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DOE OSTI2022

Illuminating the Photophysics of Oxygen Atom Transfer in Rare Earth Metal-Organic Complexes

Industrial separations of rare earth metals are reliant on selectivity based on ionic radii, which are time, energy, and resource consuming.1 The unique and discontinuous manifold of energy states associated with the f-electron configurations of the rare earth ions2 offer an opportunity to overcome some of these limitations by incorporating light into the separation process. Here, we use transient absorption spectroscopy to understand the differences in mechanism of light-initiated oxygen atom transfer (OAT) in yttrium (Y) and dysprosium (Dy) rare earth complexes. These metal-organic complexes are functionalized with hexfluoroacetyl-acetonate (hfac) and 4-methylmorpholine-N-oxide (NMMO). After light absorption in the presence of triphenyl phosphine (TPP), the NMMO in the Y-NMMO complex is replaced by the TPPO OAT reaction product. Because the Dy f-electron manifold is accessible to the ligand excited states, while there are no accessible states associated with f-electrons for Y, there are significant differences in reactivity. Transient absorption spectroscopy (TAS) was used to monitor changes after 340 nm photoexcitation of Dy/Y-NMMO or the product complex Dy/Y-TPPO. TAS is a pump-probe technique where a white light probe pulse is delayed relative to a visible pump pulse, which photoexcites a sample. Differences between the ground and excited states are monitored over time. With TAS, we access time scales from 100 fs-400 us to determine the photophysics of the complexes of interest. Photoexcitation of Y-NMMO (Fig. 1A) creates a broad photoinduced absorption (PIA) that evolves into a sharp positive feature over 4.2 ps centered at 450 nm. A secondary feature centered at 550 nm grows in with a 200 ps time constant and remains through the 5 ns time window of our experiment. Control experiments for Y-TPPO reveal that the feature at 450 nm is due to internal dynamics of the hfac ligand, while the 550 nm shoulder is due to the presence of the NMMO. Comparing kinetics at 550 nm for Y-NMMO and Dy-NMMO (Fig. 1B) shows that while Y exhibits a distinct growth in the NMMO feature, the Dy decays almost completely within 5 ns. Control experiments with Dy-TPPO prove that the ligand excited states centered on the hfac ligand are deactivated via energy transfer to the Dy manifold within 200 ps. This deactivation leads to significant differences in OAT reactivity between Y and Dy.

CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSICS↗

NASA NTRS1994

Separated and Recovering Turbulent Boundary Layer Flow Behind a Backward Facing Step For Different Reynolds Numbers

Experimental results for a two-dimensional separated turbulent boundary layer behind a backward facing step for five different Reynolds numbers are reported. Results are presented in the form of tables, graphs and a floppy disk for an easy access of the data. Reynolds number based on the step height was varied by changing the reference velocity upstream of the step, U(sub o), and the step height, h. Hot-wire measurement techniques were used to measure three Reynolds stresses and four triple-velocity correlations. In addition, surface pressure and skin friction coefficients were measured. All hot-wire measurements were acquired in a measuring domain which excluded recirculating flow region due to the directional insensitivity of hot-wires. The downstream extent of the domain from the step was 51 h for the largest and I 14h for the smallest step height. This significant downstream length permitted extensive study of the flow recovery. Prediction of perturbed flows and their recovery is particularly attractive for popular turbulence models since variations of turbulence length and time scales and flow interactions in different regions are generally inadequately predicted. The data indicate that the flow in the free shear layer region behaves like the plane mixing layer up to about 2/3 of the mean reattachment length when the flow interaction with the wall commences the flow recovery to that of an ordinary turbulent boundary layer structure. These changes of the flow do not occur abruptly with the change of boundary conditions. A reattachment region represents a transitional region where the flow undergoes the most dramatic adjustments to the new boundary conditions. Large eddies, created in the upstream free-shear layer region, are being torn, recirculated, reentrained back into the main stream interacting with the incoming flow structure. It is foreseeable that it is quite difficult to describe the physics of this region in a rational and quantitative manner other than statistical. Downstream of the reattachment point the flow recovers at different rates near the wall, in the newly developing internal boundary layer, and in the outer part of the flow. It appears that Reynolds stresses do not fully recover up to the longest recovery length of 114 h.

Jovic, Srba↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Flow Visualization for Plume-Surface Interaction at Martian-Relevant Lander Environments

This paper describes a jet impingement experiment performed in a large-scale vacuum chamber at Martian-relevant ambient pressure conditions, with the motivation of studying plume-surface interaction (PSI) caused by the exhaust plume of a lander interacting with the planetary surface. Flow visualization of an inert supersonic jet was performed using planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF), which is a molecular-based, two-dimensional measurement technique. Representative instantaneous and time-averaged visualizations of the impinging jet at two different nozzle flow conditions corresponding to the underexpanded and overexpanded jet regimes are presented for up to six different dimensionless altitudes h/De. The time-averaged measured spatial distribution of impingement pressures at these conditions is also reported. The PLIF visualizations appear to be critical towards explaining unexpected behavior in the impingement pressure, such as a higher impingement pressure for the underexpanded condition at h/De = 10, compared to a lower altitude of h/De = 8. This behavior can be attributed to differences in the stagnation shock structure observed in the PLIF images. The PLIF images also reveal significant flow separation at the nozzle exit for the overexpanded jet conditions. Further analysis of the test data as well as combined flow visualization and surface diagnostics for future ground tests will help inform engineering designs for landings on the Martian surface while mitigating PSI risks.

PLIF↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Flow Visualization for Plume-Surface Interaction at Martian-Relevant Lander Environments

PLIF↗

DOE OSTI2025

Dry electrodes with a printed cellulose–graphene ink for low-profile strain sensors in electromyography

Dihydrolevoglucosenone, commonly known as Cyrene, is a renewable and fully biodegradable cellulose-waste derived, environmentally friendly solvent, presenting a non-toxic alternative to N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP). Currently, solution-based processing of graphene and other similar van der Waals solids favor toxic solvents such as NMP, limiting their use for biosensing. However, with the use of Cyrene, bio-compatible printable devices are possible, and studies have already demonstrated its use in temperature and other biosensing methods through screen-printing. Screen-printing unfortunately often requires masks that constrain the minimum acquirable feature size to be above hundreds of centimeters and wastes material, adding to process complexity and cost. Conversely, inkjet-printing is an attractive alternative for the maskless patterning of hierarchically assembled structures, with micron length scales attainable. Graphene's high conductivity positions it ideally for long-wear sensors such as dry electrodes or respiration monitors. Here, we demonstrate the potential of Cyrene-based graphene inks through few-layer inkjet printing on flexible substrates for the first time, to produce non-toxic conductors toward a strain-mediated mechanism for biosensing, used to detect bodily motion for wearable electronics. The challenges overcome in this study include engineering ink chemistry and printing parameters such that Cyrene's relatively high viscosity compared to typical inkjet solvents, still allows for droplet ejection in a conventional material printer, yielding well-resolved clean line-edges in contrast to other solvents that exhibit diffuse line-edges possibly from stray droplets and ink-splashing. Temperature-dependent transport measurements on the inkjet-printed Cyrene-based graphene films showed the conductivity to be largely temperature-invariant but at lower temperatures below 100 K, conductivity decreased, likely as a result of increased inter-membrane separation arising from thermal contraction. Additionally, temperature-dependent Raman spectroscopy showed the red-shift in the G-band, 2D-band and D-band peaks, as temperature increased. As a result, by validating flexion motion detection of the proximal interphalangeal joint demonstrated in this study, our work is the first of its kind to successfully additively manufacture inkjet-printed Cyrene-based graphene strain sensors on flexible substrates for bio-sensing and wearables.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

DOE OSTI2022

Detecting cosmic strings with lensed fast radio bursts

Correlated red noise recently reported from pulsar timing observations may be an indication of stochastic gravitational waves emitted by cosmic strings that formed during a primordial phase transition near the grand unification energy scale. Unfortunately, known probes of cosmic strings, namely the cosmic microwave background anisotropies and string lensing of extragalactic galaxies, are not sensitive enough for low dimensionless string tensions of Gμc -2 = 10 -10 – 10 -7 (where the tension μ is the string energy per unit length) that are needed to explain this putative signal. We show that strong gravitational lensing of fast radio bursts (FRBs) by cosmic strings is a potentially unambiguous avenue to probe that range of string tension values. The image pair of string lensing are expected to have identical magnification factor and parity, and have a typical time delay of ~10 2 (Gμc -2 /10 -8 ) 2 s. Here, the unique spectral fingerprint of each FRB, as well as the possibility to detect correlations in the time series of the electric field of the radio waves, will enable verification of the string lensing interpretation. Very-long-baseline interferometry observations can spatially resolve the image pair and provide a lower bound on the string tension based on the image separation. We calculate the FRB lensing rate as a function of the FRB detection number for several different models of the FRB redshift distribution. We find that a survey detecting ~10 5 FRBs, in line with estimates for the detection rate of the forthcoming survey CHORD, can uncover a strong lensing event for a string tension of Gμc -2 ≃ 10 -7 . Larger FRB surveys, such as Phase 2 of the Square Kilometre Array, have the potential to significantly improve the sensitivity on the string tension to Gμc -2 ≃ 10 -9 .

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

NASA NTRS1993

Development and analysis of prognostic equations for mesoscale kinetic energy and mesoscale (subgrid scale) fluxes for large-scale atmospheric models

Generated by landscape discontinuities (e.g., sea breezes) mesoscale circulation processes are not represented in large-scale atmospheric models (e.g., general circulation models), which have an inappropiate grid-scale resolution. With the assumption that atmospheric variables can be separated into large scale, mesoscale, and turbulent scale, a set of prognostic equations applicable in large-scale atmospheric models for momentum, temperature, moisture, and any other gaseous or aerosol material, which includes both mesoscale and turbulent fluxes is developed. Prognostic equations are also developed for these mesoscale fluxes, which indicate a closure problem and, therefore, require a parameterization. For this purpose, the mean mesoscale kinetic energy (MKE) per unit of mass is used, defined as E-tilde = 0.5 (the mean value of u'(sub i exp 2), where u'(sub i) represents the three Cartesian components of a mesoscale circulation (the angle bracket symbol is the grid-scale, horizontal averaging operator in the large-scale model, and a tilde indicates a corresponding large-scale mean value). A prognostic equation is developed for E-tilde, and an analysis of the different terms of this equation indicates that the mesoscale vertical heat flux, the mesoscale pressure correlation, and the interaction between turbulence and mesoscale perturbations are the major terms that affect the time tendency of E-tilde. A-state-of-the-art mesoscale atmospheric model is used to investigate the relationship between MKE, landscape discontinuities (as characterized by the spatial distribution of heat fluxes at the earth's surface), and mesoscale sensible and latent heat fluxes in the atmosphere. MKE is compared with turbulence kinetic energy to illustrate the importance of mesoscale processes as compared to turbulent processes. This analysis emphasizes the potential use of MKE to bridge between landscape discontinuities and mesoscale fluxes and, therefore, to parameterize mesoscale fluxes generated by such subgrid-scale landscape discontinuities in large-scale atmospheric models.

Avissar, Roni↗

NASA NTRS1998

Correcting Satellite Image Derived Surface Model for Atmospheric Effects

This project was a continuation of the project entitled "Resolution Earth Surface Features from Repeat Moderate Resolution Satellite Imagery". In the previous study, a Bayesian Maximum Posterior Estimate (BMPE) algorithm was used to obtain a composite series of repeat imagery from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR). The spatial resolution of the resulting composite was significantly greater than the 1 km resolution of the individual AVHRR images. The BMPE algorithm utilized a simple, no-atmosphere geometrical model for the short-wave radiation budget at the Earth's surface. A necessary assumption of the algorithm is that all non geometrical parameters remain static over the compositing period. This assumption is of course violated by temporal variations in both the surface albedo and the atmospheric medium. The effect of the albedo variations is expected to be minimal since the variations are on a fairly long time scale compared to the compositing period, however, the atmospheric variability occurs on a relatively short time scale and can be expected to cause significant errors in the surface reconstruction. The current project proposed to incorporate an atmospheric correction into the BMPE algorithm for the purpose of investigating the effects of a variable atmosphere on the surface reconstructions. Once the atmospheric effects were determined, the investigation could be extended to include corrections various cloud effects, including short wave radiation through thin cirrus clouds. The original proposal was written for a three year project, funded one year at a time. The first year of the project focused on developing an understanding of atmospheric corrections and choosing an appropriate correction model. Several models were considered and the list was narrowed to the two best suited. These were the 5S and 6S shortwave radiation models developed at NASA/GODDARD and tested extensively with data from the AVHRR instrument. Although the 6S model was a successor to the 5S and slightly more advanced, the 5S was selected because outputs from the individual components comprising the short-wave radiation budget were more easily separated. The separation was necessary since both the 5S and 6S did not include geometrical corrections for terrain, a fundamental constituent of the BMPE algorithm. The 5S correction code was incorporated into the BMPE algorithm and many sensitivity studies were performed.

Emery, William↗

NASA NTRS2024

High Spectral Resolution Lidar – Generation 2 (HSRL-2) Retrievals of Ocean Surface Wind Speed: Methodology and Evaluation

Ocean surface wind speed (i.e., wind speed 10 m above sea level) is a critical parameter used by atmospheric models to estimate the state of the marine atmospheric boundary layer (MABL). Accurate surface wind speed measurements in diverse locations are required to improve characterization of MABL dynamics and assess how models simulate large-scale phenomena related to climate change and global weather patterns. To provide these measurements, this study introduces and evaluates a new surface wind speed data product from the NASA Langley Research Center nadir-viewing High Spectral Resolution Lidar – generation 2 (HSRL-2) using data collected as part of the NASA Aerosol Cloud meTeorology Interactions oVer the western ATlantic Experiment (ACTIVATE) mission. The HSRL-2 can directly measure vertically resolved aerosol backscatter and extinction profiles without additional constraints or assumptions, enabling the instrument to accurately derive atmospheric attenuation and directly determine surface reflectance (i.e., surface backscatter). Also, the high horizontal spatial resolution of the HSRL-2 retrievals (0.5 s or ∼ 75 m along track) allows the instrument to probe the fine-scale spatial variability in surface wind speeds over time along the flight track and over breaks in broken cloud fields. A rigorous evaluation of these retrievals is performed by comparing coincident HSRL-2 and National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Airborne Vertical Atmosphere Profiling System (AVAPS) dropsonde data, owing to the joint deployment of these two instruments on the ACTIVATE King Air aircraft. These comparisons show correlations of 0.89, slopes of 1.04 and 1.17, and y intercepts of −0.13 and −1.05 m s−1 for linear and bisector regressions, respectively, and the overall accuracy is calculated to be 0.15 ± 1.80 m s−1. It is also shown that the dropsonde surface wind speed data most closely follow the HSRL-2 distribution of wave slope variance using the distribution proposed by Hu et al. (2008) rather than the ones proposed by Cox and Munk (1954) and Wu (1990) for surface wind speeds below 7 m s−1, with this category comprising most of the ACTIVATE data set. The retrievals are then evaluated separately for surface wind speeds below 7 m s−1 and between 7 and 13.3 m s−1 and show that the HSRL-2 retrieves surface wind speeds with a bias of ∼ 0.5 m s−1 and an error of ∼ 1.5 m s−1, a finding not apparent in the cumulative comparisons. Also, it is shown that the HSRL-2 retrievals are more accurate in the summer (−0.18 ± 1.52 m s−1) than in the winter (0.63 ± 2.07 m s−1), but the HSRL-2 is still able to make numerous (N=236) accurate retrievals in the winter. Overall, this study highlights the abilities and assesses the performance of the HSRL-2 surface wind speed retrievals, and it is hoped that further evaluation of these retrievals will be performed using other airborne and satellite data sets.

Sanja Dmitrovic↗

DOE OSTI2020

Evaluating the Effectiveness of an Ultrasonic Acoustic Deterrent in Reducing Bat Fatalities at Wind Energy Facilities

This project was designed to use thermal video cameras and fatality monitoring to evaluate the effectiveness of an ultrasonic acoustic deterrent (UAD) on bat activity and mortality, respectively. Our goals were to redesign the UAD device and installation infrastructure, determine the placement on wind turbines to optimize safety, compatibility and functionality, and to compare the mortality among the following conditions: Control (deterrents off and turbines feathered up to the manufacturer’s cut-in speed of 3.5 m/s), Deterrent (deterrents on and turbines feathered up to the manufacturer’s cut-in speed of 3.5 m/s), Curtailment (deterrents off and turbines feathered up to 5/ m/s), and combination (deterrents on and turbines feathered up to 5 m/s). The project was divided into a Feasibility Study and Comparative Study. The objectives for the Feasibility Study were to develop an installation strategy, redesign a previous iteration of a UAD to improve performance and weatherization, and test the effectiveness of the deterrents on bat activity. The Feasibility Study was intended to work out potential issues using a relatively small number of devices prior to manufacturing and installing numerous devices for a larger-scale comparative study. The division of the project into these separate studies was based on previous experience and the challenges of assessing the capabilities of an untested UAD. During the initial development and manufacturing of the UAD, NRG Systems decided to use a piezoelectric transducer rather than an electrostatic transducer, which was used by a previous device (i.e. Deaton UAD). NRG Systems conducted lab testing (i.e., IP67 or Ingress Protection) to ensure no water or dust ingress. In addition, shock/drop trials and variations in temperature exposure were conducted as part of the reliability testing. NRG Systems also developed a communications system to allow for continuous performance monitoring of the UADs. For the Feasibility Study, we installed 6 UADs on each of 2 Gamesa G90 2-MW wind turbines (Turbine 14 and 8) at the South Chestnut Wind Energy Facility, Pennsylvania and monitored activity under control and treatment (i.e. Deterrent) conditions using thermal video monitoring. There are two major sources of variation in bat activity (beyond the anticipated treatment effect): 1) environment around the turbines might inherently favor more activity at one than the other; 2) weather conditions on any given night or within season difference (e.g., migration later during the study period) might favor more activity on some nights than on other nights. Because we could only monitor two turbines on any night, we sought to control the potential influences of these two sources by alternating the turbine on which deterrents were activated each night. If there were no loss of data due to technical failures, this design would result in an equal number of deterrent and control nights at each turbine through the monitoring period, balancing the effects of both sources of variation. We compared the time bats spent and the number of events that occurred in overlapping cameras FOV as an indicator of risk, since 80% of the overlapping FOV of the cameras was in the RSA. Equipment failures, majority due to lightning, resulted in only 17 nights with useable data, with unbalanced treatment assignment within turbines and uneven distribution of treatment assignment throughout the observational period. This resulted in a confounding of treatment assignment and seasonal change. Deterrent treatment was measured at Turbine 14 on only 2 of the first 8 usable nights (spanning the period from 8/18-9/17), whereas 6 times on Turbine 8. From 9/18-927, deterrent was on at Turbine 14 on 6 of the remaining 10 nights, and 4 on Turbine 8. We recorded a total of 1,057 bats and observed a reduction in number of events and duration of events at the UAD-activated turbine when it was Turbine 14. When Turbine 8 had the UAD activated, we observed no difference in number or duration of events. Variation between turbines is not unusual and can cause issues when study designs have no true replication, i.e., multiple turbines per treatment. Within-turbine differences suggested a trend for reduced activity when UADs were activated, particularly for Turbine 14. These results may be caused by the overall higher bat activity at Turbine 8 and confounding of treatment assignment and seasonal trends. We mapped 58 bat events in 3-dimensional space (3D), 30 and 28 events during control and treatment conditions, respectively. We observed bats crossing the rotor plane under both control and treatment conditions and observed a total of 40 confirmed or near-collisions (i.e., target close to blade but no visual confirmation of a strike) out of a total of 1,491 medium and high confidence bat observations (880 control, 611 at treatment). Twice as many collisions/possible collisions were observed during control conditions. Given the challenges with the equipment and potential confounding of the data (i.e., different activity levels at the two wind turbines), we were unable to determine whether this initial turbine placement and orientation was optimal. Given no new information on how best to install the devices, we elected to use the same placement and orientation for the comparative study. For the Comparative Study, the objectives were to investigate the relative mortality rates among 4 treatments. We searched the area within 90 m of each turbine daily to recover the highest number of fresh fatalities possible. We were unable to detect a clear reduction in mortality from deterrents alone for any individual species. Surprisingly, mortality rate of the eastern red bat (Lasiurus borealis) was estimated to be 1.3–4.2 times as much when turbines were operating normally and UADs were on than when UADs were off. Reduction in mortality of all bat species combined due to curtailment of turbines was estimated to be between 0%–38%. This effect was nullified when, in addition to curtailment, UADs were on, with 95% confidence interval ranging from a 45% reduction to a 36% increase in mortality. This was likely due to the large proportion of eastern red bats in the total carcass population. Mortality of all low-frequency echolocating bats combined (i.e. hoary bat [L. cinereus], big brown bat [Eptesicus fuscus], silver-haired bat [Lasionycteris noctivagans]) relative to control was lower when curtailed (95% CI: 0%–74%), but the addition of UADs had no detectable effect (95%CI: 13%–79%). The combined treatment reduced mortality in silver-haired bats relative to control by 11%–99%, compared to curtailment (81% reduction–67% increase) or deterrent (82% reduction–67% increase) alone. Because silver-haired bats comprised a large proportion of low-frequency calling bats found during this study, a similar effect was seen for that group. The higher mortality observed for eastern red bats at UAD compared to control could have been caused by several factors, such as the effective range of the UAD, particularly at higher frequencies, behavior, positioning of the devices on the nacelle, or a combination of these. We used 3D thermal videography to compare control and UAD bat behavior from two turbines using a total of 203 3D bat-tracks across 34 nights. We recorded a similar number of bat-tracks between treatment groups, with 51% and 49% for control and UAD, respectively. Due to potential differences in bat behavior around spinning vs stationary turbine blades, we examined UAD effectiveness separately for non-operating turbines (feathered below cut-in speed of 3.5 m/s) and operating (normal operation above wind speed of 3.5 m/s). We found a higher proportion of bat-tracks at operating turbines (82%) compared to non-operating turbines (18%), although this does not account for overall time turbines were operating versus not. At non-operating turbines the UAD appears to be effective at reducing the amount of time, flight length, and number of passes through the rotor plane, compared to control. In addition, we found bats approached turbines similarly between control and treatment turbines, with 61% of control and 63% of UAD bat-tracks originating leeward of the hub. In contrast, at operating turbines, we saw little change in bat behavior in response to UADs. For example, we found an increase in the average duration of bat-tracks between non-operating and operating turbines for UAD but at control turbines we found average duration decreased once turbines became operational. Both control and UAD had a high proportion of bat-tracks that crossed the rotor plane (i.e., collision risk) originate from the windward side when turbines were operational 65% to 92%, respectively. Given that the UAD devices closest to the blades were orientated parallel to the blades, its possible bats were not exposed to the signal until they were close to the turbine blades, as suggested by the slightly higher mean duration within 5 meters of the blades for UAD turbines. Future research should consider concentrating UAD intensity on the areas of risk (i.e. blades) with enough buffer to allow bats to react to the sound before entering the rotor-swept area (RSA). In addition, investigating the potential of installing UAD units windward of the turbine blades (e.g. a hub-mounted UAD), particularly since even under control conditions, a relatively high proportion (65%) of crosses through the blade plane originated windward. 3D thermal videography provided valuable information on future testing strategies (e.g. device placement, UAD orientation) to improve UAD effectiveness when bats are at risk (i.e., operating wind turbines). Across the entire project we experienced issues with the operation and communication with the UADs. Most of the issues occurred during the Feasibility Study and were resolved prior to the Comparability Study. Additional challenges surfaced during the Comparability Study but were remedied immediately and are thought to have little impact on the results. We had logistical constraints at the project that limited our ability use traditional methods in our camera calibration. Several calibrations showed inaccurate scales, which may have been related to inadequate spatial coverage of “points” in the camera calibration volume. Because we were using actual video recordings of bats at a wind turbine, the behavior of bats could have concentrated “points” in specific areas of the turbine (i.e. leeward of nacelle), and limited “points” in other areas, resulting in camera calibration issues. We have plans to address these inconsistencies and improving the software and related methodologies by early 2020.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

NASA NTRS1993

Kilometer-sized waves in electron density in the Venusian nightside ionosphere

As periapsis of the Pioneer Venus Orbiter (PVO) descended into the lower nightside ionosphere of Venus in the Fall of 1992, wave-like ionospheric density strucutures began to appear on some of the volt-ampere characteristics of the Orbiter Electron Temperature Probe. The number of such events is insufficient to fully define their morphology but enough to provide an indication of the wave amplitudes, scale sizes, occurrence altitudes, and local time variation. The density variations were quasi-sinudoidal, with wavelengths of the order of 1 km along the nearly horizontal trajectory near periapsis. Nearly all of the wave events were encountered within an altitude band lying between 140 and 160 km, a region containing the steep negative N(sub e) gradient just above the ionospheric peak. The waves generally did not fill the occurrence band but were seen primarily as isolated events on curves taken intermittently as PVO crossed through the band. Peak-to-trough amplitudes (delta N/N) were in the range of 5% to 50%. The latitudinal extent of the waves could not be resolved because volt-ampere curves were obtained only intermittent, however, their occurrence on both inbound and outbound passages through the wave band suggests that the waves sometimes exist in layers that extend over at least 15 deg of latitude. The generation mechanism for these waves is unknown, but we suspect that it involves the steep density gradient that separates the main nightside ionosphere from the tenuous, and probably rapidly flowing plasma above.

Brace, Larry H.↗

NASA NTRS2000

Wavelet and Fractal Analysis of Remotely Sensed Surface Temperature with Applications to Estimation of Surface Sensible Heat Flux Density

Wavelet and fractal analyses have been used successfully to analyze one-dimensional data sets such as time series of financial, physical, and biological parameters. These techniques have been applied to two-dimensional problems in some instances, including the analysis of remote sensing imagery. In this respect, these techniques have not been widely used by the remote sensing community, and their overall capabilities as analytical tools for use on satellite and aircraft data sets is not well known. Wavelet and fractal analyses have the potential to provide fresh insight into the characterization of surface properties such as temperature and emissivity distributions, and surface processes such as the heat and water vapor exchange between the surface and the lower atmosphere. In particular, the variation of sensible heat flux density as a function of the change In scale of surface properties Is difficult to estimate, but - in general - wavelets and fractals have proved useful in determining the way a parameter varies with changes in scale. We present the results of a limited study on the relationship between spatial variations in surface temperature distribution and sensible heat flux distribution as determined by separate wavelet and fractal analyses. We analyzed aircraft imagery obtained in the thermal infrared (IR) bands from the multispectral TIMS and hyperspectral MASTER airborne sensors. The thermal IR data allows us to estimate the surface kinetic temperature distribution for a number of sites in the Midwestern and Southwestern United States (viz., San Pedro River Basin, Arizona; El Reno, Oklahoma; Jornada, New Mexico). The ground spatial resolution of the aircraft data varied from 5 to 15 meters. All sites were instrumented with meteorological and hydrological equipment including surface layer flux measuring stations such as Bowen Ratio systems and sonic anemometers. The ground and aircraft data sets provided the inputs for the wavelet and fractal analyses, and the validation of the results.

Schieldge, John↗

NASA NTRS2005

Irregular Satellites of the Planets

This proposal is directed towards the observational exploration of the irregular satellite systems of the planets. Primarily we use large-format CCD cameras on the world's largest telescopes, on Mauna Kea, to discover new irregular satellites and then to monitor their positions in order to ascertain their orbital characteristics. Separate observations are taken to determine the physical properties of the irregular satellites. The big picture science objective is to determine how these satellites were captures, and to use the properties of the satellites and their orbits to place constraints on early solar system (including formation) processes. Work in the first year has focussed on a major investigation of the Saturn irregular satellite system. We secured observing time on the Subaru and Gemini 8-m diameter telescopes in December 2004, January, February and March 2005 for the conduct of a deep, wide-area survey. This has resulted in the detection and orbit determination for 12 new satellites to be announced in the next week or two. Additional satellites were lost, temporarily, due to unusually poor weather conditions on Mauna Kea. These objects will be recovered and their orbits published next year. A separate survey of the Uranus irregular satellites was published (Sheppard, Jewitt and Kleyna 2005). Away from the telescope, we have discovered the amazing result that the four giant planets possess similar numbers of irregular satellites. This flies in the face of the standard gas-drag model for satellite capture, since only two of the giant planets are gas giants and the others (Uranus and Neptune) formed by a different process and in the absence of much gas. The constancy of the satellite number (each giant holds approximately 100 irregular satellites measured down to the kilometer scale) is either a coincidence, with different capture mechanisms at different planets giving by chance the same total numbers of irregular satellites, or indicates that the satellites were captured by a completely different process. We favor the latter (Jewitt and Sheppard 2005).

Jewitt, David↗

DOE OSTI2025

Temperature Evolution of the Activation Barriers Leads to Meyer−Neldel Rules for Structural Relaxation and Transport in Polymers

Understanding activation barriers controlling structural relaxation in glass-forming liquids, molecular transport, and ionic conductivity in amorphous polymers is a grand challenge of fundamental scientific and materials engineering interest across disciplines. Over decades, intriguing but puzzling empirical correlations between the elementary time scale of activated barrier crossing and the apparent Arrhenius activation energy, the so-called Meyer−Neldel (MN) rules, have been discovered in diverse liquids and glasses. Here, in this study, we formulate and successfully apply a new experimental analysis and an explicitly dynamical theoretical framework which provides an understanding of the origin, validity, and failure of such correlations, that bridge and unify the three fields of structural relaxation, molecular transport, and ionic conductivity in liquids and quenched glasses. Distinct quasi-universal laws are predicted in equilibrated liquids and nonequilibrium glasses, consistent with experiments. Our analysis reveals that even if the relaxation appears Arrhenius over a limited temperature range, the physical activation barrier is generally temperature-dependent in polymeric systems even below glass transition temperature. In addition, we show that the approximate validity of classical MN rules hinges on a linear temperature dependence of this barrier and the temperature range probed in experiments. Our findings are relevant for controlling the activation barrier in functional soft polymeric materials relevant to molecular separations, barrier coatings, and charge transport, and also provide new constraints on the theoretical understanding of the mechanism underlying slow activated dynamics in glass-forming condensed matter.

Meyer-Neldel rules↗

DOE OSTI2024

Dynamic density functional theory of polymers with salt in electric fields

Here we present a dynamic density functional theory for modeling the effects of applied electric fields on the local structure of polymers with added salt (polymer electrolytes). Time-dependent equations for the local electrostatic potential and volume fractions of polymer, cation, and anion of added salt are developed using the principles of linear irreversible thermodynamics. For such a development, a field theoretic description of the free energy of polymer melts doped with salts is used, which captures the effects of local variations in the dielectric function. Connections of the dynamic density functional theory with experiments are established by relating the three phenomenological Onsager’s transport coefficients of the theory to the mutual diffusion of electrolyte, ionic conductivity, and transference number of one of the ions. The theory is connected with a statistical mechanical model developed by Bearman and Kirkwood [J. Chem. Phys. 28, 136 (1958)] after relating the three transport coefficients to friction coefficients. The steady-state limit of the dynamic density functional theory is used to understand the effects of dielectric inhomogeneity on the phase separation in polymer electrolytes. The theory developed here provides not only a way to connect with experiments but also to develop multi-scale models for studying connections between local structure and ion transport in polymer electrolytes.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

DOE OSTI2020

Do Ultrafine Cloud Condensation Nuclei Invigorate Deep Convection?

Numerical simulations of the impact of ultrafine cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) on deep convection are analyzed herein to investigate the idea proposed by Fan et al. that addition of ultrafine CCN to an otherwise pristine environment leads to convective invigoration. The piggybacking methodology is applied, allowing rigorous separation of the impact of aerosols from different flow realizations that typically occur when even a small element of the model physics or modeling setup is changed. The setup follows the case of daytime convective development over land based on observations during the Large-Scale Biosphere–Atmosphere (LBA) experiment in Amazonia. Overall, the simulated impacts of ultrafine CCN are similar to the previous study by the authors on the impact of pollution on deep convection. There is no convective invigoration above the freezing level, but there is a small invigoration (increase in vertical velocities) below due to the supersaturation and buoyancy differences in conditions with additional ultrafine CCN compared to unperturbed pristine conditions. As in the previous study, the most significant impact is on the upper-tropospheric convective anvils that feature higher cloud fractions in conditions with ultrafine CCN. The increase comes from purely microphysical considerations as the increased cloud droplet concentrations from ultrafine CCN lead to increased ice crystal concentrations and, consequently, smaller sizes and fall velocities, and longer residence times. Mesoscale organization due to low-level shear has a small effect on the simulated ultrafine CCN impacts. Finally, an alternative explanation of increased lightning above oceanic shipping lines seen in satellite observations and argued to result from convective invigoration is provided.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2024

WIND Toolkit Long-Term Ensemble Dataset

WIND Toolkit Long-term Ensemble Dataset (WTK-LED), an updated version of the meteorological WIND Toolkit, is a meteorological dataset providing high-resolution time series, including interannual variability and model uncertainty of wind speed at every modeling grid point to indicate ranges of possible wind speeds. The data were produced using the Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF). The vertical grid used in WTK-LED includes many vertical layers in the atmospheric boundary layer to provide information of atmospheric quantities across the rotor layer of utility scale and distributed wind turbines. The WTK-LED includes: (1) Numerical simulations of wind speed and other meteorological variables covering the contiguous United States (CONUS) and Alaska, with high-resolution (5-minute [min], 2-kilometer [km]) data for 3 years (2018-2020): WTK-LED CONUS, WTK-LED Alaska. (2) Climate simulations from Argonne National Laboratory covering North America, including Alaska, Canada, and most of Mexico and the Caribbean islands. These simulations complement the new WTK-LED to offer a 4-km, hourly dataset covering 20 years (2001-2020): WTK-LED Climate. (3) Specific long-term, high-resolution offshore simulations have been conducted separately for the U.S. coasts, Hawaii, and the Great Lakes, leading to the 2023 National Offshore Wind dataset: NOW-23. The data for Hawaii include land-based data and are part of WTK-LED Hawaii. Because the accuracy of simulations from a mesoscale model, such as WRF, varies depending on the location and weather situation, and can reach up to several m/s for wind speed, we provide simulated wind speed uncertainty estimates to the community to be used in conjunction with the deterministic model simulations. This dataset was developed to satisfy a wide group of stakeholders across various wind energy disciplines, including but not limited to stakeholders in the distributed and utility scale wind industry, the new emerging airborne wind energy field, grid integration, power systems modeling, environmental modeling, and researchers in academia, and to close some of the gaps that current public datasets have. Based on our validation results to date, we suggest use cases and applications for each dataset of the WTK-LED as shown in "WTK-LED Use Cases" resource below.

Array↗

NASA NTRS2001

The Lyman-Alpha Forest in the Lensed Quasar Q0957+561 and the Characteristic Dimension of the Absorbing Clouds

Far-ultraviolet spectra of the gravitational lens components Q0957+561 A and 9 were obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope Faint Object Spectrograph (FOS) at five equally spaced epochs, one every two weeks. We confirm the flux variability of the quasar's Lyman-alpha and 0 VI emission lines reported by Dolan et al. (1995) in IUE spectra. The fluxes in these lines vary on a time scale of weeks in the observer's rest frame, independently of each other and of the surrounding continuum. The individual spectra of each image were co-added to investigate the properties of the Lyman-alpha forest along the two lines of sight to the quasar. Absorption lines having equivalent width W > 0.3 A in the observer's frame not previously identified by Michalitsianos et al. (1997) as interstellar lines, metal lines, or higher order Lyman lines were taken to be Ly-alpha forest lines. The existence of each line in this consistently selected set was then verified by its presence in two archival FOS spectra with -1.5 times higher signal to noise than our co-added spectra. Ly-alpha forest lines with W > 0.3 A appear at 41 distinct wavelengths in the spectra of the two images. one absorption line in the spectrum of image A has no counterpart in the spectrum of image B and one line in image B has no counterpart in image A. Based on the separation of the lines of sight over the redshift range searched for Ly-forest lines, the density of the absorbing clouds in the direction of Q0957+561 must change significantly over a distance R = 160 (+120, -70)/ h(sub 50) kpc in the simplified model where the absorbers are treated as spherical clouds and the characteristic dimension, R, is the radius. (We adopt H(sub 0) = 50 h(sub 50) km/s/ kpc, q(sub 0) = 1/2, and lambda = 0 throughout the paper.) The 95% confidence interval on R extends from (50 - 950)/h(sub 50) kpc We show in the Appendix that the fraction of Ly-alpha forest lines that appear in only one spectrum can be expressed as a rapidly converging power series in 1/r, where r the ratio of the radius of the cloud to the separation of the two lines of sight at the redshift of the cloud. This power series can be rewritten to give r in terms of the fraction of Ly-forest wavelengths that appear in the spectrum of only one image. A simple linear approximation to the solution that everywhere agrees with the power series solution to better than 0.8% for r > 2 is derived in the Appendix.

Dolan, Joseph↗