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An overview presentation of NASA's Remediation Technology Collaboration Development Task including the following project summaries: in situ groundwater monitor, in situ chemical oxidation, in situ bioremediation, horizontal multi-port well, and high resolution site characterization.
During its multi-year period of performance, the Remediation Technology Collaboration Development (RTCD) task orders initial goals were to enhance the capability to specifically target reductions in the long-term liabilities associated with NASAs most challenging remediation sites. This was accomplished by identifying existing remediation processes and conditions, researching site-specific technologies (both past and present) while simultaneously looking for parallel situations where these technologies could be applied. In addition, the most promising of these solutions were developed from comprehensive research and bench studies into pilot studies or demonstration projects, which contributed significantly to the success of the RTCD program.
The GFDL (Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, NOAA - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) Finite-Volume Cubed-Sphere Dynamical Core (FV3) is a scalable and flexible dynamical core capable of both hydrostatic and non-hydrostatic atmospheric simulations. FV3 has been chosen as the dynamical core for the Next Generation Global Prediction System project (NGGPS), designed to upgrade the current NCEP (National Centers for Environmental Prediction, NOAA) operational Global Forecast System (GFS) to run as a unified, fully-coupled system in NOAA's Environmental Modeling System infrastructure. FV3 dynamic core has a long history of serving as the main engine for global atmospheric models at various Government and Academic Research Laboratories including NOAA: GFDL Climate Modeling Suite (AM4 (Atmosphere Modeling 4), CM4 (Climate Model 4) ESM4 (Earth System Model 4), Hiram (HIgh Resolution Atmospheric Model)); NASA: GMAO (Global Modeling and Assimilation Office) Goddard Earth Observing System Model (GEOS); and NCAR (National Center for Atmospheric Research) Community Earth System Model (CESM). The three primary stakeholders in FV3 (GFDL, GMAO, EMC (Environmental Modeling Center - NOAA)) have embarked on synergistic and collaborative strategies with focus on the advancement of non-hydrostratic dynamic core, physics, chemistry, and data assimilation efforts, leveraging collective strengths of each of the partnering agencies. This talk presents the ongoing plans for model advancements at GFDL, GMAO and EMC, with special emphasis on contributions towards developing community based unified global modeling system for operational and research applications at respective organizations. Future plans include extending the collaborations to the development of earth system components including GMAO's aerosol chemistry models (GOCART/MAM (Goddard Chemistry Aerosol Radiation and Transport / Modal Aerosol Model)), Land Information System (LIS), and advanced data assimilation techniques; and GFDL's Modular Ocean Model (MOM) and Sea Ice Simulator (SIS) for transition to operations at NCEP.
This slide presentation reviews programs at NASA aimed at development at Remediation Technology development for removal of environmental pollutants from NASA sites. This is challenging because there are many sites with different environments, and various jurisdictions and regulations. There are also multiple contaminants. There must be different approaches based on location and type of contamination. There are other challenges: such as costs, increased need for resources and the amount of resources available, and a regulatory environment that is increasing.
NASA is committed to finding solutions to agency cleanup problems that are better, cheaper, and more effective than the status quo. Unfortunately, some potential solutions involve innovative technologies for which NASA remediation managers may not have a high level of understanding or confidence. Since 2004, NASA's Stennis Space Center (SSC) in Mississippi has been pumping groundwater contaminated with trichloroethylene (TCE) and other halogenated volatile organic compounds (HVOC) from their cleanup location designated "Area G" through extraction wells to an aboveground treatment system. Over time, however, the effectiveness of this treatment strategy has diminished and an alternative approach is needed. In 2012, professionals from NASA's Principal Center for Technology Evaluation for Environmental Risk Mitigation (TEERM) introduced SSC managers to an innovative technology for enhancing the performance of SSC's existing pump and treat system. The technology, generally referred to as in situ chemical oxidation (ISCO), involves slowly and continuously injecting a strong but safe chemical oxidant into the groundwater. Treatment is enhanced by a "surfactant-type effect" which causes residual contamination from saturated soil to be released into the dissolved-phase where it can be readily oxidized. Any dissolved-phase contamination that was not oxidized can be collected by the extraction well network and treated aboveground. SSC was not familiar with the technology so to increase their confidence, TEERM identified a contractor who was willing to demonstrate their product and process at a significantly reduced price. An initial, small-scale demonstration of ISCO began at sse in March 2012 and completed in August 2012. This successful demonstration was followed by three larger-scale ISCO demonstrations between August and December 2012. The contractor's innovative Continuous Injection System (CIS) incorporated "green" and sustainable technologies and practices. A slow injection rate was maintained autonomously by the CIS, eliminating the need for multiple mobilizations of personnel and powered equipment. The CIS was calibrated to deliver only as much reagent as the formation would accept without "short circuiting", minimizing material waste. Public utility water pressure was used to mix, dilute, and inject the reagent. NASA personnel were trained to operate and maintain the system and remote monitoring and injection control capabilities were developed, further reducing the need for contractor mobilizations to the site. An integrated solar photovoltaic panel was used to power the control valves and web monitoring telemetry. SSC provided hydrogen peroxide for the process using their existing supplier for the aboveground pump and treat systems. The only consumable required from the contractor was their proprietary activator to catalyze SSC's peroxide.
ForWarn is a satellite-based forest monitoring tool that is being used to detect and monitor disturbances to forest conditions and forest health. It has been developed through the synergistic efforts, capabilities and contributions of four federal agencies, including the US Forest Service Eastern Forest and Western Wildland Environmental Threat Assessment Centers, NASA Stennis Space Center (SSC), Department of Energy's (DOE) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and US Geological Survey Earth (USGS) Earth Research Observation System (EROS), as well as university partners, including the University of North Carolina Asheville's National Environmental Modeling and Analysis Center (NEMAC). This multi-organizational partnership is key in producing a unique, path finding near real-time forest monitoring system that is now used by many federal, state and local government end-users. Such a system could not have been produced so effectively by any of these groups on their own. The forests of the United States provide many societal values and benefits, ranging from ecological, economic, cultural, to recreational. Therefore, providing a reliable and dependable forest and other wildland monitoring system is important to ensure the continued health, productivity, sustainability and prudent use of our Nation's forests and forest resources. ForWarn does this by producing current health indicator maps of our nation's forests based on satellite data from NASA's MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) sensors. Such a capability can provide noteworthy value, cost savings and significant impact at state and local government levels because at those levels of government, once disturbances are evident and cause negative impacts, a response must be carried out. The observations that a monitoring system like ForWarn provide, can also contribute to a much broader-scale understanding of vegetation disturbances.
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A collaborative software development approach is described. The software product is an adaptation of proven computational capabilities combined with new capabilities to form the Agency's next generation aerothermodynamic and aerodynamic analysis and design tools. To efficiently produce a cohesive, robust, and extensible software suite, the approach uses agile software development techniques; specifically, project retrospectives, the Scrum status meeting format, and a subset of Extreme Programming's coding practices are employed. Examples are provided which demonstrate the substantial benefits derived from employing these practices. Also included is a discussion of issues encountered when porting legacy Fortran 77 code to Fortran 95 and a Fortran 95 coding standard.
NASA is developing the Flight Awareness Collaboration Tool (FACT) to support airline and airport operations during winter storms. The goal is to reduce flight delays and cancellations due to winter weather. FACT concentrates relevant information from the Internet and FAA databases on one screen for easy access. It provides collaboration tools for those managing the winter weather event including the airline operations center, airport authority (runway treatment), the Federal Aviation Administration air traffic control tower, and de-icing operators. Prediction tools are being added to improve FACT capabilities including one that anticipates changes in airport departure rates from weather forecasts. We have formed two user teams from affected airports to guide the design and evaluate the web-based prototype. Future work includes adding more automated capabilities and conducting a simulation to evaluate FACT in a realistic environment.
NASA is developing the Flight Awareness Collaboration Tool (FACT) to support airline and airport operations during winter storms. The goal is to reduce flight delays and cancellations due to winter weather. FACT concentrates relevant information from the Internet and FAA databases on one screen for easy access. It provides collaboration tools for those managing the winter weather event including the airline operations center, airport authority (runway treatment), the Federal Aviation Administration air traffic control tower, and de-icing operators. Prediction tools are being added to improve FACT capabilities including one that anticipates changes in airport departure rates from weather forecasts. We have formed two user teams from affected airports to guide the design and evaluate the web-based prototype. Future work includes adding more automated capabilities and conducting a simulation to evaluate FACT in a realistic environment.
United Space Alliance (USA) developed and used a new software development method to meet technical, schedule, and budget challenges faced during the development and delivery of the new Shuttle Telemetry Ground Station at Kennedy Space Center. This method, called Collaborative Software Development, enabled KSC to effectively leverage industrial software and build additional capabilities to meet shuttle system and operational requirements. Application of this method resulted in reduced time to market, reduced development cost, improved product quality, and improved programmer competence while developing technologies of benefit to a small company in California (AP Labs Inc.). Many modifications were made to the baseline software product (VMEwindow), which improved its quality and functionality. In addition, six new software capabilities were developed, which are the subject of this article and add useful functionality to the VMEwindow environment. These new software programs are written in C or VXWorks and are used in conjunction with other ground station software packages, such as VMEwindow, Matlab, Dataviews, and PVWave. The Space Shuttle Telemetry Ground Station receives frequency-modulation (FM) and pulse-code-modulated (PCM) signals from the shuttle and support equipment. The hardware architecture (see figure) includes Sun workstations connected to multiple PCM- and FM-processing VersaModule Eurocard (VME) chassis. A reflective memory network transports raw data from PCM Processors (PCMPs) to the programmable digital-to-analog (D/A) converters, strip chart recorders, and analysis and controller workstations.
Research and development (R&D) organizations are being required to be relevant, to be more application-oriented, and to be partners in the strategic management of the business while meeting the same challenges as the rest of the organization, namely: (1) reduced time to market; (2) reduced cost; (3) improved quality; (4) increased reliability; and (5) increased focus on customer needs. Recent advances in computer technology and the Internet have created a new paradigm of collaborative engineering or collaborative product development (CPD), from which new types of relationships among researchers and their partners have emerged. Research into the applicability and benefits of CPD in a low/no production, R&D, and/or government environment is limited. In addition, the supply chain management (SCM) aspects of these relationships have not been studied. This paper presents research conducted at the NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) investigating the applicability of CPD and SCM in an R&D organization. The study concentrates on the management and implementation of space research activities at GRC. Results indicate that although the organization is engaged in collaborative relationships that incorporate aspects of SCM, a number of areas, such as development of trust and information sharing merit special attention.
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Web-based collaborative systems have assumed a pivotal role in the information systems development arena. While business to customers (B-to-C) and business to business (B-to-B) electronic commerce systems, search engines, and chat sites are the focus of attention, web-based systems span the gamut of information systems that were traditionally confined to internal organizational client server networks. For example, the Domino Application Server allows Lotus Notes (trademarked) uses to build collaborative intranet applications and mySAP.com (trademarked) enables web portals and e-commerce applications for SAP users. This paper presents the experiences in the development of one such system: Postdoc, a government off-the-shelf web-based collaborative environment. Issues related to the design of web-based collaborative information systems, including lessons learned from the development and deployment of the system as well as measured performance, are presented in this paper. Finally, the limitations of the implementation approach as well as future plans are presented as well.
This poster presents the coordinated efforts of the Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV) software development teams, encompassing Flight Software, Ground Software, and Hardware-in-the-Loop Labs. This collaborative approach, which stems from the Artemis program, ensures efficiency in preparing for the Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission, focusing on the critical role of software integration for mission success.
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This presentation discusses a collaborative project to develop, test, and demonstrate baldcypress forest mapping and monitoring products for aiding forest conservation and restoration in coastal Louisiana. Low lying coastal forests in the region are being negatively impacted by multiple factors, including subsidence, salt water intrusion, sea level rise, persistent flooding, hydrologic modification, annual insect-induced forest defoliation, timber harvesting, and conversion to urban land uses. Coastal baldcypress forests provide invaluable ecological services in terms of wildlife habitat, forest products, storm buffers, and water quality benefits. Before this project, current maps of baldcypress forest concentrations and change did not exist or were out of date. In response, this project was initiated to produce: 1) current maps showing the extent and location of baldcypress dominated forests; and 2) wetland forest change maps showing temporary and persistent disturbance and loss since the early 1970s. Project products are being developed collaboratively with multiple state and federal agencies. Products are being validated using available reference data from aerial, satellite, and field survey data. Results include Landsat TM- based classifications of baldcypress in terms of cover type and percent canopy cover. Landsat MSS data was employed to compute a circa 1972 classification of swamp and bottomland hardwood forest types. Landsat data for 1972-2010 was used to compute wetland forest change products. MODIS-based change products were applied to view and assess insect-induced swamp forest defoliation. MODIS, Landsat, and ASTER satellite data products were used to help assess hurricane and flood impacts to coastal wetland forests in the region.