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At least 109 records · Page 6

The Global Fire Atlas of Individual Fire Size, Duration, Speed and Direction

Natural and human-ignited fires affect all major biomes, altering ecosystem structure, biogeochemical cycles and atmospheric composition. Satellite observations provide global data on spatiotemporal patterns of biomass burning and evidence for the rapid changes in global fire activity in response to land management and climate. Satellite imagery also provides detailed information on the daily or sub-daily position of fires that can be used to understand the dynamics of individual fires. The Global Fire Atlas is a new global dataset that tracks the dynamics of individual fires to determine the timing and location of ignitions, fire size and duration, and daily expansion, fire line length, speed, and direction of spread. Here, we present the underlying methodology and Global Fire Atlas results for 2003–2016 derived from daily moderate-resolution (500 m) Collection 6 MCD64A1 burned-area data. The algorithm identified 13.3 million individual fires over the study period, and estimated fire perimeters were in good agreement with independent data for the continental United States. A small number of large fires dominated sparsely populated arid and boreal ecosystems, while burned area in agricultural and other human-dominated landscapes was driven by high ignition densities that resulted in numerous smaller fires. Long-duration fires in boreal regions and natural landscapes in the humid tropics suggest that fire season length exerts a strong control on fire size and total burned area in these areas. In arid ecosystems with low fuel densities, high fire spread rates resulted in large, short-duration fires that quickly consumed available fuels. Importantly, multiday fires contributed the majority of burned area in all biomass burning regions. A first analysis of the largest, longest and fastest fires that occurred around the world revealed coherent regional patterns of extreme fires driven by large-scale climate forcing. Global Fire Atlas data are publicly available through http://www.globalfiredata.org (last access: 9 August 2018) and https://doi.org/10.3334/ORNLDAAC/1642, and individual fire information and summary data products provide new information for benchmarking fire models within ecosystem and Earth system models, understanding vegetation–fire feedbacks, improving global emissions estimates, and characterizing the changing role of fire in the Earth system.

global fire atlas↗

Burning of particles undergoing stripping breakup

A simple model for condensed-phase particle burning has been presented. Particles are assumed to start burning in quiescent air. Particles are then accelerated, adding convective effects. Convective effect due to the relative motion between the particle and air on heat and mass transfer is included by introducing the Nusselt number. Stripping of liquid is included at higher particle velocity. Evaporation and burning from the stripped tail are also included.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Advanced resin systems for graphite epoxy composites

The value of resin/carbon fiber composites as lightweight structures for aircraft and other vehicle applications is dependent on many properties: environmental stability, strength, toughness, resistance to burning, smoke produced when burning, raw material costs, and complexity of processing. A number of woven carbon fiber and epoxy resin composites were made. The epoxy resin was commercially available tetraglycidylmethylene dianiline. In addition, composites were made using epoxy resin modified with amine and carboxyl terminated butadiene acrylonitrile copolymer. Strength and toughness in flexure as well as oxygen index flammability and NBS smoke chamber tests of the composites are reported.

Gilwee, W. J.↗

The nu-process

As the core of a massive star collapses to form a neutron star, the flux of neutrinos in the overlying shells of heavy elements becomes so great that, despite the small cross section, substantial nuclear transmutation is induced. Neutrinos excite heavy elements and even helium to particle unbound levels. The evaporation of a single neutron or proton, and the back reaction of these nucleons on other species present, significantly alters the outcome of traditional nucleosynthesis calculations leading to a new process: nu-nucleosynthesis. Modifications to traditional hydrostatic and explosive varieties of helium, carbon, neon, oxygen, and silicon burning are considered. The results show that a large number of rare isotopes, including many of the odd-Z nuclei from boron through copper, owe much of their present abundance in nature to this process.

Woosley, S. E.↗

Viscous Analysis of Pulsating Hydrodynamic Instability and Thermal Coupling Liquid-Propellant Combustion

A pulsating form of hydrodynamic instability has recently been shown to arise during liquid-propellant deflagration in those parameter regimes where the pressure-dependent burning rate is characterized by a negative pressure sensitivity. This type of instability can coexist with the classical cellular, or Landau form of hydrodynamic instability, with the occurrence of either dependent on whether the pressure sensitivity is sufficiently large or small in magnitude. For the inviscid problem, it has been shown that, when the burning rate is realistically allowed to depend on temperature as well as pressure, sufficiently large values of the temperature sensitivity relative to the pressure sensitivity causes like pulsating form of hydrodynamic instability to become dominant. In that regime, steady, planar burning becomes intrinsically unstable to pulsating disturbances whose wave numbers are sufficiently small. This analysis is extended to the fully viscous case, where it is shown that although viscosity is stabilizing for intermediate and larger wave number perturbations, the intrinsic pulsating instability for small wave numbers remains. Under these conditions, liquid-propellant combustion is predicted to be characterized by large unsteady cells along the liquid/gas interface.

Margolis, Stephen B.↗

Compilation of a Global Emission Inventory from 1980 to 2000 for Global Model Simulations of the Long-term Trend of Tropospheric Aerosols

The approach to create a comprehensive emission inventory for the time period 1980 to 2000 is described in this paper. We have recently compiled an emission database, which we will use for a 21 year simulation of tropospheric aerosols with the GOCART model. Particular attention was paid to the time-dependent SO2, black carbon and organic carbon aerosol emissions. For the emission of SO2 from sporadically erupting volcanoes, we assembled emission data from the Global Volcanism Program of the Smithsonian Institution, using the VEI to derive the volcanic cloud height and the SO2 amount, and amended this dataset by the SO2 emission data from the TOMS instrument when available. 3-dimensional aircraft emission data was obtained for a number of years from the AEAP project, converted from burned fuel to SO2 and interpolated to each year, taking the sparsity of the flight patterns into account. Other anthropogenic SO2 emissions are based on gridded emissions from the EDGAR 2000 database (excluding sources from aircraft, biomass burning and international ship traffic), which were scaled to individual years with country/regional based emission inventories. Gridded SO2 emissions from international ship traffic for 2000 and the scaling factors for other years are from [Eyring et al., 2005]. We used gridded anthropogenic black and organic carbon emissions for 1996 [Bond et al., 2005], again excluding aircraft, biomass burning and ship sources. These emissions were scaled with regional based emission inventories from 1980 to 2000 to derive gridded emissions for each year. The biomass burning emissions are based on a climatology, which is scaled with regional scaling factors derived from the TOMS aerosol index and the AVHRR/ASTR fire counts to each year [Duncan et al., 2003]. Details on the integration of the information from the various sources will be provided and the distribution patterns and total emissions in the final product will be discussed.

Diehl, Thomas L.↗

Compilation of a Global Emission Inventory from 1980 to 2000 for Global Model Simulations of the Long-term Trend of Tropospheric Aerosols

The approach to create a comprehensive emission inventory for the time period 1980 to 2000 is described in this paper. We have recently compiled an emission database, which we will use for a 21 year simulation of tropospheric aerosols with the GOCART model. Particular attention was paid to the time-dependent SO2, black carbon and organic carbon aerosol emissions. For the emission of SO2 from sporadically erupting volcanoes, we assembled emission data from the Global Volcanism Program of the Smithsonian Institution, using the VEI to derive the volcanic cloud height and the SO2 amount, and amended this dataset by the SO2 emission data from the TOMS instrument when available. 3-dimensional aircraft emission data was obtained for a number of years from the AEAP project, converted from burned fuel to SO2 and interpolated to each year, taking the sparsity of the flight patterns into account. Other anthopogenic SO2 emissions are based on gridded emissions from the EDGAR 2000 database (excluding sources from aircraft, biomass burning and international ship traffic), which were scaled to individual years with country/regional based emission inventories. Gridded SO2 emissions from international ship traffic for 2000 and the scaling factors for other years are from [Eyring et al., 2005]. We used gridded anthropogenic black and organic carbon emissions for 1996 [Bond et al., 2005], again excluding aircraft, biomass burning and ship sources. These emissions were scaled with regional based emission inventories from 1980 to 2000 to derive gridded emissions for each year. The biomass burning emissions are based on a climatology, which is scaled with regional scaling factors derived from the TOMS aerosol index and the AVHRR/ATSR fire counts to each year [Duncan et al., 2003]. Details on the integration of the information from the various sources will be provided and the distribution patterns and total emissions in the final product will be discussed.

Diehl, T. L.↗

Effects of a Layered Morphology on Drip Suppression in Burning Polymers

Fire safety in polymers is critically important with products such as textiles and consumer goods, as well as materials used in construction, aerospace, transportation, and furniture. Additives used as anti-dripping and flame-retardant agents impose acute human health issues and have negative environmental impacts. With a focus on developing additive-free solutions, here we used multilayer coextrusion to fabricate layered polyethylene/polypropylene (PE/PP) films and investigated the effect of a layered morphology on dripping and burning rates. The experimental results for multilayered PE/PP samples were compared to control groups of melt blended PE/PP samples. The multilayer configuration provides two significant advantages: 154% delay in the time to the first drip and up to 87% reduction in the number of drips compared to the value for the melt blended samples with no additives. PE/PP blends with up to 2 wt % polytetrafluoroethylene, a commonly used anti-dripping agent in the industry, showed only 85% delay in the time to the first drip and about 60% reduction in the number of drips. We discovered a linear relationship between film thickness and burning rate, which allows for the use of the volumetric burning rate to normalize the effect of film thickness. No benefit in the burning rate was observed when comparing multilayered structures and conventional melt blended architectures or blends with PTFE. Annealing studies and transmission electron microscopy at areas close to the combustion zones confirmed that higher extensional viscosities induced by the layered structures and morphological changes due to the layer breakup play an important role in reducing dripping. By combining the first drip time and overall drip numbers, a parameter, “dripping index”, was defined to establish a fire safety map to simplify material comparisons. This study demonstrates that a multilayer film geometry can provide an additive-free solution to yield control over fire safety parameters in polymers.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Propagation of a premixed flame in a divided-chamber combustor

The propagation of premixed ethylene-air mixtures (of 0.5, 0.525, 0.55, and 0.65 equivalence ratios) in a divided-chamber combustor was investigated. The vessel, divided by a small cylindrical prechamber, had optical access (for laser-schlieren videography) and was instrumented by a pressure transducer. For the Reynolds numbers of 1870, 2300, and 2830, the observed spatial development of the laminar flames showed that the flame position and shape could be scaled by a characteristic time, based on the burned gas flame speed and the length of the prechamber. Above a Reynolds number of 4330, this scaling breaks down the appearance of Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities. The observed flame propagation was compared with predictions obtained with a numerical model of flame propagation. The calculated spatial and temporal development of the flame in the main combustion chamber agreed with the experimental observations only for the lowest Reynolds number (1870).

Cattolica, R. J.↗

Intense formation of secondary ultrafine particles from Amazonian vegetation fires and their invigoration of deep clouds and precipitation

New particle formation (NPF) in fire smoke is thought to be unlikely due to large condensation and coagulation sinks that scavenge molecular clusters. We analyze aircraft measurements over the Amazon and find that fires significantly enhance NPF and ultrafine particle (UFP < 50 nm diameter) numbers compared to background conditions, contrary to previous understanding. We identify that the nucleation of dimethylamine with sulfuric acid, which is aided by the formation of extremely low volatility organics in biomass-burning smoke, can overcome the large condensation and coagulation sinks and explain aircraft observations. We show that freshly formed clusters rapidly grow to UFP sizes through biomass-burning secondary organic aerosol formation, leading to a 10-fold increase in UFP number concentrations. Here, we find a contrasting effect of UFPs on deep convective clouds compared to the larger particles from primary emissions for the case investigated here. UFPs intensify the deep convective clouds and precipitation due to increased condensational heating, while larger particles delay and reduce precipitation.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Stratifying Tropical Fires by Land Cover: Insights into Amazonian Fires, Aerosol Loading, and Regional Deforestation

This study analyzes changes in the number of fires detected on forest, grass, and transition lands during the 2002-2009 biomass burning seasons using fire detection data and co-located land cover classifications from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). We find that the total number of detected fires correlates well with MODIS mean aerosol optical depth (AOD) from year to year, in accord with other studies. However, we also show that the ratio of forest to savanna fires varies substantially from year to year. Forest fires have trended downward, on average, since the beginning of 2006 despite a modest increase in 2007. Our study suggests that high particulate matter loading detected in 2007 was likely due to a large number of savanna/agricultural fires that year. Finally, we illustrate that the correlation between annual Brazilian deforestation estimates and MODIS fires is considerably higher when fires are stratified by MODIS-derived land cover classifications.

TenHoeve, J. E.↗

Experiments and analysis concerning the use of external burning to reduce aerospace vehicle transonic drag

The external combustion of hydrogen to reduce transonic drag was investigated. A control volume analysis is developed and indicates that the specific impulse performance of external burning is competitive with other forms of airbreathing propulsion and depends on the fuel-air ratio, freestream Mach number, and the severity of the base drag. A method is presented for sizing fuel injectors for a desired fuel-air ratio in the unconfined stream. A two-dimensional Euler analysis is also presented which indicates that the total axial force generated by external burning depends on the total amount of energy input and is independent of the transverse and streamwise distribution of heat addition. Good agreement between the Euler and control volume analysis is demonstrated. Features of the inviscid external burning flowfield are discussed. Most notably, a strong compression forms at the sonic line within the burning stream which may induce separation of the plume and prevent realization of the full performance potential. An experimental program was conducted in a Mach 1.26 free-jet to demonstrate drag reduction on a simple expansion ramp geometry, and verify hydrogen-air stability limits at external burning conditions. Stable combustion appears feasible to Mach number of between 1.4 and 2 depending on the vehicle flight trajectory. Drag reduction is demonstrated on the expansion ramp at Mach 1.26; however, force levels showed little dependence on fuel pressure or altitude in contrast to control volume analysis predictions. Various facility interference mechanisms and scaling issues were studied and are discussed.

Trefny, Charles J.↗

An investigation of the open-loop amplification of Reynolds number dependent processes by wave distortion

Analytical and experimental studies were initiated to determine if the response of a constant temperature hot wire anemometer to acoustic oscillations could serve as an analog to the response of the drop vaporization burning rate process to acoustic oscillations, and, perhaps, also as an analog to any Reynolds number dependent process. The motivation behind this study was a recent analytical study which showed that distorted acoustic oscillations could amplify the open-loop response of vaporization limited combustion. This type of amplification may be the cause of unstable combustion in liquid propellant rocket engines. The analytical results obtained for the constant temperature anemometer are similar in nature to those previously obtained for vaporization limited combustion and indicate that the response is dependent on the amount and type of distortion as well as other factors, such as sound pressure level, Mach number and hot wire temperature. Preliminary results indicate qualitative agreement between theory and experiment.

Purdy, K. R.↗

Investigation of a mixed compression axisymmetric inlet at Mach number 5.3

The hypersonic diffuser portion of an uncooled high performance mixed compression, axisymmetric inlet suitable for subsonic burning engines was designed and tested. Performance of a model with a 25.4-cm capture diameter was measured in a wind tunnel and the results were compared with theoretical predictions calculated by a comprehensive computer program. All tests were conducted at a Mach number of 5.3 at a total temperature of 667 K and a total pressure of 11.57 atm. The angle of attack ranged from 0 to + or - 3 deg. Performance at angle of attack remained high. Reasonably high performance in the throat (maximum throat pitot-pressure recovery of 77 percent and an average value of 58 percent) was obtained at 0 deg angle of attack with relatively large amounts of boundary-layer bleed (11 to 22 percent of the capture mass flow). The computer program used in the design of this inlet is considered marginally adequate for predicting hypersonic inlet flow fields. Although the program as it now exists is very useful, an improved computer program that more accurately predicts the boundary layer and the shock-wave-boundary-layer interaction and accounts for boundary-layer bleed should be developed for reliability predicting hypersonic inlet flow fields.

Latham, E. A.↗

Turbulence measurement in a reacting and non-reacting shear layer at a high subsonic Mach number

The results of two component velocity and turbulence measurements are presented which were obtained on a planar reacting shear layer burning hydrogen. Quantitative LDV and temperature measurements are presented with and without chemical reaction within the shear layer at a velocity ratio of 0.34 and a high speed Mach number of 0.7. The comparison showed that the reacting shear layer grew faster than that without reaction. Using a reduced width coordinate, the reacting and non-reacting profiles were very similar. The peak turbulence for both cases was 20 percent.

C. T. Chang↗

Erosive Burning Study Utilizing Ultrasonic Measurement Techniques

A 6-segment subscale motor was developed to generate a range of internal environments from which multiple propellants could be characterized for erosive burning. The motor test bed was designed to provide a high Mach number, high mass flux environment. Propellant regression rates were monitored for each segment utilizing ultrasonic measurement techniques. These data were obtained for three propellants RSRM, ETM- 03, and Castor@ IVA, which span two propellant types, PBAN (polybutadiene acrylonitrile) and HTPB (hydroxyl terminated polybutadiene). The characterization of these propellants indicates a remarkably similar erosive burning response to the induced flow environment. Propellant burnrates for each type had a conventional response with respect to pressure up to a bulk flow velocity threshold. Each propellant, however, had a unique threshold at which it would experience an increase in observed propellant burn rate. Above the observed threshold each propellant again demonstrated a similar enhanced burn rate response corresponding to the local flow environment.

Furfaro, James A.↗

Haze processing of atmospheric particles during wintertime in the Indo-Gangetic Plains

The impacts of haze on visibility, air quality, and climate are not well quantified due to a lack of understanding of the evolution of the mixing state and phase state of atmospheric particles during haze processing. The variability of the mixing state of atmospheric particles contributes significantly to uncertainties associated with the estimated aerosol radiative forcing. We collected particle samples in January 2018 from the highly polluted Indo-Gangetic plain during hazy conditions to study haze-processed particles. Single particle analysis using multi-modal micro-spectroscopy techniques revealed an abundance (40–70% by number) of potassium-rich sulfate particles from biomass-burning influenced smoke. Tilted view imaging showed that most of the organic particles that had inorganic potassium and sulfate inclusions were liquid-like while those without inclusions were more semi-solid. High-resolution mass spectrometry analysis revealed a significant presence of organosulfates and nitroxy-organosulfates in the morning samples (24%) compared to the afternoon samples (9%), despite higher relative humidity in the afternoon. Overall, our results highlight the significant contribution of both organic and inorganic sulfate to the total particulate sulfur budget during haze processing in winter, when anthropogenic emissions such as household burning, agricultural burning, and vehicular emissions are major contributors to particle mass.

Mathai, Susan [Pacific Northwest National Laborato↗

Development of the Algol III solid rocket motor for SCOUT.

The design and performance of a motor developed for the first stage of the NASA SCOUT-D and E launch vehicles are discussed. The motor delivers a 30% higher total impulse and a 35 to 45% higher payload mass capability than its predecessor, the Algol IIB. The motor is 45 in. in diameter, has a length-to-diameter ratio of 8:1 and delivers an average 100,000-lb thrust for an action time of 72 sec. The motor design features a very high volumetrically loaded internal-burning charge of 17% aluminized polybutadiene propellant, a plasma-welded and heat-treated steel alloy case, and an all-ablative plastic nose liner enclosed in a steel shell. The only significant development problem was the grain design tailoring to account for erosive burning effects which occurred in the high-subsonic-Mach-number port. The tests performed on the motor are described.

Felix, B. R.↗