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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Assessing Environmental and Socioeconomic Factors of Urban Flood Vulnerability in Kansas City, Kansas

Pluvial flooding, over-saturated ground, and drainage systems disproportionately impact historically marginalized urban neighborhoods during extreme rainfall events. These communities are impacted by physical and socioeconomic factors that make them vulnerable to flooding events, such as high concentrations of impervious landcover, high precipitation rates, and a combined sewer system framework. Despite known vulnerability to environmental hazards, understanding potential pluvial street-level flooding events are largely unknown. Using the open-source National Capital Project’s Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) Urban Flood Risk Mitigation model, NASA DEVELOP examined neighborhood scale runoff retention and potential economic damages for risk mapping throughout Kansas City, Kansas. The generated outputs aid in identifying vulnerable neighborhoods susceptible to flooding and in need of future intervention. Previous studies have applied this model framework to understand urban flood vulnerability regarding ecosystem services, urban planning, and flood mitigation strategies. We utilized the InVEST outputs to develop indices pertaining to environmental justice factors of race, socioeconomic status, social vulnerability, and health. The findings indicate that historically redlined neighborhoods in Kansas City, Kansas face disproportional impacts from flood events and are subject to greater environmental stressors. This research provides an approach to utilizing an open-source flood vulnerability model to empower neighborhood-scale environmental justice analysis, enhancing the local communities' understanding of present-day impacts of historical environmental injustices.

Hadwynne Gross↗
NASA NTRS1994

A general theory of impacts and mass extinctions, and the consequences of large-body impact on the Earth

The theory that large-body impacts are the primary cause of mass extinctions of life on the Earth now has a sound theoretical and observational foundation. A convergence of evidence suggests that the biosphere may be a sensitive detector of large impact events, which result in the recorded global mass extinction pulses. The astronomically observed flux of asteroids and comets in the neighborhood of the Earth, and the threshold impact size calculated to produce a global environment catastrophe, can be used to predict a time history of large impact events and related mass extinctions of life that agrees well with the record of approx. 24 extinction events in the last 540 m.y.

Rampino, M. R.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Integrating Earth Observations and Socioeconomic Data to Identify Vulnerable Populations and Support Environmental Justice Initiatives

Part of NASA’s Earth Applied Sciences, DEVELOP is a dual capacity building program that introduces communities to applications of NASA Earth observation data to help inform environmental decision making. These projects are conducted by small teams of students, recent graduates, and early and transitioning career professionals and are tailored specifically to end-user decision making processes. Since 2018, a collaboration between NASA DEVELOP, Groundwork USA and its network of trusts, the AGU Thriving Earth Exchange, and local communities such as the City of Cambridge and the City of San Diego, has culminated in a campaign of 14 projects focused on assessing vulnerability to environmental threats such as extreme heat and flooding. These projects have explored the integration of satellite data and socio-economic data to discern populations at risk of being negatively impacted and align with Groundwork’s Climate Safe Neighborhoods Initiative that explores the relationship between historical race-based housing segregation and current and predicted impacts of climate change. This presentation will introduce an overview of the DEVELOP projects using Earth observations to support vulnerabilities assessments and community resilience, the collaboration with Groundwork USA, and future plans for environmental justice efforts at NASA.

Capacity Building↗
NASA NTRS1958

Impact on a Compressible Fluid

Upon impact of a solid body on the plane surface of a fluid, there occurs on the vetted surface of the body an abrupt pressure rise which propagates into both media with the speed of sound. Below, we assume the case where the speed of propagation of sound in the body which falls on the surface of the fluid may be regarded as infinitely large in comparison with the speed of propagation of sound in the fluid; that is, we shall assume that the falling body is absolutely rigid. IN this case, the entire relative speed of the motion which takes place at the beginning of the impact is absorbed by the fluid. The hydrodynamic pressures arising thereby are propagated from the contact surface within the fluid with the speed of sound in the form of compression and expansion waves and are gradually damped. After this, they are dispersed like impact pressures, reach ever larger regions of the fluid remote fran the body and became equal to zero; in the fluid there remain hydrodynamic pressures corresponding to the motion of the body after the impact. Neglecting the forces of viscosity and taking into account, furthermore, that the motion of the fluid begins from a state of rest, according to Thomson's theorem, we may consider the motion of an ideal compressible fluid in the process of impact to be potential. We examine the case of impact upon the surface of a ccmpressible fluid of a flat plate of infinite extent or of a body, the immersed part of the surface of which may be called approximately flat. In this report we discuss the first phase of the impact pressure on the surface of a fluid, prior to the appearance of a cavity, since at this stage the hydrodynamic pressures reach their maximum values. Observations, after the fall of the bodies on the surface of the fluid, show that the free surface of the fluid at this stage is almost completely at rest if one does not take into account the small rise in the neighborhood of the boundaries of the impact surface.

Egorov, L. T.↗
NASA NTRS2024

Premature Deaths Due to Heat Exposure: the Potential Effects of Neighborhood-Level Versus City-Level Acclimatization Within Us Cities

For the population of a given US city, the risk of premature death associated with heat exposure increases as temperatures rise, but risks in hotter cities are generally lower than in cooler cities at equivalent temperatures due to factors such as acclimatization. Those living in especially hot neighborhoods within cities might therefore suffer much more than average if such adaptation is only at the city-wide level, whereas they might not experience greatly increased risk if adjustment is at the neighborhood level. To compare these possibilities, we use high spatial resolution temperature data to evaluated heat-related deaths assuming either adjustment at the city-wide or at the neighborhood scale in 10 large US cities. On average, we find that if inhabitants are adjusted to their local conditions, a neighborhood that was 10°C hotter than a cooler one would experience only about 1.0–1.5 excess heat deaths per year per 100,000 persons. By contrast, if inhabitants are acclimatized to city-wide temperatures, the hotter neighborhood would experience about 15 excess deaths per year per 100,000 persons. Using idealized analyses, we demonstrate that current city-wide epidemiological data do not differentiate between these differing adjustments. Given the very large effects of assumptions about neighborhood-level acclimatization found here, as well as the fact that current literature is conflicting on the spatial scale of acclimatization, more neighborhood-level epidemiological data are urgently needed to determine the health impacts of variations in heat exposure within urban areas, better constrain projected changes, and inform mitigation efforts.

heat island↗
NASA NTRS2021

Yonkers Urban Development: Utilizing NASA Earth Observations to Identify Environmental and Social Drivers of Urban Heat Vulnerability and Model Urban Cooling Interventions in Yonkers, New York

The City of Yonkers, New York, is located directly north of the Bronx in Westchester County and currently hosts a population of nearly 200,000. In response to increasing hot-weather episodes, the risk of heat-related illnesses and mortality is disproportionately affecting neighborhoods in Yonkers historically subjected to race-based housing segregation. NASA DEVELOP collaborated with Groundwork Hudson Valley to determine regions within Yonkers that are experiencing the most intense urban heat island effects, identify and rank sociodemographic and environmental determinants of increasing community-level vulnerability, map these vulnerabilities as a combined vulnerability index, complete a proximity analysis of walkability to local cooling centers and health facility locations, and model potential cooling strategies. The study area consisted of Yonkers, NY and the analyses used data from 2015-2020 (June through August). The project utilized NASA Earth observation products including Landsat 4 and 5 Thematic Mapper (TM), Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+), Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) and Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS), Terra Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER), and ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station (ECOSTRESS). We assessed the benefits of different heat-mitigation scenarios by utilizing the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) urban cooling model. Results from these analyses can be used by Groundwork Hudson Valley, supporting the New York State’s Climate Safe Communities Certifiable Planning Actions, expanding knowledge on the relationship between historic redlining and environmental equity, and informing their Climate Safe Neighborhoods initiative to identify and prioritize mitigation efforts to abate the worst impacts of extreme heat.

Jillian Walechka↗
NASA NTRS2024

Baltimore Energy & Infrastructure: Assessing Urban Heat Vulnerability in Baltimore Neighborhoods to Inform Transportation Resiliency Planning Efforts

Across the world, climate change is altering cities and their local climate systems. Following global trends of rising mean temperatures, Baltimore, Maryland is projected to experience more frequent extreme heat events. Exacerbated by Urban Heat Island (UHI) effects, residents of the city face high temperatures from limited tree canopy, highly paved and impervious surfaces, limited air flow, and high concentrations of localized emissions. Urban heat is dispersed asymmetrically, with historically marginalized populations experiencing disproportionately severe heat. Recognizing the impacts of extreme urban heat, the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) collaborated with us, the Spring 2024 Goddard Energy and Infrastructure NASA DEVELOP team to assess urban impacts of MTA users and assets and explore opportunities to enhance resiliency planning. We evaluated the feasibility of NASA Earth observations (EOs) in visualizing heat vulnerability in Baltimore City and County. We mapped UHI and extreme heat using remote sensing observations, tailored a Heat Priority Score (HPS) to analyze heat data in tandem with socioeconomic data from American Community Survey (ACS), and utilized SOlar and LongWave Environmental Irradiance Geometry (SOLWEIG) model to estimate MTA riders’ thermal comfort. NASA EOs served to quantify the distribution and severity of extreme heat at the block group level, which was found to correlate with a lack of vegetation and presence of densely built-up surroundings. The HPS revealed that extreme heat events most negatively impact communities that exhibit social vulnerability through indicators such as age, race, and income. These findings will inform neighborhood resiliency plans for the MTA that can be incorporated into their Adaptation Resiliency Toolbox (ART).

Baltimore,↗
NASA NTRS2012

Comparison of Aircraft Models and Integration Schemes for Interval Management in the TRACON

Reusable models of common elements for communication, computation, decision and control in air traffic management are necessary in order to enable simulation, analysis and assurance of emergent properties, such as safety and stability, for a given operational concept. Uncertainties due to faults, such as dropped messages, along with non-linearities and sensor noise are an integral part of these models, and impact emergent system behavior. Flight control algorithms designed using a linearized version of the flight mechanics will exhibit error due to model uncertainty, and may not be stable outside a neighborhood of the given point of linearization. Moreover, the communication mechanism by which the sensed state of an aircraft is fed back to a flight control system (such as an ADS-B message) impacts the overall system behavior; both due to sensor noise as well as dropped messages (vacant samples). Additionally simulation of the flight controller system can exhibit further numerical instability, due to selection of the integration scheme and approximations made in the flight dynamics. We examine the theoretical and numerical stability of a speed controller under the Euler and Runge-Kutta schemes of integration, for the Maintain phase for a Mid-Term (2035-2045) Interval Management (IM) Operational Concept for descent and landing operations. We model uncertainties in communication due to missed ADS-B messages by vacant samples in the integration schemes, and compare the emergent behavior of the system, in terms of stability, via the boundedness of the final system state. Any bound on the errors incurred by these uncertainties will play an essential part in a composable assurance argument required for real-time, flight-deck guidance and control systems,. Thus, we believe that the creation of reusable models, which possess property guarantees, such as safety and stability, is an innovative and essential requirement to assessing the emergent properties of novel airspace concepts of operation.

Neogi, Natasha↗
NASA NTRS1977

Periodic variations in Io's sodium and potassium clouds

Spectra of Io's sodium cloud taken 7.5 to 45 sec north and south of Io at a variety of magnetic latitudes of Io obtained during 17 nights of the 1975 apparition of Jupiter confirm the weakening of the cloud in the neighborhood of Jupiter's magnetic equator. The time scale for these changes is 1.5 hours or less. For impact ionization to cause these changes, a minimum flux of 100 billion/sq cm/sec 15 eV electrons or 40 billion/sq cm/sec 8 keV protons is required. Sodium velocities near 10 km/sec are required to explain the replenishment of ionized regions of the cloud. We also obtained spectra of Io's potassium cloud on eight nights during the 1975 apparition. This cloud appears to behave like the sodium cloud as Io's magnetic latitude varies. The potassium, however, may become much weaker as Io passes through the magnetic equator. The brightest intensity measured for the 7665 A resonance line was about 1 kR at a point 7.5 sec east of Io.

Trafton, L.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Employing NASA Earth Observations and Socioeconomic Data to Conduct Site Suitability Analyses on Residential Tree Planting Initiatives in Phoenix, Arizona

Phoenix, Arizona is the hottest large city in the United States with an average summer daytime temperature of 106°F. Temperatures in Phoenix continue to climb due to increasing global greenhouse gas concentrations and regional urbanization. The impacts of high temperatures, including heat-related illnesses and deaths, are disproportionately concentrated in low-income neighborhoods often characterized by little tree canopy, lack of green space, and insufficient access to shade. The City of Phoenix’s Office of Heat Response and Mitigation and Arizona State University’s Urban Climate Research Center, partnered with NASA DEVELOP to identify residential neighborhoods and parcels within qualified census tracts (QCTs) to be prioritized for tree planting initiatives using funding from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). This project conducted analyses using NASA Earth observations, socioeconomic data from the 2019 American Community Survey, and local tree canopy and mobility data. For Earth observations, daytime land surface temperature, vegetation, and land cover were obtained from the Landsat 8 Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) and Operational Land Imager (OLI). The project team incorporated these data into a heat vulnerability index (HVI) with an emphasis on tree canopy and social vulnerability to rank block groups within QCTs and focused on the resulting top 25 block group HVI scores. These top 25 most vulnerable block groups were then processed through a parcel analysis to determine the feasibility of residential tree planting based on building footprints on each parcel. Within the top 25 block groups, 2,411 parcels were analyzed, and 3,133 existing trees were identified averaging 1.3 trees per parcel with 90% of parcels having 3 trees or less. Homes with 2 trees or fewer were considered high priority for future planting efforts. Based on the City’s goals for increased tree canopy the project team determined that <10,000 additional trees would need to be planted within the most vulnerable 25 block groups. The project findings have helped initiate community engagement efforts and have contributed to the approval of tree planting funds in Phoenix.

Ryan Hammock↗
NASA NTRS1988

Asteroid and comet flux in the neighborhood of the earth

Significant advances in the knowledge and understanding of the flux of large solid objects in the neighborhood of Earth have occurred. The best estimates of the collision rates with Earth of asteroids and comets and the corresponding production of impact craters are presented. Approximately 80 Earth-crossing asteroids were discovered through May 1988. Among 42 new Earth-crossing asteroids found in the last decade, two-thirds were discovered from observations at Palomar Observatory and 15 were discovered or independently detected in dedicated surveys with the Palomar Observatory and 15 were discovered or independently detected in dedicated surveys with the Palomar 46 cm Schmidt. Probabilities of collision with Earth have been calculated for about two-thirds of the known Earth-crossing asteroids. When multiplied by the estimated population of Earth-crossers, this yields an estimated present rate of collision about 65 pct higher than that previously reported. Spectrophotometric data obtained chiefly in the last decade show that the large majority of obvserved Earth-crossers are similar to asteroids found in the inner part of the main belt. The number of discovered Earth-crossing comets is more than 4 times greater than the number of known Earth-crossing asteroids, but reliable data on the sizes of comet nuclei are sparse. The flux of comets almost certainly was highly variable over late geologic time, owing to the random perturbation of the Oort comet cloud by stars in the solar neighborhood.

Shoemaker, Eugene M.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Shifts of the spectral lines of He(+) produced by electron collisions

The shifts of the Ly-alpha, Ly-beta, and H-alpha lines of He(+) in a plasma, produced by electron scattering from radiating ions are calculated. Electron densities in the neighborhood of 10 to the 17th/cu cm and plasma temperatures from 1 to 6 eV are considered. The calculation is made in the impact approximation, and is based on a six-state close-coupling computation of the scattering matrices, into which an optical potential has been inserted. Small red shifts of the lines are obtained. The contribution of electron scattering to the linewidths is also considered.

Unnikrishnan, K.↗
NASA NTRS2009

Wind Turbine Acoustics

Wind turbine generators, ranging in size from a few kilowatts to several megawatts, are producing electricity both singly and in wind power stations that encompass hundreds of machines. Many installations are in uninhabited areas far from established residences, and therefore there are no apparent environmental impacts in terms of noise. There is, however, the potential for situations in which the radiated noise can be heard by residents of adjacent neighborhoods, particularly those neighborhoods with low ambient noise levels. A widely publicized incident of this nature occurred with the operation of the experimental Mod-1 2-MW wind turbine, which is described in detail elsewhere. Pioneering studies which were conducted at the Mod-1 site on the causes and remedies of noise from wind turbines form the foundation of much of the technology described in this chapter.

Hubbard, Harvey H.↗
NASA NTRS2023

Investigating the Impact of Metallicity on Star Formation in the Outer Galaxy. I. VLT/KMOS Survey of Young Stellar Objects in Canis Major

The effects of metallicity on the evolution of protoplanetary disks may be studied in the outer Galaxy where the metallicity is lower than in the solar neighborhood. We present the VLT/KMOS integral field spectroscopy in the near-infrared of∼120 candidate young stellar objects (YSOs) in the CMa-ℓ224 star-forming region located at a Galactocentric distance of 9.1 kpc. We characterise the YSO accretion luminosities and accretion rates using the hydrogen Brγemission and find the median accretion luminosity of log (Lacc) =−0.82+0.80−0.82L⊙.Based on the measured accretion luminosities, we investigate the hypothesis of star formation history in the CMa-ℓ224. Their median values suggest that Cluster C, where most of YSO candidates have been identified, might be the most evolved part of the region. The accretion luminosities are similar to those observed toward low-mass YSOs in the Perseus and Orion molecular clouds, and do not reveal the impact of lower metallicity. Similar studies in other outer Galaxy clouds covering a wide range of metallicities are critical to gain a complete picture of star formation in the Galaxy

Dominika Itrich↗
NASA NTRS2023

The Compound Risk of Heat and COVID-19 in New York City: Riskscapes, Physical and Social Factors, and Interventions

Climate change is disrupting the fundamental conditions of human life and exacerbating existing inequity by placing further burdens on communities that are already vulnerable. Risk exposure varies by where people live and work. In this article, we examine the spatial overlap of the compound risks of COVID-19 and extreme heat in New York City. We assess the relationship between socio-demographic and natural, built and social environmental characteristics, and the spatial correspondence of COVID-19 daily case rates across three pandemic waves. We use these data to create a compound risk index combining heat, COVID-19, density and social vulnerability. Our findings demonstrate that the compound risk of COVID-19 and heat are public health and equity challenges. Heat and COVID-19 exposure are influenced by natural, built, and social environmental factors, including access to mitigation infrastructure. Socio-demographic characteristics are significant indicators of COVID-19 and heat exposure and of where compound vulnerability exists. Using GIS mapping, we illustrate how COVID-19 risk geographies change across the three waves of the pandemic and the particular impact of vaccinations before the onset of the third wave. We, then, use our compound risk index to assess heat interventions undertaken by the City, identify neighborhoods of both adequate and inadequate coverage and provide recommendations for future interventions.

COVID-19↗
NASA NTRS2008

In the Shade of Affluence: The Inequitable Distribution of the Urban Heat Island

The urban heat island is an unintended consequence of humans building upon rural and native landscapes. We hypothesized that variations in vegetation and land use patterns across an urbanizing regional landscape would produce a temperature distribution that was spatially heterogeneous and correlated with the social characteristics of urban neighborhoods. Using biophysical and social data scaled to conform to US census geography, we found that affluent whites were more likely to live in vegetated and less climatically stressed neighborhoods likely to live in than low-income Latinos in Phoenix, Arizona. Affluent neighborhoods had cooler summer temperatures that reduced exposure to outdoor heat-related health risks, especially during a heat wave period. In addition to being warmer, poorer neighborhoods lacked critical resources in their physical and social environments to help them cope with extreme heat. Increased average temperatures due to climate change are expected to exacerbate the impacts of urban heat islands.

Harlan, Sharon L.↗
NASA NTRS2022

Wichita Climate II: Quantifying and Mapping Urban Heat to Inform Equitable and Sustainable Urban Planning Initiatives in Wichita, Kansas

Wichita, Kansas is experiencing a host of climate threats, particularly extreme heat manifested through Urban Heat Islands (UHI). Heat is unevenly distributed within cities due to factors such as income inequality, historical discriminatory practices like redlining, and divestment in neighborhoods of color. This leads to less vegetation and more heat-absorbing infrastructure in specific communities. Moreover, adverse effects of heat, including heat-related morbidity and mortality, disproportionately impact populations that experience vulnerability through social inequities and structural discrimination. Heat vulnerability is a combination of the factors of heat exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity, and can be harnessed to guide urban heat interventions. This DEVELOP project partnered with the City of Wichita to understand the spatial distribution and drivers of UHIs and heat vulnerability indicators. The team modeled outcomes of tree cover interventions using Landsat 8’s Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) and Operational Land Imager (OLI), Landsat 9 TIRS-2 and OLI-2, and the International Space Station’s Ecosystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on the International Space Station (ECOSTRESS) sensor, along with the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) Urban Cooling model. The team also leveraged statistical analysis by implementing principal component analysis to develop a heat vulnerability index (HVI) specific to Wichita. Ultimately, the project’s outputs will inform the City of Wichita’s Climate Adaptation and Mitigation Plan, identify priority areas for heat mitigation initiatives, and be used in public-facing communications to educate communities on the impacts of urban heat.

Environmental Justice↗