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

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At least 163 records · Page 9
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2018

Agricultural Burning and Air Quality over Northern India: A Synergistic Analysis using NASA’s A-train Satellite Data and Ground Measurements

In recent years, New Delhi, the capital city of India, has been ranked among the most polluted cities in the world in terms of air quality related to Particulate Matter (PM). In this paper, we show that the PM 2.5 , a major component of the measure of air quality, over New Delhi is strongly impacted by the agricultural fires in the north-western Indian states of Punjab and Haryana during the post-monsoon season (October and November). Using data from NASA’s A-train sensors (MODIS, OMI, and CALIOP) in conjunction with the ground-level PM 2.5 mass concentration measured at the US Embassy site in New Delhi (2013-2015), and back-trajectory analysis, it is shown that the smoke particles produced from numerous fires in Punjab and Haryana are advected over the national capital region under the influence of north-westerly winds, thereby greatly increasing the ground-level PM 2.5 from 50 µg/m -3 before the onset of burning in early October to as high as 300 µg/m -3 (24-hour averaged, 7-day running mean) during the peak burning period in early November. Relationships between the satellite measurements of fire counts and aerosols in the crop burning region and PM 2.5 over New Delhi are found to be strongly correlated. A linear regression analysis reveals that increments in the fire counts, aerosol optical depth, UV Aerosol Index, and aerosol absorption optical depth by 100, 1.0, 1.0, and 0.1 over the burning areas result in an increase in PM 2.5 by 20, 47, 134, and 142 µg/m -3 , respectively, over New Delhi. Back-trajectory analysis shows that about 74%, 62%, and 51% of total number of daily trajectories for altitudes 10 m, 500 m, and 1500 m, respectively, intercepted the biomass burning region before arriving at the receptor location in New Delhi; this further corroborates the transport mechanism observed in the satellite data. A 15-year long record of A-train satellite measurements shows an increasing number of agricultural fires (29% higher) and aerosol loading during the second half of the record (2009-2015) compared to that during the first half (2002-2008), which is one of the major concerns for the deteriorating air quality in the region.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2026

India Power Sector Reliability Analysis [Slides]

The objective of the study is to assess pathways for India to achieve its 2070 power sector goals reliably and cost-effectively by considering various supply- and demand-side factors to support planning by national stakeholders including the Central Electricity Authority (CEA).

08 HYDROGEN↗
NASA NTRS2015

Integrated Assessment of Climate Change Impacts on Maize Farms and Farm Household Incomes in South India: A Case Study from Tamil Nadu: Chapter - 9

South India is characterized by a wide variety of landscapes, soils and climatic zones. It is comprised of tropical, semi-arid, humid-moist, and high-altitude environments, which support a diversity of agricultural systems. Our study focused on the state of Tamil Nadu, which is characterized by a generally tropical climate, and receive rainfall during both the southwest monsoon season (SWM, June to September) and the northeast monsoon (NEM, September to December). Agriculture continues to be an important sector in the state economy, as more than 56 of the people depend on agriculture and allied sectors for their livelihood. Analysis of land-use patterns in Tamil Nadu reveals that in the past decade there has been a reduction in net sown area and current fallow, while the share of cultivable wastelands has increased. The area under cereals, pulses, and oilseeds had marginally declined, although area under commercial crops like turmeric, sugar-cane, banana, fruits, and vegetables has shown an increasing trend. The production performance of major crops like cereals, pulses, and oilseeds has not shown any significant increase. Demand and supply gap of important crops in Tamil Nadu for the year 2010 indicates that the state is lagging far behind in the production of various crops.

agriculture↗
NASA NTRS2016

Spatio-Temporal Variability of Groundwater Storage in India

Groundwater level measurements from 3907 monitoring wells, distributed within 22 major river basins of India, are assessed to characterize their spatial and temporal variability. Ground water storage (GWS) anomalies (relative to the long-term mean) exhibit strong seasonality, with annual maxima observed during the monsoon season and minima during pre-monsoon season. Spatial variability of GWS anomalies increases with the extent of measurements, following the power law relationship, i.e., log-(spatial variability) is linearly dependent on log-(spatial extent).In addition, the impact of well spacing on spatial variability and the power law relationship is investigated. We found that the mean GWS anomaly sampled at a 0.25 degree grid scale closes to unweighted average over all wells. The absolute error corresponding to each basin grows with increasing scale, i.e., from 0.25 degree to 1 degree. It was observed that small changes in extent could create very large changes in spatial variability at large grid scales. Spatial variability of GWS anomaly has been found to vary with climatic conditions. To our knowledge, this is the first study of the effects of well spacing on groundwater spatial variability. The results may be useful for interpreting large scale groundwater variations from unevenly spaced or sparse groundwater well observations or for siting and prioritizing wells in a network for groundwater management. The output of this study could be used to maintain a cost effective groundwater monitoring network in the study region and the approach can also be used in other parts of the globe.

Groundwater monitoring↗
DOE OSTI2015

India and the 21st Century Power Partnership; 21st Century Power Partnership

Indian leadership has been crucial in both the establishment of the foundational capabilities of the Power Partnership as well as the realization of opportunities for applied policy implementation. Understanding policy regimes that support and accelerate the transition to clean, smart, efficient, affordable, and reliable electricity will help inform decisions that enable innovative solutions, or even disruptive innovations. India has already demonstrated a wide variety of business model innovation in a wide range of industries. Its potential to do the same in the power sector is an enormous opportunity. Indian contributions to international knowledge about the legal, regulatory and business environment will be an integral component of the Power Partnership program.

21ST CENTURY POWER PARTNERSHIP↗
DOE OSTI2023

India's Action Plan for Power Sector Decarbonisation

A collaborative report from the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) on Lessons Learned for Rapid Decarbonization of Power Sectors was delivered to energy ministers and presented at CEM13 in the United States in September 2022. In light of these lessons learned and discussed at CEM13, several countries signaled intent to develop Action Plans for power sector decarbonization that will be presented at CEM14 in India. These action plans complement but are differentiated from other international power sector initiatives such as the Breakthrough Agenda whose broad purpose is to raise collective ambition and the Global Power System Transformation (G-PST) Consortium whose goals are to convene power system operators to accelerate research innovations and foster peer learning. These action plans, supported by the 21st Century Power Partnership (21CPP) and other CEM workstreams via direct technical assistance and capacity building, are instead intended to focus on implementation actions given each country's existing power sector goals and activities and are an opportunity for countries to display leadership in power sector decarbonization. These action plans are voluntary, developed by each country individually, and can be viewed as a living document that is subject to change.

decarbonization↗
DOE OSTI2024

South Asia Group for Energy-India

The South Asia Group for Energy (SAGE) is working with Grid India and the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) to determine the best methods to deploy more inverter-based resources (IBR) such as solar photovoltaic generators and utility-scale battery. To address grid strength and stability concerns, planners and operators are working with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL) team, through SAGE, to identify potential solutions for strengthening the grid and fostering grid reliability.

ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2017

Comprehensive study of performance degradation of field‐mounted photovoltaic modules in India

Abstract The All India Survey of Photovoltaic Module Reliability 2014 is an enhanced version of the survey conducted in the previous year, with detailed characterization of PV modules including current‐voltage, infrared and electroluminescence imaging, visual inspection, insulation resistance test and interconnect breakage test. More than a thousand modules were inspected in the field and the main results of the survey are presented in this paper. The average P max degradation rate for the so‐called ‘good’ modules (Group X) is 1.33%/year which is higher than that commonly projected by manufacturers, and widely employed in financial calculations. Modules falling in the ‘not‐so‐good’ category (Group Y) show even higher degradation rates, and it is at least partly due to higher number of micro‐cracks in the modules, and increased degradation of the packaging materials like encapsulant, backsheet, etc. Modules in ‘Hot’ climates degrade faster than modules in the ‘Non‐Hot’ climates. Degradation in fill factor is the primary cause for performance degradation in the young modules (ages <5 years), whereas short‐circuit current degradation is the main contributor to power degradation in the older modules. Small installations (<100 kW p capacity) show higher degradation than large systems, which may be partly due to lack of proper due diligence by the owner at the time of procurement and installation.

Dubey, Rajiv↗
DOE OSTI2017

Persistence of chlorfluazuron in cabbage under different agro-climatic conditions of India and its risk assessment

Here, a multilocational field trial was conducted at 4 locations in India—Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and West Bengal—to determine the persistence in cabbage of chlorfluazuron applied twice at 75 and 150 g active ingredient ha -1 . Cabbage head samples were collected from each replicated plot on 0 (2 h after spraying), 1, 3, 5, 7, 10, and 15 d after final insecticide application, including an untreated control. Chlorfluazuron residue in cabbage and field soil was estimated by high-performance liquid chromatography using a photo diode array detector. The limit of determination and limit of quantification of the method were recorded as 0.05 and 0.10 μg g -1 , respectively. Results revealed that chlorfluazuron dissipated linearly with progress of time, following first-order kinetics. The mean (± standard deviation) half-life value of chlorfluazuron in cabbage was found to be 7.18 ± 0.71 d, considering different locations and treatments. The residue was below the level of quantification in the harvested cabbage and soil samples. Harvesting cabbage in the experimental location, at least on day 7, after 2 applications of chlorfluazuron at the recommended dose, may not pose any ill effect for Indian adults.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2019

The dynamic and thermodynamic structure of the monsoon over southern India: New observations from the INCOMPASS IOP

Some of the highest summer monsoon rainfall in South Asia falls on the windward slopes of the Western Ghats mountains on India's west coast and offshore over the eastern Arabian Sea. Understanding of the processes determining the spatial distribution and temporal variability of this region remains incomplete. In this paper, new Interaction of Convective Organization and Monsoon Precipitation, Atmosphere, Surface and Sea (INCOMPASS) aircraft and ground‐based measurements of the summer monsoon over the Western Ghats and upstream of them are presented and placed within the context of remote‐sensing observations and reanalysis. The transition from widespread rainfall over the eastern Arabian Sea to rainfall over the Western Ghats is documented in high spatial and temporal resolution. Heavy rainfall offshore during the campaign was associated primarily with mid‐tropospheric humidity, secondarily with sea surface temperature, and only weakly with orographic blocking. A mid‐tropospheric dry intrusion suppressed deep convection offshore in the latter half of the campaign, allowing the build‐up of low‐level humidity in the onshore flow and enhancing rainfall over the mountains. Rainfall on the lee side of the Western Ghats occurred during the latter half of the campaign in association with enhanced mesoscale easterly upslope flow. Diurnal cycles in rainfall offshore (maximum in the morning) and on the mountains (maximum in the afternoon) were observed. Considerable zonal and temporal variability was seen in the offshore boundary layer, suggesting the presence of convective downdraughts and cold pools. Persistent drying of the subcloud mixed layer several hundred kilometres off the coast was observed, suggesting strong mixing between the boundary layer and the free troposphere. These observations provide quantitative targets to test models and suggest hypotheses on the physical mechanisms determining the distribution and variability in rainfall in the Western Ghats region.

Fletcher, Jennifer K.↗
DOE OSTI2022

Developing occupant archetypes within urban low-income housing: A case study in Mumbai, India

Rapid urbanization pressure and poverty have created a push for affordable housing within the global south. The design of affordable housing can have consequences on the thermal (dis)comfort and behaviour of the occupants, hence requiring an occupant-centric approach to ensure sustainability. This paper investigates occupant behaviour within the urban poor households of Mumbai, India and its impact on their thermal comfort and energy use. This study is a first-of-its-kind attempt to explore the socio-demographic characteristics and energy-related behaviour of low-income occupants within Indian context. Three occupant archetypes, Indifferent Consumers; Considerate Savers; and Conscious Conventionals, were identified from the behavioural and psychographic characteristics gathered through a transverse field survey. A two-step clustering approach was adopted for occupant segmentation that highlighted considerable diversity in occupants’ adaptation measures, energy knowledge, energy habits, and their pro-environmental behaviour within similar socio-economic group. Building energy simulation of the representative archetype behaviour estimated up to 37% variations for air-conditioned and up to 8% variation for fan-assisted naturally ventilated housing units during peak summer months. The results from this study establish the significance of occupant factors in shaping energy demand and thermal comfort within low-income housing and pave way for developing occupant-centric building design strategies to serve this marginalized population. The developed low-income occupant archetypes would be useful for architects and energy modelers to generate realistic energy use profiles and improve building performance simulation results.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2021

Energy System Transitions and Low-Emission Pathways in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, EU-28, India, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Russia, and United States

The Paris Agreement invited Parties to submit long-term, low-emission development strategies. This study presents national low-emission scenarios to inform such strategies for Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, EU, India, Indonesia, Japan, Russia, Republic of Korea and the USA. The study uses country-level energy–economy and integrated assessment models (IAMs) that incorporate detailed and disaggregated representations of the energy demand and supply systems that are difficult to capture in global IAMs. Models were used to explore low-carbon pathways up to 2050, providing insights in their implications for country emissions, energy system restructuring, energy–economy indicators and system costs. The analysis shows that the low-carbon scenarios of most economies studied here are consistent with pathways limiting global warming to below 2 °C.

Fragkos, Panagiotis↗
DOE OSTI2016

Exploring Citizen Infrastructure and Environmental Priorities in Mumbai, India

Many cities worldwide seek to understand local policy priorities among their general populations. This study explores how differences in local conditions and among citizens within and across Mumbai, India shape local infrastructure (e.g. energy, water, transport) and environmental (e.g. managing pollution, climate-related extreme weather events) policy priorities for change that may or may not be aligned with local government action or global environmental sustainability concerns such as low-carbon development. In this rapidly urbanizing city, multiple issues compete for prominence, ranging from improved management of pollution and extreme weather to energy and other infrastructure services. To inform a broader perspective of policy priorities for urban development and risk mitigation, a survey was conducted among over 1200 citizens. The survey explored the state of local conditions, the challenges citizens face, and the ways in which differences in local conditions (socio-institutional, infrastructure, and health-related) demonstrate inequities and influence how citizens perceive risks and rank priorities for the future design and implementation of local planning, policy, and community-based efforts. With growing discussion and tensions surrounding the new urban sustainable development goal, announced by the UN in late September 2015, and a new global urban agenda document to be agreed upon at 'Habitat III', issues on whether sustainable urbanization priorities should be set at the international, national or local level remain controversial. As such, this study aims to first understand determinants of and variations in local priorities across one city, with implications discussed for local-to-global urban sustainability. Findings from survey results indicate the determinants and variation in conditions such as age, assets, levels of participation in residential action groups, the health outcome of chronic asthma, and the infrastructure service of piped water provision to homes are significant in shaping the top infrastructure and environmental policy priorities that include water supply and sanitation, air pollution, waste, and extreme heat.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2020

U-Pb zircon age constraints on the earliest eruptions of the Deccan Large Igneous Province, Malwa Plateau, India

Climate instability driven by emission of volatiles during emplacement of large igneous provinces (LIPs) is frequently invoked as a potential cause of mass extinctions. However, documenting this process in the geologic record requires a holistic understanding of eruption rates, the location of eruptive centers, and potential sources of climate-changing volatiles. We present new chemical abrasion–isotope dilution–thermal ionization mass spectrometry (CA-ID-TIMS) U-Pb zircon geochronology from Malwa Plateau basalts on the northern margin of the Deccan LIP, India. These basalts have been previously interpreted as either an extension of the province's main volcanic stratigraphy or as an independent eruptive center active up to millions of years prior to the main eruptive phase. Our data instead demonstrate that the lower Malwa Plateau basalts are temporally correlative with the first pulse of Deccan volcanism and provide new constraints on its initiation and duration. Paleomagnetic data further indicate that upper Malwa Plateau basalts may be age-equivalent to the second, third, and fourth pulses of Deccan volcanism. The relative thicknesses of age-equivalent packages of basalt are consistent with eruption of the Deccan LIP from a southward-migrating eruptive center. The first eruptive pulse is coeval with a ~200 kyr Late Maastrichtian warming event preserved globally in contemporaneous stratigraphic sections. We propose that the first pulse of Deccan magmatism was more voluminous in the north, where it erupted through organic-rich sedimentary rocks of the Narmada-Tapti rift basin. Thermal metamorphism of these sediments could have been a source of sufficient CO 2 to drive the Late Maastrichtian warming event, which if true would reconcile the apparent dampened warming signals associated with later Deccan eruptive pulses.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2018

Spatial distribution of soil carbon stocks in a semi-arid region of India

We predicted total carbon (TC) stocks in the 0–30 cm soil depth of two southern states in India using field observations, environmental covariates and geospatial approaches. We compared the Geographically Weighted Regression Kriging (GWRK) with Linear Regression Kriging (LRK) approach to predict the TC stocks. Greater spatial heterogeneity in TC stocks (2–15 kg m –2 ) were predicted with lower estimation errors (RMSE = 2 kg m –2 R 2 = 0.63) in GWRK in comparison to the LRK approach (RMSE = 3 kg m –2 , R 2 = 0.55). The average decrease in the prediction error was 39% in GWRK in comparison to the LRK approach. The total TC stock in the 0–30 cm depth of the study area was estimated at 1.5 Pg C with upper and lower prediction intervals of 1 and 2 Pg C, respectively. The cropland stored largest (65%, 1 Pg C) amount of TC stocks followed by forest (21%, 0.31 Pg C) and plantation (8%, 0.12 Pg C) land cover types. Among soil types the Alfisols stored largest (33%, 0.49 Pg C) amount of TC stocks followed by Inceptisols (23%; 0.35 Pg C) and Entisols (18%, 0.27 Pg C). The uncertainty in TC stock predictions ranged from 41 to 75% and 69 to 91% under various land covers and soil types, respectively. Highest uncertainties in predicted TC stocks were associated with the forest land cover type and Mollisols soil order. Similarly, lowest uncertainties were found in the built up areas and Aridisols soil order. Our results suggest that GWRK is a useful approach to spatially predict the TC stocks at regional scales.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2018

Pressure core analysis of geomechanical and fluid flow properties of seals associated with gas hydrate-bearing reservoirs in the Krishna-Godavari Basin, offshore India

Physical properties of the sediment directly overlying a gas hydrate reservoir provide important controls on the effectiveness of depressurizing that reservoir to extract methane from gas hydrate as an energy resource. The permeability of overlying sediment determines if a gas hydrate reservoir’s upper contact will provide an effective seal that enables efficient reservoir depressurization. Compressibility, stiffness and strength indicate how overlying sediment will deform as the in situ stress changes during production, providing engineering data for well designs. Assessing these properties requires minimally-disturbed sediment. India’s National Gas Hydrates Program Expedition 2 (NGHP-02) provided an opportunity to study these seal sediment properties, reducing disturbance from gas exsolution and bubble growth by collecting a pressure core from the seal sediment just above the primary gas hydrate reservoir at Site NGHP-02-08 in Area C of the Krishna-Godavari Basin. The effective stress chamber (ESC) and the direct shear chamber (DSC) devices in the suite of Pressure Core Characterization Tools (PCCTs) were used to measure permeability, compressibility, stiffness and shear strength at the in situ vertical stress. Geotechnical properties of the predominantly fine-grained seal layer at in situ vertical stress are in typical clay sediment ranges, with low measured permeability (0.02 mD), high compressibility (C c = 0.26 – 0.33) and low shear strength (404 kPa). Though pressure and temperature were maintained throughout the collection and measurement process to stabilize gas hydrate, the lack of effective stress in the pressure core storage chamber and the chamber pressurization with methane-free water caused core expansion and gas hydrate in a thin coarser-grained layer to dissolve. The PCCTs can reapply in situ stress with incremental loading steps during a consolidation test to account for sediment compaction. Lastly, gas hydrate dissolution can be limited by storing cores just above freezing temperatures, and by using solid spacers to reduce the storage chamber’s free volume.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2019

Radiation tolerance study on irradiated AC-coupled, poly-silicon biased, p-on-n silicon strip sensors developed in India

The silicon sensors to be deployed in the next generation high energy physics experiments for operation in high luminosity scenarios, will require a high level of radiation tolerance. AC-coupled silicon strip sensors integrated with biasing poly-silicon resistors have been fabricated in collaboration with the Bharat Electronics Limited foundry using 4 inch n-type wafers in p-on-n configuration. Several sensors were irradiated with protons at different fluences at the Karlsruhe Cyclotron facility under the Advanced European Infrastructures for Detectors at Accelerators (AIDA) program. This paper reports on these radiation hardness study performed on the AC-coupled silicon sensors fabricated in India. The characterization comprises of electrical tests, including total current, voltage and strip scans and charge collection studies.

AC-coupled↗
DOE OSTI2025

Accelerating room air conditioner efficiency in India: Grid, economic, and policy implications through 2035

India is poised for a rapid surge in space cooling demand, driven by rising incomes, urbanization, and intensifying heat. Between 2025 and 2035, the country is expected to add 130–150 million new room air conditioners (ACs). If Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS) continue to improve at the historical rate of 2–3 % annually, room ACs alone could contribute over 180 GW to peak electricity demand by 2035-nearly 30 % of the projected national total. This study evaluates the impact of an accelerated MEPS trajectory, proposing to raise the 1-star threshold to ISEER 5.0 by 2027, ISEER 6.3 by 2030, and ISEER 7.4 by 2033. Drawing on engineering cost analysis, stock turnover modeling, and retail pricing data, we find that this pathway could reduce peak demand by over 60 GW, save 118 TWh of electricity annually, avoid 49 MtCO₂ of electricity-related emissions per year, avert ₹7.5 trillion (∼US$85 billion) in power system investments, and yield ₹0.7–2.3 trillion (∼US$8–26 billion) in net consumer savings by 2035. Contrary to affordability concerns, empirical trends show that higher efficiency does not increase AC prices. These results highlight the value of ambitious MEPS as a cost-effective strategy for improving grid reliability, reducing emissions, and advancing consumer welfare in emerging economies.

Abhyankar, Nikit↗