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At least 1,117 records · Page 62

Self-Organizing Map-Based Resilience Quantification and Resilient Control of Distribution Systems Under Extreme Events

Due to climate change, extreme weather events are occurring more frequently and with increasing impact. This trend poses a significant challenge for distribution system operators (DSO) to ensure that there is uninterrupted power supply to critical loads in their networks. To embed resilience into DSO's decision-making, resilience needs to be first quantified and then integrated into the system-level optimization. Therefore, this paper first develops a novel self-organizing map (SOM) based method (called SomRes) to quantify the time-varying resilience index of a system that can leverage the powerful classification property of SOMs and removes some of the disadvantages of subjective weight assignment methods. Using SomRes, a resilient resource allocation and operational dispatch algorithm is further developed to enhance system resilience against extreme events by considering the SomRes resilience index directly as the feedback. Here, the proposed resilience quantification approach is benchmarked with a state-of-the-art approach and the efficacy of the proposed resilient dispatch algorithm is demonstrated through several deterministic and statistical case studies on the IEEE 123-bus distribution system. Simulation studies show that the proposed SomRes quantification method is an appropriate indicator of system resilience, and the resilient resource allocation and dispatch strategy can significantly reduce critical load shedding under varying event propagation scenarios.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Computational analysis of deployable wind turbine systems in defense operational energy applications.

The U.S. military has been exploring pathways to reduce the logistical burden of fuel on virtually all their missions globally. Energy harvesting of local resources such as wind and solar can help increase the resilience and operational effectiveness of military units, especially at the most forward operating bases where the fuel logistics are most challenging. This report considers the potential benefits of wind energy provided by deployable wind turbines as measured by a reduction in fuel consumption and supply convoys to a hypothetical network of Army Infantry Brigade Combat Team bases. Two modeling and simulation tools are used to represent the bases and their operations and quantify the impacts of system design variables that include wind turbine technologies, battery storage, number of turbines, and wind resource quality. The System of Systems Analysis Toolkit Joint Operational Energy Model serves as a baseline scenario for comparison. The Hybrid Optimization of Multiple Energy Resources simulation tool is used to optimize a single base within the larger Joint Operational Energy Model. The results of both tools show that wind turbines can provide significant benefits to contingency bases in terms of reduced fuel use and number of convoy trips to resupply the base. The match between the turbine design and wind resource, which is statistically low across most of the global land area, is a critical design consideration. The addition of battery storage can enhance the benefits of wind turbines, especially in systems with more wind turbines and higher wind resources. Wind turbines may also provide additional benefits to other metrics such as resilience that may be important but not fully considered in the current analysis. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors would like to thank the following individuals for their helpful support, feedback and review to improve this report: U.S. Department of Energy Wind Energy Technologies Office, Patrick Gilman and Bret Barker; Idaho National Laboratory, Jake Gentle and Bradley Whipple; The National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Robert Preus and Tony Jimenez; Sandia National Laboratories, Alan Nanco, Dennis Anderson, and Hai Le. In addition, numerous discussions with military and industry stakeholders over the year were invaluable in focusing the efforts represented in this report.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

Coupling Kinesin Spindle Protein and Aurora B Inhibition with Apoptosis Induction Enhances Oral Cancer Cell Killing

Many proteins regulating mitosis have emerged as targets for cancer therapy, including the kinesin spindle protein (KSP) and Aurora kinase B (AurB). KSP is crucial for proper spindle pole separation during mitosis, while AurB plays roles in chromosome segregation and cytokinesis. Agents targeting KSP and AurB selectively affect dividing cells and have shown significant activity in vitro. However, these drugs, despite advancing to clinical trials, often yield unsatisfactory outcomes as monotherapy, likely due to variable responses driven by cyclin B degradation and apoptosis signal accumulation networks. Accumulated data suggest that combining emerging antimitotics with various cytostatic drugs can enhance tumor-killing effects compared to monotherapy. Here, we investigated the impact of inhibiting anti-apoptotic signals with the BH3-mimetic Navitoclax in oral cancer cells treated with the selective KSP inhibitor, Ispinesib, or AurB inhibitor, Barasertib, aiming to potentiate cell death. The combination of BH3-mimetics with both KSP and AurB inhibitors synergistically induced substantial cell death, primarily through apoptosis. A mechanistic analysis underlying this synergistic activity, undertaken by live-cell imaging, is presented. Our data underscore the importance of combining BH3-mimetics with antimitotics in clinical trials to maximize their effectiveness.

Silva, João P. N. (ORCID:0000000344554286)↗

Role of communications satellites in the fiber era

Systenm descriptions of satellite and fiber optic networks are developed for the benchmark years 1983 and 1986, and forecasts are made for the years 1990 and 1995. Based on this information, the impact of fiber optics on satellite communications in the years 1995 and 2000 is assessed. Ten services are identified which are likely to be supplied at least in part by satellite in the 1995-2000 time frame. Estimates are made of the probability of existence and the number of transponders used by these future satellite services.

Price, Kent M.↗

Development of Network-based Communications Architectures for Future NASA Missions

Since the Vision for Space Exploration (VSE) announcement, NASA has been developing a communications infrastructure that combines existing terrestrial techniques with newer concepts and capabilities. The overall goal is to develop a flexible, modular, and extensible architecture that leverages and enhances terrestrial networking technologies that can either be directly applied or modified for the space regime. In addition, where existing technologies leaves gaps, new technologies must be developed. An example includes dynamic routing that accounts for constrained power and bandwidth environments. Using these enhanced technologies, NASA can develop nodes that provide characteristics, such as routing, store and forward, and access-on-demand capabilities. But with the development of the new infrastructure, challenges and obstacles will arise. The current communications infrastructure has been developed on a mission-by-mission basis rather than an end-to-end approach; this has led to a greater ground infrastructure, but has not encouraged communications between space-based assets. This alone provides one of the key challenges that NASA must encounter. With the development of the new Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV), NASA has the opportunity to provide an integration path for the new vehicles and provide standards for their development. Some of the newer capabilities these vehicles could include are routing, security, and Software Defined Radios (SDRs). To meet these needs, the NASA/Glenn Research Center s (GRC) Network Emulation Laboratory (NEL) has been using both simulation and emulation to study and evaluate these architectures. These techniques provide options to NASA that directly impact architecture development. This paper identifies components of the infrastructure that play a pivotal role in the new NASA architecture, develops a scheme using simulation and emulation for testing these architectures and demonstrates how NASA can strengthen the new infrastructure by implementing these concepts.

Slywczak, Richard A.↗

Assessing the Impact of Observations on Numerical Weather Forecasts Using the Adjoint Method

The adjoint of a data assimilation system provides a flexible and efficient tool for estimating observation impacts on short-range weather forecasts. The impacts of any or all observations can be estimated simultaneously based on a single execution of the adjoint system. The results can be easily aggregated according to data type, location, channel, etc., making this technique especially attractive for examining the impacts of new hyper-spectral satellite instruments and for conducting regular, even near-real time, monitoring of the entire observing system. This talk provides a general overview of the adjoint method, including the theoretical basis and practical implementation of the technique. Results are presented from the adjoint-based observation impact monitoring tool in NASA's GEOS-5 global atmospheric data assimilation and forecast system. When performed in conjunction with standard observing system experiments (OSEs), the adjoint results reveal both redundancies and dependencies between observing system impacts as observations are added or removed from the assimilation system. Understanding these dependencies may be important for optimizing the use of the current observational network and defining requirements for future observing systems

Gelaro, Ronald↗

Overview of Global/Regional Models Used to Evaluate Tropospheric Ozone in North America

Ozone (O3) is an important greenhouse gas, toxic pollutant, and plays a major role in atmospheric chemistry. Tropospheric O3 which resides in the planetary boundary layer (PBL) is highly reactive and has a lifetime on the order of days, however, O3 in the free troposphere and stratosphere has a lifetime on the order of weeks or months. Modeling O3 mixing ratios at and above the surface is difficult due to the multiple formation/destruction processes and transport pathways that cause large spatio-temporal variability in O3 mixing ratios. This talk will summarize in detail the global/regional models that are commonly used to simulate/predict O3 mixing ratios in the United States. The major models which will be focused on are the: 1) Community Multi-scale Air Quality Model (CMAQ), 2) Comprehensive Air Quality Model with Extensions (CAMx), 3) Goddard Earth Observing System with Chemistry (GEOS-Chem), 4) Real Time Air Quality Modeling System (RAQMS), 5) Weather Research and Forecasting/Chemistry (WRF-Chem) model, National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR)'s Model for OZone And Related chemical Tracers (MOZART), and 7) Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) AM3 model. I will discuss the major modeling components which impact O3 mixing ratio calculations in each model and the similarities/differences between these models. This presentation is vital to the 2nd Annual Tropospheric Ozone Lidar Network (TOLNet) Conference as it will provide an overview of tools, which can be used in conjunction with TOLNet data, to evaluate the complex chemistry and transport pathways controlling tropospheric O3 mixing ratios.

Mixing Ratios↗

The Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO-2) Tracks 2-3 Peta-Gram Increase in Carbon Release to the Atmosphere During the 2014-2016 El Nino

The powerful El Niño event of 2015-2016 - the third most intense since the 1950s - has exerted a large impact on the Earth's natural climate system. The column-averaged CO2 dry-air mole fraction (XCO2) observations from satellites and ground based networks are analyzed together with in situ observations for the period of September 2014 to October 2016. From the differences between satellite (OCO-2) observations and simulations using an atmospheric chemistry-transport model, we estimate that, relative to the mean annual fluxes for 2014, the most recent El Niño has contributed to an excess CO2 emission from the Earth's surface (land+ocean) to the atmosphere in the range of 2.4+/-0.2 PgC (1 Pg = 10(exp 15) g) over the period of July 2015 to June 2016. The excess CO2 flux is resulted primarily from reduction in vegetation uptake due to drought, and to a lesser degree from increased biomass burning. It is about the half of the CO2 flux anomaly (range: 4.4-6.7 PgC) estimated for the 1997/1998 El Niño. The annual total sink is estimated to be 3.9+/-0.2 PgC for the assumed fossil fuel emission of 10.1 PgC. The major uncertainty in attribution arise from error in anthropogenic emission trends, satellite data and atmospheric transport.

OCO-2↗

Evaluation of the Land Surface Reflectance Fundamental Climate Data Record

The land surface reflectance is a fundamental climate data record at the basis of the derivation of other climate data records (Albedo, LAI/Fpar, Vegetation indices) and has been recognized as a key parameter in the understanding of the land-surface-climate processes. In this presentation, we present the validation of the Land surface reflectance used for MODIS, VIIRS, Landsat 8 and Sentinel 2 data. This methodology uses the 6SV Code and data from the AERONET network. The overall accuracy clearly reaches the satellite specifications. To understand how to improve the validation, we developed an exhaustive error budget. Results show an impact of the absorption of aerosol and of the fine mode volume concentration.

Atmospheric correction↗

The expanding network of mineral chemistry throughout earth history reveals global shifts in crustal chemistry during the Proterozoic.

Earth surface redox conditions are intimately linked to the co-evolution of the geosphere and biosphere. Minerals provide a record of Earth’s evolving surface and interior chemistry in geologic time due to many diferent processes (e.g. tectonic, volcanic, sedimentary, oxidative, etc.). Here, we show how the bipartite network of minerals and their shared constituent elements expanded and evolved over geologic time. To further investigate network expansion over time, we derive and apply a novel metric (weighted mineral element electronegativity coefcient of variation; wMEECV) to quantify intra-mineral electronegativity variation with respect to redox. We fnd that element electronegativity and hard soft acid base (HSAB) properties are central factors in mineral redox chemistry under a wide range of conditions. Global shifts in mineral element electronegativity and HSAB associations represented by wMEECV changes at 1.8 and 0.6 billion years ago align with decreased continental elevation followed by the transition from the intermediate ocean and glaciation eras to postglaciation, increased atmospheric oxygen in the Phanerozoic, and enhanced continental weathering. Consequently, network analysis of mineral element electronegativity and HSAB properties reveal that orogenic activity, evolving redox state of the mantle, planetary oxygenation, and climatic transitions directly impacted the evolving chemical complexity of Earth’s crust.

Eli K. Moore↗

Lunar Gateway Charging and Effects on Low-Energy Electron Measurements

The Electron Electrostatic Analyzer (EEA) is part of the HERMES instrument suite on Lunar Gateway and is designed to measure electrons in the energy range from 1 eV to 18 keV. Electrons in this range can be deflected or blocked from entering a detector by electric fields from a charged spacecraft platform, so many heliophysics missions (MMS, Cluster, etc.) use active potential control to minimize stray electric fields which would corrupt low-energy plasma measurements. Gateway, however, does not have such capabilities so the surface charging effects will influence the electron data. Further, some elements of Gateway partially block the instrument’s field of view to space. The effects of the Gateway platform on the low-energy electron population must be understood to maximize the accuracy of the EEA data. To investigate the electrostatic environment near Gateway and its effects on the EEA measurements, we use Nascap-2K to model the expected charging of Gateway under representative solar wind, magnetosheathic, and magnetospheric conditions. Next, we use the potential and electric field outputs from Nascap-2K along with in-house particle tracing codes to investigate how low-energy electrons are perturbed, blocked, or deflected by the spacecraft. We discuss how these perturbations impact the plasma moments computed from the EEA data and possible approaches for correcting the charging effects including application of advanced methods such as neural networks. In addition to electrons from the space environment being influenced by the electrostatic environment around Gateway, photoelectrons generated on Gateway surfaces will also be measured by EEA. We are investigating how knowledge of the potentials of various Gateway surfaces can be extracted from these measured photoelectrons using advanced numerical modeling and analysis. Such information would be valuable for validating charging models and planning mission operations around the platform. Finally, we discuss how the specific workflow developed for Gateway can be extended to a generalized process that is applicable to other future missions. As the space industry prepares for human exploration beyond low-Earth orbit, the need to obtain accurate space weather data from rideshare science payloads is critical. Our process for removing platform effects from the science data serves as a pathfinder for leveraging advanced simulations to maximize science returns and ensure the safety and success of future crewed missions.

Miles Bengtson↗

Empowering Women in Biomedical Informatics: Pivoting for Success in the Post-Pandemic World

The COVID-19 pandemic and the isolation measures implemented to contain its spread have exacerbated pre-existing barriers to advancement for women in biomedical informatics. In 2020, the Women in AMIA (WIA) Networking, Mentoring, and Lifecycle Committee administered a survey to identify resources and needs to assist women in informatics. Part of this survey identified several factors impacted by the pandemic: 1) work-life boundaries disappeared and caring for family while working from home became increasingly challenging; 2) isolation, stress and safety of well-being was heightened during the pandemic impacting physical and mental health; 3) diverse working environment and modality brought unforeseen challenges in collaborations and unified communications. These challenges present an opportunity for promoting career development for women professionals in biomedical informatics. This WIA-sponsored panel brings together leaders in the field to highlight their personal experiences and strategies to support women professionals.

Dua, Prerna↗

Integrating Low-Cost Sensor Systems and Networks to Enhance Air Quality Applications

Recent advances in low-cost air quality sensor systems are rapidly increasing the accessibility of air quality information around the world. At the same time, there are many technical challenges to appropriately and effectively using of the information they provide. A key opportunity to increase the applicability and actionability of low-cost sensor data is to use these devices at network scale and combine their information with insights from other air quality data sources such as numerical models and satellite remote sensing. When the limitations of low-cost sensors are understood and acknowledged, and appropriate complementary data are used to overcome these limitations, low cost sensors can support a variety of applications such as improving location-specific air quality forecasting and estimation, quantifying local source impacts, identifying air quality disparities, assessing the benefits of mitigation actions, and promoting community engagement with air quality issues. This presentation will first provide an overview and summarize key findings from a recently released World Meteorological Organization report discussing how networks of low-cost air quality sensor systems can be integrated to effectively support such applications. The presentation will also give a brief overview of an ongoing NASA-funded effort to create accessible tools for integrating multiple sources of air quality information, including global forecasting models, satellite remote sensing data, and in-situ information from both regulatory and low-cost monitors.

Carl Malings↗

Real-time data system: Incorporating new technology in mission critical environments

If the Space Station Freedom is to remain viable over its 30-year life span, it must be able to incorporate new information systems technologies. These technologies are necessary to enhance mission effectiveness and to enable new NASA missions, such as supporting the Lunar-Mars Initiative. Hi-definition television (HDTV), neural nets, model-based reasoning, advanced languages, CPU designs, and computer networking standards are areas which have been forecasted to make major strides in the next 30 years. A major challenge to NASA is to bring these technologies online without compromising mission safety. In past programs, NASA managers have been understandably reluctant to rely on new technologies for mission critical activities until they are proven in noncritical areas. NASA must develop strategies to allow inflight confidence building and migration of technologies into the trusted tool base. NASA has successfully met this challenge and developed a winning strategy in the Space Shuttle Mission Control Center. This facility, which is clearly among NASA's most critical, is based on 1970's mainframe architecture. Changes to the mainframe are very expensive due to the extensive testing required to prove that changes do not have unanticipated impact on critical processes. Systematic improvement efforts in this facility have been delayed due to this 'risk to change.' In the real-time data system (RTDS) we have introduced a network of engineering computer workstations which run in parallel to the mainframe system. These workstations are located next to flight controller operating positions in mission control and, in some cases, the display units are mounted in the traditional mainframe consoles. This system incorporates several major improvements over the mainframe consoles including automated fault detection by real-time expert systems and color graphic animated schematics of subsystems driven by real-time telemetry. The workstations have the capability of recording telemetry data and providing 'instant replay' for flight controllers. RTDS also provides unique graphics animated by real-time telemetry such as workstation emulation of the shuttle's flight instruments and displays of the remote manipulator system (RMS) position. These systems have been used successfully as prime operational tools since STS-26 and have supported seven shuttle missions.

Muratore, John F.↗

Quantifying Effects of Departure and Flight Time Uncertainty on Urban Air Mobility Operations

Demand capacity balancing is a key mechanism for maintaining safe and efficient Urban Air Mobility (UAM) operations. However, uncertainties such as departure delays and flight time variation may reduce the effectiveness of algorithms used for balancing and detrimentally impact the safety and efficiency of UAM operations. In this paper, the effects of these uncertainties on UAM operations are quantified by modeling a distribution of departure and flight time errors. A route network in the Dallas/Fort Worth metropolitan area was used to simulate traffic demand with and without uncertainty. Simulations were conducted with three main models of uncertainty – first uncertainty in departure time delay resulting in late takeoffs, second with uncertainty in flight times in addition to departure delays, and finally, uncertainty in departure times that cause either late or early takeoffs. Each of these simulations were performed using varied standard deviations to fully understand the effects of uncertainties. Results from these simulations were compared to a baseline simulation using the same parameters, but without any uncertainty. The results suggest that both safety and efficiency are significantly impacted by uncertainty even with relatively low uncertainty introduced. These results work towards quantifying the effects of uncertainty in flight scheduling for UAM. They will also aid in the further development of the demand capacity balancing algorithms for UAM operations and associated air traffic management.

Urban Air Mobility↗

Quantifying the Effects of Departure and Flight Time Uncertainty on Urban Air Mobility Operations

Demand capacity balancing is a key mechanism for maintaining safe and efficient Urban Air Mobility (UAM) operations. However, uncertainties such as departure delays and flight time variation may reduce the effectiveness of algorithms used for balancing and detrimentally impact the safety and efficiency of UAM operations. In this paper, the effects of these uncertainties on UAM operations are quantified by modeling a distribution of departure and flight time errors. A route network in the Dallas/Fort Worth metropolitan area was used to simulate traffic demand with and without uncertainty. Simulations were conducted with three main models of uncertainty – first uncertainty in departure time delay resulting in late takeoffs, second with uncertainty in flight times in addition to departure delays, and finally, uncertainty in departure times that cause either late or early takeoffs. Each of these simulations were performed using varied standard deviations to fully understand the effects of uncertainties. Results from these simulations were compared to a baseline simulation using the same parameters, but without any uncertainty. The results suggest that both safety and efficiency are significantly impacted by uncertainty even with relatively low uncertainty introduced. These results work towards quantifying the effects of uncertainty in flight scheduling for UAM. They will also aid in the further development of the demand capacity balancing algorithms for UAM operations and associated air traffic management.

Urban Air Mobility↗