems and Modeling for Accelerated Research in Transportation (SMART) Mobility Consortium is a multiyear, multi-laboratory collaborative, managed by the Energy Efficient Mobility Systems Program of the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Vehicle Technologies Office, dedicated to further understanding the energy implications and opportunities of advanced mobility technologies and services. The first three-year research phase of SMART Mobility occurred from 2017 through 2019, and included five research pillars: Connected and Automated Vehicles, Mobility Decision Science, Multi-Modal Freight, Urban Science, and Advanced Fueling Infrastructure. A sixth research thrust integrated aspects of all five pillars to develop a SMART Mobility Modeling Workflow to evaluate new transportation technologies and services at scale. This report summarizes the work of the Mobility Decision Science Pillar. The Mobility Decision Science Pillar sought to fill gaps in existing knowledge about the human role in the mobility system including travel decision-making and technology adoption in the context of future mobility. The objective was to study how underlying preferences, needs, and contextual factors might constrain or hasten future transportation system scenarios. For information about the other Pillars and about the SMART Mobility Modeling Workflow, please refer to the relevant pillar’s Capstone Report.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Manufacturing Science

The Manufacturing Science area of leadership spans the application of fundamental science research and development activities to understand the critical steps in manufacturing processes for the purposes of control and optimization. Although manufacturing is an applied area of research, fundamental science underpins our knowledge of both traditional and transformational manufacturing processes. For example, casting, welding, and many modern additive manufacturing processes that see wide use are broadly classified as solidification processes, with material transitioning from liquid to solid phases upon cooling from higher temperature. However, our understanding of the detailed physics involved in such processes is incomplete, and solidification remains a grand challenge for materials science. To enable adoption of transformative fabrication processes or to accelerate development of traditional ones, it is necessary to develop a detailed mechanistic understanding spanning multiple scales, starting with atomic building blocks (defects, interfaces, composition) and extending all the way up to macroscale performance in moderate and/or extreme environments.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Science & Technology Review: Climate Change Comes into Focus

At Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, we focus on science and technology research to ensure our nation’s security. We also apply that expertise to solve other important national problems in energy, bioscience, and the environment. Science & Technology Review is published eight times a year to communicate, to a broad audience, the Laboratory’s scientific and technological accomplishments in fulfilling its primary missions. The publication’s goal is to help readers understand these accomplishments and appreciate their value to the individual citizen, the nation, and the world. The cover image shows a simulation run on the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) state-of-the-science Energy Exascale Earth Systems Model (E3SM), which leverages DOE’s advanced supercomputers for climate and earth science research. As the article beginning on p. 4 describes, the newly released version 2 will be used to simulate aspects of Earth’s variability at weather-scale resolution and investigate decadal changes in climate that will critically impact the United States in coming years.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Quantum Computing for Biomedical Computational and Data Sciences: A Joint DOE-NIH Roundtable

The overlap of quantum computing and biomedical research, while less explored, presents significant near-term opportunities. The Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) are interested in exploiting the DOE community’s capabilities and expertise in quantum computing to potentially advance biomedical research, targeting fundamental studies of biological and molecular structures, understanding of human health as well as mental and physical disorders and diseases, and deriving insights from clinical data. NIH’s approach to quantum computing is guided by its Strategic Plan for Data Science, emphasizing the importance of findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR) data assets, security and privacy of data, and efficient computing and storage. DOE’s Office of Science (SC), and more specifically the Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR) program, supports quantum information science (QIS) research, contributing to a unique portfolio of quantum computing and communications expertise. This roundtable was assembled to consider the opportunities and challenges in the near-, medium-, and long-term at the intersection of quantum computing, data science, and biomedical research and how these could be addressed through inter-agency collaboration and multi-disciplinary partnerships.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Energy Materials Chemistry Integrating Theory, Experiment and Data Science (Final Report)

The Energy Materials Chemistry Integrating Theory, Experiment and Data Science (EM-CITED) project is a multidisciplinary research effort focused on accelerating discovery of scientific knowledge via incorporation of data science and artificial intelligence in materials chemistry research. The project aims to advance materials chemistry-aware data science to unify theory and experiment knowledge streams. The work resulted in foundational AI frameworks for materials chemistry – Deep Reasoning Networks (DRNets), Hierarchical Correlation Learning for Multi-property Prediction (H-CLMP), and Material-to-Spectrum (Mat2Spec) prediction – as well as a host of strategies for accelerated scientific discoveries through principled incorporation of data science in computational and experimental research.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

OES-Environmental 2024 State of the Science Report: Environmental Effects of Marine Renewable Energy Development Around the World

This report summarizes the state of the science of environmental effects of marine renewable energy (MRE) and serves as an update and a complement to the 2020 State of the Science report. The 2024 State of the Science report was produced by the Ocean Energy Systems (OES)-Environmental initiative, under the International Energy Agency’s OES collaboration. Under OES-Environmental, 16 countries have collaborated to evaluate the “state of the science” of potential environmental effects of MRE development and to understand how they may affect consenting/permitting (hereafter consenting) of MRE devices. This report has brought together the most up-to-date information on potential environmental effects of MRE development, using information that is publicly available as well as from expert inputs. The OES-Environmental analysts from the 16 participating countries helped to scope the entirety of the report and provided valuable contributions to all chapters. The input from these contributors and reviewers has resulted in the most complete compendium of research and monitoring findings possible. This report encompasses an introduction and look ahead, as well as nine chapters that provide details of research and monitoring findings around the world on environmental effects of MRE.

16 TIDAL AND WAVE POWER↗

SMART Cables for Observing the Global Ocean: Science and Implementation

The ocean is key to understanding societal threats including climate change, sea level rise, ocean warming, tsunamis, and earthquakes. Because the ocean is difficult and costly to monitor, we lack fundamental data needed to adequately model, understand, and address these threats. One solution is to integrate sensors into future undersea telecommunications cables. This is the mission of the SMART subsea cables initiative (Science Monitoring And Reliable Telecommunications). SMART sensors would “piggyback” on the power and communications infrastructure of a million kilometers of undersea fiber optic cable and thousands of repeaters, creating the potential for seafloor-based global ocean observing at a modest incremental cost. Initial sensors would measure temperature, pressure, and seismic acceleration. The resulting data would address two critical scientific and societal issues: the long-term need for sustained climate-quality data from the under-sampled ocean (e.g., deep ocean temperature, sea level, and circulation), and the near-term need for improvements to global tsunami warning networks. A Joint Task Force (JTF) led by three UN agencies (ITU/WMO/UNESCO-IOC) is working to bring this initiative to fruition. This paper explores the ocean science and early warning improvements available from SMART cable data, and the societal, technological, and financial elements of realizing such a global network. Simulations show that deep ocean temperature and pressure measurements can improve estimates of ocean circulation and heat content, and cable-based pressure and seismic-acceleration sensors can improve tsunami warning times and earthquake parameters. The technology of integrating these sensors into fiber optic cables is discussed, addressing sea and land-based elements plus delivery of real-time open data products to end users. The science and business case for SMART cables is evaluated. SMART cables have been endorsed by major ocean science organizations, and JTF is working with cable suppliers and sponsors, multilateral development banks and end users to incorporate SMART capabilities into future cable projects. By investing now, we can build up a global ocean network of long-lived SMART cable sensors, creating a transformative addition to the Global Ocean Observing System.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

A Framework for Effective Science Communication and Outreach Strategies and Dissemination of Research Findings for Marine Energy Projects

Marine energy is an emerging renewable energy industry with the potential to produce 2300 terawatt-hours per year from resources within the United States. As development and testing of marine energy devices advance, regulatory and permitting decision-makers are concerned about the uncertainty surrounding the potential environmental effects resulting from the introduction of these novel devices in coastal and riverine environments. The Triton Initiative researches and provides recommendations for environmental monitoring technologies and methods to inform industry stakeholders with the data necessary to permit the testing of marine energy systems. Effective dissemination of the research findings is essential for improving the accessibility of data to stakeholders who may use the results to inform policy decisions, yet few frameworks for conducting science communications for marine energy projects exist. In this paper, we present tools, channels, and tactics for developing a science communication framework for marine energy projects, or similar areas of study, using the Triton Initiative’s pilot science communication program as a case study. By leveraging existing bodies of work in disciplines such as communications theory, marketing, public relations, and social science, the presented framework includes audience identification and analysis; channel development, including a website, blog, newsletter, social media, and webinars and presentations; and metrics for determining success. Outcomes from one year of Triton’s case study are presented, including the most effective tactics and lessons learned.

communication framework↗

Meeting report: Ocean ‘omics science, technology and cyberinfrastructure: current challenges and future requirements (August 20-23, 2013)

The National Science Foundation’s EarthCube End User Workshop was held at USC Wrigley Marine Science Center on Catalina Island, California in August 2013. The workshop was designed to explore and characterize the needs and tools available to the community that is focusing on microbial and physical oceanography research with a particular emphasis on ‘omic research. The assembled researchers outlined the existing concerns regarding the vast data resources that are being generated, and how we will deal with these resources as their volume and diversity increases. Particular attention was focused on the tools for handling and analyzing the existing data, on the need for the construction and curation of diverse federated databases, as well as development of shared, interoperable, “big-data capable” analytical tools. The key outputs from this workshop include (i) critical scientific challenges and cyber infrastructure constraints, (ii) the current and future ocean ‘omics science grand challenges and questions, and (iii) data management, analytical and associated and cyber-infrastructure capabilities required to meet critical current and future scientific challenges. The main thrust of the meeting and the outcome of this report is a definition of the ‘omics tools, technologies and infrastructures that facilitate continued advance in ocean science biology, marine biogeochemistry, and biological oceanography.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Developing a sustainability science approach for water systems

We convened a workshop to enable scientists who study water systems from both social science and physical science perspectives to develop a shared language. This shared language is necessary to bridge a divide between these disciplines’ different conceptual frameworks. As a result of this workshop, we argue that we should view socio-hydrological systems as structurally co-constituted of social, engineered, and natural elements and study the “characteristic management challenges” that emerge from this structure and reoccur across time, space, and socioeconomic contexts. This approach is in contrast to theories that view these systems as separately conceptualized natural and social domains connected by bi-directional feedbacks, as is prevalent in much of the water systems research arising from the physical sciences. A focus on emergent characteristic management challenges encourages us to go beyond searching for evidence of feedbacks and instead ask questions such as: What types of innovations have successfully been used to address these challenges? What structural components of the system affect its resilience to hydrological events and through what mechanisms? Are there differences between successful and unsuccessful strategies to solve one of the characteristic management challenges? If so, how are these differences affected by institutional structure and ecological and economic contexts? To answer these questions, social processes must now take center stage in the study and practice of water management. We also argue that water systems are an important class of coupled systems with relevance for sustainability science because they are particularly amenable to the kinds of systematic comparisons that allow knowledge to accumulate. Indeed, the characteristic management challenges we identify are few in number and recur over most of human history and in most geographical locations. This recurrence should allow us to accumulate knowledge to answer the above questions by studying the long historical record of institutional innovations to manage water systems.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

(abstract) Science-Project Interaction in the Low-Cost Mission

Large, complex, and highly optimized missions have performed most of the preliminary reconnaisance of the solar system. As a result we have now mapped significant fractions of its total surface (or surface-equivalent) area. Now, however, scientific exploration of the solar system is undergoing a major change in scale, and existing missions find it necessary to limit costs while fulfilling existing goals. In the future, NASA's Discovery program will continue the reconnaisance, exploration, and diagnostic phases of planetary research using lower cost missions, which will include lower cost mission operations systems (MOS). Historically, one of the more expensive functions of MOS has been its interaction with the science community. Traditional MOS elements that this interaction have embraced include mission planning, science (and engineering) event conflict resolution, sequence optimization and integration, data production (e.g., assembly, enhancement, quality assurance, documentation, archive), and other science support services. In the past, the payoff from these efforts has been that use of mission resources has been highly optimized, constraining resources have been generally completely consumed, and data products have been accurate and well documented. But because these functions are expensive we are now challenged to reduce their cost while preserving the benefits. In this paper, we will consider ways of revising the traditional MOS approach that might save project resources while retaining a high degree of service to the Projects' customers. Pre-launch, science interaction can be made simplier by limiting numbers of instruments and by providing greater redundancy in mission plans. Post launch, possibilities include prioritizing data collection into a few categories, easing requirements on real-time of quick-look data delivery, and closer integration of scientists into the mission operation.

mission operation science community interaction co↗

The EO-1 Autonomous Science Agent Architecture

An Autonomous Science Agent is currently flying onboard the Earth Observing One Spacecraft. This software enables the spacecraft to autonomously detect and respond to science events occurring on the Earth. The package includes software systems that perform science data analysis, deliberative planning, and run-time robust execution. Because of the deployment to a remote spacecraft, this Autonomous Science Agent has stringent constraints of autonomy, reliability, and limited computing resources. We describe these constraints and how they are reflected in our agent architecture.

Earth Observing One (EO-1)↗

The Art and Science of Storytelling in Presenting Complex Information to the Public, or, Give 'Em More Than Just the Facts

In communicating science to the public, just the facts can leave the public baffled, bewildered, and bored. In communicating science to the public, we need to learn to tell the story, not just the facts. Science and engineering is serious business, requiring precise language and rigorous reporting of "just the facts." Yet, we believe this very code of integrity has contributed to a public image, at best, of scientists as eccentrics and engineers as geeks, and at worst, as elitist snobs who speak in secret codes. The very heart of the science process - open discussion and disagreement - often leaves the public with the impression that scientists don't know which way is up.

education↗

Science and Measurement Requirements for a Plant Physiology and Functional Types Mission: Measuring the Composition, Function and Health of Global Land and Coastal Ocean Ecosystems

This slide presentation reviews the proposed Plant Physiology and Functional Types (PPFT) Mission. The National Academy of Sciences Decadal Survey, placed a critical priority on a Mission to observe distribution and changes in ecosystem functions. The PPFT satellite mission provides the essential measurements needed to assess drivers of change in biodiversity and ecosystem services that affect human welfare. The presentation reviews the science questions that the mission will be designed to answer, the science rationale, the science measurements, the mission concept, the planned instrumentation, the calibration method, and key signal to noise ratios and uniformity requirements.

science measurements↗