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At least 1,621 records · Page 90
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2018

Assessing the recharge process and importance of montane water to adjacent tectonic valley-plain groundwater using a ternary end-member mixing analysis based on isotopic and chemical tracers

A study in eastern Taiwan evaluated the importance of montane water contribution (MC) to adjacent valley-plain groundwater (VPG) in a tectonic suture zone. The evaluation used a ternary natural-tracer-based end-member mixing analysis (EMMA). With this purpose, VPG and three end-member water samples of plain precipitation (PP), mountain-front recharge (MFR), and mountain-block recharge (MBR) were collected and analyzed for stable isotopic compositions (δ{sup 2}H and δ{sup 18}O) and chemical concentrations (electrical conductivity (EC) and Cl{sup −}). After evaluation, Cl{sup −} is deemed unsuitable for EMMA in this study, and the contribution fractions of respective end members derived by the δ{sup 18}O–EC pair are similar to those derived by the δ{sup 2}H–EC pair. EMMA results indicate that the MC, including MFR and MBR, contributes at least 70% (679 × 10{sup 6} m{sup 3} water volume) of the VPG, significantly greater than the approximately 30% of PP contribution, and greater than the 20–50% in equivalent humid regions worldwide. The large MC is attributable to highly fractured strata and the steep topography of studied catchments caused by active tectonism. Furthermore, the contribution fractions derived by EMMA reflect the unique hydrogeological conditions in the respective study sub-regions. A region with a large MBR fraction is indicative of active lateral groundwater flow as a result of highly fractured strata in montane catchments. On the other hand, a region characterized by a large MFR fraction may possess high-permeability stream beds or high stream gradients. Those hydrogeological implications are helpful for water resource management and protection authorities of the studied regions.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Understanding long-term groundwater flow at Pahute Mesa and vicinity, Nevada National Security Site, USA, from naturally occurring geochemical and isotopic tracers

Abstract Recently collected naturally occurring geochemical and isotopic groundwater tracers were combined with historic data from the Pahute Mesa area of the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS), Nevada, USA, to provide insights into long-term regional groundwater flow patterns, mixing and recharge. Pahute Mesa was the site of 85 nuclear detonations between 1965 and 1992, many of them deeply buried devices that introduced radionuclides directly into groundwater. The dataset examined included major ions and field measurements, stable isotopes of hydrogen (δ 2 H), oxygen (δ 18 O), carbon (δ 13 C) and sulfur (δ 34 S), and radioisotopes of carbon ( 14 C) and chloride ( 36 Cl). Analysis of the patterns of groundwater 14 C data and the δ 2 H and δ 18 O signatures indicates that groundwater recharge is predominantly of Pleistocene age, except for a few localized areas near major ephemeral drainages. Steep gradients in sulfate (SO 4 ) and chloride (Cl) define a region near the western edge of the NNSS where high-concentration groundwater flowing south from north of the NNSS merges with dilute groundwater flowing west from eastern Pahute Mesa in a mixing zone that coincides with a groundwater trough associated with major faults. The 36 Cl/Cl and δ 34 S data suggest that the source of the high Cl and SO 4 in the groundwater was a now-dry, pluvial-age playa lake north of the NNSS. Patterns of groundwater flow indicated by the combined data sets show that groundwater is flowing around the northwest margin of the now extinct Timber Mountain Caldera Complex toward regional discharge areas in Oasis Valley.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2013

Tidal Residual Eddies and their Effect on Water Exchange in Puget Sound

Tidal residual eddies are one of the important hydrodynamic features in tidally dominant estuaries and coastal bays, and they could have significant effects on water exchange in a tidal system. This paper presents a modeling study of tides and tidal residual eddies in Puget Sound, a tidally dominant fjord-like estuary in the Pacific Northwest coast, using a three-dimensional finite-volume coastal ocean model. Mechanisms of vorticity generation and asymmetric distribution patterns around an island/headland were analyzed using the dynamic vorticity transfer approach and numerical experiments. Model results of Puget Sound show that a number of large twin tidal residual eddies exist in the Admiralty Inlet because of the presence of major headlands in the inlet. Simulated residual vorticities near the major headlands indicate that the clockwise tidal residual eddy (negative vorticity) is generally stronger than the anticlockwise eddy (positive vorticity) because of the effect of Coriolis force. The effect of tidal residual eddies on water exchange in Puget Sound and its sub-basins were evaluated by simulations of dye transport. It was found that the strong transverse variability of residual currents in the Admiralty Inlet results in a dominant seaward transport along the eastern shore and a dominant landward transport along the western shore of the Inlet. A similar transport pattern in Hood Canal is caused by the presence of tidal residual eddies near the entrance of the canal. Model results show that tidal residual currents in Whidbey Basin are small in comparison to other sub-basins. A large clockwise residual circulation is formed around Vashon Island near entrance of South Sound, which can potentially constrain the water exchange between the Central Basin and South Sound.

tidal residual eddy, vorticity, headland, Puget So↗
DOE OSTI2017

Migratory stopover timing is predicted by breeding latitude, not habitat quality, in a long-distance migratory songbird

The timing of migration can have important survival impacts, as birds must synchronize their movements with favourable environmental conditions to reach their destination. The timing of arrival at and duration of migratory stopover may be largely governed by environmental conditions experienced en route as well as by endogenous factors, but our understanding of these processes is limited. We used light-level geolocators to collect start-to-finish spatio-temporal migration data for a declining aerial insectivore, the Purple Martin ( Progne subis ), that travels seasonally between North and South America. Using data obtained for birds originating from range-wide breeding populations, our objectives were to test intrinsic and extrinsic hypotheses for migration stopover duration as well as to identify important stopover regions during fall migration. We examined whether breeding latitude, fall migration timing, age, sex or habitat quality at stopover sites (measured using Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) influenced the duration of stopovers. We found that most individuals rely on the eastern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, Honduras, and Nicaragua for stopovers during fall migration, where duration ranged from 1 to 36 days (average 6.8 ± 8.2). Stopovers in these regions were later and of longer duration for more northern breeding populations. Only breeding latitude predicted stopover duration, and not habitat quality at stopovers, lending support to the hypothesis that duration is prescribed by endogenous factors. Lastly, the important core stopover regions we documented could be targeted for conservation efforts, particularly for steeply-declining, more northern breeding populations that have greater stopover duration in these areas.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

Nitrogen fixation rates in the Guinea Dome and the equatorial upwelling regions in the Atlantic Ocean

Abstract Biological nitrogen fixation is a key process balancing the loss of combined nitrogen in the marine nitrogen cycle. Its relevance in upwelling or high nutrient regions is still unclear, with the few available studies in these regions of the ocean reporting rates that vary widely from below detection limit to > 100 nmol N L −1 d −1 . In the eastern tropical Atlantic Ocean, two open ocean upwelling systems are active in boreal summer. One is the seasonal equatorial upwelling, where the residual phosphorus associated with aged upwelled waters is suggested to enhance nitrogen fixation in this season. The other is the Guinea Dome, a thermal upwelling dome. We conducted two surveys along 23° W across the Guinea Dome and the Equator from 15° N to 5° S in September 2015 and August–September 2016 with high latitudinal resolution (20–60 nm between stations). The abundance of Trichodesmium colonies was characterized by an Underwater Vision Profiler 5 and the total biological nitrogen fixation in the euphotic layer was measured using the 15 N 2 technique. The highest abundances of Trichodesmium colonies were found in the area of the Guinea Dome (9°–15° N) with a maximum of 3 colonies L −1 near the surface. By contrast, colonies were almost absent in the Equatorial band between 2° N and 5° S. The highest nitrogen fixation rate was measured at the northern edge of the Guinea Dome in 2016 (ca. 31 nmol N L −1 d −1 ). In this region, where diazotrophs thrived on a sufficient supply of both phosphorus and iron, a patchy distribution was unveiled by our increased spatial resolution scheme. In the Equatorial band, rates were considerably lower, ranging from below detection limit to ca. 4 nmol N L −1 d −1 , with a clear difference in magnitude between 2015 (rates close to zero) and 2016 (average rates around 2 nmol N L −1 d −1 ). This difference seemed triggered by a contrasting supply of phosphorus between years. Our study stresses the importance of surveys with sampling at fine-scale spatial resolution, and shows unexpected high variability in the rates of nitrogen fixation in the Guinea Dome, a region where diazotrophy is a significant process supplying new nitrogen into the euphotic layer.

Fernández-Carrera, Ana (ORCID:0000000183470996)↗
DOE OSTI2021

Coastal-Fog Microphysics Using In-Situ Observations and GOES-R Retrievals

Here, the objective of this work is to evaluate GOES-R based fog conditions occurred during the C-FOG (Toward Improving Coastal Fog Prediction) field campaign. C-FOG is designed to advance understanding of fog formation, development, and dissipation over coastal environments to improve its predictability. The project took place along coastlines and open water environments of Eastern Canada (Nova Scotia, NS and the Island of Newfoundland, NL) during August-October of 2018 where environmental conditions play an important role for late season’s fog formation. During the C-FOG field campaign, instruments were located at the Ferryland Supersite, NL, with 2 main sites, and five satellite sites, as well as on the Research Vessel (R/V) Hugh R. Sharp. Key measurement instruments included a Gondola carrying a CDP (cloud droplet probe) and a BCP (backscatter cloud probe) was used for measuring droplet spectra from 1-75 µm on the R/V. A LPM (laser precipitation monitor) with 100 µm-1 cm size range and an OPC (optical particle counter) with 0.3-17 µm at 16 spectral channels provided information for fog and drizzle discrimination. Remote sensing platforms (e.g. profiling microwave radiometer, PMWR), Ceilometer, Lidar), meteorological towers, tethered balloons, and GOES-R products (e.g. fog coverage and droplet size and liquid water path) were used to evaluate fog over horizontal and vertical dimensions. Results suggest that effective radius, phase, liquid water path, and liquid water content values obtained from GOES-R and PMWR were comparable to ground based in-situ observations. It is concluded that integration of observations and nowcasting products may help improve short term local fog predictions.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

A Review of Coastal Fog Microphysics During C-FOG

The goal of this paper is to provide an overview the coastal fog microphysical measurements and to evaluate microphysical parameterizations based on the C-FOG (Toward Improving Coastal Fog Prediction) field project. C-FOG is designed to advance understanding of liquid fog formation, development, and dissipation over coastal environments to improve fog predictability and monitoring. The project took place in Eastern Canada (Nova Scotia, NS and Newfoundland, NL) coastlines and open water environments during August-October of 2018 where environmental conditions play an important role for late season’s fog formation. Visibility (Vis), wind speed (Uh), and turbulence along coastlines are the most critical weather- related parameters affecting marine transportation and aviation. In the analysis, microphysical observations are summarized first and then they are, together with 3D wind components, used for fog intensity (visibility) evaluation. Results suggest that detailed microphysical observations collected at the supersites and aboard Research Vessel (RV) Hugh R. Sharp are useful to develop microphysical parameterizations. The fog life cycle and turbulence kinetic energy dissipation rate were strongly related to each other. The magnitude of 3D wind fluctuations was higher during the formation and dissipation stages. An array of cutting-edge instruments used for data collection provided new insight into the variability and intensity of fog (visibility) and microphysics. It is concluded that further improvements in microphysical observations and parameterizations are needed to improve fog predictability of NWP (Numerical Weather Prediction) models.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2014

Regional climate change of the greater Zambezi River Basin: a hybrid assessment

Projections of regional changes in surface-air temperature and precipitation, in response to unconstrained emissions as well as a climate mitigation policy, for the Zambezi River Basin (ZRB) are presented. These projections are cast in a probabilistic context through a hybrid technique that combines the projections of the MIT Integrated Global System Model (IGSM) to pattern-change kernels from climate-model results of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP). Distributional changes of precipitation and surface-air temperature averaged over the western and eastern ZRB are considered. In general, the most significant response to climate policy is seen in the spring. Frequency distributions of precipitation change for the unconstrained emission scenario indicate a majority of the outcomes to be drier by 2050, although the distribution spans both increased and decreased precipitation. Through climate policy, the distributions’ total range of outcomes collapses considerably, and perhaps more importantly, the mode of the distribution aligns with zero precipitation change. For surface-air temperature, climate policy consistently reduces the modal value of warming, and this reduction is robust for the western ZRB. Climate policy also considerably abates the occurrence of the most extreme temperature increases, but the minimum warming in the distributions is less affected.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

The changing nature of hydroclimatic risks across South Africa

We present results from large ensembles of projected twenty-first century changes in seasonal precipitation and near-surface air temperature for the nation of South Africa. These ensembles are a result of combining Monte Carlo projections from a human-Earth system model of intermediate complexity with pattern-scaled responses from climate models of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5). These future ensemble scenarios consider a range of global actions to abate emissions through the twenty-first century. We evaluate distributions of surface-air temperature and precipitation change over three sub-national regions: western, central, and eastern South Africa. In all regions, we find that without any emissions or climate targets in place, there is a greater than 50% likelihood that mid-century temperatures will increase threefold over the current climate’s two-standard deviation range of variability. However, scenarios that consider more aggressive climate targets all but eliminate the risk of these salient temperature increases. A preponderance of risk toward decreased precipitation (3 to 4 times higher than increased) exists for western and central South Africa. Strong climate targets abate evolving regional hydroclimatic risks. Under a target to limit global climate warming to 1.5 °C by 2100, the risk of precipitation changes within South Africa toward the end of this century (2065–2074) is commensurate to the risk during the 2030s without any global climate target. Thus, these regional hydroclimate risks over South Africa could be delayed by 30 years and, in doing so, provide invaluable lead-time for national efforts to prepare, fortify, and/or adapt.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2015

Ways to Improve Russian Coal-Fired Power Plants

Coal is an important fuel for the electric power industry of Russia, especially in Ural and the eastern part of the country. It is fired in boilers of large (200 – 800 MW) condensing power units and in many cogeneration power plants with units rated at 50 – 180 MW. Many coal-fired power plants have been operated for more than 40 – 50 years. Though serviceable, their equipment is obsolete and does not comply with the current efficiency, environmental, staffing, and availability standards. It is urgent to retrofit and upgrade such power plants using advanced equipment, engineering and business ideas. Russian power-plant engineering companies have designed such advanced power units and their equipment such as boilers, turbines, auxiliaries, process and environmental control systems similar to those produced by the world’s leading manufacturers. Their performance and ways of implementation are discussed.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Skinny kelp (Saccharina angustissima) provides valuable genetics for the biomass improvement of farmed sugar kelp (Saccharina latissima)

Abstract Saccharina latissima (sugar kelp) is one of the most widely cultivated brown marine macroalgae species in the North Atlantic and the eastern North Pacific Oceans. To meet the expanding demands of the sugar kelp mariculture industry, selecting and breeding sugar kelp that is best suited to offshore farm environments is becoming necessary. To that end, a multi-year, multi-institutional breeding program was established by the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) Macroalgae Research Inspiring Novel Energy Resources (MARINER) program. Hybrid sporophytes were generated using 203 unique gametophyte cultures derived from wild-collected Saccharina spp . for two seasons of farm trials (2019–2020 and 2020–2021). The wild sporophytes were collected from 10 different locations within the Gulf of Maine (USA) region, including both sugar kelp ( Saccharina latissima ) and the skinny kelp species ( Saccharina angustissima ). We harvested 232 common farm plots during these two seasons with available data. We found that farmed kelp plots with skinny kelp as parents had an average increased yield over the mean (wet weight 2.48 ± 0.90 kg m −1 and dry weight 0.32 ± 0.10 kg m −1 ) in both growing seasons. We also found that blade length positively correlated with biomass in skinny kelp x sugar kelp crosses or pure sugar kelp crosses. The skinny x sugar progenies had significantly longer and narrower blades than the pure sugar kelp progenies in both seasons. Overall, these findings suggest that sugar x skinny kelp crosses provide improved yield compared to pure sugar kelp crosses.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2026

Valuing Maintenance Strategies for Fusion Plants as Part of a Future Electricity Grid

Scheduled maintenance is likely to be lengthy and therefore consequential for the economics of fusion power plants. The maintenance strategy that maximizes the economic value of a plant depends on internal factors such as the cost and durability of the replaceable components, the frequency and duration of the maintenance blocks, and the external factors of the electricity system in which the plant operates. Here, this paper examines the value of fusion power plants with various maintenance properties in a decarbonized United States Eastern Interconnection circa 2050. Seasonal variations in electricity supply and demand mean that certain times of year, particularly spring to early summer, are best for scheduled maintenance. Seasonality has two important consequences. First, the value of a plant can be 15% higher than what one would naively expect if value were directly proportional to its availability. Second, in some cases, replacing fractions of a component in shorter maintenance blocks spread over multiple years is better than replacing it all at once during a longer outage, even through the overall availability of the plant is lower in the former scenario.

power plant, maintenance, seasonality, electricity↗
DOE OSTI2013

Input of 129 I into the western Pacific Ocean resulting from the Fukushima nuclear event

We present an initial characterization of the input of 129 I into the Pacific Ocean resulting from the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident. This characterization is based primarily on 129 I measurements on samples collected from a research cruise conducted in waters off the eastern coast of Japan in June 2011. The resulting measurements were compared with samples intended to reflect pre-Fukushima background that were collected during a May 2011 transect of the Pacific by a commercial container vessel. In surface waters, we observed peak 129 I concentrations of ~300 μBq/m 3 which represents an elevation of nearly three orders of magnitude compared to pre-Fukushima backgrounds. The 129 I results were coupled with 137 Cs measurements from the same cruise and derived an average 129 I/137Cs activity ratio of 0.442 × 10 -6 for the effluent from Fukushima. Finally, we present 129 I depth profiles from five stations from this cruise which form the basis for future studies of ocean transport and mixing process as well as estimations of the total budget of 129 I released into the Pacific.

129 iodine↗
DOE OSTI2013

A New Stochastic Modeling of 3-D Mud Drapes Inside Point Bar Sands in Meandering River Deposits

The environment of major sediments of eastern China oilfields is a meandering river where mud drapes inside point bar sand occur and are recognized as important factors for underground fluid flow and distribution of the remaining oil. The present detailed architectural analysis, and the related mud drapes' modeling inside a point bar, is practical work to enhance oil recovery. This paper illustrates a new stochastic modeling of mud drapes inside point bars. The method is a hierarchical strategy and composed of three nested steps. Firstly, the model of meandering channel bodies is established using the Fluvsim method. Each channel centerline obtained from the Fluvsim is preserved for the next simulation. Secondly, the curvature ratios of each meandering river at various positions are calculated to determine the occurrence of each point bar. The abandoned channel is used to characterize the geometry of each defined point bar. Finally, mud drapes inside each point bar are predicted through random sampling of various parameters, such as number, horizontal intervals, dip angle, and extended distance of mud drapes. A dataset, collected from a reservoir in the Shengli oilfield of China, was used to illustrate the mud drapes' building procedure proposed in this paper. The results show that the inner architectural elements of the meandering river are depicted fairly well in the model. More importantly, the high prediction precision from the cross validation of five drilled wells shows the practical value and significance of the proposed method.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2015

Laboratory Enrichment of Radioactive Assemblages and Estimation of Thorium and Uranium Radioactivity in Fractions Separated from Placer Sands in Southeast Bangladesh

The present study reports the likely first attempt of separating radioactive minerals for estimation of activity concentration in the beach placer sands of Bangladesh. Several sand samples from heavy mineral deposits located at the south-eastern coastal belt of Bangladesh were processed to physically upgrade their radioactivity concentrations using plant and laboratory equipment. Following some modified flow procedure, individual fractions were separated and investigated using gamma-ray spectrometry and powder-XRD analysis. The radioactivity measurements indicated contributions of the thorium and uranium radioactive series and of {sup 40}K. The maximum values of {sup 232}Th and {sup 238}U, estimated from the radioactivity of {sup 208}Tl and {sup 234}Th in secular equilibrium, were found to be 152,000 and 63,300 Bq/kg, respectively. The fraction of the moderately conductive part in electric separation contained thorium predominantly, while that of the non-conductive part was found to be uranium rich. The present arrangement of the pilot plant cascade and the fine tuning of setting parameters were found to be effective and economic separation process of the radioactive minerals from placer sands in Bangladesh. Probable radiological impacts and extraction potentiality of such radioactive materials are also discussed.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2019

Outcomes in patients ≥ 80 years with a diagnosis of a hepatopancreaticobiliary (HPB) malignancy

Older patients are underrepresented in oncological clinical trials. The incidence of hepatopancreaticobiliary (HPB) malignancies is higher in older patients, but data on outcomes are lacking. This study assessed patient outcomes in those < 80 and ≥ 80 years with a HPB malignancy seen at a tertiary referral centre, The Christie NHS Foundation Trust. Data on patients with a HPB malignancy were collected retrospectively between 2012 and 2017 via on-line case-note review. Survival was calculated using the Kaplan–Meier method and prognostic factors using log-rank analysis. Of 1421 patients, 10% were ≥ 80 years. Of patients < 80 and ≥ 80 years, 56% and 57% had pancreas cancer, 39% and 36% biliary tract cancer, and 5% and 7% had hepatocellular carcinoma, respectively. Amongst patients ≥ 80 years, 75% had an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (ECOG PS) 0–2. Patients ≥ 80 years had higher rates of comorbidity; 28% received systemic anti-cancer therapy (SACT), compared with 62% of patients < 80 years. Best supportive care (BSC) was instituted in 44% of older patients, compared with 13% in those < 80 years. Of patients ≥ 80 years who received SACT, 82% received monotherapy. Median overall survival (OS) for patients receiving palliative SACT was 10.07 months (95% CI 8.89–11.08) and 10.10 months (95% CI 6.30–12.30) in patients < 80 and ≥ 80 years, respectively, p 0.41; ECOG PS (p < 0.001) was prognostic for OS in older patients but Adult Comorbidity Evaluation-27 comorbidity score (p = 0.07, when comparing groups of ACE score ≤ 1 and > 1) was not. Baseline factors were similar in both age cohorts, but more comorbidities were present in older patients. Older patients were less likely to receive SACT, but when they did, they had an equivalent benefit in OS to younger patients.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗
DOE OSTI2018

Switchgrass and Giant Miscanthus Biomass and Theoretical Ethanol Production from Reclaimed Mine Lands

Switchgrass ( Panicum virgatum L.) and giant miscanthus ( Miscanthus x giganteus Greef & Deuter ex Hodkinson & Renvoize) are productive on marginal lands in the eastern USA, but their productivity and composition have not been compared on mine lands. Our objectives were to compare biomass production, composition, and theoretical ethanol yield (TEY) and production (TEP) of these grasses on a reclaimed mined site. Following 25 years of herbaceous cover, vegetation was killed and plots of switchgrass cultivars Kanlow and BoMaster and miscanthus lines Illinois and MBX-002 were planted in five replications. Annual switchgrass and miscanthus yields averaged 5.8 and 8.9 Mg dry matter ha -1 , respectively, during 2011 to 2015. Cell wall carbohydrate composition was analyzed via near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy with models based on switchgrass or mixed herbaceous samples including switchgrass and miscanthus. Concentrations were higher for glucan and lower for xylan in miscanthus than in switchgrass but TEY did not differ (453 and 450 L Mg -1 , respectively). In response to biomass production, total ethanol production was greater for miscanthus than for switchgrass (5594 vs 3699 L ha -1 ), did not differ between Kanlow and BoMaster switchgrass (3880 and 3517 L ha -1 , respectively), and was higher for MBX-002 than for Illinois miscanthus (6496 vs 4692 L ha -1 ). Relative to the mixed feedstocks model, the switchgrass model slightly underpredicted glucan and slightly overpredicted xylan concentrations. Estimated TEY was slightly lower from the switchgrass model but both models distinguished genotype, year, and interaction effects similarly. In conclusion, biomass productivity and TEP were similar to those from agricultural sites with marginal soils.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Nationwide Buildings Energy Research enabled through an integrated Data Intensive Scientific Workflow and Advanced Analysis Environment

Modern workflow systems enable scientists to run ensemble simulations at unprecedented scales and levels of complexity, allowing them to study system sizes previously impossible to achieve, due to the inherent resource requirements needed for the modeling work. However as a result of these new capabilities the science teams suddenly also face unprecedented data volumes that they are unable to analyze with their existing tools and methodologies in a timely fashion. In this paper we will describe the ongoing development work to create an integrated data intensive scientific workflow and analysis environment that offers researchers the ability to easily create and execute complex simulation studies and provides them with different scalable methods to analyze the resulting data volumes. The integration of simulation and analysis environments is hereby not only a question of ease of use, but supports fundamental functions in the correlated analysis of simulation input, execution details and derived results for multi-variant, complex studies. To this end the team extended and integrated the existing capabilities of the Velo data management and analysis infrastructure, the MeDICi data intensive workflow system and RHIPE the R for Hadoop version of the well-known statistics package, as well as developing a new visual analytics interface for the result exploitation by multi-domain users. The capabilities of the new environment are demonstrated on a use case that focusses on the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) building energy team, showing how they were able to take their previously local scale simulations to a nationwide level by utilizing data intensive computing techniques not only for their modeling work, but also for the subsequent analysis of their modeling results. As part of the PNNL research initiative PRIMA (Platform for Regional Integrated Modeling and Analysis) the team performed an initial 3 year study of building energy demands for the US Eastern Interconnect domain, which they are now planning to extend to predict the demand for the complete century. The initial study raised their data demands from a few GBs to 400GB for the 3year study and expected tens of TBs for the full century.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗