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At least 1,225 records · Page 68

The Power Curve Working Group's Assessment of Wind Turbine Power Performance Prediction Methods

A wind turbine power curve is often only strictly valid for a subset of all atmospheric conditions (i.e., the inner range), while wind turbines also operate in other scenarios (i.e., the outer range). Hence, modeling the power output in real-world conditions is a fundamental challenge. For example, the power deviation matrix (PDM) in Figure 1 displays an overprediction of power production using a reference power curve when wind speed (WS) and turbulence intensity (TI) are both low. Many experts use the PDM approach to observe any systematic bias in power curves and correct this in energy yield models. The mission of the Power Curve Working Group (PCWG) is to bring together wind industry stakeholders to help identify, validate, and develop ways to improve modeling of wind turbine performance in all atmospheric conditions.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

What Makes Passengers Uncomfortable In Vehicles Today? An Exploratory Study of Current Factors that May Influence Acceptance of Future Autonomous Vehicles

Autonomous vehicles have the potential to transform lives by providing transportation to a wider range of users. However, with this new method of transportation, user acceptance and comfort are critical for widespread adoption. This exploratory study aims to investigate what makes passengers uncomfortable in existing vehicles to inform the design of future autonomous vehicles. In order to predict what may impact user acceptance for a diverse rider population for future autonomous vehicles, it is important to understand what makes a broad range of passengers uncomfortable today. In this study, interviews were conducted for a total of 75 participants from three diverse groups, including 20 automotive engineering graduate students who are building an autonomous concept vehicle, 21 non-technical adults, and 34 senior citizens. The results revealed both topics which made different groups of passengers uncomfortable as well as how these varied between the groups. The leading contributors to the highest discomfort for all groups were being a passenger in situations with a distracted driver, being in a vehicle that is following too closely, being near a vehicle that is following too closely, and being in foggy conditions. In addition, the results showed that passenger discomfort can be attributed to a broad range of factors ranging from behaviors of the driver/vehicle that one is traveling with/in, the behaviors of other surrounding vehicles, the environmental conditions and the vehicle’s interior, all of which may differ between different groups of passengers. This research provides important findings and insights into factors that may influence users’ acceptance and use of future autonomous vehicles.

Mims, Lauren K.↗

Deliver Signal Phase and Timing (SPAT) for Energy Optimization of Vehicle Cohort Via Cloud-Computing and LTE Communications

Predictive Signal Phase and Timing (SPAT) message set is one fundamental building block for vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) applications such as Eco-Approach and Departure (EAD) at traffic signal controlled urban intersections. Among the two complementary communication methods namely short-range sidelink (PC5) and long-range cellular radio link (Uu), this paper documents the work with long-range link: the complete data chain includes connecting to the traffic signals via existing backhaul communication network, collecting the raw signal phase state data, predicting the signal state changes and delivering the SPAT data via a geofenced service to requests over HTTP protocols. An Application Programming Interface (API) library is developed to support various cellular data transmission reduction and latency improvement techniques. An emulation-based algorithm is applied to predict the traffic signal state changes to provide adequate prediction horizon (e.g., at minimum 2 minutes) for the cohort energy optimization. In fact, the same connectivity and SPAT delivery methodology has been applied to traffic signalized intersections nationwide in the United States upon public agency approvals for access to their firewalled traffic control network and signal control systems or directly to individual controllers. This methodology proves its effectiveness and potential for rapid growth of such SPAT deliveries at mass production scale without needing infrastructure hardware retrofit or excessive communication means. To support the energy optimization of light and heavy-duty vehicle cohorts of mixed automation and propulsion systems (EV, ICE and hybrid), the connection and SPAT deliveries at two sites were completed, including public roads in Washtenaw County, Michigan and closed track test sites at American Center for Mobility (ACM) in Ypsilanti, Michigan. However, only closed test track results at ACM will be presented in this paper. A neuroevolution based optimizer is developed and implemented to control the speed of a vehicle cohort with different propulsion systems and automation levels. Closed track tests showed significant energy savings of the cohort operation.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗

A Refined BISON-Griffin Workflow For Designing Targeted TRISO Transient Experiments In The Transient Reactor Test Facility

U.S. industry is expected to deploy tristructural isotropic (TRISO) particle fuel technologies for commercial reactors within the next decade. In our previous work, we defined a preliminary transient design space for TRISO fuels, identified potential gaps in the available data, and began to develop multiphysics modeling tools that could be applied to design targeted Transient Reactor Test Facility (TREAT) experiments to fill these gaps. This work builds on that foundation by (1) updating BISON fuel performance and Griffin reactor physics models to reflect the current TREAT experiment tube and capsule designs,(2) coupling the codes to improve the accuracy and usability of the transient design analyses, and (3) demonstrating their use over an expanded design space that includes fuel burnup. The simulated mechanical responses of the TRISO particles were complex functions of fission product accumulation, fission gas release, and irradiation-induced dimensional change in the pyrolytic carbon layers. Predicted tangential stresses in particle silicon carbide layers were least compressive for preheated tests involving fresh fuels but remained compressive throughout the ranges of temperature, heat rate, and burnup considered in this work. Finally, comparisons between the potential TREAT transients and historical test reactor irradiations showed that the TREAT tests would produce significantly lower average energy deposition rates, yielding less severe transients with greater relevance to near-term commercial applications. Use of these predictive capabilities has the potential to increase the value of each test, improving the overall efficiency and cost effectiveness of transient testing for TRISO and other advanced fuels.

11 - NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Release Timing and Duration Control the Fate of Photolytic Compounds in Stream-Hyporheic Systems

Predicting environmental fate requires an understanding of the underlying, spatiotemporally variable interaction of transport and transformation processes. Photolytic compounds, for example, interact with both time-variable photolysis and the perennially dark hyporheic zone, generating potentially unexpected dynamics that arise from time-variable reactivity. This interaction has been found to significantly impact environmental fate but is commonly oversimplified in predictive models. Our primary objective was to explore how time-variable photolysis and hyporheic storage interact across a range of photolysis rates to control the fate and transport of photolytic solutes in stream-hyporheic systems. In this study, we released a photolytic compound in a natural system at different times of day and simulated variable release timing and durations of photolytic compounds spanning half-lives ranging from about 2 min to 900 hr. To contextualize these results, we simulated five photolytic compounds with varied half-lives to systematically study the interaction between release timing, duration, and reactivity. We found that the environmental fate and transport of photolytic compounds are highly variable as a function of release timing, which controls when, where, and for how long solute is stored in the hyporheic zone or exposed to in-channel photolysis. Finally, this knowledge can be used to improve predictions for photolytic compounds or assess potential impacts for an anticipated discharge or treatment.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

New Approach Methodology for Assessing Inhalation Risks of a Contact Respiratory Cytotoxicant: Computational Fluid Dynamics-Based Aerosol Dosimetry Modeling for Cross-Species and In Vitro Comparisons

Regulatory agencies are considering alternative approaches to assessing inhalation toxicity that utilizes in vitro studies with human cells and in silico modeling in lieu of additional animal studies. In support of this goal, computational fluid-particle dynamics models were developed to estimate site-specific deposition of inhaled aerosols containing the fungicide, chlorothalonil, in the rat and human for comparisons to prior rat inhalation studies and new human in vitro studies. Under bioassay conditions, the deposition was predicted to be greatest at the front of the rat nose followed by the anterior transitional epithelium and larynx corresponding to regions most sensitive to local contact irritation and cytotoxicity. For humans, simulations of aerosol deposition covering potential occupational or residential exposures (1–50 µm diameter) were conducted using nasal and oral breathing. Aerosols in the 1–5 µm range readily penetrated the deep region of the human lung following both oral and nasal breathing. Under actual use conditions (aerosol formulations >10 µm), the majority of deposited doses were in the upper conducting airways. Beyond the nose or mouth, the greatest deposition in the pharynx, larynx, trachea, and bronchi was predicted for aerosols in the 10–20 µm size range. Only small amounts of aerosols >20 µm penetrated past the pharyngeal region. Using the ICRP clearance model, local retained tissue dose metrics including maximal concentrations and areas under the curve were calculated for each airway region following repeated occupational exposures. These results are directly comparable with benchmark doses from in vitro toxicity studies in human cells leading to estimated human equivalent concentrations that reduce the reliance on animals for risk assessments.

63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTAN↗

Predicting the influence of particle size on the glass transition temperature and viscosity of secondary organic material

Abstract Atmospheric aerosols can assume liquid, amorphous semi-solid or glassy, and crystalline phase states. Particle phase state plays a critical role in understanding and predicting aerosol impacts on human health, visibility, cloud formation, and climate. Melting point depression increases with decreasing particle diameter and is predicted by the Gibbs–Thompson relationship. This work reviews existing data on the melting point depression to constrain a simple parameterization of the process. The parameter $$\xi $$ ξ describes the degree to which particle size lowers the melting point and is found to vary between 300 and 1800 K nm for a wide range of particle compositions. The parameterization is used together with existing frameworks for modeling the temperature and RH dependence of viscosity to predict the influence of particle size on the glass transition temperature and viscosity of secondary organic aerosol formed from the oxidation of $$\alpha $$ α -pinene. Literature data are broadly consistent with the predictions. The model predicts a sharp decrease in viscosity for particles less than 100 nm in diameter. It is computationally efficient and suitable for inclusion in models to evaluate the potential influence of the phase change on atmospheric processes. New experimental data of the size-dependence of particle viscosity for atmospheric aerosol mimics are needed to thoroughly validate the predictions.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Genome-wide DNA methylation patterns harbour signatures of hatchling sex and past incubation temperature in a species with environmental sex determination

Conservation of thermally sensitive species depends on monitoring organismal and population-level responses to environmental change in real time. Epigenetic processes are increasingly recognized as key integrators of environmental conditions into developmentally plastic responses, and attendant epigenomic data sets hold potential for revealing cryptic phenotypes relevant to conservation efforts. Here, we demonstrate the utility of genome-wide DNA methylation (DNAm) patterns in the face of climate change for a group of especially vulnerable species, those with temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD). Due to their reliance on thermal cues during development to determine sexual fate, contemporary shifts in temperature are predicted to skew offspring sex ratios and ultimately destabilize sensitive populations. Using reduced-representation bisulphite sequencing, we profiled the DNA methylome in blood cells of hatchling American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis), a TSD species lacking reliable markers of sexual dimorphism in early life stages. We identified 120 sex-associated differentially methylated cytosines (DMCs; FDR < 0.1) in hatchlings incubated under a range of temperatures, as well as 707 unique temperature-associated DMCs. We further developed DNAm-based models capable of predicting hatchling sex with 100% accuracy (in 20 training samples and four test samples) and past incubation temperature with a mean absolute error of 1.2°C (in four test samples) based on the methylation status of 20 and 24 loci, respectively. Though largely independent of epigenomic patterning occurring in the embryonic gonad during TSD, DNAm patterns in blood cells may serve as nonlethal markers of hatchling sex and past incubation conditions in conservation applications. These findings also raise intriguing questions regarding tissue-specific epigenomic patterning in the context of developmental plasticity.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

The solubility of NdPO 4 and DyPO 4 and stability of Nd and Dy chloride and hydroxyl complexes as a function of pH and salinity to 450 °C

The mobility of rare earth elements (REE) in geological systems is often controlled by the stability of monazite and xenotime, which are important hosts for the light and heavy REE. These REE phosphates constitute important resources and provide information on ore formation conditions and timing due to their uses as geothermometers and geochronometers. While the thermodynamic properties for these minerals are well-established up to high temperature and pressure, the properties for the aqueous REE complexes are not well constrained with limited information up to 300 °C. In this study, the solubility of synthetic NdPO 4 and DyPO 4 endmembers were measured in hydrothermal sub- to supercritical NaCl-bearing aqueous solutions from 350 at saturated water vapor pressure to 450 °C at 700 bar. The speciation of Nd and Dy was determined in acidic to alkaline solutions (pH 25 °C values from 2 to 10), and indicates that the hydroxyl species REE(OH) 2 + and REE(OH) 3 0 predominate at low salinity (0.01 mol/kg NaCl) with some contribution of REE chloride species REECl 2+ and REECl 2 + in acidic fluids. The REE phosphate solubility measured in these experiments is up to two orders of magnitude higher than predicted using existing thermodynamic properties from literature for aqueous species extrapolated from lower temperature data to supercritical conditions. To address this discrepancy, the thermodynamic properties of the REE aqueous species were optimized using GEMSFITS to derive the formation constants for the REE chloride (β Cl ) and hydroxyl (β OH ) complexes in the studied temperature range. This study highlights the importance of the hydroxyl species REE(OH) 2 + and REE(OH) 3 0 over a wide range of pH and temperature. As a result, the revised thermodynamic properties for Dy and Nd chloride and hydroxyl species more accurately predict the solubility of NdPO 4 and DyPO 4 and provide insight into the speciation and mobility of the light and heavy REE in hydrothermal supercritical fluids in the crust.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

Adaptation Strategies Strongly Reduce the Future Impacts of Climate Change on Simulated Crop Yields

Abstract Simulations of crop yield due to climate change vary widely between models, locations, species, management strategies, and Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs). To understand how climate and adaptation affects yield change, we developed a meta‐model based on 8703 site‐level process‐model simulations of yield with different future adaptation strategies and climate scenarios for maize, rice, wheat and soybean. We tested 10 statistical models, including some machine learning models, to predict the percentage change in projected future yield relative to the baseline period (2000–2010) as a function of explanatory variables related to adaptation strategy and climate change. We used the best model to produce global maps of yield change for the RCP4.5 scenario and identify the most influential variables affecting yield change using Shapley additive explanations. For most locations, adaptation was the most influential factor determining the projected yield change for maize, rice and wheat. Without adaptation under RCP4.5, all crops are expected to experience average global yield losses of 6%–21%. Adaptation alleviates this average projected loss by 1–13 percentage points. Maize was most responsive to adaptive practices with a projected mean yield loss of −21% [range across locations: −63%, +3.7%] without adaptation and −7.5% [range: −46%, +13%] with adaptation. For maize and rice, irrigation method and cultivar choice were the adaptation types predicted to most prevent large yield losses, respectively. When adaptation practices are applied, some areas are predicted to experience yield gains, especially at northern high latitudes. These results reveal the critical importance of implementing adequate adaptation strategies to mitigate the impact of climate change on crop yields.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Hot Springs and Geysers: Exploring Historical and Modern Impacts of Geothermal Energy Production on Associated Natural Surface Systems and Standardizing Management Practices

Surface thermal features, most notably hot springs and geysers are increasingly being recognized for their importance to ecosystems, indigenous cultures, and in some cases agriculture, recreation, and tourism. Geothermal project development poses a potential risk to these natural features but current regulatory requirements for assessing and managing these risks during exploration, permitting and monitoring are somewhat inconsistent and unpredictable across different geothermal fields. This has resulted in uncertainty and increases in exploration risk for geothermal energy developers that have led to costly project delays, cancellations, or hesitation to commit. Varying regulatory requirements may also influence public perception, fostering confusion, distrust and ultimately opposition to geothermal projects, further contributing to project delays or cancellations. At a time when there is an increasing urgency for reliable baseload clean energy, geothermal is a net-zero, renewable solution that additionally provides access to more equitable and environmentally just clean power. Continued integration of geothermal energy into the national energy roadmap can be facilitated through consistent and predictable permitting, providing regulators the framework they need, developers a clear path forward, and transparency that the public deserves. This project, currently in its beginning phases, seeks to address this important issue by providing a technical basis from which to build a preliminary protocol for assessing and managing potential impacts from new or existing geothermal energy projects to surface thermal features and their associated ecosystems. Development of this preliminary protocol will be informed by (1) a literature review of well-documented case studies in the western U.S. and New Zealand to understand the range of conditions that exemplify geothermal-surface thermal systems; (2) development of generic illustrative conceptual-numerical models to quantify, understand, and predict the first-order controls (e.g., pressure and permeability) on surface flows; and (3) additional independent and scientifically rigorous evaluations of geothermal-surface thermal system case studies from the Basin and Range Province that incorporate publicly available data as well as data provided by industry through data-sharing agreements. Learning from the successes of the process used to develop the Induced Seismicity Management Protocol (ISMP), we ultimately aim to use these initial efforts as a springboard for establishing a surface thermal feature management working group that will work collaboratively to finalize the protocol as well as co-create recommended best practices for implementation. We envision that the working group will primarily be composed of representatives from regulatory entities, government agencies, Tribes, academia, national laboratories, and industry, and will include early and regular engagement with community organizations and environmental groups. This will help ensure broad acceptance and implementation of the protocol, which will facilitate a more consistent, predictable, and standardized regulatory process, and help to ensure that geothermal energy continues to provide a reliable source of clean energy, and a pathway to achieving greater energy equity in the U.S.

Best Practices↗

Measuring thermal profiles in high explosives using neural networks

We present a new method for calculating the temperature profile of high explosive (HE) material using a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN). To train/test the CNN, we have developed a hybrid experiment/simulation method for collecting acoustic and temperature data. We experimentally heat cylindrical containers of HE material until detonation/deflagration, where we continuously measure the acoustic bursts through the HE using multiple acoustic transducers lined around the exterior container circumference. However, measuring the temperature profile in the HE in an experiment would require inserting a large number of thermal probes, which would disrupt the heating process. Thus, we use two thermal probes, one at the HE center and one at the wall. We then use numerical simulation of the heating process to calculate the temperature distribution and correct the simulated temperatures based on the experimental center and wall temperatures. We calculate temperature errors on the order of 15 °C, which is ∼12% of the range of temperatures in the experiment. We also investigate how the algorithm’s accuracy is affected by the number of acoustic receivers used to collect each measurement and the resolution of the temperature prediction. This work provides a means of assessing the safety status of HE material, which cannot be achieved using existing temperature measurement methods. In addition, it has implications for a range of other applications where internal temperature profile measurements would provide critical information. These applications include detecting chemical reactions, observing thermodynamic processes such as combustion, monitoring metal or plastic casting, determining the energy density in thermal storage capsules, and identifying abnormal battery operations.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Measuring thermal profiles in high explosives using neural networks

We present a new method for calculating the temperature profile of high explosive (HE) material using a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN). To train/test the CNN, we have developed a hybrid experiment/simulation method for collecting acoustic and temperature data. We experimentally heat cylindrical containers of HE material until detonation/deflagration, where we continuously measure the acoustic bursts through the HE using multiple acoustic transducers lined around the exterior container circumference. However, measuring the temperature profile in the HE in an experiment would require inserting a large number of thermal probes, which would disrupt the heating process. Thus, we use two thermal probes, one at the HE center and one at the wall. We then use numerical simulation of the heating process to calculate the temperature distribution and correct the simulated temperatures based on the experimental center and wall temperatures. We calculate temperature errors on the order of 15 °C, which is ~12% of the range of temperatures in the experiment. We also investigate how the algorithm’s accuracy is affected by the number of acoustic receivers used to collect each measurement and the resolution of the temperature prediction. This work provides a means of assessing the safety status of HE material, which cannot be achieved using existing temperature measurement methods. In addition, it has implications for a range of other applications where internal temperature profile measurements would provide critical information. These applications include detecting chemical reactions, observing thermodynamic processes such as combustion, monitoring metal or plastic casting, determining the energy density in thermal storage capsules, and identifying abnormal battery operations.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Continuum Damage Mechanics Modeling of High-Temperature Flaw Propagation: Application to Creep Crack Growth In 316H Standardized Specimens and Nuclear Reactor Components

Predicting creep crack growth (CCG) of flaws found during operation in high-temperature alloy components is essential for assessing the remaining lifetime of those components. While defect assessment procedures are available for this purpose in design codes, these are limited in their range of applicability. This study assesses the application of a local damage-based finite-element methodology as a more general technique for the prediction of CCG at high temperatures on a variety of structural configurations. Numerical results for stainless steel 316H, which are validated against experimental data, show the promise of this approach. This integration of continuum damage mechanics (CDM) based methodologies, together with adequate inelastic models, into assessment procedures can therefore inform the characterization of CCG under complex operating conditions, while avoiding excessive conservatism. This article shows that such modeling frameworks can be calibrated to experimental data and used to demonstrate that the degree of tri-axiality ahead of a growing creep crack affects its rate of growth. The framework is also successfully employed in characterizing CCG in a realistic reactor pressure vessel geometry under an arbitrary loading condition. These results are particularly relevant to the nuclear power industry for defect assessment and inspections as part of codified practices of structural components with flaws in high-temperature reactors.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Graph neural networks predict energetic and mechanical properties for models of solid solution metal alloy phases

Here, we developed a PyTorch-based architecture called HydraGNN that implements graph convolutional neural networks (GCNNs) to predict the formation energy and the bulk modulus for models of solid solution alloys for various atomic crystal structures and relaxed volumes. We trained the GCNN surrogate model on a dataset for nickel–niobium (NiNb) generated by the embedded atom model (EAM) empirical interatomic potential for demonstration purposes. The dataset was generated by calculating the formation energy and the bulk modulus as a prototypical elastic property for optimized geometries starting from initial body-centered cubic (BCC), face-centered cubic (FCC), and hexagonal compact packed (HCP) crystal structures, with configurations spanning the possible compositional range for each of the three types of initial crystal structures. Numerical results show that the GCNN model effectively predicts both the formation energy and the bulk modulus as function of the optimized crystal structure, relaxed volume, and configurational entropy of the model structures for solid solution alloys.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Design optimization of semiconductor piezoresistors with Schottky diode contacts

A modeling theory is developed to predict the performance of piezoresistors which incorporate Schottky diode electrical contacts. This new theory allows the design of high performance gauges which can be fabricated using NonLithographically-Based Microfabrication (NLBM) techniques. These semiconductor piezoresistors can be designed in customizable sizes and fabricated in parallel in order to integrate position sensing into MEMS flexural positioners. Customizable nanopositioning platforms will enable advances in a range of nano-scale fabrication and metrology applications. A semiconductor piezoresistor with Schottky diode contacts was fabricated and attached to a titanium flexure. This device is shown to match predicted electrical performance within about 8% and to show a gauge factor of 116, within 2% of the predicted value. Performance limits for Schottky diode semiconductor piezoresistors are identified to be about 127dB full noise dynamic range for a quarter bridge over a 10kHz sensor bandwidth on a 600µm width titanium flexure, making them ideal for sensing on meso-/micro-scale flexural positioners. Methods of reaching these performance bound are suggested and their impact on the sensor dynamic range are studied.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Multipolar Fermi Surface Deformations in Sr 2 ⁢RuO 4 Probed by Resistivity and Sound Attenuation: A Window into Electron Viscosity and the Collision Operator

Recent developments in electron hydrodynamics have demonstrated the importance of considering the full structure of the electron-electron scattering operator, which encodes a sequence of lifetimes, one for each component of the Fermi surface deformation in a multipolar expansion. In this context, the dipolar lifetime is measured by resistivity, whereas the quadrupolar component probes the viscosity and can be measured in the bulk via sound attenuation. We introduce a framework to extract the collision operator of an arbitrary metal by combining resistivity and sound attenuation measurements with a realistic calculation of the scattering operator that includes multiband and umklapp effects. The collision operator allows for the prediction of a plethora of properties, including the nonlocal conductivity, and can be used to predict hydrodynamic behavior for bulk metals. As a first application, we apply this framework to Sr 2 ⁢RuO 4 in a temperature range where electron-electron scattering is dominant. Furthermore, we find quantitative agreement between our model and the temperature dependence of both the resistivity and the sound attenuation, we find the quadrupolar (𝐵 1⁢𝑔 ) relaxation rate to be 30% higher than the dipolar one due to the presence of hot spots on the 𝛾 band, and we predict a strongly anisotropic viscosity arising from the 𝛼 and 𝛽 bands.

Boltzmann theory↗

Quantifying wildfire drivers and predictability in boreal peatlands using a two-step error-correcting machine learning framework in TeFire v1.0

Abstract. Wildfires are becoming an increasing challenge to the sustainability of boreal peatland (BP) ecosystems and can alter the stability of boreal carbon storage. However, predicting the occurrence of rare and extreme BP fires proves to be challenging, and gaining a quantitative understanding of the factors, both natural and anthropogenic, inducing BP fires remains elusive. Here, we quantified the predictability of BP fires and their primary controlling factors from 1997 to 2015 using a two-step correcting machine learning (ML) framework that combines multiple ML classifiers, regression models, and an error-correcting technique. We found that (1) the adopted oversampling algorithm effectively addressed the unbalanced data and improved the recall rate by 26.88 %–48.62 % when using multiple datasets, and the error-correcting technique tackled the overestimation of fire sizes during fire seasons; (2) nonparametric models outperformed parametric models in predicting fire occurrences, and the random forest machine learning model performed the best, with the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve ranging from 0.83 to 0.93 across multiple fire datasets; and (3) four sets of factor-control simulations consistently indicated the dominant role of temperature, air dryness, and climate extreme (i.e., frost) for boreal peatland fires, overriding the effects of precipitation, wind speed, and human activities. Our findings demonstrate the efficiency and accuracy of ML techniques in predicting rare and extreme fire events and disentangle the primary factors determining BP fires, which are critical for predicting future fire risks under climate change.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗