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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 1,171 records · Page 65
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2017

The Modern Near-Surface Martian Climate: A Review of In-Situ Meteorological Data from Viking to Curiosity

We analyze the complete set of in-situ meteorological data obtained from the Viking landers in the 1970s to todays Curiosity rover to review our understanding of the modern near-surface climate of Mars, with focus on the dust, CO2 and H2O cycles and their impact on the radiative and thermodynamic conditions near the surface. In particular, we provide values of the highest confidence possible for atmospheric opacity, atmospheric pressure, near-surface air temperature, ground temperature, near-surface wind speed and direction, and near-surface air relative humidity and water vapor content. Then, we study the diurnal, seasonal and interannual variability of these quantities over a span of more than twenty Martian years. Finally, we propose measurements to improve our understanding of the Martian dust and H2O cycles, and discuss the potential for liquid water formation under Mars present day conditions and its implications for future Mars missions.

Martinez, G. M.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Informing forest carbon inventories under the Paris Agreement using ground-based forest monitoring data

Human interactions with forests have shaped Earth's climate for millennia and will continue to do so as we target net-zero emission goals. Accurately characterizing these climate impacts requires making reliable forest carbon data available for forest monitoring and planning. Here, we develop a semi-automated process for submitting forest carbon measurements from the largest relevant scientific database to the International Panel on Climate Change's Emission Factor Database, which currently has sparse forest carbon data. Building this bridge from scientific research to international policy is an important step towards managing forests in a net-zero motivated future. Humans have been influencing Earth's climate via transformative impacts on forests for millennia, and forests are now recognized as critical to climate change mitigation under the Paris Agreement. The efficacy of climate change mitigation planning and reporting depends on quality data on forest carbon (C) stocks and changes. The Emission Factor Database (EFDB) of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is intended to be a definitive source for such data, but needs comprehensive and well-documented data to be so. To facilitate submission of forest C estimates from scientific studies to EFDB, we develop and document a process for semi-automated data submission from the Global Forest C database (ForC v4.0), which is the largest compilation of ground-based forest C estimates. We then assess the data currently available through ForC and provide recommendations for improving forest data collection, analysis, and reporting. As of September 2024, ForC contained ~19,286 records potentially relevant to EFDB, 1068 of which had been submitted and posted to EFDB. These represented 19% of the total EFDB records for forest land. Records were unevenly distributed across variables and geographic regions. ForC records (37%) reviewed could not be submitted because the original publication lacked required information. In the future, ground-based forest C estimates should target gaps in the record, and studies should ensure that they report all information necessary for inclusion in EFDB. Given that climate change is rapidly impacting the world's forests, timely reporting of recent estimates will be critical to accurate forest C inventories.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS2013

A Supplementary Clear-Sky Snow and Ice Recognition Technique for CERES Level 2 Products

Identification of clear-sky snow and ice is an important step in the production of cryosphere radiation budget products, which are used in the derivation of long-term data series for climate research. In this paper, a new method of clear-sky snow/ice identification for Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) is presented. The algorithm's goal is to enhance the identification of snow and ice within the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) data after application of the standard CERES scene identification scheme. The input of the algorithm uses spectral radiances from five MODIS bands and surface skin temperature available in the CERES Single Scanner Footprint (SSF) product. The algorithm produces a cryosphere rating from an aggregated test: a higher rating corresponds to a more certain identification of the clear-sky snow/ice-covered scene. Empirical analysis of regions of interest representing distinctive targets such as snow, ice, ice and water clouds, open waters, and snow-free land selected from a number of MODIS images shows that the cryosphere rating of snow/ice targets falls into 95% confidence intervals lying above the same confidence intervals of all other targets. This enables recognition of clear-sky cryosphere by using a single threshold applied to the rating, which makes this technique different from traditional branching techniques based on multiple thresholds. Limited tests show that the established threshold clearly separates the cryosphere rating values computed for the cryosphere from those computed for noncryosphere scenes, whereas individual tests applied consequently cannot reliably identify the cryosphere for complex scenes.

Radkevich, Alexander↗
NASA NTRS2005

Variability and Extremes of Precipitation in the Global Climate as Determined by the 25-Year GEWEX/GPCP Data Set

The Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) 25-year precipitation data set is used to evaluate the variability and extremes on global and regional scales. The variability of precipitation year-to-year is evaluated in relation to the overall lack of a significant global trend and to climate events such as ENSO and volcanic eruptions. The validity of conclusions and limitations of the data set are checked by comparison with independent data sets (e.g., TRMM). The GPCP data set necessarily has a heterogeneous time series of input data sources, so part of the assessment described above is to test the initial results for potential influence by major data boundaries in the record. Regional trends, or inter-decadal changes, are also analyzed to determine validity and correlation with other long-term data sets related to the hydrological cycle (e.g., clouds and ocean surface fluxes). Statistics of extremes (both wet and dry) are analyzed at the monthly time scale for the 25 years. A preliminary result of increasing frequency of extreme monthly values will be a focus to determine validity. Daily values for an eight-year are also examined for variation in extremes and compared to the longer monthly-based study.

Adler, R. F.↗
NASA NTRS1992

The future of spaceborne altimetry. Oceans and climate change: A long-term strategy

The ocean circulation and polar ice sheet volumes provide important memory and control functions in the global climate. Their long term variations are unknown and need to be understood before meaningful appraisals of climate change can be made. Satellite altimetry is the only method for providing global information on the ocean circulation and ice sheet volume. A robust altimeter measurement program is planned which will initiate global observations of the ocean circulation and polar ice sheets. In order to provide useful data about the climate, these measurements must be continued with unbroken coverage into the next century. Herein, past results of the role of the ocean in the climate system is summarized, near term goals are outlined, and requirements and options are presented for future altimeter missions. There are three basic scientific objectives for the program: ocean circulation; polar ice sheets; and mean sea level change. The greatest scientific benefit will be achieved with a series of dedicated high precision altimeter spacecraft, for which the choice of orbit parameters and system accuracy are unencumbered by requirements of companion instruments.

Koblinsky, C. J.↗
NASA NTRS2019

Ocean Color Instrument Integration and Testing

This paper describes the plans, flows, key facilities, components and equipment necessary to fully integrate, functionally test, qualify and calibrate the Ocean Color Instrument (OCI) on the Plankton, Aerosols, Clouds, and oceans Ecosystem (PACE) observatory. PACE is currently in the design phase of mission development. It is scheduled to launch in 2022, extending and improving NASA's twenty-year record of satellite observations of global ocean biology, aerosols and clouds. PACE will advance the assessment of ocean health by measuring the distribution of phytoplankton, which are small plants and algae that sustain the marine food web. It will also continue systematic records of key atmospheric variables associated with air quality and the Earth's climate. PACE's primary sensor, the OCI, is a highly advanced optical spectrometer that will be used to measure properties of light over portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. It will enable continuous measurement of light at finer wavelength resolution than previous NASA satellite sensors, extending key system ocean color data records for climate studies. The color of the ocean is determined by the interaction of sunlight with substances or particles present in seawater such as chlorophyll. By monitoring global phytoplankton distribution and abundance with unprecedented detail, the OCI will contribute to a better understanding of the complex systems that drive ocean ecology and it's impacts on global fisheries. This paper will focus on the Integration and Test (I&T) activities for OCI while it is at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. The OCI integration consists of assembly and alignment of the rotating telescope, electronics box integration, fixed deck assembly integration, thermal systems integration and the final assembly and testing. This I&T phase will be followed by the OCI calibration and characterization, environmental tests which include electromagnetic interference (EMI)/electromagnetic compatibility (EMC), vibration with sine sweep, acoustics, shock, thermal balance, thermal vacuum, mass properties and center of gravity. This paper will briefly discuss OCI shipment and delivery to the spacecraft vendor for observatory level I&T as well as some launch preparation activities.

Petro, Susanna↗
DOE OSTI2016

Sensitivity of biogenic volatile organic compounds to land surface parameterizations and vegetation distributions in California

Current climate models still have large uncertainties in estimating biogenic trace gases, which can significantly affect atmospheric chemistry and secondary aerosol formation that ultimately influences air quality and aerosol radiative forcing. These uncertainties result from many factors, including uncertainties in land surface processes and specification of vegetation types, both of which can affect the simulated near-surface fluxes of biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs). In this study, the latest version of Model of Emissions of Gases and Aerosols from Nature (MEGAN v2.1) is coupled within the land surface scheme CLM4 (Community Land Model version 4.0) in the Weather Research and Forecasting model with chemistry (WRF-Chem). In this implementation, MEGAN v2.1 shares a consistent vegetation map with CLM4 for estimating BVOC emissions. This is unlike MEGAN v2.0 in the public version of WRF-Chem that uses a stand-alone vegetation map that differs from what is used by land surface schemes. This improved modeling framework is used to investigate the impact of two land surface schemes, CLM4 and Noah, on BVOCs and examine the sensitivity of BVOCs to vegetation distributions in California. The measurements collected during the Carbonaceous Aerosol and Radiative Effects Study (CARES) and the California Nexus of Air Quality and Climate Experiment (CalNex) conducted in June of 2010 provided an opportunity to evaluate the simulated BVOCs. Sensitivity experiments show that land surface schemes do influence the simulated BVOCs, but the impact is much smaller than that of vegetation distributions. This study indicates that more effort is needed to obtain the most appropriate and accurate land cover data sets for climate and air quality models in terms of simulating BVOCs, oxidant chemistry and, consequently, secondary organic aerosol formation.

Zhao, Chun↗
DOE OSTI2014

Perspective: The Climate-Population-Infrastructure Modeling and Simulation Fertile Area for New Research

Managing the risks posed by climate change and extreme weather to energy production and delivery is a challenge to communities worldwide. As climate conditions change, populations will shift, and demand will re-locate; and networked infrastructures will evolve to accommodate new load centers, and, hopefully, minimize vulnerability to natural disaster. Climate effects such as sea level rise, increased frequency and intensity of natural disasters, force populations to move locations. Displaced population creates new demand for built infrastructure that in turn generates new economic activity that attracts new workers and associated households to the new locations. Infrastructures and their interdependencies will change in reaction to climate drivers as the networks expand into new population areas and as portions of the networks are abandoned as people leave. Thus, infrastructures will evolve to accommodate new load centers while some parts of the network are underused, and these changes will create emerging vulnerabilities. Forecasting the location of these vulnerabilities by combining climate predictions and agent based population movement models shows promise for defining these future population distributions and changes in coastal infrastructure configurations. By combining climate and weather data, engineering algorithms and social theory it has been only recently possible to examine electricity demand response to increased climactic temperatures, population relocation in response to extreme cyclonic events, consequent net population changes and new regional patterns in electricity demand. These emerging results suggest a research agenda of coupling these disparate modelling approaches to understand the implications of climate change for protecting the nation s critical infrastructure.

Climate↗
DOE OSTI2015

Evapotranspiration in Northern Eurasia: Impact of forcing uncertainties on terrestrial ecosystem model estimates

Abstract The ecosystems in Northern Eurasia (NE) play an important role in the global water cycle and the climate system. While evapotranspiration (ET) is a critical variable to understand this role, ET over this region remains largely unstudied. Using an improved version of the Terrestrial Ecosystem Model with five widely used forcing data sets, we examine the impact that uncertainties in climate forcing data have on the magnitude, variability, and dominant climatic drivers of ET for the period 1979–2008. Estimates of regional average ET vary in the range of 241.4–335.7 mm yr −1 depending on the choice of forcing data. This range corresponds to as much as 32% of the mean ET. Meanwhile, the spatial patterns of long‐term average ET across NE are generally consistent for all forcing data sets. Our ET estimates in NE are largely affected by uncertainties in precipitation ( P ), air temperature ( T ), incoming shortwave radiation ( R ), and vapor pressure deficit (VPD). During the growing season, the correlations between ET and each forcing variable indicate that T is the dominant factor in the north and P in the south. Unsurprisingly, the uncertainties in climate forcing data propagate as well to estimates of the volume of water available for runoff (here defined as P‐ET). While the Climate Research Unit data set is overall the best choice of forcing data in NE according to our assessment, the quality of these forcing data sets remains a major challenge to accurately quantify the regional water balance in NE.

Liu, Yaling↗
DOE OSTI2022

GE Renewable Energy: Perdigao wind dataset from Large Eddy Simulation and ERA5

Perdigao wind research dataset including ERA5 data, high resolution and low resolution Large Eddy Simulations for the year 2020 at 1 hour frequency. Generated using Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2022[1] [1] Hersbach, H., Bell, B., Berrisford, P., Biavati, G., Horányi, A., Muñoz Sabater, J., Nicolas, J., Peubey, C., Radu, R., Rozum, I., Schepers, D., Simmons, A., Soci, C., Dee, D., Thépaut, J-N. (2018): ERA5 hourly data on single levels from 1979 to present. Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) Climate Data Store (CDS). (Accessed on 05-04-2022), 10.24381/cds.adbb2d47

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Bridging Land-Surface Fluxes and Aerosol Concentrations to Triggering Convective Rainfall

During the period August 24-28, 2016, a delayed component the GO-Amazon Project, we launched nine altitude-controlled free balloons (CMET). Smaller than typical rawinsondes, CMET are equipped with altitude control, global communication via Iridium satellite, and aspirated sensors. The aims of our effort were to examine the interactions among convective boundary layer and dual river breeze circulations near the confluence of the Tapajos and Amazon Rivers in the eastern Basin. The week-long field campaign was timed to examine the reestablishment of the breeze circulations shortly after the passage of a strong instability line on August 22. Nine CMET were launched at the Curua-Una hydroelectric dam (2.8S; 54.3W), timed to encounter the Tapajos river breeze front by late afternoon. Soundings were made to establish the thickness of interface between the easterly trade and westerly Tapajos breeze circulation. Careful use of sounding strategies allowed these free balloons to track along the northerly channeled flow in the lowest 300 m above the River. Following the river encounter, balloons tracked to the west, sounding to describe the diurnal course of boundary layer in the forest west of the Tapajos River. The longest flight traveled more than 770 km over three days and twice rested overnight in the rain forest canopy. Ancillary data from surface climate and flux stations as well as the Santarem radiosonde, satellite images will be used to illustrate how the breeze circulations are seen near the surface and how they were disrupted by larger-scale events. Comparisons with HYSPLIT trajectories illustrate how sensitive real trajectories are to the refraction that the encounter with the breeze effects. A second effort was intensive analyses of data from the eddy flux tower at the Tapajós National Forest near Santarém Pará Brazil, with special emphasis on the role of clouds and canopy presence on light absorbance and photosynthetic activity.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Assessing Effects of Climate Change on Legacy Waste at the Enewetak Atoll

The Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) is in the central Pacific Ocean ~4,500 km west of Hawaii. The Enewetak Atoll, located in the northwest part of the RMI, was the site for 43 nuclear weapon tests between 1948 and 1958. Fallout and deposition from the tests contaminated the island surfaces, lagoon waters and sediment, and nearby ocean waters at the atoll. In the 1970s, a cleanup effort collected radioactive waste and placed it in the Cactus Crater on Runit Island (also called the Runit Dome). In December 2021, Congress directed the U.S. Department of Energy to study the impacts of climate change on the Runit Dome nuclear waste disposal site. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) assembled a multidisciplinary team of climate scientists, ocean modelers, environmental scientists, and health physicists to assess the likely effects of remaining radionuclides at the Enewetak Atoll. PNNL’s approach focused on effects of tropical cyclones that were postulated to mobilize and transport contaminated lagoon sediments and result in human and biota exposure. PNNL’s study estimated (1) the radionuclide source term, (2) the effects of climate change on severe storms, (3) mobilization and transport of radionuclides, and (4) radiation dose to humans and biota. Radionuclides in the lagoon and/or ocean waters of the Enewetak Atoll were characterized by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) in 1972, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in 2015, and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in 2018. The RMI Nationwide Radiological Study was conducted in the early 1990s for radionuclides remaining in island soils. The 1972 AEC survey remains the most comprehensive source of radionuclide data on lagoon sediments. Climate change modeling at a regional scale in the central Pacific Ocean is limited. PNNL climate scientists simulated severe historical storms postulated to occur both in a recent climate (2015) and in the future (2090) using the Advanced Research Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF-ARW) model, employing a pseudo-global-warming technique. A postulated complete, future failure of the Runit Dome was also considered. PNNL developed a high-resolution regional ocean hydrodynamics model covering the entire RMI extended economic zone using the Finite Volume Coastal Ocean Model (FVCOM). The FVCOM model was run using global reanalysis data for current climate and WRF-ARW simulation for the future climate. PNNL also developed a radionuclide fate and transport model using the FVCOM Integrated Compartment Model (FVCOM-ICM) to simulate the current and future mobilization and transport of radionuclides sorbed to lagoon sediments and the exchange of radionuclides between the water and sediment. FVCOM-ICM-predicted radionuclide concentrations were then used to estimate radiation dose to humans and biota at all islands of the Enewetak Atoll. Under current climate conditions, annual radiation exposures for the southern islands including Enewetak (Fred) and Medren (Elmer) were below the current U.S. standards. Radiation doses were somewhat elevated starting at Runit Island northward and westward to Enjebi Island (Janet). The islands in the northwest quadrant, particularly Bokoluo (Alice) and Bokombako (Belle), remain relatively contaminated. The islands in the southwestern quadrant have low contamination. The highest contribution to radiation doses comes from consumption of locally grown foods. Two radionuclides, 90Sr and 137Cs, contributed the greatest fraction for most terrestrial foods. In current climate conditions, the storms temporarily increased radionuclide concentrations in the lagoon waters, increasing the radiation dose slightly. In future conditions, doses are expected to be smaller, primarily because of the radioactive decay of the shorter-lived radioisotopes of 90Sr and 137Cs. This could make all islands in the far northwest of the atoll – except Bokombako (Belle) and perhaps Bokoluo (Alice) – suitable for residency. For the f

Prasad, Rajiv↗
NASA NTRS2004

Characteristics and Global Impact of Aerosols from Southern Africa and Eastern Asia

Supported mainly by the NASA GACP and ACMAP, we have made significant progress in the global modeling of tropospheric aerosols and their precursors in the past few years, especially in the development of the GOCART model, simulation of anthropogenic and natural aerosols, data analysis of field observations and satellite retrievals, assessment of global and regional budgets, estimate of aerosol direct radiative forcing, and aerosol forecasting and data analysis for the ACE-Asia field experiment. Our results and findings are summarized in Chin et al. Model calculated multiple-year optical thickness for individual and total aerosols are at internet. These results have been frequently used by other groups, for example, to impose initial conditions for regional models, provide dust source functions for other global models, supply aerosol fields for chemistry and climate models, help data group interpret their measurements, select monitoring sites for ground observation network, and assist satellite retrievals.

Chin, Mian↗
NASA NTRS2014

Earth Radiation Budget Research at the NASA Langley Research Center

In the 1970s research studies concentrating on satellite measurements of Earth's radiation budget started at the NASA Langley Research Center. Since that beginning, considerable effort has been devoted to developing measurement techniques, data analysis methods, and time-space sampling strategies to meet the radiation budget science requirements for climate studies. Implementation and success of the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) and the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) was due to the remarkable teamwork of many engineers, scientists, and data analysts. Data from ERBE have provided a new understanding of the effects of clouds, aerosols, and El Nino/La Nina oscillation on the Earth's radiation. CERES spacecraft instruments have extended the time coverage with high quality climate data records for over a decade. Using ERBE and CERES measurements these teams have created information about radiation at the top of the atmosphere, at the surface, and throughout the atmosphere for a better understanding of our climate. They have also generated surface radiation products for designers of solar power plants and buildings and numerous other applications

Smith, G. Louis↗
NASA NTRS1995

Technical report series on global modeling and data assimilation. Volume 5: Documentation of the AIRES/GEOS dynamical core, version 2

A detailed description of the numerical formulation of Version 2 of the ARIES/GEOS 'dynamical core' is presented. This code is a nearly 'plug-compatible' dynamics for use in atmospheric general circulation models (GCMs). It is a finite difference model on a staggered latitude-longitude C-grid. It uses second-order differences for all terms except the advection of vorticity by the rotation part of the flow, which is done at fourth-order accuracy. This dynamical core is currently being used in the climate (ARIES) and data assimilation (GEOS) GCMs at Goddard.

Suarez, Max J.↗
NASA NTRS2000

The DAO Retrospective Data Assimilation System

The fixed-lag Kalman smoother of Cohn et al. (1994), or a version of a more computationally feasible approximation of it developed by Todling et al. (1998), is under implementation at the Data Assimilation Office (DAO) to build a retrospective data assimilation system (RDAS). The initial version of the RDAS uses the physical-space statistical analysis system and a modification of the incremental analysis update (IAU) procedure of Bloom et al. (1996); a follow up version of the RDAS Nill require the use of the adjoint of the DAO general circulation model (developed by Y. Yang and M Navon). The retrospective procedure is designed to produce improved analyses as well as improved assimilated fields consequently providing an improved climate representation through data assimilation.

Todling, Richardo↗
NASA NTRS2021

Secondary Science Teachers’ Implementation of a Curricular Intervention When Teaching With Global Climate Models

In the past decade, emphasis on promoting “climate literacy” in K-16 science classrooms has increased. Teachers play a critical role in cultivating these opportunities, especially in secondary science classrooms. However, most prior climate education research has focused on students and student learning; little is known about how teachers implement climate-focused curricular interventions. Here, we report findings from a concurrent mixed methods, multiple-case study of four secondary science teachers’ implementation of a new, NGSS-aligned, model-centric climate curriculum module grounded in the use of a data-driven, computer-based climate modeling tool—Easy Global Climate Model (EzGCM). We employ multiple data sources, including video-recorded classroom observations, interviews, and instructional artifacts, and both qualitative and quantitative analyses, to investigate how teachers implemented the curriculum. Findings show that, overall, teachers implemented the curriculum in ways that were less model-centric than designed, placing greater emphasis on EzGCM itself rather than using the model to investigate Earth’s changing climate. Additionally, we present detailed single-case studies of each participant teacher that highlight differences in teachers’ implementation of the curriculum module and their reasoning for making observed instructional decisions. This research sheds light on the design of secondary science learning environments by illustrating the varied ways teachers implement a climate-focused curriculum to support students’ developing climate literacy. This has important implications for the design of climate-focused curriculum and supports for teachers.

Secondary science teaching↗