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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2017

Specification of the near-Earth space environment with SHIELDS

Here, predicting variations in the near-Earth space environment that can lead to spacecraft damage and failure is one example of “space weather” and a big space physics challenge. A project recently funded through the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) Directed Research and Development (LDRD) program aims at developing a new capability to understand, model, and predict Space Hazards Induced near Earth by Large Dynamic Storms, the SHIELDS framework. The project goals are to understand the dynamics of the surface charging environment (SCE), the hot (keV) electrons representing the source and seed populations for the radiation belts, on both macro- and micro-scale. Important physics questions related to particle injection and acceleration associated with magnetospheric storms and substorms, as well as plasma waves, are investigated. These challenging problems are addressed using a team of world-class experts in the fields of space science and computational plasma physics, and state-of-the-art models and computational facilities. A full two-way coupling of physics-based models across multiple scales, including a global MHD (BATS-R-US) embedding a particle-in-cell (iPIC3D) and an inner magnetosphere (RAM-SCB) codes, is achieved. New data assimilation techniques employing in situ satellite data are developed; these provide an order of magnitude improvement in the accuracy in the simulation of the SCE. SHIELDS also includes a post-processing tool designed to calculate the surface charging for specific spacecraft geometry using the Curvilinear Particle-In-Cell (CPIC) code that can be used for reanalysis of satellite failures or for satellite design.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1992

Infrared photometric behavior and opposition effect of Mars

Although the instrument wasn't designed for this purpose, data from the imaging spectrometer ISM may be used for studying photometric variations of Mars reflectance, that are related to the surface materials and aerosols physical properties. ISM flew aboard the Phobos-2 spacecraft which orbited Mars from January to March, 1989. About 40,000 spectra were acquired in 128 channels ranging from 0.76 to 3.16 micro-m, with a spatial resolution of 25 km and a signal-to-noise ratio ranging up to 1000. Analysis of the results leads to the following conclusions: width variations of the opposition surge can be related to differences in porosity or grain size distribution on the various domains, with little or no effect from suspended dust. As the biggest effects are observed on dark and bright materials, intermediate behaviors on average-bright regions cannot result from a mixing process, but are more likely to come from either cementation processes or modification of the grain size distribution under the influence of wind, which under Martian conditions preferentially removes the biggest particles. Thus, a surface dust consisting in big bright and small dark grains could explain the observations.

Erard, S.↗
NASA NTRS1997

New Research by CCD Scanning for Comets and Asteroids

The purpose of Spacewatch is to explore the various populations of small objects within the solar system. Spacewatch provides data for studies of comets and asteroids, finds potential targets for space missions, and provides information on the environmental problem of possible impacts. Moving objects are discovered by scanning the sky with charge-coupled devices (CCDs) on the 0.9-meter Spacewatch Telescope of the University of Arizona on Kitt Peak. Each Spacewatch scan consists of three drift scan passes over an area of sky using a CCD filtered to a bandpass of 0.5-1.0 microns (approximately V+R+I with peak sensitivity at 0.7 micron). The effective exposure time for each pass is 143 seconds multiplied by the secant of the declination. We have been finding some 30,000 new asteroids per year and applying their statistics to the study of the collisional history of the solar system. As of the end of the observing run of Nov. 1997, Spacewatch had found a total of 153 Near-Earth Asteroids (NEAs) and 8 new comets since the project began in the 1980s, and had recovered one lost comet. The total number of NEAs found by Spacewatch big enough to be hazardous if they were to impact the Earth is 36. Spacewatch is also efficient in recovery of known comets and has detected and reported positions for more than 137,000 asteroids, mostly new ones in the main belt, including more than 16,000 asteroids designated by the Minor Planet Center (MPC).

Gehrels, Tom↗
NASA NTRS2007

Multi Sensor Approach to Address Sustainable Development

The main objectives of Earth Science research are many folds: to understand how does this planet operates, can we model her operation and eventually develop the capability to predict such changes. However, the underlying goals of this work are to eventually serve the humanity in providing societal benefits. This requires continuous, and detailed observations from many sources in situ, airborne and space. By and large, the space observations are the way to comprehend the global phenomena across continental boundaries and provide credible boundary conditions for the mesoscale studies. This requires a multiple sensors, look angles and measurements over the same spot in accurately solving many problems that may be related to air quality, multi hazard disasters, public health, hydrology and more. Therefore, there are many ways to address these issues and develop joint implementation, data sharing and operating strategies for the benefit of the world community. This is because for large geographical areas or regions and a diverse population, some sound observations, scientific facts and analytical models must support the decision making. This is crucial for the sustainability of vital resources of the world and at the same time to protect the inhabitants, endangered species and the ecology. Needless to say, there is no single sensor, which can answer all such questions effectively. Due to multi sensor approach, it puts a tremendous burden on any single implementing entity in terms of information, knowledge, budget, technology readiness and computational power. And, more importantly, the health of planet Earth and its ability to sustain life is not governed by a single country, but in reality, is everyone's business on this planet. Therefore, with this notion, it is becoming an impractical problem by any single organization/country to bear this colossal responsibility. So far, each developed country within their means has proceeded along satisfactorily in implementing their Earth observing needs but it has left a big void in the developing world who have very limited resources to invest in the space measurements. This paper gives some serious thoughts in what options are there in undertaking this tremendous challenge. The problem is multi-dimensional in terms of budget, technology availability, environmental legislations, public awareness, and communication limitations. Some of these issues are introduced, discussed and possible implementation strategies are provided in this paper to move out of this predicament. A strong emphasis is placed on international cooperation and collaboration to see a collective benefit for this effort

Habib, Shahid↗
DOE OSTI2020

Indirect methods in nuclear astrophysics with relativistic radioactive beams

Reactions with radioactive nuclear beams at relativistic energies have opened new doors to clarify the mechanisms of stellar evolution and cataclysmic events involving stars and during the big bang epoch. Numerous nuclear reactions of astrophysical interest cannot be assessed directly in laboratory experiments. Ironically, some of the information needed to describe such reactions, at extremely low energies (e.g., keVs), can only be studied on Earth by using relativistic collisions between heavy ions at GeV energies. In this contribution, we make a short review of experiments with relativistic radioactive beams and of the theoretical methods needed to understand the physics of stars, adding to the knowledge inferred from astronomical observations. We continue by introducing a more detailed description of how the use of relativistic radioactive beams can help to solve astrophysical puzzles and several successful experimental methods. State-of-the-art theories are discussed at some length with the purpose of helping us understand the experimental results reported. The review is not complete and we have focused most of it to traditional methods aiming at the determination of the equation of state of symmetric and asymmetric nuclear matter and the role of the symmetry energy. Whenever possible, under the limitations of our present understanding of experimental data and theory, we try to pinpoint the information still missing to further understand how stars evolve, explode, and how their internal structure might be. We try to convey the idea that in order to improve microscopic theories for many-body calculations, nuclear structure, nuclear reactions, and astrophysics, and in order to constrain and allow for convergence of our understanding of stars, we still need considerable improvements in terms of accuracy of experiments and the development of new and dedicated nuclear facilities to study relativistic reactions with radioactive beams.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Final Technical Report for "High Energy Physics at The University of Iowa"

Particle Physics explores the very fundamental building blocks of our universe: the nature of forces, of space and time. By exploring very energetic collisions of sub-nuclear particles with sophisticated detectors at the colliding beam accelerators (as well as others), experimental particle physicists have established the current theory known as the Standard Model (SM), one of the several theoretical postulates to explain our everyday world. It explains all phenomena known up to a very small fraction of a second after the Big Bang to a high precision; the Higgs boson, discovered recently, was the last of the particle predicted by the SM. However, many other phenomena, like existence of dark energy, dark matter, absence of anti-matter, the parameters in the SM, neutrino masses etc. are not explained by the SM. So, in order to find out what lies beyond the SM, i.e., what conditions at the earliest fractions of the first second of the universe gave rise to the SM, we constructed the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN after the Tevatron collider at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. Each of these projects helped us push the boundary further with new insights as we explore a yet higher energy regime. The experiments are extremely complex, and as we push the boundaries of our existing knowledge, it also requires pushing the boundaries of our technical knowhow. So, not only do we pursue humankind’s most basic intellectual pursuit of knowledge, we help develop technology that benefits today’s highly technical society. Our trained Ph.D. students become experts at fast computing, manipulation of large data volumes and databases, developing cloud computing, fast electronics, advanced detector developments, and complex interfaces in several of these areas. Many of the Particle physics Ph.D.s build their careers at various technology and computing facilities, even financial institutions use some of their skills of simulation and statistical prowess. Additionally, last but not least, today’s discoveries make for tomorrow’s practical uses of an improved life style, case in point, internet technology, fiber optics, and many such things. At The University of Iowa we are involved in the LHC experiments, ATLAS and CMS, building equipment, with calibration and maintenance, supporting the infrastructure in hardware, software and analysis as well as participating in various aspects of data analyses. Our theory group works on fundamentals of field theories and on exploration of non-accelerator high energy neutrinos and possible dark matter searches.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
NASA NTRS2016

Advanced EVA Suit Camera System Development Project

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) is developing a new extra-vehicular activity (EVA) suit known as the Advanced EVA Z2 Suit. All of the improvements to the EVA Suit provide the opportunity to update the technology of the video imagery. My summer internship project involved improving the video streaming capabilities of the cameras that will be used on the Z2 Suit for data acquisition. To accomplish this, I familiarized myself with the architecture of the camera that is currently being tested to be able to make improvements on the design. Because there is a lot of benefit to saving space, power, and weight on the EVA suit, my job was to use Altium Design to start designing a much smaller and simplified interface board for the camera's microprocessor and external components. This involved checking datasheets of various components and checking signal connections to ensure that this architecture could be used for both the Z2 suit and potentially other future projects. The Orion spacecraft is a specific project that may benefit from this condensed camera interface design. The camera's physical placement on the suit also needed to be determined and tested so that image resolution can be maximized. Many of the options of the camera placement may be tested along with other future suit testing. There are multiple teams that work on different parts of the suit, so the camera's placement could directly affect their research or design. For this reason, a big part of my project was initiating contact with other branches and setting up multiple meetings to learn more about the pros and cons of the potential camera placements we are analyzing. Collaboration with the multiple teams working on the Advanced EVA Z2 Suit is absolutely necessary and these comparisons will be used as further progress is made for the overall suit design. This prototype will not be finished in time for the scheduled Z2 Suit testing, so my time was also spent creating a case for the original interface board that is already being used. This design is being done by use of Creo 2. Due to time constraints, I may not be able to complete the 3-D printing portion of this design, but I was able to use my knowledge of the interface board and Altium Design to help in the task. As a side project, I assisted another intern in selecting and programming a microprocessor to control linear actuators. These linear actuators will be used to move various increments of polyethylene for controlled radiation testing. For this, we began the software portion of the project using the Arduino's coding environment to control an Arduino Due and H-Bridge components. Along with the obvious learning of computer programs such as Altium Design and Creo 2, I also acquired more skills with networking and collaborating with others, being able to multi-task because of responsibilities to work on various projects, and how to set realistic goals in the work place. Like many internship projects, this project will be continued and improved, so I also had the chance to improve my organization and communication skills as I documented all of my meetings and research. As a result of my internship at JSC, I desire to continue a career with NASA, whether that be through another internship or possibly a co-op. I am excited to return to my university and continue my education in electrical engineering because of all of my experiences at JSC.

Mock, Kyla↗
DOE OSTI2024

QCD axion: Some like it hot

We compare the quantum chromodynamics (QCD) axion phase-space distribution from unitarized next-to-leading order chiral perturbation theory with the one extracted from pion-scattering data. We derive a robust bound by confronting momentum-dependent Boltzmann equations against up-to-date observations of the cosmic microwave background, of the baryonic acoustic oscillations and of primordial abundances. These datasets imply 𝑚 𝑎 ≤ 0.16 eV for the 95% credible interval, i.e., ∼ 30% stronger bound than what previously found. We present forecasts using dedicated likelihoods for future cosmological surveys and the sphaleron rate from unquenched lattice QCD.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1992

Crystal ball gazing

Over the last seven years, the CPU on my desk has increased speed by two orders of magnitude, from around 1 MIP to more than 100 MIPS; more important is that it is about as fast as any uniprocessor of any type available for any price, for compute bound problems. Memory on the system is also about 100 times as big, while disk is only about 10 times as big. Local network and I/O performance have increased greatly, though not quite at the same rate as processor speed. More important, I will argue, is that the CPU's address space is 64 bits, rather than 32 bits, allowing us to rethink some time honored presumptions. The Internet has gone from a few hundred machines to a million, and now have grown to span the entire globe, and wide area networks have now becoming commercial services. 'PC's' are now real computers, bringing what was top of the line computing capability to the masses only a few years behind the leading edge. So even a year or two from now, we can anticipate commonplace desktop machines running at speeds hundreds of MIPS, with main memories in the hundreds of megabytes to a gigabyte, able to draw millions of vectors/second, and all capable of some reasonable 3D graphics. And only a few years later, this will be the $1500 PC. So the 1990's certainly brings: 64 bit processors becoming standard; BIP/BFLOP class uniprocessors; large scale multiprocessors for special purpose applications; I/O as the most significant computer engineering problem; Hierarchical data servers in everyday use; routine access to archived data around the world; and what else? What do systems such as those we will have this decade imply to those building data analysis systems today? Many of the presumptions of the 1970's and 1980's need to be reexamined in the light of 1990's technology.

Gettys, Jim↗
DOE OSTI2015

Audits Made Simple

A company just got notified there is a big external audit coming in 3 months. Getting ready for an audit can be challenging, scary, and full of surprises. This Gold Paper describes a typical audit from notification of the intent to audit through disposition of the final report including Best Practices, Opportunities for Improvement (OFI), and issues that must be fixed. Good preparation can improve the chances of success. Ensuring the auditors understand the environment and requirements is paramount to success. It helps the auditors understand that the enterprise really does think that security is important. Understanding and following a structured process ensures a smooth audit process. Ensuring follow-up on OFIs and issues in a structured fashion will also make the next audit easier. It is important to keep in mind that the auditors will use the previous report as a starting point. Now the only worry is the actual audit and subsequent report and how well the company has done. “Virtualization, mobilization, and cloud technology have created new points of entry into business, leaving them vulnerable to covert cyber-attacks,” states a report by Ernst & Young. Executives are struggling with the potential for a data breach, and resolving this business risk is high on their agenda. While most audit committee members are financially solid, they lack knowledge of technology issues, making understanding of this risk difficult. Success with an audit helps management understand the risk management is accepting, highlight gaps in security, and generate ideas on how to improve. These results are an important aspect of managing the business risk.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2024

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: DR6 Gravitational Lensing Map and Cosmological Parameters

We present cosmological constraints from a gravitational lensing mass map covering 9400 deg2 reconstructed from measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) made by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) from 2017 to 2021. In combination with measurements of baryon acoustic oscillations and big bang nucleosynthesis, we obtain the clustering amplitude σ8 = 0.819 ± 0.015 at 1.8% precision, S 8 ≡ σ 8 (Ω m /0.3) 0.5 = 0.840 ± 0.028, and the Hubble constant H 0 = (68.3 ± 1.1) km s -1 Mpc -1 at 1.6% precision. A joint constraint with Planck CMB lensing yields σ 8 = 0.812 ± 0.013, S 8 ≡ σ 8 (Ω m /0.3) 0.5 = 0.831 ± 0.023 , and H0 = (68.1 ± 1.0) km s -1 Mpc -1 . These measurements agree with ΛCDM extrapolations from the CMB anisotropies measured by Planck. We revisit constraints from the KiDS, DES, and HSC galaxy surveys with a uniform set of assumptions and find that S8 from all three are lower than that from ACT+Planck lensing by levels ranging from 1.7σ to 2.1σ. This motivates further measurements and comparison, not just between the CMB anisotropies and galaxy lensing but also between CMB lensing probing z ~ 0.5–5 on mostly linear scales and galaxy lensing at z 0.5 on smaller scales. We combine with CMB anisotropies to constrain extensions of ΛCDM, limiting neutrino masses to Σm ν < 0.13 eV (95% c.l.), for example. We describe the mass map and related data products that will enable a wide array of cross-correlation science. Our results provide independent confirmation that the universe is spatially flat, conforms with general relativity, and is described remarkably well by the ΛCDM model, while paving a promising path for neutrino physics with lensing from upcoming ground-based CMB surveys.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Covariance Testing at BNL [Slides]

This presentation discusses testing implemented in FUDGE & ADVANCE in regard to proper ENDF formatting: STAN, STANEF, CHECKR, FUDGE, NJOY, convert to BOXR format, plotting, endfcovreport.py which is an overview of ENDF library’s covariance contents, and covariance Matrix class implements that are the core of all GNDS covariance. Several checks are performed, including symmetric, real, positive definite, condition # of Eigenvalues, and too big uncertainties. The presentation states that it can fix too big and/or small uncertainties and that it can plot matrices. It states that further testing is recommended by CSEWG but has not yet been implemented and suggests methods such as documentation which needs a human to execute, completeness which is partially complete, and reasonableness which has not been started. The presentation concludes by elaborating on reasonableness and states that only cross section is documented, that similar limits on CP reactions cross sections are needed, that maximum limits are needed too which is tricky since ENDF assumes Normal PDFs, and that there may be other observables.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1986

Characterization of vegetation by microwave and optical remote sensing

Two series of carefully controlled experiments were conducted. First, plots of important crops (corn, soybeans, and sorghum), prairie grasses (big bluestem, switchgrass, tal fescue, orchardgrass, bromegrass), and forage legumes (alfalfa, red clover, and crown vetch) were manipulated to produce wide ranges of phytomass, leaf area index, and canopy architecture. Second, coniferous forest canopies were simulated using small balsam fir trees grown in large pots of soil and arranged systematically on a large (5 m) platform. Rotating the platform produced many new canopies for frequency and spatial averaging of the backscatter signal. In both series of experiments, backscatter of 5.0 GHz (C-Band) was measured as a function of view angle and polarization. Biophysical measurements included leaf area index, fresh and dry phytomass, water content of canopy elements, canopy height, and soil roughness and moisture content. For a subset of the above plots, additional measurements were acquired to exercise microwave backscatter models. These measurements included size and shape of leaves, stems, and fruit and the probability density function of leaf and stem angles. The relationships of the backscattering coefficients and the biophysical properties of the canopies were evaluated using statistical correlations, analysis of variance, and regression analysis. Results from the corn density and balsam fir experiments are discussed and analyses of data from the other experiments are summarized.

Daughtry, C. S. T.↗
DOE OSTI2014

SU-E-J-103: Setup Errors Analysis by Cone-Beam CT (CBCT)-Based Imaged-Guided Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy for Esophageal Cancer

Purpose: To quantify setup errors by pretreatment kilovolt cone-beam computed tomography(KV-CBCT) scans for middle or distal esophageal carcinoma patients. Methods: Fifty-two consecutive middle or distal esophageal carcinoma patients who underwent IMRT were included this study. A planning CT scan using a big-bore CT simulator was performed in the treatment position and was used as the reference scan for image registration with CBCT. CBCT scans(On-Board Imaging v1. 5 system, Varian Medical Systems) were acquired daily during the first treatment week. A total of 260 CBCT scans was assessed with a registration clip box defined around the PTV-thorax in the reference scan based on(nine CBCTs per patient) bony anatomy using Offline Review software v10.0(Varian Medical Systems). The anterior-posterior(AP), left-right(LR), superiorinferior( SI) corrections were recorded. The systematic and random errors were calculated. The CTV-to-PTV margins in each CBCT frequency was based on the Van Herk formula (2.5Σ+0.7σ). Results: The SD of systematic error (Σ) was 2.0mm, 2.3mm, 3.8mm in the AP, LR and SI directions, respectively. The average random error (σ) was 1.6mm, 2.4mm, 4.1mm in the AP, LR and SI directions, respectively. The CTV-to-PTV safety margin was 6.1mm, 7.5mm, 12.3mm in the AP, LR and SI directions based on van Herk formula. Conclusion: Our data recommend the use of 6 mm, 8mm, and 12 mm for esophageal carcinoma patient setup in AP, LR, SI directions, respectively.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗
DOE OSTI2015

A SEMI-COHERENT SEARCH FOR WEAK PULSATIONS IN AQUILA X–1

Non-pulsating neutron stars in low mass X-ray binaries largely outnumber those that show pulsations. The lack of detectable pulses represents a big open problem for two important reasons. The first is that the structure of the accretion flow in the region closest to the neutron star is not well understood and it is therefore unclear what is the mechanism that prevents the pulse formation. The second is that the detection of pulsations would immediately reveal the spin of the neutron star. AQUILA X–1 is a special source among low mass X-ray binaries because it has showed the unique property of pulsating for only ∼150 s out of a total observing time of more than 1.5 million seconds. However, the existing upper limits on the pulsed fraction leave open two alternatives. Either AQUILA X–1 has very weak pulses which have been undetected, or it has genuinely pulsed only for a tiny amount of the observed time. Understanding which of the two scenarios is the correct one is fundamental to increase our knowledge about the pulse formation process and understand the chances we have to detect weak pulses in other low-mass X-ray binaries. In this paper we perform a semi-coherent search on the entire X-ray data available for AQUILA X–1. We find no evidence for (new) weak pulsations with the most stringent upper limits being of the order of 0.3% in the 7–25 keV energy band.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

A Framework for Lattice QCD Calculations on GPUs

Efficient calculation of the greatest common divisor (GCD) for big integers each whose number of bits is greater than or equal to 1024 has drawn a considerable amount of attention because it can be used to detect a weakness of the RSA security infrastructure. This paper presents a parallel binary GCD algorithm and its implementation for big integers on the Intel Xeon Phi coprocessor. This algorithm is capable of computing GCDs efficiently on many pairs of big integers in parallel by utilizing all cores on a Xeon Phi coprocessor as well as taking advantage of all vector processing units of the coprocessor to speed up critical integer operations within the algorithm. Using 240 threads on a Xeon Phi coprocessor to carry out GCD calculations for a large amount of 2048-bit integers, the implementation achieves the speedup of 30 times over a sequential binary GCD algorithm implementation on a single CPU core, and it delivers twice amount of performance in comparison to the same sequential binary GCD implementation running on 240 threads of the Xeon Phi.

Winter, F. T.↗
NASA NTRS2024

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: DR6 Gravitational Lensing Map and Cosmological Parameters

We present cosmological constraints from a gravitational lensing mass map covering 9400 deg2 reconstructed from measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) made by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) from 2017 to 2021. In combination with measurements of baryon acoustic oscillations and big bang nucleosynthesis, we obtain the clustering amplitude σ8 = 0.819 ± 0.015 at 1.8% precision, S 8 ≡σ 8 (Ω m>/sub>/0.3) 0.5 = 0.840 ± 0.028, and the Hubble constant H 0 = (68.3 ± 1.1) km s −1 Mpc −1 at 1.6% precision. A joint constraint with Planck CMB lensing yields σ 8 = 0.812 ± 0.013, S 8 ≡σ 8 (Ω m>/sub>/0.3) 0.5 = 0.831 ± 0.023, and H0 = (68.1 ± 1.0) km s −1 Mpc −1 . These measurements agree with ΛCDM extrapolations from the CMB anisotropies measured by Planck. We revisit constraints from the KiDS, DES, and HSC galaxy surveys with a uniform set of assumptions and find that S 8 from all three are lower than that from ACT+Planck lensing by levels ranging from 1.7σ to 2.1σ. This motivates further measurements and comparison, not just between the CMB anisotropies and galaxy lensing but also between CMB lensing probing z ∼ 0.5–5 on mostly linear scales and galaxy lensing at z ∼ 0.5 on smaller scales. We combine with CMB anisotropies to constrain extensions of ΛCDM, limiting neutrino masses to ∑m ν < 0.13 eV (95% c.l.), for example. We describe the mass map and related data products that will enable a wide array of cross-correlation science. Our results provide independent confirmation that the universe is spatially flat, conforms with general relativity, and is described remarkably well by the ΛCDM model, while paving a promising path for neutrino physics with lensing from upcoming ground-based CMB surveys.

Cosmology↗
DOE OSTI2025

Reinventing wastewater treatment plants: energy neutral treatment and enhanced fertilizer production through a novel resource recovery center

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are typically energy intensive, mainly due to the secondary treatment processes such as activated sludge (AS) for treatment of organics as well as nutrients like nitrogen. Nitrogen removal presents a big problem for WWTPs. The main form of nitrogen in wastewater is ammonium, and an AS process uses oxygen to convert ammonium into nitrite and nitrate which is then converted to nitrogen through denitrification process. During anaerobic digestion (AD), organic nitrogen gets degraded, resulting in an effluent stream (centrate) with a high nitrogen content, mostly in the form of ammonium. This contributes 15-30% of total nitrogen to the wastewater influent which further increases energy consumption for aeration. The project aims to transform this conventional municipal WWTPs into energy-neutral, resource-recovering facilities by integrating three core technologies: • Cloth Media Filtration (CMF) to replace conventional primary sedimentation (CPS) and increase the diversion of organics from the energy intensive secondary treatment to AD. This results in reduced energy demand for aeration in the secondary process while simultaneously increasing the biogas production in the anaerobic digesters. • Anerobic Digester to increase biogas and ammonia production. • Membrane Evaporation (ME) to recover ammonia from AD centrate and produce marketable fertilizer. The benefits of proposed WWTP process modifications were evaluated using techno economic analysis (TEA) and life cycle assessment (LCA). For CMF portion of the research a statistical analysis was employed to develop data-driven tools that could be used to enhance and optimize its performance in terms of energy savings and effluent quality. The main objective of this project is to reduce the energy demand for secondary treatment at municipal WWTPs by at least 50%, increase anaerobic digester (AD) biogas and ammonia production by 100% and 120%, respectively, and recover 90% of ammonia from the AD. Integrated CMF, AD, and ME was shown to work synergistically toward achieving these decarbonization targets through energy-positive treatment and fertilizer recovery techniques.

42 ENGINEERING↗