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At least 1,189 records · Page 66

Backscatter Ultraviolet (BUV) Instrument

This final project report covers the design, development, construction, testing and qualification of the NIMBUS D BUV (Backscatter Ultraviolet) instrument. The instrument was designed and constructed in accordance with GSFC specification S-623-P-l and amendments. The design phase consisted of activity in three areas of technology: (1) Optical, (2) Mechanical, and (3) Electrical. Beckman Instruments, Inc. performed the tasks concerned with optical and mechanical design while Analog Technology Corporation was the electronics subcontractor. Initial studies resulted in the development of a breadboard model of the BUV instrument. Following extensive testing, additional mathematical analyses, and required modifications, preliminary and critical design reviews were performed. The results of these activities were the construction of an engineering model, used for extensive testing and demonstration of the final design features. Final design data resulted in the construction of two flight-rated instruments, serial numbers P103 and Fl04. On April 8, 1970, the P103 instrument was successfully launched into orbit on NIMBUS D and is presently fully operational.

Source record↗

Satellite-based Estimates of Ambient Air Pollution and Global Variations in Childhood Asthma Prevalence

Background: The effect of ambient air pollution on global variations and trends in asthma prevalence is unclear. Objectives: Our goal was to investigate community-level associations between asthma prevalence data from the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) and satellite-based estimates of particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter < 2.5 microm (PM2.5) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and modelled estimates of ozone. Methods: We assigned satellite-based estimates of PM2.5 and NO2 at a spatial resolution of 0.1deg × 0.1deg and modeled estimates of ozone at a resolution of 1deg × 1deg to 183 ISAAC centers. We used center-level prevalence of severe asthma as the outcome and multilevel models to adjust for gross national income (GNI) and center- and country-level sex, climate, and population density. We examined associations (adjusting for GNI) between air pollution and asthma prevalence over time in centers with data from ISAAC Phase One (mid-1900s) and Phase Three (2001-2003). Results: For the 13- to 14-year age group (128 centers in 28 countries), the estimated average within-country change in center-level asthma prevalence per 100 children per 10% increase in center-level PM2.5 and NO2 was -0.043 [95% confidence interval (CI): -0.139, 0.053] and 0.017 (95% CI: -0.030, 0.064) respectively. For ozone the estimated change in prevalence per parts per billion by volume was -0.116 (95% CI: -0.234, 0.001). Equivalent results for the 6- to 7-year age group (83 centers in 20 countries), though slightly different, were not significantly positive. For the 13- to 14-year age group, change in center-level asthma prevalence over time per 100 children per 10% increase in PM2.5 from Phase One to Phase Three was -0.139 (95% CI: -0.347, 0.068). The corresponding association with ozone (per ppbV) was -0.171 (95% CI: -0.275, -0.067). Conclusion: In contrast to reports from within-community studies of individuals exposed to traffic pollution, we did not find evidence of a positive association between ambient air pollution and asthma prevalence as measured at the community level.

Air pollution↗

Elemental Water Impact Test: Phase 1 20-Inch Hemisphere

Spacecraft are being designed based on LS-DYNA simulations of water landing impacts. The Elemental Water Impact Test (EWIT) series was undertaken to assess the accuracy of LS-DYNA water impact simulations. Phase 1 of the EWIT series featured water impact tests of a 20-inch hemisphere dropped from heights of 5 feet and 10 feet. The hemisphere was outfitted with an accelerometer and three pressure gages. The focus of this report is the correlation of analytical models against test data.

Vassilakos, Gregory J.↗

Hydrogen Balmer Line Broadening in Solar and Stellar Flares

The broadening of the hydrogen lines during flares is thought to result from increased charge (electron, proton) density in the flare chromosphere. However, disagreements between theory and modeling prescriptions have precluded an accurate diagnostic of the degree of ionization and compression resulting from flare heating in the chromosphere. To resolve this issue, we have incorporated the unified theory of electric pressure broadening of the hydrogen lines into the non-LTE radiative-transfer code RH. This broadening prescription produces a much more realistic spectrum of the quiescent, A0 star Vega compared to the analytic approximations used as a damping parameter in the Voigt profiles. We test recent radiative-hydrodynamic (RHD) simulations of the atmospheric response to high nonthermal electron beam fluxes with the new broadening prescription and find that the Balmer lines are overbroadened at the densest times in the simulations. Adding many simultaneously heated and cooling model loops as a 'multithread' model improves the agreement with the observations. We revisit the three component phenomenological flare model of the YZ CMi Megaflare using recent and new RHD models. The evolution of the broadening, line flux ratios, and continuum flux ratios are well-reproduced by a multithread model with high-flux nonthermal electron beam heating, an extended decay phase model, and a 'hot spot' atmosphere heated by an ultra relativistic electron beam with reasonable filling factors: approximately 0.1%, 1%, and 0.1% of the visible stellar hemisphere, respectively. The new modeling motivates future work to understand the origin of the extended gradual phase emission.

Kowalski, Adam F.↗

Pilot Injector Redesign to Reduce N+3 Cycle Emissions for a Gas-Turbine Combustor

An overview is given of an effort for the use of CFD analysis to complement design and configuration definition of third generation Lean-Direct Injection combustion concepts (LDI-3) for NASA's N plus 3 program. The National Combustion Code (OpenNCC) was used to perform non-reacting and two-phase reacting flow computations for a three-cup, nineteen-element flametube array with redesigned pilot injectors to improve spray and emissions characteristics when compared to a previous LDI-3 design. All computations were performed with a consistent approach to mesh-generation, spray modeling, ignition and kinetics modeling for a "medium-power" cycle condition. Computational predictions of the aerodynamics of a new pre-filming pilot injector were used to arrive at an optimized aerothermal design that meets effective area and fuel-air mixing criteria. The newly designed pilot injectors were shown to provide considerable improvements in aerodynamic stability, flame-tube pattern factor and NOx emissions, when compared to the original design.

Nitrogen Oxides↗

Rephasing and Loitering Strategies in the Gateway Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit

NASA's Gateway plans to operate in an L2 9:2 lunar synodic Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO) for nominal operations. During the mission's lifetime, scenarios may arise where rephasing within the NRHO or loitering in an alternate trajectory are advantageous. This investigation discusses two strategies to perform this rephasing in the NRHO over a relatively short timespan. The first method uses two maneuvers to shift the phase along a single transfer arc. The second strategy employs four maneuvers, leveraging an intermediate orbit for rephasing. An optimization strategy is formulated to construct locally optimal solutions in the Circular Restricted Three-Body Problem (CR3BP) and verified in a higher-fidelity ephemeris model.

NRHO↗

Development of PFLOTRAN Transport Capability for Use in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Performance Assessment - 20545

Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) performance assessment (PA) calculations estimate the probability of radionuclide release from the repository to the land surface and across the land withdrawal boundary for a regulatory period of 10,000 years after facility closure. Simulations of flow and transport in the repository and the surrounding Salado Formation are foundational to the PA. Because proposed additional waste emplacement panels would result in an asymmetric repository layout, the US Department of Energy (DOE) is preparing to transition to use of a three-dimensional (3-D) model domain for simulation of flow and transport instead of the two-dimensional (2-D) flared grid domain currently used. DOE has charged Sandia National Laboratories with developing the capability necessary to simulate processes affecting flow and transport in the WIPP in PFLOTRAN, an open-source massively parallel multi-phase flow and reactive transport code. The new flow and transport capabilities developed in PFLOTRAN incorporate WIPP-specific process models and will replace the 2-D simulators (BRAGFLO and NUTS) that are currently utilized for Salado flow and transport calculations in WIPP PA. The focus of this paper is on the development of a new Nuclear Waste Transport (NWT) mode in PFLOTRAN that has all of the capabilities necessary for Salado transport simulations, including the ability to handle complete dry-out (100% gas saturation) of arbitrary cells in the model domain, radionuclide mass conservation at step changes in porosity associated with borehole intrusion, and the ability to calculate fluxes on a flared grid. The new PFLOTRAN transport capability and a suite of verification tests were designed around a list of functional requirements for WIPP PA calculations. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

A Convolution Neural Network for Voltage Event Classification at a Photovoltaic Inverter

This paper presents a convolutional neural network (CNN) developed to identify voltage events in photovoltaic (PV) inverters. The CNN is trained on synthetic data generated using the IEEE 13-bus distribution feeder model and evaluated on field measured data collected from Energy Northwest’s Horn Rapids Solar, Storage, and Training (HRSST) facility. The study focuses on two common voltage events: faults and voltage sags. The CNN is configured to analyze voltage and current waveforms from three-phase PV systems, demonstrating excellent accuracy during training. Field data from the HRSST facility is employed to assess its real-world performance, where the CNN achieves perfect identification of faults and voltage sags in a sample of nine events. This work highlights the potential of the proposed method to enhance PV protection schemes, providing a robust foundation for improved voltage event detection and grid reliability.

Cornachione, Matthew A.↗

Integrated Molten Salt Reactor Modeling Capabilities in NEAMS Thermal Hydraulics Tools

The DOE neams program supports a full range of computational thermal fluids analysis capabilities and code developments for a broad range of advanced reactor concepts. The research and development approach under the thermal fluids technical area synergistically combines three length and time scales in a hierarchical multi-scale approach. To enable multi-scale thermal fluids capability using these codes, a key joint effort has been underway to develop an integrated system- and engineering-scale thermal fluids analysis capability, through integration of SAM and Pronghorn codes, both based on the MOOSE framework. This report summarizes recent advances in developing an integrated system- and engineering-scale modeling capability for the msr concept, which has gained significant interest in recent years. A consistent framework was established by coupling Pronghorn and SAM through the Saline interface, with thermophysical properties provided by the Molten Salt Thermal Property Database (MSTDB-TP). Further improvements were made to the coupling schemes and domain-overlapping strategies, enhancing the stability and robustness of multi-code simulations. Verification and validation efforts demonstrate the accuracy of this integration across a range of benchmark problems, including one-dimensional heated pipe flows, three-dimensional natural convection loops with evolving isotopic compositions, and \gls{msre} demonstration cases. Within Pronghorn, new capabilities were introduced to model corrosion and noble-metal plating phenomena, supported by an extended thermal-hydraulics framework and refined turbulence treatments. To capture two-phase flow behavior, a multiphase Euler–Euler model was implemented in Pronghorn, including advanced closure relations, high-resolution advection techniques, and capillary force reconstruction. Preliminary verification cases confirm the fidelity of the approach, while planned validation efforts target canonical multiphase benchmarks and application to msr components such as the msre pump bowl. Finally, updates to SAM’s msr mass transfer modeling were extended to consider noble gas migration into porous structures like graphite. The point kinetics model was updated to include reactivity feedback contributions from any defined species, such as xenon. The gas transport model was expanded for applicability to gas mixtures, bubble efflux phenomena, and species transport between liquid and gas phases. A selection of multi-scale Sherwood number correlations from MOSCATO/NekRS and multi-phase correlations from literature have been added for improved accuracy in calculating mass transfer coefficients. A companion effort on developing system-level redox corrosion has also been incorporated into SAM. Collectively, these enhancements strengthen the predictive capability of SAM and Pronghorn for simulating MSR thermal-hydraulics, corrosion, multiphase behavior, and fission-product transport, providing a more complete toolset for design, safety analysis, and licensing support of next-generation \gls{msr}s.

42 - ENGINEERING↗

A model for microwave intensity propagation in an inhomogeneous medium

A combined analytic and phenomenological approach, utilizing Maxwell's equations in the Born approximation with radiative transfer theory, is used to describe the propagation of microwave intensity in a scattering medium characterized by three-dimensional random fluctuations in refractive index, as well as nonrandom variations in permittivity, temperature, and loss. This approach yields microwave intensities as a function of polarization, direction, and position. Numerical techniques are presented to solve the transport equations, which include cases of spatially varying coefficients, and highly peaked phase functions. Some computed results illustrating the behavior of microwave intensity in various media are presented. Included are the angular and frequency spectra of thermal emission from semi-infinite media, and the diffuse transmission and reflection response of a scattering layer. The effects of scatterer geometry and scale sizes; correlation function; and gradients in temperature, loss, and scattering parameters are also demonstrated. This model should be particularly useful in interpreting active and passive remote sensing data.

Fisher, A. D.↗

Chromatographic Modeling of 1-Foot Detritiation Test Column Results for the Optimization of Regeneration Time

This report documents the methods and results of a modeling study on a series of data generated by 1-foot test columns for the Water Detritiation project. In order to compliment modeling work already in progress on this project, a purely empirical curve-fitting approach is used in this study to determine chromatographic performance indicators such as retention time, curve width, and the number of chromatographic stages. The data used in this study comes from four sets of chromatographic test separations performed in March through May of 2017 using 1-foot columns. All are using the same flow rates and temperature (room temperature, nominally 25 C°). The first set of data (referred to in this report as the Column 1 data) is a series of twelve breakthrough curve measurements. Prior to each of these twelve runs, the column was regenerated by flowing hydrogen gas through the column, for increasing amounts of time, ranging from 2 hours to 25 hours. The second set of data (referred to as the Column 2 data) is comprised of five measurements of breakthrough curves measured in similar fashion as the Column 1 data, across a range of regeneration times from 2 to 21 hours. The third set of data (referred to as the Purge data) is of three breakthrough curves, measured after a regeneration time of 8 hours, which takes place after a nitrogen purge of 15, 30, or 45 minutes. The fourth data set is a series of five breakthrough curve measurements using a 2 nd batch of stationary phase, taken after regeneration times ranging from 2 to 20 hours. The overall modeling approach is as follows. First, the data is pre-processed for formatting, artifact removal, and is normalized. The data is then fit by integrated versions of four common chromatographic models. The best model is chosen based on the predictive performance of the model, and chromatographic performance values are calculated based on the best model’s fit parameters. Each of these processes are detailed below.

42 ENGINEERING↗

The Three-Dimensional Combustion of Heterogeneous Propellants

A numerical framework is described which permits the calculation of the 3-D combustion field supported by a heterogeneous propellant, allowing for complete coupling between the condensed phase physics, the gas-phase physics, and the unsteady, uneven, regressing surface. A random packing algorithm is used to construct models of ammonium-perchlorate in hydroxyl-terminated-polybutadiene propellants which mimic experimental propellants designed by R. Miller, and these are numerically burnt. Mean burning rates are compared with experimental data for four packs, over a pressure range of 7-200atm.

Massa, L.↗

A dynamical model for reflex activated head movements in the horizontal plane

We present a controls systems model of horizontal-plane head movements during perturbations of the trunk, which for the first time interfaces a model of the human head with neural feedback controllers representing the vestibulocollic (VCR) and the cervicocollic (CCR) reflexes. This model is homeomorphic such that model structure and parameters are drawn directly from anthropomorphic, biomechanical and physiological studies. Using control theory we analyzed the system model in the time and frequency domains, simulating neck movement responses to input perturbations of the trunk. Without reflex control, the head and neck system produced a second-order underdamped response with a 5.2 dB resonant peak at 2.1 Hz. Adding the CCR component to the system dampened the response by approximately 7%. Adding the VCR component dampened head oscillations by 75%. The VCR also improved low-frequency compensation by increasing the gain and phase lag, creating a phase minimum at 0.1 Hz and a phase peak at 1.1 Hz. Combining all three components (mechanics, VCR and CCR) linearly in the head and neck system reduced the amplitude of the resonant peak to 1.1 dB and increased the resonant frequency to 2.9 Hz. The closed loop results closely fit human data, and explain quantitatively the characteristic phase peak often observed.

NASA Discipline Neuroscience↗

Effect of Clouds on Optical Imaging of the Space Shuttle During the Ascent Phase: A Statistical Analysis Based on a 3D Model

Clouds are highly effective in obscuring optical images of the Space Shuttle taken during its ascent by ground-based and airborne tracking cameras. Because the imagery is used for quick-look and post-flight engineering analysis, the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) recommended the return-to-flight effort include an upgrade of the imaging system to enable it to obtain at least three useful views of the Shuttle from lift-off to at least solid rocket booster (SRB) separation (NASA 2003). The lifetimes of individual cloud elements capable of obscuring optical views of the Shuttle are typically 20 minutes or less. Therefore, accurately observing and forecasting cloud obscuration over an extended network of cameras poses an unprecedented challenge for the current state of observational and modeling techniques. In addition, even the best numerical simulations based on real observations will never reach "truth." In order to quantify the risk that clouds would obscure optical imagery of the Shuttle, a 3D model to calculate probabilistic risk was developed. The model was used to estimate the ability of a network of optical imaging cameras to obtain at least N simultaneous views of the Shuttle from lift-off to SRB separation in the presence of an idealized, randomized cloud field.

FROM↗

Stability and Interaction of Coherent Structure in Supersonic Reactive Wakes

A theoretical formulation and analysis is presented for a study of the stability and interaction of coherent structure in reacting free shear layers. The physical problem under investigation is a premixed hydrogen-oxygen reacting shear layer in the wake of a thin flat plate. The coherent structure is modeled as a periodic disturbance and its stability is determined by the application of linearized hydrodynamic stability theory which results in a generalized eigenvalue problem for reactive flows. Detailed stability analysis of the reactive wake for neutral, symmetrical and antisymmetrical disturbance is presented. Reactive stability criteria is shown to be quite different from classical non-reactive stability. The interaction between the mean flow, coherent structure and fine-scale turbulence is theoretically formulated using the von-Kaman integral technique. Both time-averaging and conditional phase averaging are necessary to separate the three types of motion. The resulting integro-differential equations can then be solved subject to initial conditions with appropriate shape functions. In the laminar flow transition region of interest, the spatial interaction between the mean motion and coherent structure is calculated for both non-reactive and reactive conditions and compared with experimental data wherever available. The fine-scale turbulent motion determined by the application of integral analysis to the fluctuation equations. Since at present this turbulence model is still untested, turbulence is modeled in the interaction problem by a simple algebraic eddy viscosity model. The applicability of the integral turbulence model formulated here is studied parametrically by integrating these equations for the simple case of self-similar mean motion with assumed shape functions. The effect of the motion of the coherent structure is studied and very good agreement is obtained with previous experimental and theoretical works for non-reactive flow. For the reactive case, lack of experimental data made direct comparison difficult. It was determined that the growth rate of the disturbance amplitude is lower for reactive case. The results indicate that the reactive flow stability is in qualitative agreement with experimental observation.

Menon, Suresh↗

Expanding the physics reach of DUNE in the near and far detectors

The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) is a next-generation long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment. Its primary goal is the determination of the neutrino mass hierarchy and the CP-violating phase. The DUNE physics programme also includes the detection of astrophysical neutrinos and the search for beyond the Standard Model (BSM) phenomena. DUNE will consist of a near detector (ND) complex placed at Fermilab, and a modular Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber (LArTPC) far detector (FD) to be built in the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF), approximately 1300 km away from the neutrino production point. This thesis describes three different projects within DUNE. First, a novel strategy to improve the triggering capabilities of the DUNE FD is proposed. It uses matched filters to enhance the production of online hits across all charge collection planes. Next, the possibility of detecting neutrinos coming from dark matter (DM) annihilations in the Sun with the FD is explored. The complementarity of DUNE to this kind of DM searches is shown. Finally, the simulation and reconstruction framework of ND-GAr, the gas argon ND proposed for Phase II of DUNE, is presented. A number of additions to this are described, particularly focused on the development of the particle identification (PID) capabilities of the detector. These are then used to perform the first event selection studies with an end-to-end simulation in ND-GAr, in particular the selection of pion exclusive samples in $\nu_{\mu}$ CC interactions. All three of these projects share the common goal of enhancing the physics programme of DUNE.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Integration of the Biot–Gassmann Fluid Substitution Method and Machine Learning-Based Velocity–Stress Relationship for Estimating In Situ Stresses

Recent advancements have shown that in situ stresses can be reliably estimated through an integrated machine/deep learning (ML/DL)-based framework, which relies on models trained and validated using true triaxial ultrasonic velocity (TUV) experimental data that involve measurements of ultrasonic velocity in saturated rocks under varying stress configurations. However, when the goal is to interpret lower frequency measurements, it may be more appropriate to run experiments on dry rocks and then obtain Biot–Gassmann-derived equivalent saturated velocities (low-frequency approximation) and employ these quantities for training ML/DL models to predict in situ stress. Whether the dispersion effect of frequency on the velocity–stress relationship substantially impacts in situ stress prediction is an important and unresolved question. This work presents an enhancement of ML/DL-based workflow by training and implementing ML/DL models using equivalent saturated acoustic velocities (low-frequency) obtained by applying Biot–Gassmann fluid substitution on the ultrasonic velocities of dry cores. The models were trained on TUV data sets derived from three subsurface cores extracted from the geothermal well 16B(78)-32 at the Utah FORGE site. Each core was subjected to 75 unique stress configurations for velocity measurement in the dry state. The ML/DL trained on the TUV data set with equivalent saturated velocities demonstrated promising performance to predict in situ stress in subsurface geological rocks using velocity–stress relationships with R 2 of 0.86, 0.971, and 0.975 and root mean squared error (RMSE) of 2.59, 1.92, and 1.80 for validation/testing phases of vertical, minimum horizontal, and maximum horizontal stress models, respectively. Additionally, interpretation and explanation by Shapley additive explanations (SHAP) analysis further improved scientific validation and model reliability for estimating in situ stresses.

colloids↗

An Analysis of Gravity-Field Estimation Based on Intersatellite Dual-1-Way Biased Ranging

The GRACE (Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment) mission is designed to make global, highly accurate measurements of the Earth's gravity field with high spatial resolution. Ancillary GPS occultation measurements are also to be carried out for atmospheric monitoring. In the dual-1-way biased ranging of this mission, the range between two satellites separated by 100 to 200 km in nearly polar, coplanar, circular orbits, is measured to very high precision, to within an additive constant, through the exchange of K- and Ka-band sinusoidal signals. Such biased ranging data, along with GPS L-band range and phase data, can be processed and fit over successive multiday intervals to obtain accurate estimates of the Earth's gravity field. This report approximately models and analyzes this process, from the generation of the RF signals at the two satellites through the extraction of the geopotential. The steps include generation of the transmitted signals, processing the received signals to extract high-rate baseband phase, carrying out a dual-1-way combination of baseband phase to extract high-rate biased range for each band, combining K- and Ka-band ranges to correct for the ionosphere effect, and processing the resulting high-rate biased range values to extract three types of reduced-rate observables: biased range, range rate and range acceleration. The version of dual-1-way biased ranging developed by this report improves upon previous versions in a number of ways: highly accurate satellite-timetag corrections derived from concurrent GPS data, better baseband phase extraction using highly digital processing, highly accurate USO-rate calibration derived from concurrent GPS data, an improved method for extracting high-rate biased range from baseband phase, improved filtering for extracting reduced- rate observables from high-rate biased range, and parallel extraction of three observable types.

SINUSOIDAL SIGNALS↗