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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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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2026

ARC disruption physics and strategy

Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) plans to operate a tokamak power plant called ARC in the early 2030s. Tokamak plasmas have stability limits that, if crossed, lead to a rapid termination of the plasma, referred to as a disruption. Disruptions pose a melt risk to the first wall resulting from thermal and non-thermal particle heat fluxes, and an electromagnetic loading risk on all metal components within the equilibrium coils. A comprehensive set of models is used herein to provide an assessment of both mitigated and unmitigated ARC disruption loads. A preliminary massive gas injection system is baselined and a runaway electron mitigation coil option is proposed to close possible gaps in the baseline. It is predicted that all ARC disruption loads are within a factor of 2 of the disruption loads in SPARC, a tokamak presently under construction by CFS, and therefore SPARC provides an opportunity to calibrate models, test solutions and inform the design of ARC. The goal for ARC is disruption-free operation, however, the pragmatic design target is to withstand one mitigated disruption per day, and to restart the plasma following mitigation in tens of seconds without interrupting the power output. Unmitigated disruptions must be rare, and experience with unmitigated disruption impacts in SPARC will better define what rare means. The implications of this strategy for plasma disruptivity and disruption prediction are discussed, and operating the ARC scenario on SPARC is expected to refine the ARC final design and operational plan.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Expanding the Ambient-Pressure Phase Space of CaFe 2 O 4 -Type Sodium Postspinel Host–Guest Compounds

CaFe 2 O 4 -type sodium postspinels (Na-CFs), with Na + occupying tunnel sites, are of interest as prospective battery electrodes. While many compounds of this structure type require high-pressure synthesis, several compounds are known to form at ambient pressure. Here we report a large expansion of the known Na-CF phase space at ambient pressure, having successfully synthesized NaCrTiO 4 , NaRhTiO 4 , NaCrSnO 4 , NaInSnO 4 , NaMg 0.5 Ti 1.5 O 4 , NaFe 0.5 Ti 1.5 O 4 , NaMg 0.5 Sn 1.5 O 4 , NaMn 0.5 Sn 1.5 O 4 , NaFe 0.5 Sn 1.5 O 4 , NaCo 0.5 Sn 1.5 O 4 , NaNi 0.5 Sn 1.5 O 4 , NaCu 0.5 Sn 1.5 O 4 , NaZn 0.5 Sn 1.5 O 4 , NaCd 0.5 Sn 1.5 O 4 , NaSc 1.5 Sb 0.5 O 4 , Na 1.16 In 1.18 Sb 0.66 O 4 , and several solid solutions. In contrast to earlier reports, even cations that are strongly Jahn–Teller active (e.g., Mn 3+ and Cu 2+ ) can form Na-CFs at ambient pressure when combined with Sn 4+ rather than with the smaller Ti 4+ . Order and disorder are probed at the average and local length-scales with synchrotron powder X-ray diffraction and solid-state NMR spectroscopy. Strong ordering of framework cations between the two framework sites is not observed, except in the case of Na 1.16 In 1.18 Sb 0.66 O 4 . This compound is the first example of an Na-CF that contains Na + in both the tunnel and framework sites, reminiscent of Li-rich spinels. Trends in the thermodynamic stability of the new compounds are explained on the basis of crystal-chemistry and density functional theory (DFT). Further DFT calculations examine the relative stability of the CF versus spinel structures at various degrees of sodium extraction in the context of electrochemical battery reactions.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2022

Seeking Repeating Anthropogenic Seismic Sources: Implications for Seismic Velocity Monitoring at Fault Zones

Abstract Seismic velocities in rocks are highly sensitive to changes in permanent deformation and fluid content. The temporal variation of seismic velocity during the preparation phase of earthquakes has been well documented in laboratories but rarely observed in nature. It has been recently found that some anthropogenic, high‐frequency (>1 Hz) seismic sources are powerful enough to generate body waves that travel down to a few kilometers and can be used to monitor fault zones at seismogenic depth. Anthropogenic seismic sources typically have fixed spatial distribution and provide new perspectives for velocity monitoring. In this work, we propose a systematic workflow to seek such powerful seismic sources in a rapid and straightforward manner. We tackle the problem from a statistical point of view, considering that persistent, powerful seismic sources yield highly coherent correlation functions (CFs) between pairs of seismic sensors. The algorithm is tested in California and Japan. Multiple sites close to fault zones show high‐frequency CFs stable for an extended period of time. These findings have great potential for monitoring fault zones, including the San Jacinto Fault and the Ridgecrest area in Southern California, Napa in Northern California, and faults in central Japan. However, extra steps, such as beamforming or polarization analysis, are required to determine the dominant seismic sources and study the source characteristics, which are crucial to interpreting the velocity monitoring results. Train tremors identified by the present approach have been successfully used for seismic velocity monitoring of the San Jacinto Fault in previous studies.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Cost-effective carbon fiber precursor selections of polyacrylonitrile-derived blend polymers: carbonization chemistry and structural characterizations

Blending polyacrylonitrile (PAN) with plastic wastes and bio-based polymers provides a convenient and inexpensive method to realize cost-effective carbon fiber (CF) precursors. In this work, PAN-based blend precursors are investigated using ReaxFF reactive molecular dynamics simulations with respect to the formation of all-carbon rings, the evolutions of oxygen-containing and nitrogen-containing species, and the migration of carbon atoms to form turbostratic graphene. From these simulations, we identify that PAN/cellulose (CL) blend manifests the highest carbon yield and the most substantial all-carbon ring formation. This ReaxFF-based finding is confirmed by Raman and TEM experiments indicating high crystallinity for PAN/CL-derived blend CFs. We trace the pathway of gasification and carbonization of PAN/CL to elaborate the mechanism of the formation of all-carbon ring networks. We discover that the acetals of CL can catalyze the cyclization of the blend precursor, allowing for the search for CL derivatives or the other kinds of bio-based polymers with similar functionalities as alternative blends. In addition, we examine the structural characteristics using the carbon–carbon (C–C) radial distribution functions, C–C bond length distributions, and sp2 C atom ratios for the four representative precursors, i.e., PAN, oxidized PAN, PAN/nylon 6,6, and PAN/CL. Our simulation results show the most extensive all-carbon ring cluster and graphitic structure growths for PAN/CL. Here, we propose PAN/CL as a cost-effective alternative CF precursor, since (a) CL is naturally abundant and eco-friendly for production, (b) the blend precursor PAN/CL does not require oxidation treatment, (c) PAN/CL has a high carbon yield with substantial all-carbon ring formation, and (d) PAN/CL based CFs potentially provide a mechanical property enhancement.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2013

Analysis of electronic structure of amorphous InGaZnO/SiO{sub 2} interface by angle-resolved X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

The electronic structures of amorphous indium gallium zinc oxide (a-IGZO) on a SiO{sub 2} layers before and after annealing were observed by constant final state X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (CFS-XPS) and X-ray adsorption near-edge structure spectroscopy (XANES). From the results of angle-resolved CFS-XPS, the change in the electronic state was clearly observed in the a-IGZO bulk rather than in the a-IGZO/SiO{sub 2} interface. This suggests that the electronic structures of the a-IGZO bulk strongly affected the thin-film transistor characteristics. The results of XANES indicated an increase in the number of tail states upon atmospheric annealing (AT). We consider that the increase in the number of tail states decreased the channel mobility of AT samples.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Terahertz spectroscopy and solid-state density functional theory calculation of anthracene: Effect of dispersion force on the vibrational modes

The phonon modes of molecular crystals in the terahertz frequency region often feature delicately coupled inter- and intra-molecular vibrations. Recent advances in density functional theory such as DFT-D{sup *} have enabled accurate frequency calculation. However, the nature of normal modes has not been quantitatively discussed against experimental criteria such as isotope shift (IS) and correlation field splitting (CFS). Here, we report an analytical mode-decoupling method that allows for the decomposition of a normal mode of interest into intermolecular translation, libration, and intramolecular vibrational motions. We show an application of this method using the crystalline anthracene system as an example. The relationship between the experimentally obtained IS and the IS obtained by PBE-D{sup *} simulation indicates that two distinctive regions exist. Region I is associated with a pure intermolecular translation, whereas region II features coupled intramolecular vibrations that are further coupled by a weak intermolecular translation. We find that the PBE-D{sup *} data show excellent agreement with the experimental data in terms of IS and CFS in region II; however, PBE-D{sup *} produces significant deviations in IS in region I where strong coupling between inter- and intra-molecular vibrations contributes to normal modes. The result of this analysis is expected to facilitate future improvement of DFT-D{sup *}.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2022

Composite fermion mass: Experimental measurements in ultrahigh quality two-dimensional electron systems

Composite fermions (CFs), exotic quasiparticles formed by pairing an electron and an even number of magnetic flux quanta, emerge at high magnetic fields in an interacting electron system, and can explain phenomena such as the fractional quantum Hall state (FQHS) and other many-body phases. CFs possess an effective mass (m CF ) whose magnitude is inversely related to the most fundamental property of a FQHS, namely its energy gap. Here we present here experimental measurements of m CF in ultrahigh quality two-dimensional electron systems confined to GaAs quantum wells of varying thickness. An advantage of measuring m CF over gap measurements is that mass values are insensitive to disorder and are therefore ideal for comparison with theoretical calculations, especially for high-order FQHS. Our data reveal that m CF increases with increasing well width, reflecting a decrease in the energy gap as the electron layer becomes thicker and the in-plane Coulomb energy softens. Comparing our measured masses with available theoretical results, we find significant quantitative discrepancies, highlighting that more rigorous and accurate calculations are needed to explain the experimental data.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2023

Realization of flat bands by lattice intercalation in kagome metals

Recently there has been intense interest in kagome metals, which are expected to host flat bands (FBs). However, the observed “FBs” are not flat over the whole two-dimensional Brillouin zone and overlap strongly with other bands. In fact, the FB does not truly exist in a default d-orbital kagome lattice, and the conditions for its existence in kagome metals are unknown. Here, based on tight-binding model analyses of the interplay between orbital and lattice symmetry, we establish such conditions. Additionally, we show that for a single d-orbital kagome lattice assuming large crystal field splitting (CFS), only the d z 2 orbital gives rise to a FB, while d xy , d x 2 -y 2 , d x⁢z , and d yz orbitals can only produce a FB with a rotated d-orbital basis so that they conform with the underlying kagome lattice symmetry. Most importantly, we demonstrate that both conditions of d-orbital rotation and large CFS can be ideally satisfied by intercalating the kagome lattice with a hexagonal sublattice without disrupting the destructive interference of FB wave function. Furthermore, we propose layered metalorganic frameworks as promising candidate kagome metals to realize FBs.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2024

Fingerprints of composite fermion Lambda levels in scanning tunneling microscopy

A composite fermion (CF) is a topological quasiparticle that emerges from a nonperturbative attachment of vortices to electrons in strongly correlated two-dimensional materials. Similar to noninteracting fermions that form Landau levels in a magnetic field, CFs can fill analogous “Lambda” levels, giving rise to the fractional quantum Hall (FQH) effect of electrons. Here, we show that Lambda levels can be directly visualized through the characteristic peak structure in the signal obtained via spectroscopy with scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) on a FQH state. Complementary to transport, which probes the low-energy properties of CFs, we show that high-energy features in STM spectra can be interpreted in terms of Lambda levels. We numerically demonstrate that STM spectra can be accurately modeled using Jain's CF theory. Our results show that STM provides a powerful tool for revealing the anatomy of FQH states and identifying physics beyond the noninteracting CF paradigm.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2021

A Machine Learning-Based Vulnerability Analysis for Cascading Failures of Integrated Power-Gas Systems

This article proposes a cascading failure simulation (CFS) method and a hybrid machine learning method for vulnerability analysis of integrated power-gas systems (IPGSs). The CFS method is designed to study the propagating process of cascading failures between the two systems, generating data for machine learning with initial states randomly sampled. The proposed method considers generator and gas well ramping, transmission line and gas pipeline tripping, island issue handling and load shedding strategies. Then, a hybrid machine learning model with a combined random forest (RF) classification and regression algorithms is proposed to investigate the impact of random initial states on the vulnerability metrics of IPGSs. Extensive case studies are carried out on three test IPGSs to verify the proposed models and algorithms. Simulation results show that the proposed models and algorithms can achieve high accuracy for the vulnerability analysis of IPGSs.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2016

Soil Moisture Drought Monitoring and Forecasting Using Satellite and Climate Model Data over Southwestern China

In this paper, an experimental soil moisture drought monitoring and seasonal forecasting framework based on the Variable Infiltration Capacity model (VIC) over southwestern China (SW) is presented. Satellite precipitation data are used to force VIC for a near-real-time estimate of land surface hydrologic conditions. Initialized with satellite-aided monitoring (MONIT), the climate model (CFSv2)-based forecast (MONIT+CFSv2) and ensemble streamflow prediction (ESP)-based forecast (MONIT+ESP) are both performed. One dry season drought and one wet season drought are employed to test the ability of this framework in terms of real-time tracking and predicting the evolution of soil moisture (SM) drought, respectively. The results show that the skillful CFSv2 climate forecasts (CFs) are only found at the first month. The satellite-aided monitoring is able to provide a reasonable estimate of forecast initial conditions (ICs) in real-time mode. In the presented cases, MONIT+CFSv2 forecast exhibits comparable performance against the observation-based estimates for the first month, whereas the predictive skill largely drops beyond 1 month. Compared to MONIT+ESP, MONIT+CFSv2 ensembles give more skillful SM drought forecast during the dry season, as indicated by a smaller ensemble range, while the added value of MONIT+CFSv2 is marginal during the wet season. Furthermore, a quantitative attribution analysis of SM forecast uncertainty demonstrates that SM forecast skill is mostly controlled by ICs at the first month and that uncertainties in CFs have the largest contribution to SM forecast errors at longer lead times. This study highlights a value of this framework in generating near-real-time ICs and providing a reliable SM drought prediction with 1 month ahead, which may greatly benefit drought diagnosis, assessment, and early warning.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2014

Phylum-wide comparative genomics unravel the diversity of secondary metabolism in Cyanobacteria

Cyanobacteria are an ancient lineage of photosynthetic bacteria from which hundreds of natural products have been described, including many notorious toxins but also potent natural products of interest to the pharmaceutical and biotechnological industries. Many of these compounds are the products of non-ribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) or polyketide synthase (PKS) pathways. However, current understanding of the diversification of these pathways is largely based on the chemical structure of the bioactive compounds, while the evolutionary forces driving their remarkable chemical diversity are poorly understood. We carried out a phylum-wide investigation of genetic diversification of the cyanobacterial NRPS and PKS pathways for the production of bioactive compounds. 452 NRPS and PKS gene clusters were identified from 89 cyanobacterial genomes, revealing a clear burst in late-branching lineages. Our genomic analysis further grouped the clusters into 286 highly diversified cluster families (CF) of pathways. Some CFs appeared vertically inherited, while others presented a more complex evolutionary history. Only a few horizontal gene transfers were evidenced amongst strongly conserved CFs in the phylum, while several others have undergone drastic gene shuffling events, which could result in the observed diversification of the pathways. In addition to toxin production, several NRPS and PKS gene clusters are devoted to important cellular processes of these bacteria such as nitrogen fixation and iron uptake. The majority of the biosynthetic clusters identified here have unknown end products, highlighting the power of genome mining for the discovery of new natural products.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2013

Final Technical Report - Modernization of the Boulder Canyon Hydroelectric Project

The Boulder Canyon Hydroelectric Project (BCH) was purchased by the City of Boulder, CO (the city) in 2001. Project facilities were originally constructed in 1910 and upgraded in the 1930s and 1940s. By 2009, the two 10 MW turbine/generators had reached or were nearing the end of their useful lives. One generator had grounded out and was beyond repair, reducing plant capacity to 10 MW. The remaining 10 MW unit was expected to fail at any time. When the BCH power plant was originally constructed, a sizeable water supply was available for the sole purpose of hydroelectric power generation. Between 1950 and 2001, that water supply had gradually been converted to municipal water supply by the city. By 2001, the water available for hydroelectric power generation at BCH could not support even one 10 MW unit. Boulder lacked the financial resources to modernize the facilities, and Boulder anticipated that when the single, operational historical unit failed, the project would cease operation. In 2009, the City of Boulder applied for and received a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) grant for $1.18 million toward a total estimated project cost of $5.155 million to modernize BCH. The federal funding allowed Boulder to move forward with plant modifications that would ensure BCH would continue operation. Federal funding was made available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009. Boulder determined that a single 5 MW turbine/generator would be the most appropriate capacity, given the reduced water supply to the plant. Average annual BCH generation with the old 10 MW unit had been about 8,500 MW-hr, whereas annual generation with a new, efficient turbine could average 11,000 to 12,000 MW-hr. The incremental change in annual generation represents a 30% increase in generation over pre-project conditions. The old turbine/generator was a single nozzle Pelton turbine with a 5-to-1 flow turndown and a maximum turbine/generator efficiency of 82%. The new unit is a double nozzle Pelton turbine with a 10-to-1 flow turndown and a maximum turbine/generator efficiency of 88%. This alone represents a 6% increase in overall efficiency. The old turbine operated at low efficiencies due to age and non-optimal sizing of the turbine for the water flow available to the unit. It was shut down whenever water flow dropped to less than 4-5 cfs, and at that flow, efficiency was 55 to 60%. The new turbine will operate in the range of 70 to 88% efficiency through a large portion of the existing flow range and would only have to be shut down at flow rates less than 3.7 cfs. Efficiency is expected to increase by 15-30%, depending on flow. In addition to the installation of new equipment, other goals for the project included: Increasing safety at Boulder Canyon Hydro Increasing protection of the Boulder Creek environment Modernizing and integrating control equipment into Boulder's municipal water supply system, and Preserving significant historical engineering information prior to power plant modernization. From January 1, 2010 through December 31, 2012, combined consultant and contractor personnel hours paid for by both the city and the federal government have totaled approximately 40,000. This equates roughly to seven people working full time on the project from January 2010 through December 2012. This project also involved considerable material expense (steel pipe, a variety of valves, electrical equipment, and the various components of the turbine and generator), which were not accounted for in terms of hours spent on the project. However, the material expense related to this project did help to create or preserve manufacturing/industrial jobs throughout the United States. As required by ARRA, the various components of the hydroelectric project were manufactured or substantially transformed in the U.S. BCH is eligible for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places due in part to its unique engineering features and innovative construction techniques. Special efforts were directed toward documenting the (largely original) interior of the plant and installing new equipment without modifying the power plant exterior in order to preserve the historical significance of the facility. In addition, a significant portion of the historical equipment within the power plant was preserved in place. The modernization project began with DOE grant award on January 1, 2010, and the project was completed on December 31, 2012. In addition to city engineering and hydroelectric staff, major project participants included AECOM (design/engineering) Canyon Industries (turbine/generator manufacture), Gracon Corporation (general construction contractor), Exponential Engineering Company (electrical engineering) and URS Corporation (historical documentation), as well as numerous other subcontractors and consultants.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2018

Site Classification for Standard Modular Hydropower Development: Characterizing Stream Reaches by Module Need

The objective of site classification for Standard Modular Hydropower (SMH) development is to develop a framework for classifying potential SMH sites in terms useful for informing SMH development, such as module need and module design requirements. While the current vision for SMH has focused on applications for new stream-reach development, these site classifications are equally useful for other applications, such as modular development at non-powered dams and other hydropower co-development opportunities. We used K-means clustering to classify sites (i.e., stream reaches) into clusters (i.e., groups of sites with similar attributes) based on simultaneous consideration of physical and biological attributes of those sites. Stream reaches included were confined to those with mean annual flow > 50 cfs and < 25,000 cfs (~350,000 reaches). Site Classification was conducted separately for six modules: hydroelectric generation, water quality, sediment passage, fish passage, foundation support, and recreation. About 340,000 stream reaches across the contiguous US were classified into 10 groups for each of the 6 different module categories. For each module category, clusters are visualized on US maps and described based on the defining variables that differentiate clusters from each other.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2019

Monitoring Potential Transport of Radioactive Contaminants in Shallow Ephemeral Channels: FY2018

Desert Research Institute (DRI) is conducting a field assessment of the potential for contaminated soil to be transported from the Smoky Site Contamination Area (CA) as a result of storm runoff. This activity supports U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Environmental Management Nevada Program (EM NV) efforts to establish post-closure monitoring plans for the Smoky Site Soils Corrective Action Unit (CAU) 550. The work is intended to confirm the likely mechanism of transport and determine the meteorological conditions that might cause the movement of contaminated soils, as well as determine the particle size fraction that is most closely associated with transported radionuclide-contaminated soils. These data will facilitate the design of the appropriate post-closure monitoring program. In 2011, DRI installed a meteorological monitoring station on the west side of the Smoky Site CA and a hydrologic (runoff) monitoring station within the CA, near the east side. The meteorological station collects air temperature, wind speed, wind direction, relative humidity, precipitation, solar radiation, barometric pressure, soil temperature, and soil water content data. The maximum, minimum, and average or total values (as appropriate) for each of these parameters are recorded for each 10-minute interval. The maximum, minimum, and average water depth in the flume installed at the hydrologic station are also recorded for each 10-minute interval. This report presents the data collected from these stations during fiscal year (FY) 2018. During the FY2018 reporting period, the warmest months were June, July, and August and the coldest were December through March. Solar radiation showed the same seasonal trend. Monthly mean wind speeds were highest in the spring (March through May) and early summer (June). Winds were generally from the west during the summer and from the north throughout the fall and winter. The monthly average relative humidity ranged from the mid-teens to approximately 50 percent. Humidity was lowest in the fall and highest in the winter. Monthly total precipitation ranged from 0 in October, December, and June to approximately 1.38 inches (in) (35.05 millimeters [mm]) in July. Total precipitation for FY2018 was 3.86 in (98.04 mm). During the reporting period, two runoff events were recorded at the flume. One occurred on July 14, 2018, in response to precipitation earlier the same day. This event produced a peak water depth of 11.26 in (28.60 centimeters [cm]) in the flume, which is equivalent to a discharge of 1.86 cubic feet per second (cfs) (0.05 cubic meters per second [cm/s]) and a velocity of 3.97 feet per second (fps) (1.21 meters per second [m/s]) through the flume. Applying the flume hydraulic measurements to the channel geometry at the nearest surveyed cross-section it was determined that the velocity through the channel was 1.29 fps (0.39 m/s), which is sufficient to transport silts and fine sands. The second flow event occurred in response to earlier precipitation on September 4, 2018. This event produced a peak water depth of 0.78 in (1.98 cm) in the flume, which is equivalent to a discharge of 0.03 cfs (0.001 cm/s) and a velocity of 1.17 fps (0.36 m/s) through the flume. Applying the flume hydraulic measurements to the channel geometry at the nearest surveyed cross-section it was determined that the velocity through the channel was 0.03 fps (0.01 m/s). Although neither runoff event produced sufficient flow velocities through the natural channel to cause local erosion and transport of coarser bedload materials, the velocity of the first runoff event was sufficient to transport silts and fine sands, which have been shown to be preferentially associated with radionuclide contaminants. Therefore, a sampling event was planned after the first flow event in conjunction with a periodic maintenance inspection. As no suspended load sampling is available at this location, bedload samples were collected from the vicinity of the flume on August 7, 2018. The collected sediment was separated into three particle size fractions and each fraction was analyzed for americium-241 (Am-241), plutonium-238 (Pu-238), and plutonium-239/240 (Pu-239/240) by alpha spectrometry. The two smaller particle size fractions had higher concentrations of all three radionuclides than the largest particle size fraction. Additionally, Pu-239/240 had the highest concentration and Pu-238 had the lowest concentration in all samples. The same relationship between the concentrations of Pu-238 and Pu-239/240 was seen in samples reported in FY2013 and FY2014. Observation of meteorological and environmental conditions that lead to storm runoff will help identify parameters and threshold conditions that should be incorporated into postclosure monitoring plans for this and similar sites as well as aid in determining appropriate closure strategies for other Soils CAUs.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2019

Exploring the Use of FHWA Truck Traffic Volume and Weight Data to Support National Truck Freight Mobility Study

The goal of this exploratory study was to investigate alternative data sources and develop methodologies to estimate trends and adjustment factors that could be applied to calibrate statistics generated from the outdated 2002 VIUS. The main focus of this study was on utilizing the FHWA’s traffic data (i.e., VTRIS and TMAS), along with other supplemental freight data (i.e., FAF and CFS), to examine changes in truck volumes and truck weight distributions over time. Ultimately, this effort seeks to develop certain adjustments/factors that could be used to realign perspective VIUS data. Unfortunately, as pointed out previously in this technical memorandum, there are no readily available data sources that could be used to explicitly validate the estimated results from this study. This study compared the estimated distributions from the 2002 VTRIS to the 2002 VIUS data to establish linkages between the two datasets. With distributions and patterns generated based on VTRIS and TMAS data series for additional years, trend factors were then estimated and applied to “update” VIUS-based information. This study resulted in three key highlights: (1) Updated estimates on truck volume and truck VMT can be utilized to better estimate on energy uses by truck. (2) Vehicle class distribution, percent/share of empty trucks, and average truck payload could be updated by utilizing more current annual data series such as VTRIS and TMAS. (3) Additional information could be estimated (e.g., distance distribution by operational type) by integrating other data sources, such as CFS and FAF, instead of relying on the 2002 VIUS data.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Freight Analysis Framework Version 5 (FAF5) Base Year 2017 Data Development Technical Report

The Freight Analysis Framework (FAF) integrates data from a variety of sources to create a comprehensive national picture of freight movements among states and major metropolitan areas by all modes of transportation. The latest of this data series is FAF5, which is the fifth generation FAF and is benchmarked on Commodity Flow Survey (CFS) 2017. Except for FAF1 that provided estimates for truck, rail, and water tonnage for calendar year 1998, later generations of FAF (FAF2 through FAF5) were built based on their benchmark year CFS data, for 2002, 2007, 2012, and 2017 respectively. The FAF is produced under a partnership between Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). As a major data product of the FAF program, the FAF regional database provides a national picture of freight flows to, from, and within the United States (among regions and states), by commodity and mode for the base year, as well as for forecasts up to 30 years into the future in a 5-year interval. Additional FAF data products also include FAF network flows database, where truck movements are routed onto the national highway network, estimates of annual projections, and synchronized historical data series. This report is a technical document prepared to describe the data sources and methodologies applied in the process of building the FAF5 base-year 2017 regional database, released as FAF5.0 in February 2021. This report offers a description of the diverse data sources and modeling methods used in constructing the base year FAF5 regional database. The FAF5 base-year database is used as the base for development of forecasts and for assignment of truck flows on highway network. Similarly, the FAF5 base-year database will be used as the base to generate FAF5 annual estimates. In addition to this report, users are encouraged to refer to the FAF5 User’s Guide, which provides basic information of the data, including definitions of the data attributes, information on how to access the data and tool, as well as detailed data dictionary and code tables.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2021

Identification and Analysis of Backwater Nursery Habitats in the Middle Green River, Utah, during 2014, 2017, and 2018 Using High-Resolution Optical Remotely Sensed Imagery

Low-velocity channel-margin habitats, known as backwaters, serve as important nursery habitats for the endangered Colorado pikeminnow (Ptychocheilus lucius) in the middle Green River between Jensen and Ouray, Utah. The backwater synthesis report for the 1987–2013 period (Grippo et al. 2017) reported a decreased number of backwaters per river mile (RM) and an increased mean backwater size across the middle Green River. Information about backwaters is critical for understanding habitat characteristics that are important for Colorado pikeminnow recruitment. The goal of this study was to determine backwater number and size in the middle Green River using high-resolution imagery for 2018 to add to our understanding of long-term trends of backwater habitat availability across the reach. For comparative analysis of backwater habitats between 2004 and 2018, information for 2004, 2006, 2013, 2014 and 2017 from our previous studies was also utilized (Grippo et al. 2017; Hamada et al. 2017, 2021, and in review). Across the 2004, 2006, 2013, 2014, 2017, and 2018 study years, mean daily flow at the Jensen gage during image collection ranged from 1,220 cfs (2004) to 2,940 cfs (2014), which was approximately 140% greater in 2014 than in 2004. The number of delineated backwaters ranged from 88 (2013) to 245 (2017), and total backwater area ranged from 118,938 m 2 (2006) to 209,611 m 2 (2014). Mean backwater size ranged from 822 m 2 (2017) to 1,508 m 2 (2018), but there was considerable variability in backwater size for each of the study years. Backwater areas differed significantly among the study years based on a Kruskal-Wallis Rank Sum test ( P < 0.001). Pairwise Wilcoxon tests indicated that the median backwater areas in 2017 and 2014 were significantly lower than in the other sample years ( P ≤ 0.05), even though these years had the highest total backwater area. 2018 had the greatest median backwater area, although the distribution of backwater area values was not statistically different from backwater areas measured in 2013 ( P > 0.05). These two years also had the lowest maximum backwater area values among all sample years. The distribution of backwater area values was not significantly different ( P > 0.05) among the 2006, 2004, and 2013 sample years.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗