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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

Topological Relationship-Based Flow Direction Modeling: Stream Burning and Depression Filling

Flow direction modeling consists of (a) an accurate representation of the river network and (b) digital elevation model (DEM) processing to preserve characteristics with hydrological significance. In part 1 of our study, we presented a mesh-independent approach to representing river networks on different types of meshes. This follow-up part 2 study presents a novel DEM processing approach for flow direction modeling. This approach consists of (a) a topological relationship-based hybrid breaching-filling method to conduct stream burning for the river network and (b) a modified depression removal method for rivers and hillslopes. Our methods reduce modifications to surface elevations and provide a robust two-step procedure to remove local depressions in DEM. They are mesh-independent and can be applied to both structured and unstructured meshes. We applied our new methods with different model configurations to the Susquehanna River Basin. The results show that topological relationship-based stream burning, and depression-filling methods can reproduce the correct river networks, providing high-quality flow direction and other characteristics for hydrologic and Earth system models.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Spatiotemporal Controls on the Delivery of Dissolved Organic Matter to Streams Following a Wildfire

Warmer and drier climate has contributed to increased occurrence of large, high severity wildfires in the Pacific Northwest, drawing concerns for water quality and ecosystem recovery. While nutrient fluxes generally increase post-fire, the composition of organic matter (OM) transported to streams immediately following a fire is poorly constrained, yet can play an integral role in downstream water quality and biogeochemistry. Here, we quantified the spatiotemporal patterns of dissolved OM (DOM) chemistry for five streams burned by wildfires in Oregon, USA in 2020. We sampled over a 24-hour storm event one month after the fire, revealing variable temporal behavior in DOM dynamics. DOM chemistry was directly related with burn severity spatially. Specifically, nitrogen and aromatic character of DOM increased in streams burned at greater severity. Our results suggest a spatial overprinting of DOM dynamics immediately following fire activity and highlight a key gap in our knowledge of post-fire DOM transport to streams.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Advances in hexagon mesh-based flow direction modeling

Watershed delineation and flow direction representation are the foundations of streamflow routing in spatially distributed hydrologic modeling. A recent study showed that hexagon-based watershed discretization has several advantages compared to the traditional Cartesian (latitude–longitude) discretization, such as uniform connectivity and compatibility with other Earth system model components based on unstructured mesh systems (e.g., oceanic models). Despite these advantages, hexagon-based discretization has not been widely adopted by the current generation of hydrologic models. One major reason is that there is no existing model that can delineate hexagon-based watersheds while maintaining accurate representations of flow direction across various spatial resolutions. In this study, we explored approaches such as spatial resampling and hybrid breaching-filling stream burning techniques to improve watershed delineation and flow direction representation using a newly developed hexagonal mesh watershed delineation model (HexWatershed). We applied these improvements to the Columbia River basin and performed 16 simulations with different configurations. The results show that (1) spatial resampling modulates flow direction around headwaters and provides an opportunity to extract subgrid information; and (2) stream burning corrects the flow directions in mountainous areas with complex terrain features.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

Yakima River Basin Temporal Study: Sensor and Sample Data from Wenas Creek following the Evans Canyon Fire in Washington, USA

The Evans Canyon Fire occurred in Washington in August 2020 and burned 76,000 acres of the semi-arid shrub-steppe landscape at low to moderate severities. This fire burned across the Wenas Creek watershed, allowing for a sampling design that included a portion of the stream within the burned area and a reference site upstream of the burn. Monthly data was collected at an unburned (W10) and burned (W20) site from November 2020 to August 2022 for in situ hydrological and water chemistry sensor data, handheld sensor water chemistry data, general environmental context photos, and field metadata. This dataset is comprised of one folder with field photos and one main data folder containing (1) sensor and sample field protocols; (2) file-level metadata (flmd); (3) data dictionary (dd); (4) international geo-sample number (IGSN) mapping file; (5) field metadata; (6) readme; (7) methods codes; (8) dissolved organic carbon (DOC; measured as non-purgeable organic carbon; NPOC); (9) total nitrogen (TN); (10) total suspended solids (TSS); (11) sensor data (specific conductance, pH, total dissolved solids, temperature, pressure, dissolved oxygen, and turbidity) averages; and (12) sensor installation methods. All files are .csv, .jpg, .jpeg, or .pdf.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

The influence of burn severity on dissolved organic carbon concentrations across a stream network differs based on seasonal wetness conditions

Large, high-severity wildfires in many regions across the globe have increased concerns about their impacts on carbon cycling in watersheds. Altered sources of carbon and changes in catchment hydrology after wildfire can lead to shifts in dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations in streams, which can have negative impacts on aquatic ecosystem health and downstream drinking-water treatment. Despite its importance, post-fire DOC responses remain relatively unconstrained in the literature, and we lack critical knowledge of how burn severity, landscape elements, and climate interact to affect DOC concentrations. To improve our understanding of the impact of burn severity on DOC concentrations, we measured DOC at 129 sites across a stream network extending upstream, within, and downstream of a large, high-severity wildfire in Oregon, USA. We collected samples across the study sub-basin during four distinct seasonal wetness conditions. We used our high-spatial-resolution data to develop spatial stream network (SSN) models to predict DOC across the stream network and to improve our understanding of the controls on DOC concentrations. Spatially, we found no obvious wildfire signal – instead, we observed a pattern of increasing DOC concentrations from the high-elevation headwaters to the sub-basin outlet, while the mainstem maintained consistently low DOC concentrations. This suggests that effects from large wildfires may be “averaged” out at higher stream orders and larger spatial scales. When we grouped DOC concentrations by burn severity group, we observed a significant decrease in the variability of DOC concentrations in the moderate and high burn severity sub-catchments. However, our SSN models were able to predict decreases in DOC concentrations with increases in burn severity across the stream network. Decreases in DOC concentrations were also highly variable across seasonal wetness conditions, with the greatest (–1.40 to –1.64 mg L –1 ) decrease occurring in the high-severity group during the wetting season. Additionally, our models indicated that in all seasons, baseflow index was more influential in predicting DOC concentrations than burn severity was, indicating that groundwater discharge can obscure the impacts of wildfire in a stream network. Overall, our results suggested that landscape characteristics can regulate the DOC response to wildfire. Moreover, our results also indicated that the seasonal timing of sampling can influence the observed response of DOC concentrations to wildfire.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Data and scripts associated with a manuscript on a meta-analysis synthesizing stream biogeochemical response to wildfires across space and time (v2)

This data package is associated with the publication “Catchment characteristics modulate the influence of wildfires on nitrate and dissolved organic carbon in lotic systems across space and time: A meta-analysis” submitted to Global Biogeochemical Cycles (Cavaiani et al. 2025). This study uses meta-analytical techniques to evaluate the effect of wildfire on in-stream responses in burned and unburned watersheds. The study aims to provide additional insight into the range of responses and net influences that wildfires have on hydro-biogeochemistry across broad spatial scales, burn extents, and the persistence of water-quality change. This study compiles data and metadata from 18 total publications that includes 1) surface water geochemistry data (dissolved organic carbon; nitrate), 2) climate classifications, 3) year of the wildfire, 4) the time lag between when the fire occurred and when the sampling occurred, and 5) study design of the publication. In total, this meta-analysis draws data that spans 8 climate guilds, 3 biomes, 62 watersheds, and 20 unique wildfires. See Sites_meta_data.csv for citations of the papers used in this meta-analysis. All R scripts and the associated data can also be found on GitHub at This data package was originally published in March 2024. It was updated in April 2025 (v2; new and modified files). See the change history section in the readme for more details. This data package contains five primary folders that include the following: (1) inputs; (2) output for analysis; (3) initial plots; (4) R scripts; and (5) GIS data. The data package also contains a data dictionary (dd) that provides column header definitions and a file-level metadata (flmd) file that describes every file. The “inputs” folder contains a list of all publications identified during the formal web search and an indication of whether each publication was included in the final analysis. Additionally, it includes site-level metadata, catchment characteristics, and GIS data for all publications included in the final analysis. The “Output_for_analysis” folder contains all data frames and figures generated from each R script used for additional data analysis. The “initial_plots” folder includes all exploratory figures that will be included in a supplemental and figures that will be submitted with the manuscript for publication. The “R_scripts” folder contains the scripts that perform all the data manipulations, statistical analyses, and plots. The “gis_data” folder includes shape files for each fire included in this meta-analysis. This data package contains the following file types: csv, pdf, jpeg, cpg, dbf, prj, shp, shp.ea.iso.xml, shp.iso.xml, shx.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2026

Model Data Archive Associated with Manuscript "Fire-altered Carbon Pools Create Disturbance Memory in Stream Dissolved Organic Carbon"

This data package supports the publication “Fire-altered Carbon Pools Create Disturbance Memory in Stream Dissolved Organic Carbon” by Li et al. (2026). The package contains processed model inputs, configuration files, restart files, simulation outputs, scripts, and visualization products used to evaluate post-fire dissolved organic carbon (DOC) dynamics in the Naches River Watershed, Washington, USA, following the 2021 Schneider Springs Fire. The modeling workflow couples ELM-BGC, the biogeochemistry-enabled Energy Exascale Earth System Model Land Model; ATS, the Advanced Terrestrial Simulator for integrated surface-subsurface hydrology; and PFLOTRAN, a reactive transport model for multicomponent aqueous geochemistry. Together, these models simulate how wildfire-induced changes in vegetation, litter, coarse woody debris, and soil organic matter influence DOC production, transport, and reaction from burned hillslopes to stream networks. The archive includes preprocessed meteorological, geospatial, hydrologic, and biogeochemical forcing data; ELM-BGC-derived DOC source terms; ATS mesh files; PFLOTRAN reactive-transport inputs; model configuration files; spin-up and transient restart files; watershed-scale diagnostic outputs; stream concentration time series; and figures or visualization files used to inspect and reproduce key results. File types include Hierarchical Data Format 5 (HDF5) files for gridded forcing and model-coupling data, model input and configuration files for ELM-BGC, ATS, and PFLOTRAN, restart and simulation-output files generated by the modeling workflow, tabular or time-series diagnostic outputs, scripts for post-processing and figure generation, and image or visualization products associated with the manuscript. Use of the package depends on the intended task. Re-running the simulations requires the relevant modeling software, including ELM-BGC, ATS, and PFLOTRAN as ATS's geochemical engine. Inspecting outputs and reproducing figures requires Python with scientific plotting libraries such as Matplotlib, and three-dimensional model outputs may be viewed with ParaView. Geographic information system files or maps may be inspected with ArcGIS Pro or comparable GIS software. The data package is intended to enable traceability, reuse, and partial reproduction of the coupled land-to-watershed hydro-biogeochemical modeling workflow used to test how wildfire disturbance affects terrestrial carbon pools and downstream DOC dynamics.

ATS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Variable wildfire impacts on the seasonal water temperatures of western US streams: A retrospective study

Recent increases in the burn area and severity of wildfires in the western US have raised concerns about the impact on stream water temperature–a key determinant of cold-water fish habitats. However, the effect on seasonal water temperatures of concern, including winter and summer, are not fully understood. In this study, we assessed the impact of wildfire burns at Boulder Creek (Oregon), Elk Creek (Oregon), and Gibbon River (Wyoming) watersheds on the downstream winter and summer water temperatures for the first three post-fire years. To obtain results independent of the choice of the analytical method, we evaluated the consequence of each burn using three different statistical approaches that utilize local water temperature data. Our results from the three approaches indicated that the response of water temperatures to wildfire burns varied across seasons and sites. Wildfire burns were associated with a median increase of up to 0.56°C (Standard Error; S.E. < 0.23°C) in the summer mean water temperatures (MWT) and 62 degree-day Celsius (DDC; S.E. < 20.7 DDC) in the summer accumulated degree days (ADD) for the three subsequent years across studied stream sites. Interestingly, these burns also corresponded to a median decrease of up to 0.49°C (S.E. < 0.45°C) in the winter MWT and 39 DDC (S.E. < 40.5 DDC) in the winter ADD for the same period across sites. Wildfire effects on the downstream water temperatures diminished with increasing site distance from the burn perimeter. Our analyses demonstrated that analytical methods that utilize local watershed data could be applied to evaluate fire effects on downstream water temperatures.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

Levoglucosan data from five coastal streams impacted by the 2020 CZU Lightning Complex Fires, California, United States

This dataset includes levoglucosan data for five coastal California (United States) streams impacted by the 2020 CZU Lightning Complex Fires which burned from August 16th through September 22nd. Levoglucosan is a highly soluble and biolabile fraction of pyrogenic carbon. The five watersheds (San Lorenzo River, Pescadero Creek, Majors Creek, Laguna Creek, and Scott Creek) were impacted by the fires with watersheds experiencing a range of burn severity and extents. Grab samples were collected from each stream between October 2020 and May 2021, targeting both baseflow and event flow hydrologic conditions. Additional biogeochemistry data (i.e., organic and black carbon concentrations) can be found in a separate data package (https://doi.org/10.4211/hs.421c0226bb38460c8393d67fe0c4f802). This data package consists of one main data folder that contains (1) readme; (2) file-level metadata; (3) data dictionary; (4) field metadata with international generic sample numbers (IGSN); (5) methods codes; and (6) levoglucosan data. All files are .csv or .pdf.

2020 CZU Lightning Complex Fires↗
DOE OSTI2022

FTICR-MS, Sensor, and Environmental Data from 5 Streams Impacted by the 2020 Holiday Farm Fire Associated with: "Spatiotemporal controls on the delivery of dissolved organic matter to streams following a wildfire"

This data package is associated with the publication "Spatiotemporal Controls on the Delivery of Dissolved Organic Matter to Streams Following a Wildfire" submitted to Geophysical Research Letters (Roebuck et al., 2022). The study aims to understand storm induced transport of pyrogenic materials to streams impacted by varying degrees of burn severity. Time series samples (24 samples in 1-hour intervals) were collected at 5 sites within the McKenzie River Watershed (Oregon, USA) whose catchment were each completely engulfed by the 2020 Holiday Farm Fire. The samples were collected in November 2020 during the first major storm pulse following the conclusion of the wildfire. Samples were characterized for dissolved organic carbon, total dissolved nitrogen, and by ultra-high resolution mass spectrometry. In situ turbidity data also collected.This data package contains 4 primary folders that include the following: 1) Metadata, 2) EnvData (Environmental Data), 3) SensorData, and 4) FTICR_SupportingData. The package contains a single file-level metadata (flmd) file. Each primary folder also contains individual data dictionaries (dd) to define and provide descriptors of column/row headers and data flags. The FTICR_SupportingData, folder 4, contains raw, unprocessed FTICR-MS Data files in addition to a csv containing processed FTICR-MS data. This package contains the following file types: csv, xml, pdf.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Organic Matter Concentration and Composition in November 2021 and April 2022 from 12 Streams Impacted by the 2020 Holiday Farm Fire (v2)

This dataset represents results from a field study aiming to understand storm induced transport of pyrogenic materials to streams impacted by varying degrees of burn severity. Time series samples were collected at 5 sites within the McKenzie River Watershed (Oregon, USA) whose catchment were each completely engulfed by the 2020 Holiday Farm Fire. An additional 7 sites were sampled once during the storm. The samples were collected during storm events in November 2020, January 2021, November 2021, and April 2022. Samples were characterized for benezenepolycarboxylic acids (BPCA), ultra-high resolution mass spectrometry, dissolved organic carbon and optics (absorbance and fluorescence). Fourier-transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FTICR) and dissolved organic carbon data from the November 2020 (referred to as “EWEB_2020”) sampling can be found in a separate data package (doi: 10.15485/1869708). NOTE: The 2020 samples were run on FTICR-MS in two unique instances. The first run can be found in the previous data package (EWEB_2020). The second run is included in this data package. These samples were run for a second time so that the data were more directly interoperable with the other samples in this data package. We have not done any investigation into the differences/similarities between these datasets and the previously ran/published data in the other data package. This data package was originally published in November 2024. It was updated in April 2025 (v2; new and modified files). See the change history section below for more details. For details on how to navigate data packages generated by this project, see https://data.ess-dive.lbl.gov/portals/PNNLRiverCorridorSFA/About. This dataset contains (1) file-level metadata; (2) data dictionary; (3) data package readme; (4) metadata; (5) methods information; (6) dissolved organic carbon (DOC, measured as non-purgeable organic carbon, NPOC) data; (7) excitation emission matrix (EEM) methods; and (8) a sub-folder with processed EEM data (9) benzene polycarboxylic acid (BPCA) concentration data; (10) Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FTICR-MS) methods; and (11) folder of high-resolution characterization of organic matter via 12 Tesla FTICR-MS generated through the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL; https://www.pnnl.gov/environmental-molecular-sciences-laboratory). The EEMs sub-folder contains two additional folders; the Absorbance and Fluorescence folders which contain the processed EEMs absorbance and fluorescence data respectively. This package contains the following file types: csv, xml, pdf.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

Schneider Springs Fire Study 2023 for Ecosystem Respiration Rates: Surface Water Chemistry and Hydrologic Sensor Data across the Yakima River Basin, Washington, USA (v2)

This dataset supports a broader study examining the drivers of spatial variability in wildfire impacts across the Yakima River Basin. Data provided within this dataset were generated from sample collection across 17 total sites (8 sites affected by a recent wildfire, 9 sites unaffected by a recent wildfire) within multiple rivers throughout the Yakima River Basin in Washington, USA from May-July 2023. Fire affected sites are defined as those affected by the 2021 Schneider Springs Fire, based on the drainage area of the streams being within the 2021 Schneider Springs Fire burn perimeter or not (Figure 1, below). The contents include surface water geochemistry data (dissolved organic carbon; total dissolved nitrogen; total suspended solids); short-term sonde data (specific conductivity; turbidity; pH; chlorophyll A; temperature); stream depth data; stream velocity; manual chamber open channel respiration data; sensor time-series data (oxygen; water pressure; barometric pressure); field metadata (including qualitative information on in stream and river corridor characteristics); and environmental context photos taken in the field. The dataset also includes a summary file of the sensor data and plots of the sensor data. Sensors were only recovered at 15 out of the 17 sites, and not all sensors were recovered at all 15 sites (see Methods section for more details), therefore all data does not exist at all sites. Data from a 2022 study at the same sites, as well as additional sites, can be found at https://data.ess-dive.lbl.gov/view/doi:10.15485/1969566. The data package was originally published in November 2023. It was updated in June 2025 (v2; modified files). See the change history section in the readme for more details. For details on how to navigate data packages generated by this project, see https://data.ess-dive.lbl.gov/portals/PNNLRiverCorridorSFA/About. This dataset is comprised of one folder with field photos and one main data folder with two subfolders. The main data folder consists of (1) file-level metadata; (2) data dictionary; (3) field metadata; (4) field protocol; (5) readme; (6) international generic sample number (IGSN) mapping file; and (7) stream depth and averages. The sensor data subfolder consists of (1) sensor installation methods summary; (2) stream velocity; and (3) six subfolders. The BarotrollAtm (barometric pressure; temperature), DepthHOBO (water pressure; temperature), MantaRiver (specific conductivity; turbidity; pH; chlorophyll A; temperature), EXO (specific conductivity; pH; temperature), miniDOT (dissolved oxygen; temperature), and miniDOTManualChamber (dissolved oxygen; temperature) contain time-series data, plots, and summary files. The sample data subfolder consists of (1) total suspended solids (TSS) data; (2) dissolved organic carbon (DOC, measured as non-purgeable organic carbon, NPOC) data and averages; (3) total dissolved nitrogen (TN) data and averages; and (4) methods codes. All files are .csv, .pdf, .jpg, .jpeg, or .mov.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Parsing Weather Variability and Wildfire Effects on the Post-Fire Changes in Daily Stream Flows: A Quantile-Based Statistical Approach and Its Application

Determining wildland fire impacts on streamflow can be problematic as the hydrology in burned watersheds is influenced by post-fire weather conditions. Here, this study presents a quantile-based analytical framework for assessing fire impacts on low and peak daily flow magnitudes, while accounting for post-fire weather influences. This framework entails (a) the bootstrap method to compute the relative change in the post-fire annual flow and weather statistics, (b) double mass analysis to detect if post-fire baseflow and quick-flow yield ratios are significantly altered, and (c) a quantile regression method to parse fire effects on flow at a specific quantile. We illustrate the applicability of this analytical framework using 44 western US streams with at least 5% of their watershed area burned. Results indicate that large, high-severity burns in upland watersheds can raise the streamflow magnitude at the 0. 05 th and 0. 95 th quantiles for at least the five post-fire years. Quantile regression results show that the median fire-related increase in flow for the five post-fire years can be up to 5,000% (Standard Error; S.E. < 2%) at the 0. 05 th E quantile and 161% (S.E. < 10%) at the 0. 95 th quantile. The fire-related increase in flow was often pronounced at the 0. 05 th quantile for streams in the Pacific Northwest and California regions. The difference in fire effects on flow (at both quantiles) across streams was related to post-fire weather, pyrology, physiography, and land cover. The proposed analytical framework can be useful for detecting and quantifying fire effects on the low and peak stream flows in burned watersheds without overlapping disturbances.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Dominance of Particulate Mercury in Stream Transport and Rapid Watershed Recovery from Wildfires in Northern California, USA

Frequency and intensity of wildfires are expected to increase due to climate change, especially in areas with a long summer drought. Forests are a major sink for the global pollutant mercury (Hg), and fluvial transport of Hg from recently burned watersheds has not been widely investigated. Here, we examined two years of fluvial transport of Hg and its speciation (total Hg, methyl-Hg, particulate, and dissolved forms) under storm events and baseflow in two recently burned watersheds with different burned proportions and one nonburned reference watershed in the Coastal Ranges of northern California. We examined postfire storm-event transport of Hg and its methylated form (methyl-Hg), addressed the importance of the “initial runoff pulse” to postfire Hg fluvial transport and its predominant association with suspended solids, and elucidated potential sources of Hg exports from the burned landscapes using geochemical indicators, which suggested that ash materials were likely the significant sources of particulates in the first high-flow season postfire but not subsequently. The maximum total suspended solid and total Hg levels in the “first pulse” at the severely burned watershed were 442 and 46 times higher, respectively, than those at the reference watershed. Stream suspended solid and Hg levels declined substantially in the burned watersheds after just a few months of rainfall likely due to the rapid regrowth of vegetation commonly observed in postfire landscapes, implying that the wildfire effects on immediate Hg inputs from the burned landscape are at most transient in nature.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Techno-economic analysis of cellulosic ethanol conversion to fuel and chemicals

In this paper, we describe multiple scenarios investigated to assess the techno-economic results of producing fuels from corn stover-derived ethanol and the impact of co-producing higher-value, ethanol-derived n-butanol and 1,3-butadiene to improve economic feasibility. An alternative approach that produces only chemicals from the lignocellulosic-derived ethanol while producing fuels from the residual cell mass, unconverted sugars and lignin using hydrothermal liquefaction and hydrotreating also is described. Our results indicate that the hydrothermal liquefaction pathway has cost advantages relative to pathways that burn lignin from the corn stover conversion process to make ethanol when the associated ethanol stream is used to make only chemicals.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Development of a 300 MWe Utility Scale Oxy-Fuel sCO2 Turbine

A 300 MWe direct-fired supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) oxy-fuel turbine is being developed that will burn natural gas-fired, coal syngas and even hydrogen mixtures capable of 1,150ºC turbine inlet temperature at 300 bar. This design will significantly improve the state-of-the-art for thermal efficiency and results in a high-pressure stream of CO2 with 98%+ carbon capture, making the power plant near emission-free and more efficient than Natural Gas Combined Cycle (NGCC) plants with carbon capture. This power plant will be capable of burning coal through gasification and cleanup of the synthesis gas (syngas). sCO2 power cycles are a transformational technology for the energy industry, providing higher efficiency heat source energy conversion for conventional and alternative energy sources. This novel cycle significantly reduces capital costs because of smaller equipment footprints, design modularity, and allows for rapid cyclic load and source following to balance solar and wind energy power swings. Oxy-fuel sCO2 cycles take these advantages even further, utilizing higher firing temperatures, improved efficiency, and simpler carbon capture strategies. This turbine will require cooled turbine nozzles and blades as well as advanced thermal management systems to accommodate these high temperatures. The cooled blade heat transfer correlations required new test programs at higher Reynolds number than air-breathing gas turbines for impingement, serpentine, and pin-fin regions. Novel blade optimization was performed to maximize aerodynamic efficiency, while minimizing cooling flows. A turbine layout was generated utilizing individual combustor cans with cooled liners feeding into a 6-stage axial flow turbine with cooled stator nozzles and turbine blades. The case design and thermal management preliminary design will be described.

Moore, Jeffrey↗
DOE OSTI2026

Post-fire time series of sensor and geochemistry sample data from surface water, groundwater, precipitation, soil, and vegetation across Oak Creek watershed, Washington

This dataset supports a broader study examining wildfire impacts on hydrologic connectivity across 5 sites within the Oak Creek watershed and the resulting biogeochemical impacts. Stream sites were selected using the Advanced Terrestrial Simulator (ATS) hydrologic model to identify locations with varying groundwater contributions and hydrologic responses across different burn severity scenarios. The Retreat Fire burned from July 23 to August 2 in 2024, affecting the five study sites at varying burn severities. Each site is equipped with YSI EXO2 sondes logging sub-hourly throughout the year, and grab samples are collected approximately every six weeks. YSI sondes are used to measure temporally resolved proxies for groundwater inputs (specific conductivity) and organic matter (fluorescent dissolved organic matter; fDOM) along with basic water quality and depth. Grab samples of surface water, groundwater, and precipitation are analyzed for water stable isotopes and conductivity to understand endmembers for hydrologic mixing Grab samples of surface water, groundwater, soil water, and litter/vegetation/soil leachates are analyzed for organic matter composition measured by Fourier-Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance Mass Spectrometry (FTICR-MS) to understand organic matter dynamics. Game camera photos are provided in a separate data package available at https://data.ess-dive.lbl.gov/datasets/doi:10.15485/3018598. Future versions of this dataset will include time series data from YSI EXO2 sondes (fDOM, dissolved oxygen, temperature, depth, specific conductance, turbidity, pH), BaroTROLL sensors (air temperature and barometric pressure), rain gauges (precipitation), and data from the soil and vegetation samples. Because this study is ongoing, this data package will be updated regularly to include newly collected data and the additional data types. For details on how to navigate data packages generated by this project, see https://data.ess-dive.lbl.gov/portals/PNNLRiverCorridorSFA/About. In addition to a readme, this data package also includes a file-level metadata (FLMD) file that describes each file and a data dictionary (DD) that describes all column/row headers and variable definitions. This dataset is comprised of (1) a folder of field photos; (2) a folder of surface water sample data; (3) a folder of raw Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FTICR-MS) data; (4) a data checks report; (5) file-level metadata; (6) data dictionary; (7) field metadata; (8) readme; (9) international generic sample number (IGSN) mapping file; and (10) field protocols. The sample data subfolder contains (1) dissolved organic carbon (DOC, measured as non-purgeable organic carbon, NPOC) data and averages; (2) total dissolved nitrogen data and averages; (3) stable water isotopes and averages; (4) methods codes; (5) FTICR-MS methods; and (15) a subfolder of 9.4 Tesla (9.4T) FTICR-MS data. This folder contains the processed data and three subfolders, one containing the .xml files, one containing the water CoreMS output files, and the other containing instructions and scripts for processing the files in CoreMS (https://github.com/EMSL-Computing/CoreMS). All files are .csv, .pdf, .R, .xml, .d, .html, .Rmd, .py, .cal, .json, .jpg, .jpeg, .png, .mov, or .mp4.

Biogeochemistry↗