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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2026

Characteristics of Fluid‐Solid Interaction Constitutive Models Within Poroelastodynamics at Higher Strain‐Rates and Large Deformations Implemented in 1D

The large deformation, mixed formulation, finite element (FE) modeling approach presented in Irwin et al. 2024 is extended herein to include improved constitutive models for representing dynamic solid-fluid interactions at higher strain rates (𝒪⁢(1⁢0 2 −1⁢0 3 )⁢s −1 ) and larger overpressure magnitudes (𝒪⁡(1⁢0 2 )⁢kPa) within a biphasic soft porous material using Theory of Porous Media (TPM) at finite strain. Specifically, these constitutive modeling improvements are the following: (i) a more physically robust constitutive model for pore fluid seepage velocity via inclusion of pore fluid viscous stress, and (ii) a modified deformation-dependent-permeability model and updated hyperelastic constitutive model better suited for handling larger volumetric compressions and extensions. The novelty of the present work is mainly the contribution (i): inclusion of pore fluid viscous stress at higher strain-rate and large deformations, which requires 𝐶 1 continuity in the weak formulation, accomplished by employing Hermite cubic interpolation functions within a mixed nonlinear poromechanical finite element formulation. In (ii), the model is updated to weakly enforce solid phase incompressibility, such that this assumption is not violated numerically, which provides improved numerical stability for achieving larger overpressure magnitudes on 𝒪⁡(1⁢0 2 ) kPa, which were not achievable with the previous Kozeny–Carman model in Irwin et al. 2024. Also in (ii), the volumetric part of the solid skeleton free energy function is modified to ensure proper bounds on the solid skeleton Jacobian of deformation 𝐽 s related to incompressibility of the solid phase. Uniaxial strain, unidirectional flow examples at higher strain rates (𝒪⁢(1⁢0 2 −1⁢0 3 )⁢s −1 ) and larger deformations (up to 0.2 (or 20%) nominal axial strain) demonstrate the improved physical representation—and numerical stability—of these constitutive model improvements.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2018

The Multidisciplinary Drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAIC) Atmosphere Science Plan

Arctic climate change is amplified relative to global change, and is embodied by a dramatic decline in the perennial sea-ice pack. These cryospheric transitions carry significant implications for regional resource development, geopolitics, and global climate patterns. Indeed, the changing arctic cryosphere is considered a grand challenge for global climate research. Arctic change, and its linkages with the global system, must be understood. Additionally, there is a growing stakeholder community that requires improved sea-ice forecasting for many applications. To make progress on these important issues requires developing a detailed, process-level understanding of the coupled climate system that can help to address the numerous deficiencies in numerical model representations of the Arctic. Such an understanding is only possible by making targeted, interdisciplinary measurements within the central arctic sea-ice environment. The Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) initiative has been developed in response to these great challenges. It comprises three parts: 1) An intensive, icebreaker-based observatory that will freeze in, and drift with, the arctic sea ice for a full annual cycle making interdisciplinary measurements in the atmosphere, sea ice, upper ocean, and biosphere; 2) A distributed network of targeted, autonomous measurements to characterize spatial variability on model grid-box scales; and 3) Coordinated, multiscale analysis and modeling activities. MOSAiC is a major, international effort that will involve participation of many different agencies and entities. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility is uniquely positioned to play a critical role in this initiative by providing a comprehensive instrument suite to characterize the atmosphere and its interactions with the sea-ice surface. ARM will deploy its second Mobile Facility (AMF2) and Mobile Aerosol Observing System (MAOS) at the MOSAiC central observatory as it drifts through the central Arctic for a 13-month campaign starting in September 2019. Sea-ice is an integrator of energy fluxes in the coupled arctic climate system; thus, atmosphere-ice-ocean processes impacting the flow of energy through this system in all seasons are the primary target of MOSAiC. The broader, collaborative MOSAiC initiative will allow for many interdisciplinary studies along this theme. ARM’s involvement will target specific areas related to the atmosphere and atmosphere-surface interactions that are critically under-observed in the Arctic, are leading contributors to model uncertainties in the region, and are programmatically important to DOE research and modeling programs. The guiding science themes for this project include: (1) The surface energy budget of sea ice; (2) Clouds and precipitation; (3) Aerosols; and (4) The atmospheric boundary layer. Many fundamental issues concerning these themes are lacking in observational constraints, particularly in the arctic winter and through consecutive seasons. For example, little is known about the energy budget of first-year sea ice, the annual cycle of central arctic aerosol concentrations, the spatial organization of cloud-precipitation systems relative to sea-ice heterogeneity, the winter boundary-layer evolution, or cloud-surface coupling processes over sea ice. The proposed ARM observations will be groundbreaking in many ways, and will ultimately have a dramatic impact on the arctic research community and its ability to represent coupled arctic processes in numerical models.

North Slope of alaska, Arctic sea ice, Barrow, Arc↗
DOE OSTI2024

Structural Uncertainty in the Sensitivity of Urban Temperatures to Anthropogenic Heat Flux

One key source of uncertainty for weather and climate models is structural uncertainty arising from the fact that these models must simplify or approximate complex physical, chemical, and biological processes that occur in the real world. However, structural uncertainty is rarely examined in the context of simulated effects of anthropogenic heat flux in cities. Using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model coupled with a single-layer urban canopy model, it is found that the sensitivity of urban canopy air temperature to anthropogenic heat flux can differ by an order of magnitude depending on how anthropogenic heat flux is released to the urban environment. Moreover, varying model structures through changing the treatment of roof-air interaction and the parameterization of convective heat transfer between the canopy air and the atmosphere can affect the sensitivity of urban canopy air temperature by a factor of 4. Urban surface temperature and 2-m air temperature are less sensitive to the methods of anthropogenic heat flux release and the examined model structural variants than urban canopy air temperature, but their sensitivities to anthropogenic heat flux can still vary by as much as a factor of 4 for surface temperature and 2 for 2-m air temperature. Our study recommends using temperature sensitivity instead of temperature response to understand how various physical processes (and their representations in numerical models) modulate the simulated effects of anthropogenic heat flux.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2014

Electronic quantum effects mapped onto non-Born-Oppenheimer nuclear paths: Nonclassical surmounting over potential barriers and trapping above the transition states due to nonadiabatic path-branching

We develop the path-branching representation for nonadiabatic electron wavepacket dynamics [T. Yonehara and K. Takatsuka, J. Chem. Phys. 132, 244102 (2010)] so as to treat dynamics in an energy range comparable to the barrier height of adiabatic potential energy curves. With this representation two characteristic chemical reaction dynamics are studied, in which an incident nuclear wavepacket encounters a potential barrier, on top of which lies another nonadiabatically coupled adiabatic potential curve: (1) Dynamics of initial paths coming into the nonadiabatic interaction region with energy lower than the barrier height. They branch into two pieces (and repeat branching subsequently), the upper counterparts of which can penetrate into a classically inaccessible high energy region and eventually branch back to the product region on the ground state curve. This is so to say surmounting the potential barrier via nonadiabatically coupled excited state, and phenomenologically looks like the so-called deep tunneling. (2) Dynamics of classical paths whose initial energies are a little higher than the barrier but may be lower than the bottom of the excited state. They can undergo branching and some of those components are trapped on top of the potential barrier, being followed by the population decay down to the lower state flowing both to product and reactant sites. Such expectations arising from the path-branching representation are numerically confirmed with full quantum mechanical wavepacket dynamics. This phenomenon may be experimentally observed as time-delayed pulses of wavepacket trains.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2015

Roto-translational states of the interstitial molecular hydrogen in silicon: A theoretical study

A theoretical study of the interstitial molecular hydrogen in the silicon single-crystal is reported. H{sub 2} and Si have been approximated as a rigid object and a static matrix, respectively. A five-dimensional numerical-analytical representation of an ab initio potential energy surface of the system has been constructed. This representation has been used to calculate rotational, translational, and roto-translational energy levels of the interstitial hydrogen, where three levels of theory, 2D, 3D, and 5D were considered. The potential energy surface, the band structure of energy levels, and the roto-translational states obtained are presented together with the symmetry analysis of the roto-translational wavefunctions.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2016

The Reynolds stress induced by weakly up-down asymmetric ion temperature gradient mode

A weakly up-down asymmetric ion temperature gradient (ITG) mode (formed in the up-down symmetric equilibrium), localized in the bad curvature region, may contribute dominantly to the nonlinear Reynolds stress because its growth rate is higher than the competing modes: the strongly up-down asymmetric modes, and other modes peaked (poloidally) away from the outboard mid-plane. Based on the fluid ITG model, the parameterized analytic wave function is constructed in the two dimensional (2D) Fourier-ballooning representation, and numerically verified by making use of the finite difference methods. Analytic expressions for the poloidal Reynolds stresses, defined on a rational surface, are given for both the weakly and the strongly up-down asymmetric ITG modes. It is shown here that the poloidal stresses of both modes can be interpreted as a superposition of a monopole and a dipole structure. For comparison with the experiment, the stresses are calculated for L-mode discharge parameters on five machines. Analytic expressions for the total parallel Reynolds stresses (contributed from all rational surfaces) are also derived for both modes: they are also exhibited, graphically, using a Gaussian wave intensity model.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Cloud-Resolving ICON Simulations of Secondary Ice Production in Arctic Mixed-Phase Stratocumuli Observed during M-PACE

Field measurements and modeling studies suggest that secondary ice production (SIP) may close the gap between observed Arctic ice nucleating particle (INP) concentrations and ice crystal number concentrations ni. Here, we explore sensitivities with respect to the complexity of different INP parameterizations under the premise that ni is governed by SIP. Idealized, cloud-resolving simulations are performed for the marine cold air outbreak cloud deck sampled during the Mixed-Phase Arctic Cloud Experiment (M-PACE) with the Icosahedral Nonhydrostatic (ICON) model. The impact of the droplet shattering (DS) of raindrops and collisional breakup (BR) in addition to the existing Hallet–Mossop rime splintering mechanism were investigated. Overall, 12 different model experiments (12-h runs) were performed and analyzed. Despite the considerable amount of uncertainty remaining with regard to SIP mechanisms and their process representation in numerical models, we conclude from these experiments that (i) only simulations where DS dominates the SIP signal (potentially amplified by BR) capture observed ice-phase and liquid-phase cloud properties, and (ii) SIP events cluster around the convective outflow region and are structurally linked to mesoscale cloud organization. In addition, interactions with primary nucleation parameterizations of varied complexity were investigated. Here, our simulations show that (i) a stable long-lived mixed-phase cloud (MPC) can be maintained in the absence of primary nucleation once SIP is established, (ii) experiments using a computationally more efficient relaxation-based parameterization of primary nucleation are statistically invariant from simulations considering prognostic INP, and (iii) primary nucleation at cloud-top controls the areal extent of the mixed-phase cloud region, and reduces SIP efficacy via DS due to increased depletion of cloud liquid throughout the entire cloud column.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2026

Dependence of Deep Convective Cell Properties on Meteorological and Aerosol Conditions during TRACER

Deep convective cells significantly influence Earth’s energy balance and water cycle. However, their accurate representation in numerical models remains challenging due to their small spatiotemporal scales and limited observational constraints. This study examines over ∼400 deep convective cells near Houston, observed by a dual-polarization C-band radar during the Tracking Aerosol Convection Interactions Experiment (TRACER) intensive observation period (June–September 2022). Cells are categorized by lifetime into short-lived (<40 min), intermediate-lived (40–80 min), and long-lived (80+ min) groups. Long-lived cells were broader (∼13.2 km at 2–4-km height) and deeper (∼11.4 km) than short-lived cells (∼6.4-km width, ∼7.31-km height). Using random forest (RF) modeling and correlation analyses, precipitable water vapor (PWV), 2–6-km lapse rate, 0–8-km bulk shear, and fine aerosol mass concentration (Mass_f) are identified as key predictors of cell lifetime. Higher PWV is associated with significantly longer convective cell lifetimes compared to the low-PWV group, particularly within low 2–6-km temperature lapse rate (LR_26km), moderate-to-higher 0–8-km bulk shear (BS_08km), and low-to-moderate Mass_f environments. RF analysis also identifies low-level (0–2 km) equivalent potential temperature, PWV, Mass_f, and surface latent heat flux as key predictors for cell width and height. Short-lived cells have higher aerosol number concentrations (500–1000-nm size range), linked to onshore wind conditions and marine aerosols; however, their low concentration suggests the sensitivity may reflect associated meteorological regimes rather than a direct aerosol effect. Long-lived cells have higher concentrations of organic and sulfate aerosols, while short-lived cells exhibit higher black carbon concentrations. These results highlight the intricate dependence of convective cell lifetimes and structure on environmental moisture, thermodynamics, wind shear, and aerosol characteristics.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2014

Model Evaluation Report for Corrective Action Unit 98: Frenchman Flat, Nevada National Security Site, Nye County, Nevada, Revision 1

Model evaluation focused solely on the PIN STRIPE and MILK SHAKE underground nuclear tests’ contaminant boundaries (CBs) because they had the largest extent, uncertainty, and potential consequences. The CAMBRIC radionuclide migration experiment also had a relatively large CB, but because it was constrained by transport data (notably Well UE-5n), there was little uncertainty, and radioactive decay reduced concentrations before much migration could occur. Each evaluation target and the associated data-collection activity were assessed in turn to determine whether the new data support, or demonstrate conservatism of, the CB forecasts. The modeling team—in this case, the same team that developed the Frenchman Flat geologic, source term, and groundwater flow and transport models—analyzed the new data and presented the results to a PER committee. Existing site understanding and its representation in numerical groundwater flow and transport models was evaluated in light of the new data and the ability to proceed to the CR stage of long-term monitoring and institutional control.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2019

“Evaluation of boundary layer cloud processes in an advanced parameterization for global models” (Final Report)

Low clouds over the ocean are a critical component of our planet’s energy budget because they emit almost as much energy as the surface while being much more reflective than the ocean, resulting in a strong net cooling effect. Despite their importance, low marine clouds remain a persistent source of uncertainty in future climate projections. This project explored how the dynamics, thermodynamics and spatial organization of low clouds is represented in a particular physical simplification, or parameterization, of small-scale air motions and cloud processes commonly employed in global atmospheric models used for short-term weather and longer-term earth system prediction. The overall goal was to develop long-term observational products to constrain numerical model representations of turbulence and cloud processes using observations from the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) program’s Eastern North Atlantic (ENA) site. These constraints were then used to demonstrate the type of information that can be gained from confronting simulations with the observations and we assessed the performance of a parameterization in simulating periods of low clouds at ENA. Finally, we used detailed computational fluid dynamics simulations of turbulence and cloud properties to evaluate general physical assumptions embedded in simplified representations of clouds and turbulence for global models of the atmosphere.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

Asymmetries in cloud microphysical properties ascribed to sea ice leads via water vapour transport in the central Arctic

To investigate the influence of sea ice openings like leads on wintertime Arctic clouds, the air mass transport is exploited as a heat and humidity feeding mechanism which can modify Arctic cloud properties. Cloud microphysical properties in the central Arctic are analysed as a function of sea ice conditions during the Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) expedition in 2019–2020. The Cloudnet classification algorithm is used to characterize the clouds based on remote sensing observations and the atmospheric thermodynamic state from the observatory on board the research vessel (RV) Polarstern. To link the sea ice conditions around the observational site with the cloud observations, the water vapour transport (WVT) being conveyed towards RV Polarstern has been utilized as a mechanism to associate upwind sea ice conditions with the measured cloud properties. This novel methodology is used to classify the observed clouds as coupled or decoupled to the WVT based on the location of the maximum vertical gradient of WVT height relative to the cloud-driven mixing layer. Only a conical sub-sector of sea ice concentration (SIC) and the lead fraction (LF) centred on the RV Polarstern location and extending up to 50 km in radius and with an azimuth angle governed by the time-dependent wind direction measured at the maximum WVT is related to the observed clouds. We found significant asymmetries for cases when the clouds are coupled or decoupled to the WVT and selected by LF regimes. Liquid water path of low-level clouds is found to increase as a function of LF, while the ice water path does so only for deep precipitating systems. Clouds coupled to WVT are found to generally have a lower cloud base and larger thickness than decoupled clouds. Thermodynamically, for coupled cases the cloud-top temperature is warmer and accompanied by a temperature inversion at the cloud top, whereas the decoupled cases are found to be closely compliant with the moist adiabatic temperature lapse rate. The ice water fraction within the cloud layer has been found to present a noticeable asymmetry when comparing coupled versus decoupled cases. This novel approach of coupling sea ice to cloud properties via the WVT mechanism unfolds a new tool to study Arctic surface–atmosphere processes. With this formulation, long-term observations can be analysed to enforce the statistical significance of the asymmetries. Furthermore, our results serve as an opportunity to better understand the dynamic linkage between clouds and sea ice and to evaluate its representation in numerical climate models for the Arctic system.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Glaciation of mixed-phase clouds: insights from bulk model and bin-microphysics large-eddy simulation informed by laboratory experiment

Abstract. Mixed-phase clouds affect precipitation and radiation differently from liquid and ice clouds, posing greater challenges to their representation in numerical simulations. Recent laboratory experiments using the Pi Cloud Chamber explored cloud glaciation conditions based on increased injection of ice-nucleating particles. In this study, we use two approaches to reproduce the results of the laboratory experiments: a bulk scalar mixing model and large-eddy simulation (LES) with bin microphysics. The first approach assumes a well-mixed domain to provide an efficient assessment of the mean cloud properties for a wide range of conditions. The second approach resolves the energy-carrying turbulence, the particle size distribution, and their spatial distribution to provide more details. These modeling approaches enable a separate and detailed examination of liquid and ice properties, which is challenging in the laboratory. Both approaches demonstrate that, with an increased ice number concentration, the flow and microphysical properties exhibit the same changes in trends. Additionally, both approaches show that the ice integral radius reaches the theoretical glaciation threshold when the cloud is subsaturated with respect to liquid water. The main difference between the results of the two approaches is that the bulk model allows for the complete glaciation of the cloud. However, LES reveals that, in a dynamic system, the cloud is not completely glaciated as liquid water droplets are continuously produced near the warm lower boundary and subsequently mixed into the chamber interior. These results highlight the importance of the ice mass fraction in distinguishing the mixed-phase clouds and ice clouds.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1989

Propagation and scattering of elastic waves in fiber-reinforced plates

The objectives of this program are as follows: modelling of guided waves in fiber-reinforced plates in terms of different modes; and analysis of scattering by transverse cracks using modal representation. A hybrid numerical method combining the finite element representation of a region around the crack with the modal representation in the exterior region will be used in this program. Modes will be obtained using the through-the-thickness discretization of the displacement field.

Bratton, Robert L.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Modeling Nitrogen Oxides in the Lower Stratosphere

This talk will focus on the status of current understanding (not a historical review) as regards modeling nitrogen oxides (NOy) in the lower stratosphere (LS). The presentation will be organized around three major areas of process understanding: 1) NOy sources, sinks, and transport to the LS, 2) NOy species partitioning, and 3) polar multiphase processes. In each area, process topics will be identified with an estimate of the degree of confidence associated with their representation in numerical models. Several exotic and/or speculative processes will also be discussed. Those topics associated with low confidence or knowledge gaps, weighted by their prospective importance in stratospheric chemical modeling, will be collected into recommendations for further study. Suggested approaches to further study will be presented for discussion.

Kawa, S. Randy↗
NASA NTRS2009

NASA Orbital Debris Engineering Model ORDEM2008 (Beta Version)

This is an interim document intended to accompany the beta-release of the ORDEM2008 model. As such it provides the user with a guide for its use, a list of its capabilities, a brief summary of model development, and appendices included to educate the user as to typical runtimes for different orbit configurations. More detailed documentation will be delivered with the final product. ORDEM2008 supersedes NASA's previous model - ORDEM2000. The availability of new sensor and in situ data, the re-analysis of older data, and the development of new analytical techniques, has enabled the construction of this more comprehensive and sophisticated model. Integrated with the software is an upgraded graphical user interface (GUI), which uses project-oriented organization and provides the user with graphical representations of numerous output data products. These range from the conventional average debris size vs. flux magnitude for chosen analysis orbits, to the more complex color-contoured two-dimensional (2-D) directional flux diagrams in terms of local spacecraft pitch and yaw.

Stansbery, Eugene G.↗
NASA NTRS2013

Orbital Debris Engineering Model (ORDEM) v.3

A model of the manmade orbital debris environment is required by spacecraft designers, mission planners, and others in order to understand and mitigate the effects of the environment on their spacecraft or systems. A manmade environment is dynamic, and can be altered significantly by intent (e.g., the Chinese anti-satellite weapon test of January 2007) or accident (e.g., the collision of Iridium 33 and Cosmos 2251 spacecraft in February 2009). Engineering models are used to portray the manmade debris environment in Earth orbit. The availability of new sensor and in situ data, the re-analysis of older data, and the development of new analytical and statistical techniques has enabled the construction of this more comprehensive and sophisticated model. The primary output of this model is the flux [#debris/area/time] as a function of debris size and year. ORDEM may be operated in spacecraft mode or telescope mode. In the former case, an analyst defines an orbit for a spacecraft and "flies" the spacecraft through the orbital debris environment. In the latter case, an analyst defines a ground-based sensor (telescope or radar) in terms of latitude, azimuth, and elevation, and the model provides the number of orbital debris traversing the sensor's field of view. An upgraded graphical user interface (GUI) is integrated with the software. This upgraded GUI uses project-oriented organization and provides the user with graphical representations of numerous output data products. These range from the conventional flux as a function of debris size for chosen analysis orbits (or views), for example, to the more complex color-contoured two-dimensional (2D) directional flux diagrams in local spacecraft elevation and azimuth.

Matney, Mark↗
NASA NTRS2019

NASA Orbital Debris Engineering Model ORDEM 3.1 - Software User Guide

This National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Orbital Debris Engineering Model (ORDEM) 3.1 Software User Guide accompanies delivery of the latest upgraded version of the model, ORDEM 3.1. The user guide also provides a top-level program description and a list of capabilities. It includes descriptions of runtime error and information codes, input/output file formats, runtimes for different orbit configurations, and how to use uncertainty files. ORDEM 3.1 supersedes the previous NASA Orbital Debris Program Office (ODPO) models – ORDEM 3.0 (Stansbery, et al. 2014) and ORDEM2000 (Liou, et al. 2002). The availability of new sensor and in situ data, re-analysis of older data, and development of new analytical techniques has enabled the construction of this more comprehensive and sophisticated model. An upgraded graphical user interface (GUI) is integrated with the software. This upgraded GUI uses project-oriented organization and provides the user with graphical representations of numerous output data products. For example, these range from the conventional flux vs. average debris size (or altitude bin) for chosen analysis orbits (or views) to the more complex color-contoured, two-dimensional (2-D) directional flux diagrams in local spacecraft elevation and azimuth. The current model, ORDEM 3.1, supports spacecraft as well as telescope/radar project assessments. ORDEM 3.1 contains updated debris populations covering low Earth orbit (LEO, up to 2000 km altitude) to geosynchronous orbit (GEO, up to 40,000 km altitude) and can assess debris calculations up to year 2050, extending coverage past the previous limit of 2035 in ORDEM 3.0. Although populations differ from its predecessor, ORDEM 3.1 is functionally the same as ORDEM 3.0 and can support ORDEM 3.0 projects through backward compatibility.

Vavrin, Andrew B.↗
NASA NTRS2023

NASA Orbital Debris Engineering Model ORDEM 3.2 – Software User Guide

This National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Orbital Debris Engineering Model (ORDEM) 3.2 Software User Guide accompanies delivery of the latest upgraded version of the model, ORDEM 3.2. The user guide also provides a top-level program description and a list of capabilities. It includes descriptions of runtime error and information codes, input/output file formats, runtimes for different orbit configurations, and how to use uncertainty files. ORDEM 3.2 supersedes the previous NASA Orbital Debris Program Office (ODPO) models – ORDEM 3.0 (Stansbery, et al. 2014) and ORDEM2000 (Liou, et al. 2002). The availability of new sensor and in situ data, re-analysis of older data, and development of new analytical techniques has enabled the construction of this more comprehensive and sophisticated model. An upgraded graphical user interface (GUI) is integrated with the software. This upgraded GUI uses project-oriented organization and provides the user with graphical representations of numerous output data products. For example, these range from the conventional flux vs. average debris size (or altitude bin) for chosen analysis orbits (or views) to the more complex color-contoured, two-dimensional (2-D) directional flux diagrams in local spacecraft elevation and azimuth. The current model, ORDEM 3.2, supports spacecraft as well as telescope/radar project assessments. ORDEM 3.2 contains updated debris populations covering low Earth orbit (LEO, up to 2000 km altitude) to geosynchronous orbit (GEO, up to 40,000 km altitude) and can assess debris calculations up to year 2050, extending coverage past the previous limit of 2035 in ORDEM 3.0. Although populations differ from its predecessor, ORDEM 3.2 is functionally the same as ORDEM 3.0 and can support ORDEM 3.0 projects through backward compatibility.

Andrew Vavrin↗