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At least 1,081 records · Page 60

The Importance of Accounting for Landscape Position When Investigating Grasslands: A Multidisciplinary Characterisation of a California Coastal Grassland

Abstract Grasslands are one of the most common land‐cover types, providing important ecosystem services globally, yet few studies have examined grassland critical‐zone functioning throughout hillslopes. This study characterised a coastal grassland over a small hillslope at Point Reyes National Seashore, California, using multidisciplinary techniques, combining remotely‐sensed, geophysical, plant, and soil measurements. Clustering techniques delineated the study area into four landscape zones, up‐, mid‐, and down‐slope, and a bordering riparian ecotone, which had distinct environmental properties that varied spatially across the site, with depth, and time. Soil moisture increased with depth and down slope towards a bordering riparian zone, and co‐varied with soil CO 2 flux rates both spatially and temporally. This highlighted three distinct controls of soil moisture on soil respiration: CO 2 fluxes were inhibited by high moisture content in the down‐slope during the wet winter months, and converged across landscape positions in the dry summer months, while also displaying post‐rain pulses. The normalised difference vegetation index (NDVI) ranged from 0.32 (September)–0.80 (April) and correlated positively with soil moisture and aboveground biomass, moving down slope. Yet, NDVI, aboveground biomass, and soil moisture were not correlated to soil organic carbon (SOC) content (0.4%–4.5%), which was highest in the mid‐slope. The SOC content may instead be linked to shifts in dominant grassland species and their rhizosphere properties with landscape position. This multidisciplinary characterisation highlighted significant heterogeneity in grassland properties with landscape position, and demonstrated an approach that could be used to characterise other critical‐zone environments on hillslopes.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Slow electron-phonon relaxation controls the dynamics of the superconducting resistive transition

Here, we investigate the temporal and spatial scales of resistance fluctuations (𝑅 fluctuations) at the superconducting resistive transition accessed through voltage fluctuation measurements in thin epitaxial TiN films. This material is characterized by slow electron-phonon relaxation, which puts it far beyond the applicability range of the textbook scenario of superconducting fluctuations. The measured Lorentzian spectrum of the 𝑅 fluctuations identifies their correlation time, which is nearly constant across the transition region and has no relation to the conventional Ginzburg-Landau timescale. Instead, the correlation time coincides with the energy relaxation time determined by a combination of the electron-phonon relaxation and the relaxation via diffusion into reservoirs. Our data are quantitatively consistent with the model of spontaneous temperature fluctuations and highlight the lack of understanding of the resistive transition in materials with slow electron-phonon relaxation.

critical phenomena↗

In-Situ Process Monitoring Evaluation and Demonstration using Advanced Characterization with Laser Powder Bed Systems

Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s (ORNL) Manufacturing Demonstration Facility (MDF) worked with EOS Group to evaluate the current in-situ sensor capabilities of an EOS M290 Laser Powder Bed Fusion machine. The M290 was fitted with a 1 Mega-Pixel (MP) grayscale visible-light camera and a 5 MP temporally integrated (TI) near-infrared (NIR) camera. One print from stainless steel (SS) 316 and two from Inconel 625 (IN625) were performed where data including in-situ imaging and a machine log file were captured. These data were subsequently analyzed using a Dynamic Multi-Scale Segmentation Convolutional Neural Network (DMSCNN) trained on user defined classes and correlated to as-printed flaws, in the form of porosity, discovered in X-Ray Computed Tomography (XCT). In Phase I, two indications were detected in-situ and spatially correlated to stochastic lack-of-fusion flaws discovered using XCT. In Phase II, using these links from in-situ signatures to XCT flaw populations, a second neural network (NN) was trained to create a Voxelized Property Prediction Model (VPPM) to predict porosity percentages within the part using only features garnered from the in-situ data from two IN625 complex geometries. The VPPM was able to accurately predict porosity values for IN625 parts with an R 2 value of 0.764.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

In-Situ Process Monitoring Evaluation and Demonstration using Advanced Characterization with Laser Powder Bed Systems

Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s (ORNL) Manufacturing Demonstration Facility (MDF) worked with EOS Group to evaluate the current in-situ sensor capabilities of an EOS M290 Laser Powder Bed Fusion machine. The M290 was fitted with a 1 Mega-Pixel (MP) grayscale visible-light camera and a 5 MP temporally integrated (TI) near-infrared (NIR) camera. One print from stainless steel (SS) 316 and two from Inconel 625 (IN625) were performed where data including in-situ imaging and a machine log file were captured. These data were subsequently analyzed using a Dynamic Multi-Scale Segmentation Convolutional Neural Network (DMSCNN) trained on user defined classes and correlated to as-printed flaws, in the form of porosity, discovered in X-Ray Computed Tomography (XCT). In Phase I, two indications were detected in-situ and spatially correlated to stochastic lack-of-fusion flaws discovered using XCT. In Phase II, using these links from in-situ signatures to XCT flaw populations, a second neural network (NN) was trained to create a Voxelized Property Prediction Model (VPPM) to predict porosity percentages within the part using only features garnered from the in-situ data from two IN625 complex geometries. The VPPM was able to accurately predict porosity values for IN625 parts with an R 2 value of 0.764.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

BLADE: An Automated Framework for Classifying Light Curves from the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies Fireball Database

Fireballs (bolides) are high-energy luminous phenomena produced when meteoroids and small asteroids enter Earth’s atmosphere at hypersonic speeds, often resulting in fragmentation or complete disintegration accompanied by significant energy release. The resulting bolide light curves capture temporal brightness variations as these objects traverse increasingly dense atmospheric layers, providing essential information on meteoroid entry dynamics, fragmentation behavior, and atmospheric energy deposition processes. The Center for Near-Earth Object Studies’ (CNEOS) continuously expanding fireball database offers a globally comprehensive archive of bolide events, including light curves and associated metadata. Events associated with infrasound detections allow direct correlations between acoustic signatures and light curve features, therefore enabling detailed analyses of fragmentation dynamics and energy deposition. Here, we introduce Bolide Light-curve Analysis and Discrimination Explorer (BLADE), a robust and high-fidelity framework specifically designed to analyze bolide light curves for objects detected from space. BLADE incorporates a processing pipeline integrating Savitzky–Golay filtering, prominence-based peak detection, and gradient analysis, enabling systematic identification and classification of fragmentation events and their associated energy release characteristics. Preliminary results demonstrate that BLADE reliably distinguishes distinct bolide behaviors, providing an objective, scalable methodology for characterization and analysis of large bolide light curve data sets. This foundational work establishes a novel pathway for advanced bolide research, with promising applications in planetary defense and global atmospheric monitoring. Future research should adopt an integrative approach combining CNEOS optical data with complementary infrasound measurements, further clarifying relationships between bolide energy deposition and acoustic signatures, thus refining our understanding of meteoroid and asteroid atmospheric entry processes.

Asteroids↗

Observations of rapid X-ray flaring from Cygnus X-1

SAS-3 observations of Cyg X-1 in October 1976 show the source to be in a highly active state exhibiting rapid continual flaring on time scales of 1 to 10 s. The flares exhibit temporal structure and variable spectra, but their mean spectrum is similar to that of the source as a whole. The characteristic time scales of the source are 2 to 4 times longer than those previously observed. It is suggested that this active phase of Cyg X-1 signals a modified accretion-disk structure. The flares may result from correlated bunches of the same 'shots ' which are thought to explain the rest of the short-time-scale variability of the source. While the flares superficially resemble X-ray bursts, they are distinct in several respects.

Canizares, C. R.↗

Propagation in a shearing plasma. II - Turbulence and the frequency range of pulsar microstructure

Numerical calculations are presented which explore the propagation of radio waves and pulses through a turbulent shearing plasma. A stochastic model is used to describe the turbulent velocity field, in which random fluctuations are superposed on a mean profile. Both Gaussian wave packets and shot-noise pulses polarized in the plane of shearing acquire quasi-periodic intensity modulations above the rest-frame plasma frequency. The frequency range over which these modulations appear is shown to depend on the spatial correlation length of the turbulent fluctuations and on their standard deviation from the mean velocity. The period of the modulations is variable from one realization of the random process to the next, and the average period is frequency dependent. The results of these calculations lend further support to a model for pulsar microstructure in which periodic micropulses are pure temporal modulations of the emitted radiation due to propagation effects in magnetospheric shearing regions. It is shown that turbulence on a scale of approximately 10 cm can produce these quasi-periodic modulations over a frequency range comparable to that of observed microstructure.

Harding, A. K.↗

Basic properties of developed wind waves and their influence on microwave remote sensing signatures

Error trends in wind speed measurements by satellite scatterometer altimeter and microwave radiometer are shown to be correlated with the degree of wave development. These errors are analyzed theoretically by studying the rms wave slope which, directly or indirectly, affects all microwave signatures. For equilibrium sea state, the influence of spectrum parameters on the wave slope is reviewed. In well-developed seas, the dominant wavelength is shown to have no effect on the slope. Temporal-spatial rates of steep and breaking waves are derived and compared with field observations. The inner scale that determines a rapid falloff of spectral density function at high frequencies is estimated. The dependence of the spectral parameters on wind speed and sea maturity is studied using NOAA buoy observations. It is concluded that the removal of environmental error trends from satellite measurements can be best accomplished by a joint processing of microwave returns from several independent instruments.

Glazman, Roman E.↗

Humidity profiles over the ocean

The variabilities of atmospheric humidity profile over oceans from daily to interannual time scales were examined using 9 years of daily and semidaily radiosonde soundings at island stations extending from the Arctic to the South Pacific. The relative humidity profiles were found to have considerable temporal and geographic variabilities, contrary to the prevalent assumption. Principal component analysis on the profiles of specific humidity were used to examine the applicability of a relation between the surface-level humidity and the integrated water vapor; this relation has been used to estimate large-scale evaporation from satellite data. The first principal component was found to correlate almost perfectly with the integrated water vapor. The fractional variance represented by this mode increases with increasing period. It reaches approximately 90 percent at two weeks and decreases sharply, below one week, down to approximately 60 percent at the daily period. At low frequencies, the integrated water vapor appeared to be an adequate estimator of the humidity profile and the surface-level humidity. At periods shorter than a week, more than one independent estimator is needed.

Liu, W. T.↗

Microphysical Interpretation of Cirrus Measurements With Lidar

Cirrus measurements obtained with a ground-based polarization Raman lidar at 67.9 N in January 1997 reveal a strong correlation between the particle optical properties, specifically depolarization ratio delta and extinct ion-to-backscatter ratio S, for ambient cloud temperatures above approximately -45 C (delta less than approximately 40%), and an anti-correlation for colder temperatures (delta greater than approximately 40%). Over the length of the measurements (4-7.5 hours) the particle properties vary systematically: Initially, delta approximately equal to 60% and S approximately equal to 10sr are observed. Then, with decreasing delta, S first increases to approximately 27 sr(delta approximately equal to 40%) before decreasing to values around 10 sr again (delta approximately equal to 20%). The particle optical properties distinctly depend on the ambient temperature. For the microphysical analysis of the lidar observations. ray-tracing computations of particle scattering properties and a size-distribution resolving cirrus model with explicit microphysics have been used. The theoretical studies show that the optical properties and their temporal evolution can be interpreted in terms of size, shape, and growth of the cirrus particles: Near the cloud top in the early stage of the cirrus development, light scattering by small hexagonal columns with aspect ratios close to one is dominant. Over time the cloud base height extends to lower altitudes with warmer temperatures, the ice particles grow and get morphologically diverse (the scattering contributions of hexagonal columns and plates are roughly the same for large S and depolarization values of approximately 40%). In the lower ranges of the cirrus clouds, light scattering is predominantly by plate-like or complex ice particles. Mid-latitude cirrus data measured with the same instrument at 53.4 N between 1994 and 1996 follow closely the correlation between delta and S found in the warmer regions of the Arctic cirrus clouds (delta less than approximately 40%). Cirrus clouds with higher depolarization ratios are rarely observed, even for very cold ambient temperatures. Atmospheric parameters other than temperature, e.g., the availability of water vapor, are also important for the growth and the morphology of cirrus particles.

Reichardt, Jens↗

Distribution of Reynolds stress carried by mesoscale variability in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current

Satellite altimeter data collected by the Geosat Exact Repeat Mission were used to investigate turbulent stress resulting from the variability of surface geostrophic currents in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. The altimeter measured sea level along the subsatellite track. The variability of the along-track slope of sea level is directly proportional to the variability of surface geostrophic currents in the cross-track direction. Because the grid of crossover points is dense at high latitudes, the satellite data could be used for mapping the temporal and spatial variability of the current. Two and a half years of data were used to compute the statistical structure of the variability. The statistics included the probability distribution functions for each component of the current, the time-lagged autocorrelation functions of the variability, and the Reynolds stress produced by the variability. The results demonstrate that stress is correlated with bathymetry. In some areas the distribution of negative stress indicate that eddies contribute to an acceleration of the mean flow, strengthening the hypothesis that baroclinic instability makes important contributions to strong oceanic currents.

Johnson, Thomas J.↗

Temporal Variations of Strength and Location of the South Atlantic Anomaly as Measured by RXTE

The evolution of the particle background at an altitude of approx.540km during the time interval between 1996 and 2007 is studied using the particle monitor of the High Energy X-ray Timing Experiment on board NASA's Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer. A special emphasis of this study is the location and strength of the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA). The size and strength of the SAA are anti-correlated with the the 10.7 cm radio flux of the Sun, which leads the SAA strength by approx.1 year reflecting variations in solar heating of the upper atmosphere. The location of the SAA is also found to drift westwards with an average drift rate of about 0.3deg/yr following the drift of the geomagnetic field configuration. Superimposed to this drift rate are irregularities, where the SAA suddenly moves eastwards and where furthermore the speed of the drift changes. The most prominent of these irregularities is found in the second quarter of 2003 and another event took place in 1999. We suggest that these events are previously unrecognized manifestations of the geomagnetic jerks of the Earth's magnetic field. Key words: space radiation environment, South Atlantic Anomaly, radiation monitors, Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer

Wilms, Jorn↗

Long-Term Aging in Miscible Polymer Nanocomposites

Here we find that the initial, solvent-cast state of nanoparticles (NPs) in a polymer matrix temporally evolves during thermal annealing such that, at steady state, NPs maximize their distance from each other subject to mass balance constraints. The observed timescales for this unexpected structural reorganization, as probed by small-angle X-ray scattering, are temperature-dependent and can be prohibitively large, especially at temperatures around and below 1.2Tg. X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy measurements during reorganization reveal that the collective NP dynamics slow down with annealing at constant temperature; this is accompanied by changes in the low-frequency regime in macroscopic viscoelastic measurements in equilibrated materials. By ruling out other potential sources for these effects (i.e., electrostatic interactions, adsorbed layers), we attribute these results to a long-ranged repulsive force between the NPs caused by fluctuations in the polymer phase, i.e., the "anti-Casimir" effect proposed by Obhukhov and Semenov [Long-range interactions in polymer melts: The anti-Casimir effect. Phys Rev Lett 2005, 95 (3), 038305]. Thus, our results highlight the important role of long-term, slow NP reorganization on the structure and, subsequently, the properties of polymer nanocomposites (PNCs), even in the case of nominally miscible polymer nanoparticle hybrids.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

A space-time stochastic model of rainfall for satellite remote-sensing studies

A model of the spatial and temporal distribution of rainfall is described that produces random spatial rainfall patterns with these characteristics: (1) the model is defined on a grid with each grid point representing the average rain rate over the surrounding grid box, (2) rain occurs at any one grid point, on average, a specified percentage of the time and has a lognormal probability distribution, (3) spatial correlation of the rainfall can be arbitrarily prescribed, and (4) time stepping is carried out so that large-scale features persist longer than small-scale features. Rain is generated in the model from the portion of a correlated Gaussian random field that exceeds a threshold. The portion of the field above the threshold is rescaled to have a lognormal probability distribution. Sample output of the model designed to mimic radar observations of rainfall during the Global Atmospheric Research Program Atlantic Tropical Experiment (GATE), is shown. The model is intended for use in evaluating sampling strategies for satellite remote-sensing of rainfall and for development of algorithms for converting radiant intensity received by an instrument from its field of view into rainfall amount.

Bell, Thomas L.↗

Optical Properties of High Area-to-Mass Objects at GEO

There exists at GEO a significant population of faint debris (R > 15th magnitude) with high area-to-mass ratios (AMR) (1 to 30 sq m/kg). Their orbital elements (particularly eccentricity and inclination) are observed to change on the time-scale of a week. The consensus is that these objects may be fragments of multi-layer insulation (MLI) blankets. Their orbits are primarily perturbed by solar radiation pressure. In this paper we will report preliminary results from an international collaboration to investigate the unresolved optical properties of these objects. This population was originally discovered by the ESA Space Debris Telescope, and the bulk of the objects to be described here are based on discoveries made with this telescope. Additional objects were supplied by both Russia and the US Air Force. Follow-up optical observations were obtained for a sample of a dozen objects by MODEST (the Michigan Orbital DEbris Survey Telescope) located at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. Sequences of calibrated observations in filters B, V, Broad R, and I were obtained under photometric conditions. Multi-color photometric observations in B, V, R, and I band of the same objects were also acquired at the Zimmerwald 1-meter telescope, located near Bern, Switzerland. Light curves of selected high AMR objects will be shown with a temporal resolution of a few seconds and typically span about 10 minutes. Photometric observations of these objects were acquired at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory (CrAO). This data set includes light curves of objects having high variability of brightness and observed with 2.6 m and 0.64 m class instruments. We will present an analysis of the observed magnitudes and colors, and their correlations (or lack of correlation) with orbital elements, and with predicted values for MLI fragments. This represents the first such collaborative observational program on faint debris at GEO.

Seitzer, Patrick↗

Approximation of ice phenology of Maine lakes using Aqua MODIS surface temperature data

Studies of lake ice phenology have historically relied on limited in situ data. Relatively few observations exist for ice out and fewer still for ice in, both of which are necessary to determine the temporal extent of ice cover. Satellite data provide an opportunity to better document patterns of ice phenology across landscapes and relate them to the climatological drivers behind changing ice phenology. We developed a model, the Cumulative Sum Method (CSM), that uses daytime and nighttime surface temperature observations from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor on board the Earth-observing Aqua satellite to approximate ice in (the onset of ice cover) and ice out from training datasets of 13 and 58 Maine lakes, respectively, during the 2002/2003 through 2017/2018 ice seasons. Ice in was signaled by reaching a threshold of cumulative negative degrees following the first day of the season below 0°C. Ice out was signaled by reaching a threshold of cumulative positive degrees following the first day of the year above 0°C. The comparison of observed and remotely sensed ice-in dates showed relative agreement with a correlation coefficient of 0.71 and a mean absolute error (MAE) of 9.8 days. Ice-out approximations had a correlation coefficient of 0.67 and an MAE of 8.8 days. Lakes smaller in surface area and nearer the Atlantic coast had the greatest error in approximation. Application of the CSM to 20 additional lakes in Maine produced a comparable ice-out MAE of 8.9 days. Ice-out model performance was weaker for the warmest years; there was a larger MAE of 12.0 days when the model was applied to the years 2019–2023 for the original 58 lakes. The development of this model, which utilizes daily satellite data, demonstrates the promise of remote sensing for quantifying ice phenology over short, temporal scales, and wider geographic regions than can be observed in situ, and allows exploration of the influence of surface temperature patterns on the process and timing of ice in and ice out.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Dietary uptake of geosmin in rainbow trout ( Oncorhynchus mykiss )

Geosmin is a primary source of muddy/earthy ‘off-flavors’ in farmed fish, which may render their organoleptic quality unacceptable to consumers. Model systems of geosmin uptake typically comprise exposure to waterborne geosmin that is absorbed via the gills. The present research demonstrates dietary exposure as an alternative route of geosmin uptake in Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) fillets. Trout (average initial weight of 355 g) were stocked in quadruplicate compartmentalized raceways (N = 4 compartments per treatment, n = 50 fish per compartment) supplied with first-use, flow-through water (4.5 complete turnovers per hour). Fish were fed diets containing 0 (control dose), 0.005 (low dose), 0.05 (medium dose), or 0.5 (high dose) mg geosmin/kg feed at 1% body weight/day for four weeks. Fillets (12 fillets/diet/week plus 12 pre-trial fillet samples) and weekly feed and water samples were analyzed via GC–MS to determine geosmin concentrations. Feeding behavior was documented daily according to a four-point scale. ANOVA with post-hoc Tukey tests and polynomial contrast, regression, correlation, and chi-squared statistical analyses were applied to data (α = 0.05 significance level). Palatability of feed did not hinder consumption of the geosmin-spiked feeds: although fish responded positively to all feeds, the most aggressive feeding behavior was observed among those fed medium and high dose feed. Geosmin was effectively imparted into fillets after one week, and no significant temporal effect was found after four weeks. Mean geosmin concentrations significantly increased in fillets from low (mean of 26 ng/kg geosmin) to medium (202 ng/kg) to high (441 ng/kg) dose feed groups during the trial. Polynomial contrasts and regression modeling validated this significant positive effect of dose on geosmin uptake, with an estimated 166 ng/kg rise in fillet-geosmin for every log 10 increase in feed concentration. Waterborne geosmin levels immediately post-feeding were conditionally independent of concentrations in feed and fillets, therefore dietary uptake was affirmed as the predominant mechanism of absorption in the present experimental system. Finally, based on these findings, geosmin-spiked feeds may be used to induce predictable, repeatable levels of this off-flavor compound in fillets and serve as a model system for further investigation of sensory quality and off-flavor mitigation strategies for farm-raised fish.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Quantifying concentration distributions in redox flow batteries with neutron radiography

Abstract The continued advancement of electrochemical technologies requires an increasingly detailed understanding of the microscopic processes that control their performance, inspiring the development of new multi-modal diagnostic techniques. Here, we introduce a neutron imaging approach to enable the quantification of spatial and temporal variations in species concentrations within an operating redox flow cell. Specifically, we leverage the high attenuation of redox-active organic materials (high hydrogen content) and supporting electrolytes (boron-containing) in solution and perform subtractive neutron imaging of active species and supporting electrolyte. To resolve the concentration profiles across the electrodes, we employ an in-plane imaging configuration and correlate the concentration profiles to cell performance with polarization experiments under different operating conditions. Finally, we use time-of-flight neutron imaging to deconvolute concentrations of active species and supporting electrolyte during operation. Using this approach, we evaluate the influence of cell polarity, voltage bias and flow rate on the concentration distribution within the flow cell and correlate these with the macroscopic performance, thus obtaining an unprecedented level of insight into reactive mass transport. Ultimately, this diagnostic technique can be applied to a range of (electro)chemical technologies and may accelerate the development of new materials and reactor designs.

Science & Technology - Other Topics↗