Michigan's forest statistics, 1987: an inventory update.

Treesearch

W. Brad Smith; Jerold T. Hahn

1986-01-01

The Michigan 1987 inventory update, derived by using tree growth models, reports 17.3 million acres of timberland, a decline of less than 1% since 1980. Growing-stock removals have risen sharply since 1979, climbing from 275 million cubic feet annually to the current level of 398 cubic feet.

Progress on Updating the 1961-1990 National Solar Radiation Database

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Renne, D.; Wilcox, S.; Marion, B.; George, R.; Myers, D.

2003-01-01

The 1961-1990 National Solar Radiation Data Base (NSRDB) provides a 30-year climate summary and solar characterization of 239 locations throughout the United States. Over the past several years, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has received numerous inquiries from a range of constituents as to whether an update of the database to include the 1990s will be developed. However, there are formidable challenges to creating an update of the serially complete station-specific database for the 1971-2000 period. During the 1990s, the National Weather Service changed its observational procedures from a human-based to an automated system, resulting in the loss of important input variables to the model used to complete the 1961-1990 NSRDB. As a result, alternative techniques are required for an update that covers the 1990s. This paper examines several alternative approaches for creating this update and describes preliminary NREL plans for implementing the update.

Lifetime of the solar nebula constrained by meteorite paleomagnetism

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wang, Huapei; Weiss, Benjamin P.; Bai, Xue-Ning

We present that a key stage in planet formation is the evolution of a gaseous and magnetized solar nebula. However, the lifetime of the nebular magnetic field and nebula are poorly constrained. We present paleomagnetic analyses of volcanic angrites demonstrating that they formed in a near-zero magnetic field (<0.6 microtesla) at 4563.5 ± 0.1 million years ago, ~3.8 million years after solar system formation. This indicates that the solar nebula field, and likely the nebular gas, had dispersed by this time. This sets the time scale for formation of the gas giants and planet migration. Furthermore, it supports formation ofmore » chondrules after 4563.5 million years ago by non-nebular processes like planetesimal collisions. In conclusion, the core dynamo on the angrite parent body did not initiate until about 4 to 11 million years after solar system formation.« less

Lifetime of the solar nebula constrained by meteorite paleomagnetism.

PubMed

Wang, Huapei; Weiss, Benjamin P; Bai, Xue-Ning; Downey, Brynna G; Wang, Jun; Wang, Jiajun; Suavet, Clément; Fu, Roger R; Zucolotto, Maria E

2017-02-10

A key stage in planet formation is the evolution of a gaseous and magnetized solar nebula. However, the lifetime of the nebular magnetic field and nebula are poorly constrained. We present paleomagnetic analyses of volcanic angrites demonstrating that they formed in a near-zero magnetic field (<0.6 microtesla) at 4563.5 ± 0.1 million years ago, ~3.8 million years after solar system formation. This indicates that the solar nebula field, and likely the nebular gas, had dispersed by this time. This sets the time scale for formation of the gas giants and planet migration. Furthermore, it supports formation of chondrules after 4563.5 million years ago by non-nebular processes like planetesimal collisions. The core dynamo on the angrite parent body did not initiate until about 4 to 11 million years after solar system formation. Copyright © 2017, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Lifetime of the solar nebula constrained by meteorite paleomagnetism

DOE PAGES

Wang, Huapei; Weiss, Benjamin P.; Bai, Xue-Ning; ...

2017-02-10

We present that a key stage in planet formation is the evolution of a gaseous and magnetized solar nebula. However, the lifetime of the nebular magnetic field and nebula are poorly constrained. We present paleomagnetic analyses of volcanic angrites demonstrating that they formed in a near-zero magnetic field (<0.6 microtesla) at 4563.5 ± 0.1 million years ago, ~3.8 million years after solar system formation. This indicates that the solar nebula field, and likely the nebular gas, had dispersed by this time. This sets the time scale for formation of the gas giants and planet migration. Furthermore, it supports formation ofmore » chondrules after 4563.5 million years ago by non-nebular processes like planetesimal collisions. In conclusion, the core dynamo on the angrite parent body did not initiate until about 4 to 11 million years after solar system formation.« less

Multi-family update to the passive solar construction handbook

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Howard, B. D.; Callahan, K. D.

1983-11-01

Builders and developers will accept passive solar construction and designs for integration with their existing practice if accurate and detailed plans of actual, proven passive solar subsystems and assemblies are made available to them. A Passive Solar Construction Handbook was developed. It focuses primarily upon single family homes. The multifamily update of the Handbook, is described and examples of the valuable builder information are shown. It represents a new breakthrough in DOE sponsored projects, performing a Technology Transfer on a most useful level.

Training and Validation of the Fast PCRTM_Solar Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Q.; Liu, X.; Wu, W.; Yang, P.; Wang, C.

2015-12-01

Fast and accurate radiative transfer model is the key for satellite data assimilation for remote sensing application. The simulation of the satellite remote sensing radiances is very complicated since many physical processes, such as absorption, emission, and scattering, are involved due to the interactions between electromagnetic radiation and earth surface, water vapor, clouds, aerosols, and gas molecules in the sky. The principal component-based radiative transfer model (PCRTM) has been developed for various passive IR and MW instruments. In this work, we extended PCRTM to including the contribution from solar radiation. The cloud/aerosol bidirectional reflectances have been carefully calculated using the well-known Discrete-Ordinate-Method Radiative Transfer (DISORT) model under over 10 millions of diverse conditions with varying cloud particle size, wavelength, satellite viewing direction, and solar angles. The obtained results were compressed significantly using principal component analysis and used in the mono domain radiance calculation. We used 1352 different atmosphere profiles, each of them has different surface skin temperatures and surface pressures in our training. Different surface emissivity spectra were derived from ASTER database and emissivity models. Some artificially generated emissivity spectra were also used to account for diverse surface types of the earth. Concentrations of sixteen trace gases were varied systematically in the training and the remaining trace gas contributions were accounted for as a fixed gas. Training was done in both clear and cloudy skies conditions. Finally the nonlocal thermal equilibrium (NLTE) induced radiance change was included for daytime conditions. We have updated the PCRTM model for instruments such as IASI, NASTI, CrIS, AIRS, and SHIS. The training results show that the PCRTM model can calculate thousands of channel radiances by computing only a few hundreds of mono radiances. This greatly increased the computation efficiency since we do not need to calculate the millions of mono radiances and do the convolution process. The results from fast PCRTM_Solar simulation were compared to the instrument observed data. The simulated results were excellently agreed with the observations.

How unprecedented a solar minimum was it?

PubMed

Russell, C T; Jian, L K; Luhmann, J G

2013-05-01

The end of the last solar cycle was at least 3 years late, and to date, the new solar cycle has seen mainly weaker activity since the onset of the rising phase toward the new solar maximum. The newspapers now even report when auroras are seen in Norway. This paper is an update of our review paper written during the deepest part of the last solar minimum [1]. We update the records of solar activity and its consequent effects on the interplanetary fields and solar wind density. The arrival of solar minimum allows us to use two techniques that predict sunspot maximum from readings obtained at solar minimum. It is clear that the Sun is still behaving strangely compared to the last few solar minima even though we are well beyond the minimum phase of the cycle 23-24 transition.

Early solar system. Stellar origin of the ¹⁸²Hf cosmochronometer and the presolar history of solar system matter.

PubMed

Lugaro, Maria; Heger, Alexander; Osrin, Dean; Goriely, Stephane; Zuber, Kai; Karakas, Amanda I; Gibson, Brad K; Doherty, Carolyn L; Lattanzio, John C; Ott, Ulrich

2014-08-08

Among the short-lived radioactive nuclei inferred to be present in the early solar system via meteoritic analyses, there are several heavier than iron whose stellar origin has been poorly understood. In particular, the abundances inferred for (182)Hf (half-life = 8.9 million years) and (129)I (half-life = 15.7 million years) are in disagreement with each other if both nuclei are produced by the rapid neutron-capture process. Here, we demonstrate that contrary to previous assumption, the slow neutron-capture process in asymptotic giant branch stars produces (182)Hf. This has allowed us to date the last rapid and slow neutron-capture events that contaminated the solar system material at ~100 million years and ~30 million years, respectively, before the formation of the Sun. Copyright © 2014, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Nimbus-7 ERB Solar Analysis Tape (ESAT) user's guide

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Major, Eugene; Hickey, John R.; Kyle, H. Lee; Alton, Bradley M.; Vallette, Brenda J.

1988-01-01

Seven years and five months of Nimbus-7 Earth Radiation Budget (ERB) solar data are available on a single ERB Solar Analysis Tape (ESAT). The period covered is November 16, 1978 through March 31, 1986. The Nimbus-7 satellite performs approximately 14 orbits per day and the ERB solar telescope observes the sun once per orbit as the satellite crosses the southern terminator. The solar data were carefully calibrated and screened. Orbital and daily mean values are given for the total solar irradiance plus other spectral intervals (10 solar channels in all). In addition, selected solar activity indicators are included on the ESAT. The ESAT User's Guide is an update of the previous ESAT User's Guide (NASA TM 86143) and includes more detailed information on the solar data calibration, screening procedures, updated solar data plots, and applications to solar variability. Details of the tape format, including source code to access ESAT, are included.

Solar radiation on Mars: Update 1990

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Appelbaum, Joseph; Flood, Dennis J.

1990-01-01

Detailed information on solar radiation characteristics on Mars are necessary for effective design of future planned solar energy systems operating on the surface of Mars. The authors present a procedure and solar radiation related data from which the diurnally and daily variation of the global, direct beam and diffuse insolation on Mars are calculated. The radiation data are based on measured optical depth of the Martian atmosphere derived from images taken of the Sun with a special diode on the Viking Lander cameras and computation based on multiple wavelength and multiple scattering of the solar radiation. This work is an update to NASA-TM-102299 and includes a refinement of the solar radiation model.

Wisconsin's forest statistics, 1987: an inventory update.

Treesearch

W. Brad Smith; Jerold T. Hahn

1989-01-01

The Wisconsin 1987 inventory update, derived by using tree growth models, reports 14.7 million acres of timberland, a decline of less than 1% since 1983. This bulletin presents findings from the inventory update in tables detailing timberland area, volume, and biomass.

Obliquity Modulation of the Incoming Solar Radiation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Liu, Han-Shou; Smith, David E. (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

Based on a basic principle of orbital resonance, we have identified a huge deficit of solar radiation induced by the combined amplitude and frequency modulation of the Earth's obliquity as possibly the causal mechanism for ice age glaciation. Including this modulation effect on solar radiation, we have performed model simulations of climate change for the past 2 million years. Simulation results show that: (1) For the past 1 million years, temperature fluctuation cycles were dominated by a 100-Kyr period due to amplitude-frequency resonance effect of the obliquity; (2) From 2 to 1 million years ago, the amplitude-frequency interactions. of the obliquity were so weak that they were not able to stimulate a resonance effect on solar radiation; (3) Amplitude and frequency modulation analysis on solar radiation provides a series of resonance in the incoming solar radiation which may shift the glaciation cycles from 41-Kyr to 100-Kyr about 0.9 million years ago. These results are in good agreement with the marine and continental paleoclimate records. Thus, the proposed climate response to the combined amplitude and frequency modulation of the Earth's obliquity may be the key to understanding the glaciation puzzles in paleoclimatology.

Minnesota's forest statistics, 1987: an inventory update.

Treesearch

Jerold T. Hahn; W. Brad Smith

1987-01-01

The Minnesota 1987 inventory update, derived by using tree growth models, reports 13.5 million acres of timberland, a decline of less than 1% since 1977. This bulletin presents findings from the inventory update in tables detailing timer land area, volume, and biomass.

Share Your Solar Project Experience

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The Local Government Solar Project Portal's Share Your Solar Project Experience page includes details on how municipalities can be listed in the Portal and update EPA with their solar project development achievements and progress.

77 FR 39442 - Receipts-Based, Small Business Size Standard

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-07-03

... RIN 3150-AJ14 [NRC-2012-0062] Receipts-Based, Small Business Size Standard AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory... business size standard from $6.5 million to $7 million to conform to the standard set by the Small Business... updating the receipts-based, small business size standard from $6.5 million to $7.0 million. Adequate...

FOXSI-2: Upgrades of the Focusing Optics X-ray Solar Imager for its Second Flight

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Christe, Steven; Glesener, Lindsay; Buitrago-Casas, Camilo; Ishikawa, Shin-Nosuke; Ramsey, Brian; Gubarev, Mikhail; Kilaru, Kiranmayee; Kolodziejczak, Jeffery J.; Watanabe, Shin; Takahashi, Tadayuki; Tajima, Hiroyasu; Turin, Paul; Shourt, Van; Foster, Natalie; Krucker, Sam

2016-03-01

The Focusing Optics X-ray Solar Imager (FOXSI) sounding rocket payload flew for the second time on 2014 December 11. To enable direct Hard X-Ray (HXR) imaging spectroscopy, FOXSI makes use of grazing-incidence replicated focusing optics combined with fine-pitch solid-state detectors. FOXSI’s first flight provided the first HXR focused images of the Sun. For FOXSI’s second flight several updates were made to the instrument including updating the optics and detectors as well as adding a new Solar Aspect and Alignment System (SAAS). This paper provides an overview of these updates as well as a discussion of their measured performance.

DIY Solar Market Analysis Webinar Series: PVWatts® | State, Local, and

Science.gov Websites

, and updates the energy prediction algorithms to be in line with the actual performance of modern the latest update." In this webinar, one of the tool's developers explains how the new version of ® Wednesday, July 9, 2014 As part of a Do-It-Yourself Solar Market Analysis summer series, NREL's Solar

Improved solar models constructed with a formulation of convection for stellar structure and evolution calculations without the mixing-length theory approximations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lydon, Thomas J.; Fox, Peter A.; Sofia, Sabatino

1993-01-01

We have updated a previous attempt to incorporate within a solar model a treatment of convection based upon numerical simulations of convection rather than mixing-length theory (MLT). We have modified our formulation of convection for a better treatment of the kinetic energy flux. Our solar model has been updated to include a complete range of OPAL opacities, the Debye-Hueckel correction to the equation of state, helium diffusion due to gravitational settling, and atmospheres by Kurucz. We construct a series of models using both MLT and our revised formulation of convection and the compared results to measurements of the solar radius, the solar luminosity, and the depth of the solar convection zone as inferred from helioseismology. We find X(solar) = 0.702 +/- 0.005, Y(solar) = 0.278 +/- 0.005, and Z(solar) = 0.0193 +/- 0.0005.

Comparative Study of foF2 Measurements with IRI-2007 Model Predictions During Extended Solar Minimum

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zakharenkova, I. E.; Krankowski, A.; Bilitza, D.; Cherniak, Iu.V.; Shagimuratov, I.I.; Sieradzki, R.

2013-01-01

The unusually deep and extended solar minimum of cycle 2324 made it very difficult to predict the solar indices 1 or 2 years into the future. Most of the predictions were proven wrong by the actual observed indices. IRI gets its solar, magnetic, and ionospheric indices from an indices file that is updated twice a year. In recent years, due to the unusual solar minimum, predictions had to be corrected downward with every new indices update. In this paper we analyse how much the uncertainties in the predictability of solar activity indices affect the IRI outcome and how the IRI values calculated with predicted and observed indices compared to the actual measurements.Monthly median values of F2 layer critical frequency (foF2) derived from the ionosonde measurements at the mid-latitude ionospheric station Juliusruh were compared with the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI-2007) model predictions. The analysis found that IRIprovides reliable results that compare well with actual measurements, when the definite (observed and adjusted) indices of solar activityare used, while IRI values based on earlier predictions of these indices noticeably overestimated the measurements during the solar minimum.One of the principal objectives of this paper is to direct attention of IRI users to update their solar activity indices files regularly.Use of an older index file can lead to serious IRI overestimations of F-region electron density during the recent extended solar minimum.

Solar in Your Community Challenge Fact Sheet

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

None

The SunShot Prize: Solar in Your Community Challenge is a $5 million prize competition funded by the U.S. Department of Energy SunShot Initiative that aims to expand solar electricity access to low-and moderate-income (LMI) households and community organizations that haven’t been able to take advantage of the booming solar market. Because of rooftop limitations, lack of a strong credit history, or inability to utilize tax incentives, over 50% of Americans don’t have access to solar electricity. Offering $5 million in cash prizes and technical assistance over 18 months, the challenge supports teams across the country as they develop and demonstratemore » replicable projects or programs that expand solar access to underserved groups.« less

An Update of the Analytical Groundwater Modeling to Assess Water Resource Impacts at the Afton Solar Energy Zone

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Quinn, John J.; Greer, Christopher B.; Carr, Adrianne E.

2014-10-01

The purpose of this study is to update a one-dimensional analytical groundwater flow model to examine the influence of potential groundwater withdrawal in support of utility-scale solar energy development at the Afton Solar Energy Zone (SEZ) as a part of the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM’s) Solar Energy Program. This report describes the modeling for assessing the drawdown associated with SEZ groundwater pumping rates for a 20-year duration considering three categories of water demand (high, medium, and low) based on technology-specific considerations. The 2012 modeling effort published in the Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Solar Energy Development in Sixmore » Southwestern States (Solar PEIS; BLM and DOE 2012) has been refined based on additional information described below in an expanded hydrogeologic discussion.« less

Gravitational Wave Detection in the Introductory Lab

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burko, Lior M.

2017-05-01

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, two black holes, one of mass 36 solar masses and the other of mass 29 solar masses, were dancing their death waltz, leading to their coalescence and the emission of gravitational waves carrying away with them three solar masses of energy. More precisely, it happened 1.3 billion years ago at a distance of 410 Mpc. When the waves were emitted, the most complex life forms on Earth were eukaryotes. As the gravitational waves propagated toward Earth, it changed much. Five hundred million years after the waves were emitted, or 800 million years ago, the first multicellular life forms emerged on Earth. Earth saw the Cambrian explosion 500 million years ago. Sixty-six million years ago the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event caused the disappearance of the dinosaurs. The first modern humans appeared 250,000 years ago.

The economic burden of occupational non-melanoma skin cancer due to solar radiation.

PubMed

Mofidi, Amirabbas; Tompa, Emile; Spencer, James; Kalcevich, Christina; Peters, Cheryl E; Kim, Joanne; Song, Chaojie; Mortazavi, Seyed Bagher; Demers, Paul A

2018-06-01

Solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation is the second most prevalent carcinogenic exposure in Canada and is similarly important in other countries with large Caucasian populations. The objective of this article was to estimate the economic burden associated with newly diagnosed non-melanoma skin cancers (NMSCs) attributable to occupational solar radiation exposure. Key cost categories considered were direct costs (healthcare costs, out-of-pocket costs (OOPCs), and informal caregiver costs); indirect costs (productivity/output costs and home production costs); and intangible costs (monetary value of the loss of health-related quality of life (HRQoL)). To generate the burden estimates, we used secondary data from multiple sources applied to computational methods developed from an extensive review of the literature. An estimated 2,846 (5.3%) of the 53,696 newly diagnosed cases of basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and 1,710 (9.2%) of the 18,549 newly diagnosed cases of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) in 2011 in Canada were attributable to occupational solar radiation exposure. The combined total for direct and indirect costs of occupational NMSC cases is $28.9 million ($15.9 million for BCC and $13.0 million for SCC), and for intangible costs is $5.7 million ($0.6 million for BCC and $5.1 million for SCC). On a per-case basis, the total costs are $5,670 for BCC and $10,555 for SCC. The higher per-case cost for SCC is largely a result of a lower survival rate, and hence higher indirect and intangible costs. Our estimates can be used to raise awareness of occupational solar UV exposure as an important causal factor in NMSCs and can highlight the importance of occupational BCC and SCC among other occupational cancers.

Dust and soiling issues and impacts relating to solar energy systems: Literature review update for 2012–2015

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Costa, Suellen C. S.; Diniz, Antonia Sonia A. C.; Kazmerski, Lawrence L.

The purpose of this review survey is to provide a literature compilation, updating materials reported in several review papers on solar-device soiling and mitigation approaches published over the past 5 years. The focus is on the period 2013-2015, but an updated listing is also provided for the year 2012 for completeness. This literature review also provides the first update for a periodic, single collation report on such publications proposed in this journal two years ago. This review presents a listing of the publications, their publication source, and some brief tabulated information to help guide the reader into the focus ofmore » each of the works.« less

DIY Solar Market Analysis STAT Webinars | State, Local, and Tribal

Science.gov Websites

do they help policymakers? Solar Resource and Technical Potential: Finding, using, and making maps for decision makers PVWatts: New tips and tricks for the latest update Community Solar Scenario Tool

State Solar Technical Assistance | State, Local, and Tribal Governments |

Science.gov Websites

NREL State Solar Technical Assistance State Solar Technical Assistance Request Assistance Subscribe to Email Updates NREL provides direct technical assistance to state and local governments on expert testimony on policy best practices. The Solar Technical Assistance Team (STAT) Network is designed

The early evolution of the inner solar system: a meteoritic perspective.

PubMed

O'D Alexander, C M; Boss, A P; Carlson, R W

2001-07-06

Formation of the solar system may have been triggered by a stellar wind. From then on, the solar system would have followed a conventional evolutionary path, including the formation of a disk and bipolar jets. The now extinct short-lived radionuclides beryllium-10 and, possibly, manganese-53 that were present in meteorites probably resulted from energetic particle irradiation within the solar system. Calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions (the oldest known solar system solids) and chondrules could have been produced by the bipolar jets, but it is more likely that they formed during localized events in the asteroid belt. The chondritic meteorites formed within the temperature range (100 to 400 kelvin) inferred for the midplane of classical T Tauri disks at 2 to 3 astronomical units from their central stars. However, these meteorites may retain a chemical memory of earlier times when midplane temperatures were much higher. Dissipation of the solar nebula occurred within a few million years of solar system formation, whereas differentiation of asteroidal-sized bodies occurred within 5 to 15 million years. The terrestrial planets took approximately 100 million years to form. Consequently, they would have accreted already differentiated bodies, and their final assembly was not completed until after the solar nebula had dispersed. This implies that water-bearing asteroids and/or icy planetesimals that formed near Jupiter are the likely sources of Earth's water.

Parker Solar Probe: A NASA Mission to Touch the Sun: Mission Status Update

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fox, N. J.

2017-12-01

The newly renamed, Parker Solar Probe (PSP) mission will be the first mission to fly into the low solar corona, revealing how the corona is heated and the solar wind and energetic particles are accelerated, solving fundamental mysteries that have been top priority science goals since such a mission was first proposed in 1958. The scale and concept of such a mission has been revised at intervals since that time, yet the core has always been a close encounter with the Sun. The primary science goal of the Parker Solar Probe mission is to determine the structure and dynamics of the Sun's coronal magnetic field, understand how the solar corona and wind are heated and accelerated, and determine what mechanisms accelerate and transport energetic particles. PSP uses an innovative mission design, significant technology development and a risk-reducing engineering development to meet the science objectives. In this presentation, we provide an update on the progress of the Parker Solar Probe mission as we prepare for the July 2018 launch.

Solar Probe Plus: A NASA Mission to Touch the SunMission Status Update

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fox, N. J.

2016-12-01

Solar Probe Plus (SPP), currently in Phase D, will be the first mission to fly into the low solar corona, revealing how the corona is heated and the solar wind and energetic particles are accelerated, solving fundamental mysteries that have been top priority science goals since such a mission was first proposed in 1958. The scale and concept of such a mission has been revised at intervals since that time, yet the core has always been a close encounter with the Sun. The primary science goal of the Solar Probe Plus mission is to determine the structure and dynamics of the Sun's coronal magnetic field, understand how the solar corona and wind are heated and accelerated, and determine what mechanisms accelerate and transport energetic particles. SPP uses an innovative mission design, significant technology development and a risk-reducing engineering development to meet the SPP science objectives. In this presentation, we provide an update on the progress of the Solar Probe Plus mission as we prepare for the July 2018 launch.

Solar energy dust and soiling R&D progress: Literature review update for 2016

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Costa, Suellen C. S.; Diniz, Antonia Sonia A. C.; Kazmerski, Lawrence L.

The objective of this literature review and survey is to provide a compilation and assessment of recent published reports for solar-electric device soiling R&D, to extend and update the compendium covering 2012-2015 we published last year. This review provides a comprehensive listing of the publications with references for 2016 - with some preliminary 2017 publications that have appeared at the time of this writing. Photovoltaics (PV) and concentrating solar (thermal) power (CSP) technologies are covered. To guide the reader, tabulated information on the investigative focus of the studies, the location, the duration (if pertinent), the solar-device type, key findings andmore » other useful information within the report is presented.« less

Solar energy dust and soiling R&D progress: Literature review update for 2016

DOE PAGES

Costa, Suellen C. S.; Diniz, Antonia Sonia A. C.; Kazmerski, Lawrence L.

2017-11-26

The objective of this literature review and survey is to provide a compilation and assessment of recent published reports for solar-electric device soiling R&D, to extend and update the compendium covering 2012-2015 we published last year. This review provides a comprehensive listing of the publications with references for 2016 - with some preliminary 2017 publications that have appeared at the time of this writing. Photovoltaics (PV) and concentrating solar (thermal) power (CSP) technologies are covered. To guide the reader, tabulated information on the investigative focus of the studies, the location, the duration (if pertinent), the solar-device type, key findings andmore » other useful information within the report is presented.« less

Communicating LightSail: Embedded Reporting and Web Strategies for Citizen-Funded Space Missions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hilverda, M.; Davis, J.

2015-12-01

The Planetary Society (TPS) is a non-profit space advocacy group with a stated mission to "empower the world's citizens to advance space science and exploration." In 2009, TPS began work on LightSail, a small, citizen-funded spacecraft to demonstrate solar sailing propulsion technology. The program included a test flight, completed in June 2015, with a primary mission slated for late 2016. TPS initiated a LightSail public engagement campaign to provide the public with transparent mission updates, and foster educational outreach. A credentialed science journalist was given unrestricted access to the team and data, and provided regular reports without editorial oversight. An accompanying website, sail.planetary.org, provided project updates, multimedia, and real-time spacecraft data during the mission. Design approaches included a clean layout with text optimized for easy reading, balanced by strong visual elements to enhance reader comprehension and interest. A dedicated "Mission Control" page featured social media feeds, links to most recent articles, and a ground track showing the spacecraft's position, including overflight predictions based on user location. A responsive, cross-platform design allowed easy access across a broad range of devices. Efficient web server performance was prioritized by implementing a static content management system (CMS). Despite two spacecraft contingencies, the test mission successfully completed its primary objective of solar sail deployment. Qualitative feedback on the transparent, embedded reporting style was positive, and website metrics showed high user retention times. The website also grew awareness and support for the primary 2016 mission, driving traffic to a Kickstarter campaign that raised $1.24 million. Websites constantly evolve, and changes for the primary mission will include a new CMS to better support multiple authors and a custom dashboard to display real-time spacecraft sensor data.

(Updated) NCI Fiscal 2016 Bypass Budget Proposes $25 Million for Frederick National Lab | Poster

Cancer.gov

By Nancy Parrish, Staff Writer; image by Richard Frederickson, Staff Photographer The additional funding requested for Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research (FNLCR) in the Fiscal 2016 Bypass Budget was $25 million, or approximately 3.5 percent of the total additional funding request of $715 million. Officially called the Professional Judgment Budget, the Bypass

Near-Earth Solar Wind Flows and Related Geomagnetic Activity During more than Four Solar Cycles (1963-2011)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Richardson, Ian G.; Cane, Hilary V.

2012-01-01

In past studies, we classified the near-Earth solar wind into three basic flow types based on inspection of solar wind plasma and magnetic field parameters in the OMNI database and additional data (e.g., geomagnetic indices, energetic particle, and cosmic ray observations). These flow types are: (1) High-speed streams associated with coronal holes at the Sun, (2) Slow, interstream solar wind, and (3) Transient flows originating with coronal mass ejections at the Sun, including interplanetary coronal mass ejections and the associated upstream shocks and post-shock regions. The solar wind classification in these previous studies commenced with observations in 1972. In the present study, as well as updating this classification to the end of 2011, we have extended the classification back to 1963, the beginning of near-Earth solar wind observations, thereby encompassing the complete solar cycles 20 to 23 and the ascending phase of cycle 24. We discuss the cycle-to-cycle variations in near-Earth solar wind structures and l1e related geomagnetic activity over more than four solar cycles, updating some of the results of our earlier studies.

Our Solar System's Cousin?

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2007-01-01

This artist's concept illustrates two planetary systems -- 55 Cancri (top) and our own. Blue lines show the orbits of planets, including the dwarf planet Pluto in our solar system. The 55 Cancri system is currently the closest known analogue to our solar system, yet there are some fundamental differences.

The similarities begin with the stars themselves, which are about the same mass and age. Both stars also host big families of planets. Our solar system has eight planets, while 55 Cancri has five, making it the record-holder for having the most known exoplanets. In fact, 55 Cancri could have additional planets, possibly even rocky ones that are too small to be seen with current technologies. All of the planets in the two systems have nearly circular orbits.

In addition, both planetary systems have giant planets in their outer regions. The giant located far away from 55 Cancri is four times the mass of our Jupiter, and completes one orbit every 14 years at a distance of five times that between Earth and the sun (about 868 million kilometers or 539 million miles). Our Jupiter completes one orbit around the sun every 11.9 years, also at about five times the Earth-sun distance (778 million kilometers or 483 million miles). Fifty-five Cancri is still the only known star besides ours with a planet in a distant Jupiter-like orbit. Both systems also contain inner planets that are less massive than their outer planets.

The differences begin with the planets' masses. The planets orbiting 55 Cancri are all larger than Earth, and represent a 'souped-up' version of our own solar system. In fact, this is the first star that boasts more giant planets than our sun!

The arrangement of the planetary systems is also different. The inner four planets of 55 Cancri are all closer to the star than Earth is to the sun. The closest, about the mass of Uranus, whips around the star in just under three days at a distance of approximately 5.6 million kilometers (3.5 million miles). The second planet out from the star is a little smaller than Jupiter and completes one orbit every 14.7 days at a distance of approximately 17.9 million kilometers (11.2 million miles). The third planet out from the star is similar in mass to Saturn and completes one orbit every 44 days at a distance of approximately 35.9 million kilometers (22.3 million miles). The fourth planet is about half the mass of Saturn, orbits every 260 days and is approximately 116.7 million kilometers (72.5 million miles) away from the star.

The Opioid Crisis | NIH MedlinePlus the Magazine

MedlinePlus

... disorder. Millions more suffer from chronic pain. Earlier this year, NIH Director Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., ... to manage pain. Stay tuned for updates on this important initiative from ... within the past year. More than 1.2 million emergency department visits ...

Residential solar hot water system--Tempe, Arizona

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1981-01-01

Domestic hot water for single story home is heated by two 4 by 8 foot solar collectors. Solar energy saved 5.54 million Btu in six month period; savings with increased water consumption would be significantly higher.

Trend Analysis of Indiana K-12 Library Services Since the School Library Printed Materials Grant

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Plucker, Jonathan; Humphrey, Jack; Simmons, Ada; Ravert, Russell; Kohler, Kristin; Hansen, John

2004-01-01

The Indiana General Assembly recognized the importance of updating school library book collections by appropriating $4 million for K-8 schools during the 1997-1999 school years, $6 million for K-12 schools during the 1999-2001 school years, and $6 million for K-12 schools for the 2001-2003 school years. However, due to state budgetary restraints,…

Trends in pregnancy rates for the United States, 1976-97: an update.

PubMed

Ventura, S J; Mosher, W D; Curtin, S C; Abma, J C; Henshaw, S

2001-06-06

This report presents detailed pregnancy rates for 1996 and 1997 to update a recently published comprehensive report on pregnancies and pregnancy rates for U.S. women. Tabular and graphic data on pregnancy rates by age, race, and Hispanic origin, and by marital status are presented and described. In 1997 an estimated 6.19 million pregnancies resulted in 3.88 million live births, 1.33 million induced abortions, and 0.98 million fetal losses. The 1997 pregnancy rate of 103.7 pregnancies per 1,000 women aged 15-44 years is the lowest recorded since 1976 (102.7), the first year for which a consistent series of national pregnancy rates is available. The 1997 rate was 10 percent lower than the peak rate in 1990 (115.6). The teenage pregnancy rate dropped steadily through 1997, falling to a record low of 94.3 pregnancies per 1,000 teenagers 15-19 years, 19 percent below the 1990 level (116.3). Rates for younger teenagers declined more than for older teenagers.

Solar thermal energy utilization: A bibliography with abstracts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1976-01-01

Bibliographic series, which is periodically updated, cites documents published since 1957 relating to practical thermal utilization of solar energy. Bibliography is indexed by author, corporate source, title, and keywords.

Books and Other Resources for Education about the August 21, 2017, Solar Eclipse

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pasachoff, Jay M.; Fraknoi, Andrew; Kentrianakis, Michael

2017-06-01

As part of our work to reach and educate the 300+ million Americans of all ages about observing the August 21 solar eclipse, especially by being outdoors in the path of totality but also for those who will see only partial phases, we have compiled annotated lists of books, pamphlets, travel guides, websites, and other information useful for teachers, students, and the general public and made them available on the web, at conferences, and through webinars. Our list includes new eclipse books by David Barron, Anthony Aveni, Frank Close, Tyler Nordgren, John Dvorak, Michael Bakich, and others. We list websites accessible to the general public including those of the International Astronomical Union Working Group on Eclipses (http://eclipses.info, which has links to all the sites listed below); the AAS Eclipse 2017 Task Force (http://eclipse2017.aas.org); NASA Heliophysics (http://eclipse.nasa.gov); Fred Espenak (the updated successor to his authoritative "NASA website": http://EclipseWise.com); Michael Zeiler (http://GreatAmericanEclipse.com); Xavier Jubier (http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/solar_eclipses/); Jay Anderson (meteorology: http://eclipsophile.com); NASA's Eyes (http://eyes.nasa.gov/eyes-on-eclipse.html and its related app); the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (http://www.astrosociety.org/eclipse); Dan McGlaun (http://eclipse2017.org/); Bill Kramer (http://eclipse-chasers.com). Specialized guides include Dennis Schatz and Andrew Fraknoi's Solar Science for teachers (from the National Science Teachers Association:http://www.nsta.org/publications/press/extras/files/solarscience/SolarScienceInsert.pdf), and a printing with expanded eclipse coverage of Jay Pasachoff's, Peterson Field Guide to the Stars and Planets (14th printing of the fourth edition, 2016: http://solarcorona.com).A version of our joint list is to be published in the July issue of the American Journal of Physics as a Resource Letter on Eclipses, adding to JMP's 2010, "Resource Letter SP-1 on Solar Physics," AJP, 78, September, 890-901.

Solar cooking

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Over two billion people face fuel wood shortages, causing tremendous personal and environmental stress. Over 4 million people die prematurely from indoor air pollution. Solar cooking can reduce fuel wood consumption and indoor air pollution. Solar cooking has been practiced and published since th...

Does swarming cause honey bees to update their solar ephemerides?

PubMed

Towne, William F; Baer, Christopher M; Fabiny, Sarah J; Shinn, Lisa M

2005-11-01

Spatial orientation in the social insects offers several examples of specialized learning mechanisms that underlie complex learning tasks. Here we study one of these systems: the processes by which honey bees update, or fail to update, their memories of the sun's daily pattern of movement (the solar ephemeris function) in relation to the landscape. Specifically, we ask whether bees that have initially learned the solar ephemeris function relative to a conspicuous treeline at their natal site can later realign the ephemeris to a differently oriented treeline. We first confirm and clarify an earlier finding that bees transplanted passively (by being carried) do not re-learn the solar ephemeris in relation to the new treeline. When they cannot detect the sun directly, as on overcast days, these transplanted bees use a solar ephemeris function appropriate for their natal site, despite days or weeks of experience at the new site. We then ask whether bees put through a swarming process as they are transplanted are induced to re-learn the solar ephemeris function at the new site, as swarming is a natural process wherein bees transplant themselves. Most of the swarmed bees failed to re-learn, even though they did extensive learning flights (in comparison with those of non-swarmed controls) as they first emerged from the hive at the new site. We hypothesize that the bees' representation of the solar ephemeris function is stored in an encapsulated cognitive module in which the ephemeris is inextricably linked to the reference landscape in which it was learned.

Demonstration PreFab Solar Heated Vacation Home

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ariola, Frank; Walencik, Vincent J.

1978-01-01

To update a traditional construction shop program, students at Passaic Valley High School, New Jersey, developed a mock-up model of a solar-heated A-frame vacation house using prefab construction. The article describes the project and illustrates it with photographs of the model and a drawing of the solar collector. (MF)

Solar System Montage Updated

NASA Image and Video Library

1999-05-03

This is an updated montage of planetary images taken by spacecraft managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA. Included are from top to bottom images of Mercury, Venus, Earth and Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

State Correctional Education Programs. State Policy Update.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tolbert, Michelle

Secure state correctional facilities currently house more than 1.8 million adults, and nearly 4.4 million adults fall under state-administered community corrections. A state's approach to corrections and the communication between the state correctional components can have a large impact on the state's correctional education program. Decentralized…

Periodic cometary showers: Real or imaginary?

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Grieve, R. A. F.; Sharpton, V. L.; Goodacre, A. K.; Garvin, J. B.

1985-01-01

Since the initial reports in 1980, a considerable body of chemical and physical evidence has been accumulated to indicate that a major impact event occurred on earth 65 million years ago. The effects of this event were global in extent and have been suggested as the cause of the sudden demise or mass extinction of a large percentage of life, including the dinosaurs, at the end of the geologic time period known as the Cretaceous. Recent statistical analyses of extinctions in the marine faunal record for the last 250 million years have suggested that mass extinctions may occur with a periodicity of every 26 to 30 million years. Following these results, other workers have attempted to demonstrate that these extinction events, like that at the end of the Cretaceous, are temporally correlated with large impact events. A recent scenario suggests that they are the result of periodic showers of comets produced by either the passage of the solar system through the galactic plane or by perturbations of the cometary cloud in the outer solar system by a, as yet unseen, solar companion. This hypothesized solar companion has been given the name Nemesis.

Condensation Time of the Solar Nebula from Extinct 129I in Primitive Meteorites

PubMed Central

Lewis, Roy S.; Anders, Edward

1975-01-01

Mineral separates from five carbonaceous chondrites were dated by extinct 16 million year 129I, in an attempt to establish the condensation time of the solar nebula. Two Fe3O4 or Fe3O4-FeS samples from the Murchison and Orgueil meteorites are older than any other material dated thus far, and apparently formed within 2 × 105 years of each other. The great age, close isochronism, and primitive nature of the samples suggest that the event recorded was the condensation stage of the solar nebula. It provides a suitable zero point for the chronology of the early solar system. The 129I/127I ratio during condensation of the nebula was (1.46 ± 0.04) × 10-4. The recrystallized C4 chondrite Karoonda began to retain 129Xe 1.8 ± 0.5 million years after the above event. This short cooling time implies rapid aceretion (≤1 million years) and a shallow origin (≤10 km) below the surface of its parent body. Images PMID:16592213

Ion cyclotron waves near comet C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring) and Mars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Crary, F. J.; Dols, V. J.; Connerney, J. E. P.; Espley, J. R.

2014-12-01

On October 19, 2014, comet C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring) passed approximately 135,000 km from Mars. Previously,we predicted the amplitude of ion cyclotron waves which might be observed during the Siding Spring encounter. Ioncyclotron waves have been observed both in the vicinity of comets and of Mars. These waves are generated by theionization of neutrals in the flowing solar wind, which produces an unstable ring-beam velocity distribution. We estimated that, for a production rate of 2x1028 s-1, ion cyclotron wave with amplitudes over 0.1 nT would be present within ‡5 hours (1.2 million km) of closest approach. We will compare the actual observations made by the MAVEN spacecraft with these predictions. The spacecraft was close to or downstream of the martian bow shock, which complicates the interpretation of the data. Taking thisinto account, we will describe the observations and their implications for wave activity and cometary neutral production. We also present updated hybrid simulations of ion cyclotron wave generation. The simulations use our best estimate of solar wind conditions at the time of the encounter and a variable injection of 18 AMU pickup ions, at a rates consistent a model of the cometary neutrals.

Genesis Solar Wind Interstream, Coronal Hole and Coronal Mass Ejection Samples: Update on Availability and Condition

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Allton, J. H.; Gonzalez, C. P.; Allums, K. K.

2017-01-01

Recent refinement of analysis of ACE/SWICS data (Advanced Composition Explorer/Solar Wind Ion Composition Spectrometer) and of onboard data for Genesis Discovery Mission of 3 regimes of solar wind at Earth-Sun L1 make it an appropriate time to update the availability and condition of Genesis samples specifically collected in these three regimes and currently curated at Johnson Space Center. ACE/SWICS spacecraft data indicate that solar wind flow types emanating from the interstream regions, from coronal holes and from coronal mass ejections are elementally and isotopically fractionated in different ways from the solar photosphere, and that correction of solar wind values to photosphere values is non-trivial. Returned Genesis solar wind samples captured very different kinds of information about these three regimes than spacecraft data. Samples were collected from 11/30/2001 to 4/1/2004 on the declining phase of solar cycle 23. Meshik, et al is an example of precision attainable. Earlier high precision laboratory analyses of noble gases collected in the interstream, coronal hole and coronal mass ejection regimes speak to degree of fractionation in solar wind formation and models that laboratory data support. The current availability and condition of samples captured on collector plates during interstream slow solar wind, coronal hole high speed solar wind and coronal mass ejections are de-scribed here for potential users of these samples.

Solar Decathlon Update from Secretary Chu

ScienceCinema

Chu, Steven

2017-12-27

Secretary Steven Chu provides his insights on the 2009 Solar Decathlon in Washington, DC. To view each of the houses in this year's competition and vote for your favorite, visit http://www.solardecathlon.org/virtual_tours/

KSC-97PC1127

NASA Image and Video Library

1997-07-24

Applied Physics Laboratory engineers and technicians from Johns Hopkins University test for true perpendicular solar array deployment of the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) in KSC’s Spacecraft Assembly and Encapsulation Facility-II (SAEF-II). The white magnetometer boom seen across the solar array panel will deploy the panel once in space. Scheduled for launch on a Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Station on Aug. 25, ACE will study low-energy particles of solar origin and high-energy galactic particles. The ACE observatory will be placed into an orbit almost a million miles (1.5 million kilometers) away from the Earth, about 1/100 the distance from the Earth to the Sun

KSC-97PC1128

NASA Image and Video Library

1997-07-24

An Applied Physics Laboratory engineer from Johns Hopkins University tests for true perpendicular solar array deployment of the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) in KSC’s Spacecraft Assembly and Encapsulation Facility-II (SAEF-II). The white magnetometer boom seen across the solar array panel will deploy the panel once in space. Scheduled for launch on a Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Station on Aug. 25, ACE will study low-energy particles of solar origin and high-energy galactic particles. The ACE observatory will be placed into an orbit almost a million miles (1.5 million kilometers) away from the Earth, about 1/100 the distance from the Earth to the Sun

NREL Projects Awarded More Than $3 Million to Advance Novel Solar

Science.gov Websites

in Grid Operations," evaluating a research solution to better integrate solar power generation funding program, which advances state-of-the-art techniques for predicting solar power generation to Office to advance predictive modeling of solar power as part of its Solar Forecasting 2 funding program

Solar energy system performance evaluation: Seasonal report for Fern Lansing, Lansing, Michigan

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1980-01-01

A solar space heating and hot water system's operational performance from April 1979 through March 1980 is evaluated. Solar energy satisfied 15 percent of the total measured load (hot water plus space heating). Net savings were approximately 21 million BTUs.

Costs And Savings Associated With Community Water Fluoridation In The United States.

PubMed

O'Connell, Joan; Rockell, Jennifer; Ouellet, Judith; Tomar, Scott L; Maas, William

2016-12-01

The most comprehensive study of US community water fluoridation program benefits and costs was published in 2001. This study provides updated estimates using an economic model that includes recent data on program costs, dental caries increments, and dental treatments. In 2013 more than 211 million people had access to fluoridated water through community water systems serving 1,000 or more people. Savings associated with dental caries averted in 2013 as a result of fluoridation were estimated to be $32.19 per capita for this population. Based on 2013 estimated costs ($324 million), net savings (savings minus costs) from fluoridation systems were estimated to be $6,469 million and the estimated return on investment, 20.0. While communities should assess their specific costs for continuing or implementing a fluoridation program, these updated findings indicate that program savings are likely to exceed costs. Project HOPE—The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.

76 FR 17844 - Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement and Public Hearing for a...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-03-31

... consist of: a solar field of approximately nine million ground-mounted PV modules that collect solar... Hearing for a Proposed Federal Loan Guarantee To Support Construction and Start-Up of the Topaz Solar Farm... Bank of Scotland for Construction and Startup of the Topaz Solar Farm, San Luis Obispo County...

The Politics of Science and Technology: Nuclear and Solar Alternatives.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Etzkowitz, Henry

Historical data reveal that U.S. government policy and military and corporate interests have been instrumental in the development of nuclear energy and the underdevelopment of solar energy. It was not until 1972 that solar energy was funded by the Energy Research and Development Agency (ERDA) and in 1974 solar energy received $12.2 million as…

A unified high-resolution wind and solar dataset from a rapidly updating numerical weather prediction model

DOE PAGES

James, Eric P.; Benjamin, Stanley G.; Marquis, Melinda

2016-10-28

A new gridded dataset for wind and solar resource estimation over the contiguous United States has been derived from hourly updated 1-h forecasts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration High-Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR) 3-km model composited over a three-year period (approximately 22 000 forecast model runs). The unique dataset features hourly data assimilation, and provides physically consistent wind and solar estimates for the renewable energy industry. The wind resource dataset shows strong similarity to that previously provided by a Department of Energy-funded study, and it includes estimates in southern Canada and northern Mexico. The solar resource dataset represents anmore » initial step towards application-specific fields such as global horizontal and direct normal irradiance. This combined dataset will continue to be augmented with new forecast data from the advanced HRRR atmospheric/land-surface model.« less

Progress in the Early Solar System Chronology: A Sketch of an Ever-Changing Landscape

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Amelin, Yuri; Yin, Q.-Z.; Krot, A. N.; Bouvier, A.; Wadhwa, M.; Kleine, T.; Nyquist, L. E.

2011-01-01

The years since the Workshop on the Chronology of Meteorites and the Early Solar System, are marked with ongoing progress in cosmochronology. Rapid improvements in techniques, discovery of new meteorites unlike any previously known, and findings that what was deemed well established constants are actually variables, will be reflected in an updated review of the solar system chronology we are currently preparing. Along with updating the database of meteorite ages, it will involve development of a set of criteria for evaluation of accuracy and consistency of isotopic dates across the entire range of meteorite classes and isotope chronometer systems. Here we present some ideas on what we think is important in meteorite chronology, and invite the cosmochemistry community to discuss them.

South Dakota | Solar Research | NREL

Science.gov Websites

South Dakota. Utilities and developers may offer community solar programs. State Incentive Programs Program Administrator Incentive Renewable Energy System Exemption South Dakota Department of Revenue and more than $2 million. The incentive was designed for wind, but solar PV is also eligible. Utility

Four Schools Put Solar Heating to the Test

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

American School and University, 1974

1974-01-01

The National Science Foundation has awarded four companies over a million dollars to carry out solar energy space-heating experiments at different schools in Massachusetts, Minnesota, Maryland, and Virginia. (MLF)

Retrospective examination of lipid-lowering treatment patterns in a real-world high-risk cohort in the UK in 2014: comparison with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) 2014 lipid modification guidelines.

PubMed

Steen, Dylan L; Khan, Irfan; Ansell, David; Sanchez, Robert J; Ray, Kausik K

2017-02-17

In 2014, guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) provided updated recommendations on lipid-modifying therapy (LMT). We assessed clinical practice contemporaneous to release of these guidelines in a UK general practice setting for secondary and high-risk primary-prevention populations, and extrapolated the findings to UK nation level. Patients from The Health Improvement Network database with the following criteria were included: lipid profile in 2014 (index date); ≥20 years of age; ≥2 years representation in database prior to index; ≥1 statin indication either for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) or the non-ASCVD conditions high-risk diabetes mellitus and/or chronic kidney disease. Overall, 183 565 patients met the inclusion criteria (n=91 479 for ASCVD, 92 086 for non-ASCVD). In those with ASCVD, 79% received statin treatment and 31% received high-intensity statin. In the non-ASCVD group, 62% were on a statin and 57% received medium-intensity or high-intensity statin. In the ASCVD and non-ASCVD cohorts, 6% and 15%, respectively, were already treated according to dosing recommendations as per updated NICE guidelines. Extrapolation to the 2014 UK population indicated that, of the 3.3 million individuals with ASCVD, 2.4 million would require statin uptitration and 680 000 would require statin initiation (31% de novo initiation, 60% reinitiation, 9% addition to non-statin LMT) to achieve full concordance with updated guidelines. Of the 3.5 million high-risk non-ASCVD individuals, 1.6 million would require statin uptitration and 1.4 million would require statin initiation (59% de novo initiation, 36% reinitiation, 5% addition to non-statin LMT). A large proportion of UK individuals with ASCVD and high-risk non-ASCVD received statin treatment (79% and 62%, respectively) during the year of NICE 2014 guidelines release. Up to 94% of patients with ASCVD and 85% of high-risk non-ASCVD individuals, representing ∼3 million individuals in each group, would require statin uptitration or initiation to achieve full concordance with updated guidelines. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

$6 Million in Awards to Advance Solar Cell Research

Science.gov Websites

five companies for high tech research into non-conventional, photovoltaic technologies for creating can have significant cost advantages over conventional technologies. This non-conventional solar , Newbury Park, $498,000 (small business) Project Title: Non-Vacuum Processing of CIGS Solar Cells Project

Largest Solar Flare on Record

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2001-01-01

The largest solar flare ever recorded occurred at 4:51 p.m. EDT, on Monday, April 2, 2001. as Observed by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) satellite. Solar flares, among the solar systems mightiest eruptions, are tremendous explosions in the atmosphere of the Sun capable of releasing as much energy as a billion megatons of TNT. Caused by the sudden release of magnetic energy, in just a few seconds, solar flares can accelerate solar particles to very high velocities, almost to the speed of light, and heat solar material to tens of millions of degrees. The recent explosion from the active region near the sun's northwest limb hurled a coronal mass ejection into space at a whopping speed of roughly 7.2 million kilometers per hour. Luckily, the flare was not aimed directly towards Earth. Second to the most severe R5 classification of radio blackout, this flare produced an R4 blackout as rated by the NOAA SEC. This classification measures the disruption in radio communications. Launched December 2, 1995 atop an ATLAS-IIAS expendable launch vehicle, the SOHO is a cooperative effort involving NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA). (Image courtesy NASA Goddard SOHO Project office)

Multijunction Solar Cells Optimized for the Mars Surface Solar Spectrum

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Edmondson, Kenneth M.; Fetzer, Chris; Karam, Nasser H.; Stella, Paul; Mardesich, Nick; Mueller, Robert

2007-01-01

This paper gives an update on the performance of the Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) which have been continually performing for more than 3 years beyond their original 90-day missions. The paper also gives the latest results on the optimization of a multijunction solar cell that is optimized to give more power on the surface of Mars.

The 10 MWe solar thermal central receiver pilot plant solar facilities design integration, RADL item 1-10

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

1980-07-01

Accomplishments are reported in the areas of: program management, system integration, the beam characterization system, receiver unit, thermal storage subsystems, master control system, plant support subsystem and engineering services. A solar facilities design integration program action items update is included. Work plan changes and cost underruns are discussed briefly. (LEW)

The Energy Imperative: Report Update

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-11-01

projections for 2030.2 • Renewable power generation from solar , wind, biomass, and geothermal resources is growing rapidly, but these sources still...consistent policy approach to address cost, regulatory, and transmission infrastructure challenges. For solar photovoltaic (PV) technology, basic...research is particularly important to make the needed improvements in cost and performance. • Solar power can help meet peak load electricity demand

Vermont | Midmarket Solar Policies in the United State | Solar Research |

Science.gov Websites

/Agricultural Energy Loan Program Vermont Economic Development Authority Maximum loan of $2 million may be Development Authority: Agricultural Energy Loan Program Vermont Economic Development Authority: Small Business

The solar array is installed on ACE in SAEF-2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1997-01-01

Applied Physics Laboratory Engineer Cliff Willey (kneeling) and Engineering Assistant Jim Hutcheson from Johns Hopkins University install solar array panels on the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) in KSC's Spacecraft Assembly and Encapsulation Facility-II. Scheduled for launch on a Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Station on Aug. 25, ACE will study low-energy particles of solar origin and high-energy galactic particles for a better understanding of the formation and evolution of the solar system as well as the astrophysical processes involved. The ACE observatory will be placed into an orbit almost a million miles (1.5 million kilometers) away from the Earth, about 1/100 the distance from the Earth to the Sun. The collecting power of instrumentation aboard ACE is at least 100 times more sensitive than anything previously flown to collect similar data by NASA.

Solar heating and cooling technical data and systems analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Christensen, D. L.

1976-01-01

The accomplishments of a project to study solar heating and air conditioning are outlined. Presentation materials (data packages, slides, charts, and visual aids) were developed. Bibliographies and source materials on materials and coatings, solar water heaters, systems analysis computer models, solar collectors and solar projects were developed. Detailed MIRADS computer formats for primary data parameters were developed and updated. The following data were included: climatic, architectural, topography, heating and cooling equipment, thermal loads, and economics. Data sources in each of these areas were identified as well as solar radiation data stations and instruments.

Performance Plan: Progress Report, 1st Quarter, Fiscal Year 2000.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Department of Education, Washington, DC. Student Financial Assistance.

This report by the Department of Education examines the progress made by the Student Financial Assistance (SFA) program in reaching its objectives. The report notes that for objective 1, customer satisfaction, more than 4 million direct loan records have been processed and over 1 million updates applied since winter 1999; that 84 percent of school…

The Development of a Long-Term, Continually Updated Global Solar Resource at 10 km Resolution: Preliminary Results From Test Processing and Continuing Plans

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stackhouse, P.; Perez, R.; Sengupta, M.; Knapp, K.; Cox, Stephen; Mikovitz, J. Colleen; Zhang, T.; Hemker, K.; Schlemmer, J.; Kivalov, S.

2014-01-01

Background: Considering the likelihood of global climatic weather pattern changes and the global competition for energy resources, there is an increasing need to provide improved and continuously updated global Earth surface solar resource information. Toward this end, a project was funded under the NASA Applied Science program involving the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Langley Research Center (LaRC), National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the State University of New York/Albany (SUNY) and the NOAA National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) to provide NREL with a global long-term advanced global solar mapping production system for improved depiction of historical solar resources and variability and to provide a mechanism for continual updates of solar resource information. This new production system is made possible by the efforts of NOAA and NASA to completely reprocess the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) data set that provides satellite visible and infrared radiances together with retrieved cloud and surface properties on a 3-hourly basis beginning from July 1983. The old version of the ISCCP data provided this information for all the world TMs available geosynchronous satellite systems and NOAA TMs AVHRR data sets at a 30 km effective resolution. This new version aims to provide a new and improved satellite calibration at an effective 10 km resolution. Thus, working with SUNY, NASA will develop and test an improved production system that will enable NREL to continually update the Earth TM solar resource. Objective and Methods: In this presentation, we provide a general overview of this project together with samples of the new solar irradiance mapped data products and comparisons to surface measurements at various locations across the world. An assessment of the solar resource values relative to calibration uncertainty and assumptions are presented. Errors resulting assumptions in snow cover and background aerosol amount are described. These uncertainties and the statistics of the agreement between the measurements and new satellite estimates are also reviewed and compared to other solar data sets. Findings and Conclusions: Preliminary results show that insolation values show an overall small bias (less than 1%) with a RMS of 25% relative to surface measurements. Exceptions at certain locations were found and will be discussed relative to the uncertainties identified above. Lastly, we will identify the next steps in the development and improvement of this production system including some accuracy goals in preparation for ultimate delivery to NREL.

Concentrating Solar Power Projects - Shagaya CSP Project | Concentrating

Science.gov Websites

construction Start Year: 2018 Do you have more information, corrections, or comments? Background Technology : 180,000 MWh/yr Contact(s): Webmaster Solar Start Production: 2018 Cost (approx): 385 US$ million PPA

Concentrating Solar Power Projects - Golmud | Concentrating Solar Power |

Science.gov Websites

: 200.0 MW Status: Under construction Start Year: 2018 Do you have more information, corrections, or , 2015 Start Production: July 2018 Cost (approx): 5,380 RMB million Participants Developer(s): Qinghai

Is the Climatic Impact of Solar Luminosity Change Fortuitously Balanced by Paleogeographic Change over the last 300 million years?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lunt, D. J.; Farnsworth, A.; Bragg, F.

2016-12-01

The climate of the Earth is ultimately controlled by tectonic and solar forcings, with the occasional meteorite thrown in for good measure. A third forcing of greenhouse gases can also be considered if the carbon cycle is considered as external to the system. In this case, the tectonic forcing reduces to a paleogeographic forcing (through changes in atmospheric and ocean circulation related to changes in mountain height/position and gateway/bathymetry changes). There is no reason to expect any link between this paleogeographic forcing and the solar forcing. However, as we show here, a suite of climate model simulations through the last 300 million years show remarkably constant global mean temperature under constant greenhouse gas forcing, despite a varying solar luminosity. We attribute this to a fortuitous balancing of the solar forcing with paleogeographic forcing, related to the continental breakup of Pangea. This provides an alternative hypothesis to the existing paradigm in which solar luminosity is balanced by greenhouse gas forcing through weathering-related feedbacks.

An Update to the NASA Reference Solar Sail Thrust Model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Heaton, Andrew F.; Artusio-Glimpse, Alexandra B.

2015-01-01

An optical model of solar sail material originally derived at JPL in 1978 has since served as the de facto standard for NASA and other solar sail researchers. The optical model includes terms for specular and diffuse reflection, thermal emission, and non-Lambertian diffuse reflection. The standard coefficients for these terms are based on tests of 2.5 micrometer Kapton sail material coated with 100 nm of aluminum on the front side and chromium on the back side. The original derivation of these coefficients was documented in an internal JPL technical memorandum that is no longer available. Additionally more recent optical testing has taken place and different materials have been used or are under consideration by various researchers for solar sails. Here, where possible, we re-derive the optical coefficients from the 1978 model and update them to accommodate newer test results and sail material. The source of the commonly used value for the front side non-Lambertian coefficient is not clear, so we investigate that coefficient in detail. Although this research is primarily designed to support the upcoming NASA NEA Scout and Lunar Flashlight solar sail missions, the results are also of interest to the wider solar sail community.

Global, regional, and national causes of child mortality: an updated systematic analysis for 2010 with time trends since 2000.

PubMed

Liu, Li; Johnson, Hope L; Cousens, Simon; Perin, Jamie; Scott, Susana; Lawn, Joy E; Rudan, Igor; Campbell, Harry; Cibulskis, Richard; Li, Mengying; Mathers, Colin; Black, Robert E

2012-06-09

Information about the distribution of causes of and time trends for child mortality should be periodically updated. We report the latest estimates of causes of child mortality in 2010 with time trends since 2000. Updated total numbers of deaths in children aged 0-27 days and 1-59 months were applied to the corresponding country-specific distribution of deaths by cause. We did the following to derive the number of deaths in children aged 1-59 months: we used vital registration data for countries with an adequate vital registration system; we applied a multinomial logistic regression model to vital registration data for low-mortality countries without adequate vital registration; we used a similar multinomial logistic regression with verbal autopsy data for high-mortality countries; for India and China, we developed national models. We aggregated country results to generate regional and global estimates. Of 7·6 million deaths in children younger than 5 years in 2010, 64·0% (4·879 million) were attributable to infectious causes and 40·3% (3·072 million) occurred in neonates. Preterm birth complications (14·1%; 1·078 million, uncertainty range [UR] 0·916-1·325), intrapartum-related complications (9·4%; 0·717 million, 0·610-0·876), and sepsis or meningitis (5·2%; 0·393 million, 0·252-0·552) were the leading causes of neonatal death. In older children, pneumonia (14·1%; 1·071 million, 0·977-1·176), diarrhoea (9·9%; 0·751 million, 0·538-1·031), and malaria (7·4%; 0·564 million, 0·432-0·709) claimed the most lives. Despite tremendous efforts to identify relevant data, the causes of only 2·7% (0·205 million) of deaths in children younger than 5 years were medically certified in 2010. Between 2000 and 2010, the global burden of deaths in children younger than 5 years decreased by 2 million, of which pneumonia, measles, and diarrhoea contributed the most to the overall reduction (0·451 million [0·339-0·547], 0·363 million [0·283-0·419], and 0·359 million [0·215-0·476], respectively). However, only tetanus, measles, AIDS, and malaria (in Africa) decreased at an annual rate sufficient to attain the Millennium Development Goal 4. Child survival strategies should direct resources toward the leading causes of child mortality, with attention focusing on infectious and neonatal causes. More rapid decreases from 2010-15 will need accelerated reduction for the most common causes of death, notably pneumonia and preterm birth complications. Continued efforts to gather high-quality data and enhance estimation methods are essential for the improvement of future estimates. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Space Science

NASA Image and Video Library

2001-04-02

The largest solar flare ever recorded occurred at 4:51 p.m. EDT, on Monday, April 2, 2001. as Observed by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) satellite. Solar flares, among the solar systems mightiest eruptions, are tremendous explosions in the atmosphere of the Sun capable of releasing as much energy as a billion megatons of TNT. Caused by the sudden release of magnetic energy, in just a few seconds, solar flares can accelerate solar particles to very high velocities, almost to the speed of light, and heat solar material to tens of millions of degrees. The recent explosion from the active region near the sun's northwest limb hurled a coronal mass ejection into space at a whopping speed of roughly 7.2 million kilometers per hour. Luckily, the flare was not aimed directly towards Earth. Second to the most severe R5 classification of radio blackout, this flare produced an R4 blackout as rated by the NOAA SEC. This classification measures the disruption in radio communications. Launched December 2, 1995 atop an ATLAS-IIAS expendable launch vehicle, the SOHO is a cooperative effort involving NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA). (Image courtesy NASA Goddard SOHO Project office)

76 FR 62455 - Announcement of Updated Funding Availability for H-1B Technical Skills Training Grants

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-10-07

... 10-13] Announcement of Updated Funding Availability for H-1B Technical Skills Training Grants AGENCY... the availability of $240 million for the H-1B Technical Skills Training Grants to be awarded through a... additional applicants to apply for the H-1B Technical Skills Training Grants competition that will close on...

Project Helios-A. [mission planning for solar probe

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1974-01-01

The Helios-A solar probe which will fly within 28 million miles of the sun is described as a joint American and German project. The spacecraft and instrument designs, planned experiments, and mission are briefly discussed.

Solar energy system performance evaluation: Seasonal report for Elcam Tempe Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1980-01-01

The solar system, Elcam-Tempe, was designed by Elcam Incorporated, Santa Barbara, California, to supply commercial domestic hot water heating systems to the Agriculture Department residence at Arizona State University. The building is a single story residence located at the agriculture experiment farm of the Arizona State University. The energy system's four modes of operation are described. Electrical energy savings at the site was a net of 5.54 million Btu after the 0.17 million Btu of operating energy required to operate collector loop circulating pump were subtracted. The energy savings due to solar was less than the system's potential. On an average, twice as much hot water could have been used with significant solar energy contribution. The system corrosion and deposits caused by using dissimilar metals in the collector loop was the only problem noted with the Elcam-Tempe system.

The solar array is installed on ACE in SAEF-2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1997-01-01

Applied Physics Laboratory engineers and technicians from Johns Hopkins University install solar array panels on the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) in KSC's Spacecraft Assembly and Encapsulation Facility-II. The panel on which they are working is identical to the panel (one of four) seen in the foreground on the ACE spacecraft. Scheduled for launch on a Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Station on Aug. 25, ACE will study low- energy particles of solar origin and high-energy galactic particles for a better understanding of the formation and evolution of the solar system as well as the astrophysical processes involved. The ACE observatory will be placed into an orbit almost a million miles (1.5 million kilometers) away from the Earth, about 1/100 the distance from the Earth to the Sun. The collecting power of instrumentation aboard ACE is at least 100 times more sensitive than anything previously flown to collect similar data by NASA.

Solar Data Mining at Georgia State University

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Angryk, R.; Martens, P. C.; Schuh, M.; Aydin, B.; Kempton, D.; Banda, J.; Ma, R.; Naduvil-Vadukootu, S.; Akkineni, V.; Küçük, A.; Filali Boubrahimi, S.; Hamdi, S. M.

2016-12-01

In this talk we give an overview of research projects related to solar data analysis that are conducted at Georgia State University. We will provide update on multiple advances made by our research team on the analysis of image parameters, spatio-temporal patterns mining, temporal data analysis and our experiences with big, heterogeneous solar data visualization, analysis, processing and storage. We will talk about up-to-date data mining methodologies, and their importance for big data-driven solar physics research.

Estimating Longitudinal Risks and Benefits From Cardiovascular Preventive Therapies Among Medicare Patients: The Million Hearts Longitudinal ASCVD Risk Assessment Tool

PubMed Central

Lloyd-Jones, Donald M.; Huffman, Mark D.; Karmali, Kunal N.; Sanghavi, Darshak M.; Wright, Janet S.; Pelser, Colleen; Gulati, Martha; Masoudi, Frederick A.; Goff, David C.

2016-01-01

The Million Hearts Initiative has a goal of preventing 1 million heart attacks and strokes—the leading causes of mortality—through several public health and healthcare strategies by 2017. The American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology support the program. The Cardiovascular Risk Reduction Model was developed by Million Hearts and the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services as a strategy to asses a value-based payment approach toward reduction in 10-year predicted risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) by implementing cardiovascular preventive strategies to manage the “ABCS” (aspirin therapy in appropriate patients, blood pressure control, cholesterol management, and smoking cessation). The purpose of this special report is to describe the development and intended use of the Million Hearts Longitudinal ASCVD Risk Assessment Tool. The Million Hearts Tool reinforces and builds on the “2013 ACC/AHA Guideline on the Assessment of Cardiovascular Risk” by allowing clinicians to estimate baseline and updated 10-year ASCVD risk estimates for primary prevention patients adhering to the appropriate ABCS over time, alone or in combination. The tool provides updated risk estimates based on evidence from high-quality systematic reviews and meta-analyses of the ABCS therapies. This novel approach to personalized estimation of benefits from risk-reducing therapies in primary prevention may help target therapies to those in whom they will provide the greatest benefit, and serves as the basis for a Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services program designed to evaluate the Million Hearts Cardiovascular Risk Reduction Model. PMID:27825770

Accretion tori and cones of ionizing radiation in Seyfert galaxies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Acosta-Pulido, Jose A.; Perez-Fournon, Ismael; Calvani, Massimo; Wilson, Andrew S.

1990-01-01

The photoionization of extended narrow-line regions in Seyfert galaxies by the radiation produced in a thick accretion disk is studied. The emission-line spectrum is calculated for a range of black hole masses, varying the values of the ionization parameter and the disk size. It is found that models with a million solar masses fit observations of very large accretion disk sizes, while models with 10 million solar masses fit them better with smaller disks. The latter models are preferable since they have lower super-Eddington accretion rates.

75 FR 23186 - Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic; Reef Fish Fishery of the Gulf of...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-05-03

... Reef Fish Resources of the Gulf of Mexico (FMP) prepared by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management... assessment update, the overfishing limit (OFL), as endorsed by the Council's Scientific and Statistical... million lb (3.150 million kg), which is 25 percent below the OFL, to account for scientific uncertainty...

Update Study of the Financial Condition of Independent Higher Education in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Commission for Independent Colleges and Universities, Harrisburg, PA.

A study completed in Winter 1971 report on the financial condition of institutions affiliated with the Commission for Independent Colleges and Universities (CICU). Its analysis showed a steady deterioration of financial operating results from a positive $10 million to a negative $1 million. The purpose of the present study was to: (1) measure the…

Can Measurements of the Near-Infrared Solar Spectral Irradiance be Reconciled? A New Ground-Based Assessment Between 4,000 and 10,000 cm-1

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Elsey, Jonathan; Coleman, Marc D.; Gardiner, Tom; Shine, Keith P.

2017-10-01

The near-infrared solar spectral irradiance (SSI) is of vital importance for understanding the Earth's radiation budget, and in Earth observation applications. Differences between previously published solar spectra (including the commonly used ATLAS3 spectrum) reach up to 10% at the low wavenumber end of the 4,000-10,000 cm-1 (2.5-1 μm) spectral region. The implications for the atmospheric sciences are significant, since this spectral region contains 25% of the incoming total solar irradiance. This work details an updated analysis of the CAVIAR SSI, featuring additional analysis techniques and an updated uncertainty budget using a Monte Carlo method. We report good consistency with ATLAS3 in the 7,000-10,000 cm-1 region where there is confidence in these results due to agreement with other spectra, but 7% lower in the 4,000-7,000 cm-1 region, in general agreement with several other analyses.

Astrodynamical Space Test of Relativity using Optical Devices I (ASTROD I)—a class-M fundamental physics mission proposal for cosmic vision 2015-2025: 2010 Update

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Braxmaier, Claus; Dittus, Hansjörg; Foulon, Bernard; Göklü, Ertan; Grimani, Catia; Guo, Jian; Herrmann, Sven; Lämmerzahl, Claus; Ni, Wei-Tou; Peters, Achim; Rievers, Benny; Samain, Étienne; Selig, Hanns; Shaul, Diana; Svehla, Drazen; Touboul, Pierre; Wang, Gang; Wu, An-Ming; Zakharov, Alexander F.

2012-10-01

ASTROD I is a planned interplanetary space mission with multiple goals. The primary aims are: to test General Relativity with an improvement in sensitivity of over 3 orders of magnitude, improving our understanding of gravity and aiding the development of a new quantum gravity theory; to measure key solar system parameters with increased accuracy, advancing solar physics and our knowledge of the solar system; and to measure the time rate of change of the gravitational constant with an order of magnitude improvement and the anomalous Pioneer acceleration, thereby probing dark matter and dark energy gravitationally. It is envisaged as the first in a series of ASTROD missions. ASTROD I will consist of one spacecraft carrying a telescope, four lasers, two event timers and a clock. Two-way, two-wavelength laser pulse ranging will be used between the spacecraft in a solar orbit and deep space laser stations on Earth, to achieve the ASTROD I goals.For this mission, accurate pulse timing with an ultra-stable clock, and a drag-free spacecraft with reliable inertial sensor are required. T2L2 has demonstrated the required accurate pulse timing; rubidium clock on board Galileo has mostly demonstrated the required clock stability; the accelerometer on board GOCE has paved the way for achieving the reliable inertial sensor; the demonstration of LISA Pathfinder will provide an excellent platform for the implementation of the ASTROD I drag-free spacecraft. These European activities comprise the pillars for building up the mission and make the technologies needed ready. A second mission, ASTROD or ASTROD-GW (depending on the results of ASTROD I), is envisaged as a three-spacecraft mission which, in the case of ASTROD, would test General Relativity to one part per billion, enable detection of solar g-modes, measure the solar Lense-Thirring effect to 10 parts per million, and probe gravitational waves at frequencies below the LISA bandwidth, or in the case of ASTROD-GW, would be dedicated to probe gravitational waves at frequencies below the LISA bandwidth to 100 nHz and to detect solar g-mode oscillations. In the third phase (Super-ASTROD), larger orbits could be implemented to map the outer solar system and to probe primordial gravitational-waves at frequencies below the ASTROD bandwidth. This paper on ASTROD I is based on our 2010 proposal submitted for the ESA call for class-M mission proposals, and is a sequel and an update to our previous paper (Appouchaux et al., Exp Astron 23:491-527, 2009; designated as Paper I) which was based on our last proposal submitted for the 2007 ESA call. In this paper, we present our orbit selection with one Venus swing-by together with orbit simulation. In Paper I, our orbit choice is with two Venus swing-bys. The present choice takes shorter time (about 250 days) to reach the opposite side of the Sun. We also present a preliminary design of the optical bench, and elaborate on the solar physics goals with the radiation monitor payload. We discuss telescope size, trade-offs of drag-free sensitivities, thermal issues and present an outlook.

75 FR 65306 - Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for a Proposed Federal Loan...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-10-22

... installation of about nine million photovoltaic (PV) solar modules within approximately 437 arrays and... final project design. The proposed Project would consist of: A solar field of ground-mounted PV modules... Federal Loan Guarantee To Support Construction of the Topaz Solar Farm, San Luis Obispo County, CA AGENCY...

Solar Energy in China: Development Trends for Solar Water Heaters and Photovoltaics in the Urban Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wallace, William; Wang, Zhongying

2006-01-01

China is the world's largest market for solar water heating systems, installing 13 million square meters of new systems in 2004, mostly in large cities. Municipal authorities, however, are sensitive to quality and visual impact issues created by this technology deployment. Therefore, there is currently a trend toward developing building integrated…

Concentrating Solar Power Projects - NOOR I | Concentrating Solar Power |

Science.gov Websites

) project, with data organized by background, participants, and power plant configuration. Status Date Cost (approx): 1,042 € million PPA/Tariff Date: November 19, 2012 PPA/Tariff Rate: 1.62 Dirhams per

78 FR 77343 - Small Business Size Standards: Utilities

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-12-23

... (such as solar, wind, biomass, geothermal) as well as other industries, where power generation is...: namely NAICS 221114 (Solar Electric Power Generation), NAICS 221115 (Wind Electric Power Generation... Electric Power 4 million 250 employees. Generation. megawatt hours. [[Page 77348

Solar energy system performance evaluation: Seasonal report for Contemporary Newman, Newman, Georgia

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1980-01-01

A hot solar heating and hot water system's operational performance from June 1979 through April 1980 is evaluated. Solar energy satisfied 42 percent of the total measure load (hot water plus space heating), which was somewhat higher than the solar fraction of 32 percent. When system losses into the heating space from duct leaks and storage are included, the heating solar fraction increases from 42 to 64 percent. Net electrical energy savings were 5.47 million BTUs.

Badhwar - O'Neill galactic cosmic ray model update based on Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) energy spectra from 1997 to present

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

O'Neill, P.

Accurate knowledge of the interplanetary Galactic Cosmic Ray (GCR) environment is critical to planning and operating manned space flight to the moon and beyond. In the early 1990's Badhwar and O'Neill developed a GCR model based on balloon and satellite data from 1954 to 1992. This model accurately accounts for solar modulation of each element (hydrogen -- iron) by propagating the Local Interplanetary Spectrum (LIS) of each element through the heliosphere by solving the Fokker -- Planck diffusion, convection, energy loss boundary value problem. A single value of the deceleration parameter describes the modulation of each of the elements and determines the GCR energy spectrum at any distance from the sun for a given level of solar cycle modulation. Since August 1997 the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) stationed at the Earth-Sun L1 libration point (about 1.5 million km from earth) has provided GCR energy spectra for boron - nickel. The Cosmic Ray Isotope Spectrometer (CRIS) provides ``quiet time'' spectra in the range of highest modulation ˜ 50 -- 500 MeV / nucleon. The collection power of CRIS is much larger than any of the previous satellite or balloon GCR instruments: 250 cm**2 --sr compared to <10 cm**2-sr! This new data was used to update the original Badhwar -- O'Neill Model and greatly improve the interplanetary GCR prediction accuracy. When the new -- highly precise ACE CRIS data was analyzed it became obvious that the LIS spectrum for each element precisely fit a very simple analytical energy power-law that was suggested by Leonard Fisk over 30 years ago. The updated Badhwar -- O'Neill Model is shown to be accurate to within 5%, for elements such as oxygen, which have sufficient abundance that over 1000 ions are captured in each energy bin within a 30 day period. The paper clearly demonstrates the statistical relationship between the number of ions captured by the instrument in a given time and the precision of the model for each element. This is a significant model upgrade that should provide interplanetary mission planners with highly accurate GCR environment data for radiation protection for astronauts and radiation hardness assurance for electronic equipment.

77 FR 24481 - Combined Notice of Filings #1

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-04-24

... Power North, LLC. Description: Silver State Solar Power North LLC Baseline Tariff Amendment to be... Market Power Update of CPV Batesville, LLC. Filed Date: 3/21/12. Accession Number: 20120321-5067...: ER12-799-000. Applicants: Nevada Solar One, LLC. Description: Supplement to Request for Determination...

Solar-QBO Interaction and Its Impact on Stratospheric Ozone in a Zonally Averaged Photochemical Transport Model of the Middle Atmosphere

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-08-28

Solar- QBO interaction and its impact on stratospheric ozone in a zonally averaged photochemical transport model of the middle atmosphere J. P...investigate the solar cycle modulation of the quasi-biennial oscillation ( QBO ) in stratospheric zonal winds and its impact on stratospheric ozone with an...updated version of the zonally averaged CHEM2D middle atmosphere model. We find that the duration of the westerly QBO phase at solar maximum is 3 months

Langmuir Probes for Obstanovka Experiment Aboard the Russian Segment of the International Space Station

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-08-04

charged due to the operation of so many instruments, solar batteries, life supporting devices, etc. The present grant is for the elaboration and tests of...sensors (in RKK “ Energia ” – Moscow)  Updating of the technological instruments - a new power supply block (PSB) was elaborated, which made it possible to...depending on space weather, Year of Astronomy: Solar and Solar - Terrestrial Physics 2009, Proceedings of the All-Russian Yearly Conference on Solar

Research Update: Emerging chalcostibite absorbers for thin-film solar cells

DOE PAGES

de Souza Lucas, Francisco Willian; Zakutayev, Andriy

2018-06-04

Copper antimony chalcogenides CuSbCh 2 (Ch=S, Se) are an emerging family of absorbers studied for thin-film solar cells. These non-toxic and Earth-abundant materials show a layered low-dimensional chalcostibite crystal structure, leading to interesting optoelectronic properties for applications in photovoltaic (PV) devices. This research update describes the CuSbCh 2 crystallographic structures, synthesis methods, competing phases, band structures, optoelectronic properties, point defects, carrier dynamics, and interface band offsets, based on experimental and theoretical data. Correlations between these absorber properties and PV device performance are discussed, and opportunities for further increase in the efficiency of the chalcostibite PV devices are highlighted.

The 1990 update to strategy for exploration of the inner planets

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Esposito, Larry W.; Pepin, Robert O.; Cheng, Andrew F.; Jakosky, Bruce M.; Lunine, Jonathan I.; Mcfadden, Lucy-Ann; Mckay, Christopher P.; Mckinnon, William B.; Muhleman, Duane O.; Nicholson, Philip

1990-01-01

The Committee on Planetary and Lunar Exploration (COMPLEX) has undertaken to review and revise the 1978 report Strategy for Exploration of the Inner Planets, 1977-1987. The committee has found the 1978 report to be generally still pertinent. COMPLEX therefore issues its new report in the form of an update. The committee reaffirms the basic objectives for exploration of the planets: to determine the present state of the planets and their satellites, to understand the processes active now and at the origin of the solar system, and to understand planetary evolution, including appearance of life and its relation to the chemical history of the solar system.

Research Update: Emerging chalcostibite absorbers for thin-film solar cells

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

de Souza Lucas, Francisco Willian; Zakutayev, Andriy

Copper antimony chalcogenides CuSbCh 2 (Ch=S, Se) are an emerging family of absorbers studied for thin-film solar cells. These non-toxic and Earth-abundant materials show a layered low-dimensional chalcostibite crystal structure, leading to interesting optoelectronic properties for applications in photovoltaic (PV) devices. This research update describes the CuSbCh 2 crystallographic structures, synthesis methods, competing phases, band structures, optoelectronic properties, point defects, carrier dynamics, and interface band offsets, based on experimental and theoretical data. Correlations between these absorber properties and PV device performance are discussed, and opportunities for further increase in the efficiency of the chalcostibite PV devices are highlighted.

How the Sun Knocks Out My Cell Phone from 150 Million Kilometers Away

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ladbury, Ray

2014-01-01

Large solar particle events (SPE) threaten many elements of critical infrastructure. A 2013 study by Lloyds of London and Atmospheric and Environmental Research recently found that if a worst-case solar event like the 1859 Carrington Event struck our planet now, it could result on $0.6-$2.36 trillion in damages to the economy. In March 2014, researchers Y. D. Liu et al. revealed that just such an event had narrowly missed Earth in July 2012. The event was observed by the STEREO A spacecraft. In this presentation, we examine how the sun can pack such a punch from 150 million km away, the threats such solar particle events pose, their mechanisms and the efforts NASA and other space agencies are carrying out to understand and mitigate such risks.

Device Performance | Photovoltaic Research | NREL

Science.gov Websites

Device Performance Device Performance PV Calibrations Blog Check out the latest updates from the PV than 190 person-years. Capabilities Our capabilities for measuring key performance parameters of solar cells and modules include the use of various solar simulators and tools to measure current-voltage and

Badhwar-O'Neil 2007 Galactic Cosmic Ray (GCR) Model Using Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) Measurements for Solar Cycle 23

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

ONeill, P. M.

2007-01-01

Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) satellite measurements of the galactic cosmic ray flux and correlation with the Climax Neutron Monitor count over Solar Cycle 23 are used to update the Badhwar O'Neill Galactic Cosmic Ray (GCR) model.

76 FR 50477 - Notice of Availability of the Final Environmental Impact Statement for a Proposed Federal Loan...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-08-15

... consist of: a solar field of approximately nine million ground-mounted PV modules, within up to 460 PV... Statement for a Proposed Federal Loan Guarantee To Support Construction and Start-up of the Topaz Solar Farm... for Construction and Startup of the Topaz Solar Farm, San Luis Obispo County, California (DOE/EIS-0458...

Solar Electricity for Homes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roman, Harry T.

2012-01-01

Every day, the sun showers the Earth with millions of times more energy than its people use. The only problem is that energy is spread out over the entire Earth's surface and must be harvested. Engineers are learning to capture and use some of this energy to make electricity for homes. Solar panels make up the heart of a solar system. They can be…

The temperature of solar flares determined from X-ray spectral line ratios

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Doschek, G. A.; Feldman, U.

1987-01-01

The effect on derived solar flare plasma temperatures of (1) a power-law distribution of emission measure as a function of temperature, (2) a high-temperature isothermal source coupled to a low-temperature power-law distribution of emission measure, and (3) two isothermal sources is calculated for line ratios involving the ions S XV, Ca XIX, Ca XX, Fe XXV, Ni XXVII, and Fe XXVI. It is shown that if the Fe XXV temperature is less than about 25 million K, as is true for the majority of flares, then about 75 percent or more of the emission measure is produced by plasma at temperatures equal to or less than the Fe XXV temperature plus about 3 million K. If the Fe XXV temperature is 20 million K or higher, this percentage can be larger. This result is obtained even if a superhot component exists that extends up to several hundred million degrees. Temperatures determined from Fe XXVI demonstrate the presence of a superhot component.

SysML model of exoplanet archive functionality and activities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramirez, Solange

2016-08-01

The NASA Exoplanet Archive is an online service that serves data and information on exoplanets and their host stars to help astronomical research related to search for and characterization of extra-solar planetary systems. In order to provide the most up to date data sets to the users, the exoplanet archive performs weekly updates that include additions into the database and updates to the services as needed. These weekly updates are complex due to interfaces within the archive. I will be presenting a SysML model that helps us perform these update activities in a weekly basis.

Estimating Longitudinal Risks and Benefits From Cardiovascular Preventive Therapies Among Medicare Patients: The Million Hearts Longitudinal ASCVD Risk Assessment Tool: A Special Report From the American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology.

PubMed

Lloyd-Jones, Donald M; Huffman, Mark D; Karmali, Kunal N; Sanghavi, Darshak M; Wright, Janet S; Pelser, Colleen; Gulati, Martha; Masoudi, Frederick A; Goff, David C

2017-03-28

The Million Hearts Initiative has a goal of preventing 1 million heart attacks and strokes-the leading causes of mortality-through several public health and healthcare strategies by 2017. The American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology support the program. The Cardiovascular Risk Reduction Model was developed by Million Hearts and the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services as a strategy to assess a value-based payment approach toward reduction in 10-year predicted risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) by implementing cardiovascular preventive strategies to manage the "ABCS" (aspirin therapy in appropriate patients, blood pressure control, cholesterol management, and smoking cessation). The purpose of this special report is to describe the development and intended use of the Million Hearts Longitudinal ASCVD Risk Assessment Tool. The Million Hearts Tool reinforces and builds on the "2013 ACC/AHA Guideline on the Assessment of Cardiovascular Risk" by allowing clinicians to estimate baseline and updated 10-year ASCVD risk estimates for primary prevention patients adhering to the appropriate ABCS over time, alone or in combination. The tool provides updated risk estimates based on evidence from high-quality systematic reviews and meta-analyses of the ABCS therapies. This novel approach to personalized estimation of benefits from risk-reducing therapies in primary prevention may help target therapies to those in whom they will provide the greatest benefit, and serves as the basis for a Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services program designed to evaluate the Million Hearts Cardiovascular Risk Reduction Model. Copyright © 2017 American Heart Association, Inc., and the American College of Cardiology Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Polycrystalline silicon material availability and market pricing outlook study for 1980 to 88: January 1983 update

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Costogue, E.; Pellin, R.

1983-01-01

Photovoltaic solar cell arrays which convert solar energy into electrical energy can become a cost effective, alternative energy source provided that an adequate supply of low priced materials and automated fabrication techniques are available. Presently, silicon is the most promising cell material for achieving the near term cost goals of the Photovoltaics Program. Electronic grade silicon is produced primarily for the semiconductor industry with the photovoltaic industry using, in most cases, the production rejects of slightly lower grade material. Therefore, the future availability of adequate supplies of low cost silicon is one of the major concerns of the Photovoltaic Program. The supply outlook for silicon with emphasis on pricing is updated and is based primarily on an industry survey conducted by a JPL consultant. This survey included interviews with polycrystalline silicon manufacturers, a large cross section of silicon users and silicon solar cell manufacturers.

The locations of recent supernovae near the Sun from modelling (60)Fe transport.

PubMed

Breitschwerdt, D; Feige, J; Schulreich, M M; de Avillez, M A; Dettbarn, C; Fuchs, B

2016-04-07

The signature of (60)Fe in deep-sea crusts indicates that one or more supernovae exploded in the solar neighbourhood about 2.2 million years ago. Recent isotopic analysis is consistent with a core-collapse or electron-capture supernova that occurred 60 to 130 parsecs from the Sun. Moreover, peculiarities in the cosmic ray spectrum point to a nearby supernova about two million years ago. The Local Bubble of hot, diffuse plasma, in which the Solar System is embedded, originated from 14 to 20 supernovae within a moving group, whose surviving members are now in the Scorpius-Centaurus stellar association. Here we report calculations of the most probable trajectories and masses of the supernova progenitors, and hence their explosion times and sites. The (60)Fe signal arises from two supernovae at distances between 90 and 100 parsecs. The closest occurred 2.3 million years ago at present-day galactic coordinates l = 327°, b = 11°, and the second-closest exploded about 1.5 million years ago at l = 343°, b = 25°, with masses of 9.2 and 8.8 times the solar mass, respectively. The remaining supernovae, which formed the Local Bubble, contribute to a smaller extent because they happened at larger distances and longer ago ((60)Fe has a half-life of 2.6 million years). There are uncertainties relating to the nucleosynthesis yields and the loss of (60)Fe during transport, but they do not influence the relative distribution of (60)Fe in the crust layers, and therefore our model reproduces the measured relative abundances very well.

Solar water-heating performance evaluation-San Diego, California

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1981-01-01

Report describes energy saved by replacing domestic, conventional natural gas heater with solar-energy subsystem in single-family residence near San Diego, California. Energy savings for 6 month test period averaged 1.089 million Btu. Collector array covered 65 square feet and supplied hot water to both 66-gallon solar storage tank and 40-gallon tank for domestic use. Natural gas supplied house's auxiliary energy.

Student Financial Aid in the UW System: 1996-97 Update. Occasional Research Brief, Volume 98, No. 1.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wisconsin Univ. System, Madison.

Financial aid provided to students in the University of Wisconsin (UW) system is described. In 1996-1997, 75,666 UW system undergraduate and graduate students received $404.9 million in a combination of need based and non-need based financial aid. This represented an increase of 1,319 students and $16.2 million above 1995-1996 levels. Over half of…

A Combined Experimental and Modeling Program to Study the Impact of Solar Wind Ions on the Surface and Exosphere of Mercury

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Savin, D. W.; Bostick, B. C.; Domingue, D. L.; Ebel, D. S.; Harlow, G. E.; Killen, R. M.

2018-05-01

We aim to improve the interpretation of in-situ and remote-sensing data of Mercury. We will use updated exosphere and spectrophotometric models incorporating new data from lab simulations of solar wind ion irradiation of Mercury’s regolith surface.

Update on the Solar Power Satellite transmitter design

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Brown, W.C.

1986-01-01

A number of remaining problems in the conceptual design of the transmitting antenna for the Solar Power Satellite have been solved as a result of additional technology development. Much of the technology was derived from the conceptual design of a ground-based transmitting antenna for beaming power to a high altitude airship or airplane.

KSC-97PC1079

NASA Image and Video Library

1997-07-22

Applied Physics Laboratory Engineer Cliff Willey (kneeling) and Engineering Assistant Jim Hutcheson from Johns Hopkins University install solar array panels on the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) in KSC’s Spacecraft Assembly and Encapsulation Facility-II. Scheduled for launch on a Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Station on Aug. 25, ACE will study low-energy particles of solar origin and high-energy galactic particles for a better understanding of the formation and evolution of the solar system as well as the astrophysical processes involved. The ACE observatory will be placed into an orbit almost a million miles (1.5 million kilometers) away from the Earth, about 1/100 the distance from the Earth to the Sun. The collecting power of instrumentation aboard ACE is at least 100 times more sensitive than anything previously flown to collect similar data by NASA

Sun-Earth Connections: How the Sun Knocks Out My Cell Phone from 150 Million Kilometers Away

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ladbury, Raymond L.

2014-01-01

Large solar particle events (SPE) threaten many elements of critical infrastructure. A 2013 study by Lloyds of London and Atmospheric and Environmental Research recently found that if a worst-case solar event like the 1859 Carrington Event struck our planet now, it could result on $0.6-$2.36 trillion in damages to the economy. In March 2014, researchers Y. D. Liu et al. revealed that just such an event had narrowly missed Earth in July 2012. The event was observed by the STEREO A spacecraft. In this presentation, we examine how the sun can pack such a punch from 150 million km away, the threats such solar particle events pose, their mechanisms and the efforts NASA and other space agencies are carrying out to understand and mitigate such risks.

Plutonium-fission xenon found in Earth's mantle

PubMed

Kunz; Staudacher; Allegre

1998-05-08

Data from mid-ocean ridge basalt glasses indicate that the short-lived radionuclide plutonium-244 that was present during an early stage of the development of the solar system is responsible for roughly 30 percent of the fissiogenic xenon excesses in the interior of Earth today. The rest of the fissiogenic xenon can be ascribed to the spontaneous fission of still live uranium-238. This result, in combination with the refined determination of xenon-129 excesses from extinct iodine-129, implies that the accretion of Earth was finished roughly 50 million to 70 million years after solar system formation and that the atmosphere was formed by mantle degassing.

Analysis of magnesium XI line profiles from solar active regions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Blake, R. L.; Cowan, R. D.; Felthauser, H.; Fenimore, E. E.; Hockaday, M. P.; Bely-Dubau, F.; Faucher, P.; Steenman-Clark, L.

1984-01-01

High-resolution solar spectra of the Mg XI 1s2 1S0-1s2p 1P1 resonance line at 9.169 A and the associated nearby satellite lines obtained from two rocket-borne crystal spectrometer measurements are presented. Comparisons with two independent sets of theoretical calculations for the 1s2nl-1s2pnl dielectronic satellite lines with n = 3-7 indicate electron temperatures of 4-4.5 million K. Measured line widths indicate either that the ion temperature exceeds the electron temperature by about a million K or that about 28 km/s of turbulence is present.

Mass-losing red giants in open clusters

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jura, M.

1987-01-01

Mass-losing stars in open clusters with main-sequence turn-offs at intermediate mass have been searched for by using the IRAS data base. The absence of many strong 60 micron sources in open clusters implies that intermediate-mass stars lose much of their mass during an intense wind phase of rather short duration. For stars of about seven solar masses, this phase, if it exists at all, lasts for not much more than 100,000 yr. For stars of about four solar masses, the intense wind phase appears to last considerably less than 10 million yr; it may well last for less than a million yr.

NREL: International Activities - U.S.-China Renewable Energy Partnership

Science.gov Websites

Solar PV and TC88 Wind working groups. Renewable Energy Technology These projects enhance policies to Collaboration on innovative business models and financing solutions for solar PV deployment. Micrositing and O development. Current Projects Recommendations for photovoltaic (PV) and wind grid code updates. New energy

The Advanced Photovoltaic Solar Array Program Update

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kurland, R. M.; Stella, P. M.

1993-01-01

The paper continues the status reporting of the development of an ultraweight flexible blanket, flatlpack, fouldout solar array testbed wing that was presented at the First and Second European Space Power Conferences. To date a testbed wing has been built and subjected to a variety of critical functional tests before and after exposrue to simulated launch environments.

The Citizen CATE Experiment for the 2017 Total Solar Eclipse

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Penn, M. J.

2015-12-01

The path of the total solar eclipse of 21 August 2017 passes over about 10 million homes in the USA. Tens of millions more people will travel to the path of totality to view the eclipse first-hand. Using TV and the internet broadcasts, hundreds of millions of people will watch the eclipse, making the event the most viewed astronomical event in the history of mankind. The Citizen Continental-America Telescopic Eclipse (CATE) Experiment for 2017 is being developed at the National Solar Observatory in partnership with universities, schools, astronomy clubs, and corporations. The CATE experiment will use more than 60 identical telescopes equipped with digital cameras positioned from Oregon to South Carolina to image the solar corona. The project will then splice these images together to show the corona during a 90-minute period, revealing for the first time the plasma dynamics of the inner solar corona. The goals for the highly leveraged CATE experiment are diverse and range from providing an authentic STEM research experience for students and lifelong learners, to making state-of-the-art solar coronal observations of the plasma dynamics of coronal polar plumes, to increasing the US scientific literacy. A key goal of this experiment is to donate the telescope and camera system to the volunteer who collects data with it during the total eclipse. The instrument will be then used for a variety of follow-up citizen science projects in astronomy, ranging from solar to cometary to variable star observations. For this reason no government funding is being sought for the equipment costs, but rather private and corporate sources are being developed. The data collected for the 2017 eclipse will be freely available to the scientific, education and amateur astronomy communities. Crowd sourcing the data collection is an essential part of this project, as there are not enough solar physicists in this country to collect these observations. Finally, each site is expected to collect about 10 Gbytes of science data and 10 Gbytes of calibration data, resulting in 1.2 Tbytes of data for the project.

Construction and startup performance of the Miamisburg salt-gradient solar pond

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wittenberg, L. J.; Harris, M. J.

1981-02-01

An account is given of the construction and 1.5 years of operation of the Miamisburg, Ohio salt-gradient solar pond which, with 2020 sq m, is the largest solar collector in the U.S. The 18% sodium chloride solution pond has reached storage temperatures of 64 C in July and 28 C in February. Under steady-state conditions, conservative heat-yield estimates on the order of 962 million Btu have been made. The heat is used to warm-up a summer outdoor swimming pool and in winter a recreational building. Installation costs were only $35/sq m, and heat costs based on a 15-year depreciation of installation costs is below that of fuel oil heating, at $9.45 per million Btu. Further study is recommended for maintenance of water clarity, metallic component corrosion and assurance of pond water containment.

KSC-97PC1080

NASA Image and Video Library

1997-07-22

Applied Physics Laboratory engineers and technicians from Johns Hopkins University install solar array panels on the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) in KSC’s Spacecraft Assembly and Encapsulation Facility-II. The panel on which they are working is identical to the panel (one of four) seen in the foreground on the ACE spacecraft. Scheduled for launch on a Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Station on Aug. 25, ACE will study low-energy particles of solar origin and high-energy galactic particles for a better understanding of the formation and evolution of the solar system as well as the astrophysical processes involved. The ACE observatory will be placed into an orbit almost a million miles (1.5 million kilometers) away from the Earth, about 1/100 the distance from the Earth to the Sun. The collecting power of instrumentation aboard ACE is at least 100 times more sensitive than anything previously flown to collect similar data by NASA

The early differentiation of Mars inferred from Hf–W chronometry

DOE PAGES

Kruijer, Thomas S.; Kleine, Thorsten; Borg, Lars E.; ...

2017-07-20

Mars probably accreted within the first 10 million years of Solar System formation and likely underwent magma ocean crystallization and crust formation soon thereafter. In this study, to assess the nature and timescales of these large-scale mantle differentiation processes we applied the short-lived 182Hf– 182W and 146Sm– 142Nd chronometers to a comprehensive suite of martian meteorites, including several shergottites, augite basalt NWA 8159, orthopyroxenite ALH 84001 and polymict breccia NWA 7034. Compared to previous studies the 182W data are significantly more precise and have been obtained for a more diverse suite of martian meteorites, ranging from samples from highly depletedmore » to highly enriched mantle and crustal sources. Our results show that martian meteorites exhibit widespread 182W/ 184W variations that are broadly correlated with 142Nd/ 144Nd, implying that silicate differentiation (and not core formation) is the main cause of the observed 182W/ 184W differences. The combined 182W– 142Nd systematics are best explained by magma ocean crystallization on Mars within ~20–25 million years after Solar System formation, followed by crust formation ~15 million years later. Finally, these ages are indistinguishable from the I–Pu–Xe age for the formation of Mars' atmosphere, indicating that the major differentiation of Mars into mantle, crust, and atmosphere occurred between 20 and 40 million years after Solar System formation and, hence, earlier than previously inferred based on Sm–Nd chronometry alone.« less

The early differentiation of Mars inferred from Hf–W chronometry

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kruijer, Thomas S.; Kleine, Thorsten; Borg, Lars E.

Mars probably accreted within the first 10 million years of Solar System formation and likely underwent magma ocean crystallization and crust formation soon thereafter. In this study, to assess the nature and timescales of these large-scale mantle differentiation processes we applied the short-lived 182Hf– 182W and 146Sm– 142Nd chronometers to a comprehensive suite of martian meteorites, including several shergottites, augite basalt NWA 8159, orthopyroxenite ALH 84001 and polymict breccia NWA 7034. Compared to previous studies the 182W data are significantly more precise and have been obtained for a more diverse suite of martian meteorites, ranging from samples from highly depletedmore » to highly enriched mantle and crustal sources. Our results show that martian meteorites exhibit widespread 182W/ 184W variations that are broadly correlated with 142Nd/ 144Nd, implying that silicate differentiation (and not core formation) is the main cause of the observed 182W/ 184W differences. The combined 182W– 142Nd systematics are best explained by magma ocean crystallization on Mars within ~20–25 million years after Solar System formation, followed by crust formation ~15 million years later. Finally, these ages are indistinguishable from the I–Pu–Xe age for the formation of Mars' atmosphere, indicating that the major differentiation of Mars into mantle, crust, and atmosphere occurred between 20 and 40 million years after Solar System formation and, hence, earlier than previously inferred based on Sm–Nd chronometry alone.« less

Colors of Outer Solar System Objects Measured with VATT

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Romanishin, William; Tegler, S. C.; Consolmagno, G. J.

2010-10-01

Over the past 7 years, we have measured optical B-V and V-R colors for about 40 minor outer solar system objects using the 1.8-m Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope (VATT) located on Mt. Graham in southeast Arizona. We will present these colors and use them to update the discussion of colors of minor bodies in the outer solar system. We gratefully acknowledge funding from the NASA Planetary Astronomy Program to Northern Arizona University and the U. of Oklahoma which helped support this work.

Texas Solar Collaboration Action Plan

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Winland, Chris

2013-02-14

Texas Solar Collaboration Permitting and Interconenction Process Improvement Action Plan. San Antonio-specific; Investigate feasibility of using electronic signatures; Investigate feasibility of enabling other online permitting processes (e.g., commercial); Assess need for future document management and workflow/notification IT improvements; Update Information Bulletin 153 regarding City requirements and processes for PV; Educate contractors and public on CPS Energy’s new 2013 solar program processes; Continue to discuss “downtown grid” interconnection issues and identify potential solutions; Consider renaming Distributed Energy Resources (DER); and Continue to participate in collaborative actions.

Solar energy system performance evaluation. Seasonal report for Wormser, Columbia, South Carolina

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1980-01-01

The Wormser Solar Energy System's operational performance from April 1979 through March 1980 was evaluated. The space heating subsystem met 42 percent of the measured space heating load and the hot water subsystem met 23 percent of the measured hot water demand. Net electrical energy savings were 4.36 million Btu's or 1277 kwh. Fossil energy savings will increase considerably if the uncontrolled solar energy input to the building is considered.

Spectroscopic orbits of nearby solar-type dwarfs - II.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gorynya, N. A.; Tokovinin, A.

2018-03-01

Several nearby solar-type dwarfs with variable radial velocity were monitored to find their spectroscopic orbits. First orbital elements of 15 binaries (HIP 12144, 17895, 27970, 32329, 38636, 39072, 40479, 43004, 73700, 79234, 84696, 92140, 88656, 104514, and 112222) are determined. The previously known orbits of HIP 5276, 21443, 28678, and 41214 are confirmed and updated. The orbital periods range from 2 d to 4 yr. There are eight hierarchical systems with additional distant companions among those 19 stars. The outer visual orbit of the triple system HIP 17895 is updated and the masses of all its components are estimated. We provide radial velocities of another 16 Hipparcos stars without orbital solutions, some of those with long periods or false claims of variability.

Solar neutrino production of technetium-97 and technetium-98.

PubMed

Cowan, G A; Haxton, W C

1982-04-02

It may be possible to determine the boron-8 solar neutrino flux, averaged over the past several million years, from the concentration of technetium-98 in molybdenite. The mass spectrometry of this system is greatly simplified by the absence of stable technetium isotopes, and the presence of the fission product technetium-99 provides a monitor of uiranium-induced backgrounds. This geochemical experiment could provide the first test of nonstandard solar models that suggest a relation between the chlorine-37 solar neutrino puzzle and the recent ice age.

Solar Eclipse Video Captured by STEREO-B

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2007-01-01

No human has ever witnessed a solar eclipse quite like the one captured on this video. The NASA STEREO-B spacecraft, managed by the Goddard Space Center, was about a million miles from Earth , February 25, 2007, when it photographed the Moon passing in front of the sun. The resulting movie looks like it came from an alien solar system. The fantastically-colored star is our own sun as STEREO sees it in four wavelengths of extreme ultraviolet light. The black disk is the Moon. When we observe a lunar transit from Earth, the Moon appears to be the same size as the sun, a coincidence that produces intoxicatingly beautiful solar eclipses. The silhouette STEREO-B saw, on the other hand, was only a fraction of the Sun. The Moon seems small because of the STEREO-B location. The spacecraft circles the sun in an Earth-like orbit, but it lags behind Earth by one million miles. This means STEREO-B is 4.4 times further from the Moon than we are, and so the Moon looks 4.4 times smaller. This version of the STEREO-B eclipse movie is a composite of data from the coronagraph and extreme ultraviolet imager of the spacecraft. STEREO-B has a sister ship named STEREO-A. Both are on a mission to study the sun. While STEREO-B lags behind Earth, STEREO-A orbits one million miles ahead ('B' for behind, 'A' for ahead). The gap is deliberate as it allows the two spacecraft to capture offset views of the sun. Researchers can then combine the images to produce 3D stereo movies of solar storms. The two spacecraft were launched in Oct. 2006 and reached their stations on either side of Earth in January 2007.

The age of universe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ali, Zeeshan

The presence of short-lived isotope Curium-247 in the early Solar System complicates the job of dating the earliest events in the solar nebula. Primitive components in meteorites contain a detailed record of the conditions and processes in the solarnebula, the cloud of dust and gas surrounding the infant Sun. Determining accurately when the first materialsformed re-quires the lead-lead (Pb-Pb) dating method, a method based on the decay of uranium (U) isotopes toPb isotopes. The initial ratio of U-238 to U-235 is critical to determining theages correctly, and many studies have concluded that the ratio is constant for any given age. How-ever, my colleagues at Arizona State University(Frankfurt, Germany), and the Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut und Naturmuseum (also in Frankfurt) and I have found that some calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions (CAIs) in chondritic meteorites deviate from the conventional value for the U-238/U-235 ratio. This could lead to inaccuracies of up to 5 million years in the age of these objects, if no correction is made.Variations in the concentrations of thorium and neodymium with the U-238/U-235 ratio suggest that the ratio may have been lowered by the decay of curium-247, which decays to U-235 with a half-life of 15.6 million years. Curium-247 is created in certain types of energetic supernovae, so its presence suggests that a supernova added material to the pre-solar interstellar cloud between 110 and 140 million years before theSolar System began to form.

A Complication in Determining the Precise Age of the Solar System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brennecka, G. A.

2010-01-01

Primitive components in meteorites contain a detailed record of the conditions and processes in the solar nebula, the cloud of dust and gas surrounding the infant Sun. Determining accurately when the first materials formed requires the lead-lead (Pb-Pb) dating method, a method based on the decay of uranium (U) isotopes to Pb isotopes. The initial ratio of U-238 to U-235 is critical to determining the ages correctly, and many studies have concluded that the ratio is constant for any given age. However, my colleagues at Arizona State University, Institut fur Geowissenschaften, Goethe-Universitat (Frankfurt, Germany), and the Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut und Naturmuseum (also in Frankfurt) and I have found that some calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions (CAIs) in chondritic meteorites deviate from the conventional value for the U-238/U-235 ratio. This could lead to inaccuracies of up to 5 million years in the age of these objects, if no correction is made. Variations in the concentrations of thorium and neodymium with the U-238/U-235 ratio suggest that the ratio may have been lowered by the decay of curium-247, which decays to U-235 with a half-life of 15.6 million years. Curium-247 is created in certain types of energetic supernovae, so its presence suggests that a supernova added material to the pre-solar interstellar cloud between 110 and 140 million years before the Solar System began to form.

Long-term variations of fluxes of solar protons and helium isotopes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anufriev, G. S.

2012-11-01

The fluxes of hydrogen and helium isotopes in the solar wind are reconstructed over a long time scale since the present time up to 600 million years back. Abundances of helium isotopes, obtained in the helium isotopic analysis made for 8 lunar soil samples, were used as initial data in the reconstruction procedure. Samples were taken off from various levels of the 1.6-m core of lunar soil delivered by the automatic Luna-24 station in 1976. The data on modern hydrogen and helium fluxes were used as well. The developed reconstruction procedure allowed one to select various solar wind components in a "gross" composition. Proton flux variations over the interval of 600 million years do not exceed a value of 40 %. Helium flux variations reach a value of 1.5-2 relative to the average value. Most likely, this circumstance is caused by considerable variations of a number of coronal mass ejections ( CME) enriched by helium. The arguments in favor of solar activity polycyclicity on a long time scale are discussed.

Our nation's highways 2010

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2010-01-01

With over 4 million miles of public roads, including more than 163,000 miles of the National Highway System roadways, our nation is connected coasts to coasts and communities to communities. The 2010 edition of Our Nations Highways includes update...

Long-Lived In-Situ Solar System Explorer (LLISSE)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kremic, Tibor; Hunter, Gary; Rock, Jennifer

2017-01-01

This presentation provides an update on development of the Long-Lived In-situ Solar System Explorer (LLISSE). LLISSE is a small probe being developed to provide long-term measurements of simple but important scientific parameters from the surface of Venus. High level summary of recent activities and progress is provided. LLISSE is a small and completely independent probe for Venus surface applications

Updating the limit efficiency of silicon solar cells

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wolf, M.

1979-01-01

Evaluation of the limit efficiency based on the simplest, most basic mathematical method that is appropriate for the conditions imposed by the cell model is discussed. The methodology, the solar cell structure, and the selection of the material parameters used in the evaluation are described. The results are discussed including a set of design goals derived from the limit efficiency.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Heeter, J.

This presentation highlights the status of the voluntary green power market in 2012. The voluntary green power market totaled more than 48 million MWh in 2012, with about 1.9 million customers participating. The supply continues to be dominated by wind, though solar is increasing its share of utility green pricing programs. Prices for voluntary renewable energy certificates (RECs) increased to above $1/MWh.

The mean ionic charges of N, Ne, MG, SI and S in solar energetic particle events

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Luhn, A.; Hovestadt, D.; Klecker, B.; Scholer, M.; Gloeckler, G.; Ipavich, F. M.; Galvin, A. B.; Fan, C. Y.; Fisk, L. A.

1985-01-01

The mean ionic charges of nitrogen, neon, magnesium, silicon, and sulfur in solar flare particle events were determined for 12 flares during the time interval from September 1978 to September 1979. The observations were carried out with the MPI/UoMd ULEZEQ Sensor on the ISEE-3 satellite comparing the results with mean charge states established in a hot coronal plasma under equilibrium conditions, different temperatures for different elements are discussed. These range from approx. 2 million K to 7 million K in a single flare. From flare to flare the variation in temperature for each element is less than the variation between different ion species.

RAID v2.0: an updated resource of RNA-associated interactions across organisms

PubMed Central

Yi, Ying; Zhao, Yue; Li, Chunhua; Zhang, Lin; Huang, Huiying; Li, Yana; Liu, Lanlan; Hou, Ping; Cui, Tianyu; Tan, Puwen; Hu, Yongfei; Zhang, Ting; Huang, Yan; Li, Xiaobo; Yu, Jia; Wang, Dong

2017-01-01

With the development of biotechnologies and computational prediction algorithms, the number of experimental and computational prediction RNA-associated interactions has grown rapidly in recent years. However, diverse RNA-associated interactions are scattered over a wide variety of resources and organisms, whereas a fully comprehensive view of diverse RNA-associated interactions is still not available for any species. Hence, we have updated the RAID database to version 2.0 (RAID v2.0, www.rna-society.org/raid/) by integrating experimental and computational prediction interactions from manually reading literature and other database resources under one common framework. The new developments in RAID v2.0 include (i) over 850-fold RNA-associated interactions, an enhancement compared to the previous version; (ii) numerous resources integrated with experimental or computational prediction evidence for each RNA-associated interaction; (iii) a reliability assessment for each RNA-associated interaction based on an integrative confidence score; and (iv) an increase of species coverage to 60. Consequently, RAID v2.0 recruits more than 5.27 million RNA-associated interactions, including more than 4 million RNA–RNA interactions and more than 1.2 million RNA–protein interactions, referring to nearly 130 000 RNA/protein symbols across 60 species. PMID:27899615

An assessment of solar hot water heating in the Washington, D.C. area - Implications for local utilities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stuart, M. W.

1980-04-01

A survey of residential solar hot water heating in the Washington, D.C. area is presented with estimates of the total solar energy contribution per year. These estimates are examined in relation to a local utility's peak-load curves to determine the impact of a substantial increase in solar domestic hot water use over the next 20 yr in the area of utility management. The results indicate that a 10% market penetration of solar water heaters would have no detrimental effect on the utility's peak-load profile and could save several million dollars in new plant construction costs.

Updated Projected Prevalence of Self-Reported Doctor-Diagnosed Arthritis and Arthritis-Attributable Activity Limitation Among US Adults, 2015-2040.

PubMed

Hootman, Jennifer M; Helmick, Charles G; Barbour, Kamil E; Theis, Kristina A; Boring, Michael A

2016-07-01

To update the projected prevalence of arthritis and arthritis-attributable activity limitations among US adults, using a newer baseline for estimates. Baseline prevalence data were obtained from the 2010-2012 National Health Interview Survey. Arthritis was defined as an answer of "yes" to the question "Have you ever been told by a doctor or other health professional that you have some form of arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, gout, lupus or fibromyalgia?" Arthritis-attributable activity limitation was defined as an answer of "yes" to the question "Are you limited in any way in any of your usual activities because of arthritis or joint symptoms?" The baseline prevalence of arthritis and arthritis-attributable activity limitation was stratified according to age and sex and was statistically weighted to account for the complex survey design. The projected prevalence of doctor-diagnosed arthritis and arthritis-attributable activity limitation was calculated by multiplying the age- and sex-stratified population estimates projected for 2015-2040 (in 5-year intervals; provided by the US Census Bureau) by the baseline estimates. Age- and sex-specific prevalences were summed to provide the total prevalence estimates for each year. In 2010-2012, 52.5 million adults in the US (22.7% of all adults) had doctor-diagnosed arthritis, and 22.7 million (9.8%) had arthritis-attributable activity limitation. By 2040, the number of US adults with doctor-diagnosed arthritis is projected to increase 49% to 78.4 million (25.9% of all adults), and the number of adults with arthritis-attributable activity limitation will increase 52% to 34.6 million (11.4% of all adults). Updated projections suggest that arthritis and arthritis-attributable activity limitation will remain large and growing problems for clinical and public health systems, which must plan and create policies and resources to address these future needs. © 2016, American College of Rheumatology.

Air Force Sustainability Update

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-05-01

systems are “green”  Phytoremediation – utilizing tree root structure to remediate  Bioaugmentation – groundwater stimulation of dechlorination  Wetlands & Biowalls  Solar Powered Systems  Kevin Section 34

Update LADOTD policy on pile driving vibration management : tech summary.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2012-02-01

Piles have often been used to transfer heavy loads to stronger soil strata or temporarily retain earth or water in highway and bridge : construction. The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (LADOTD) spends millions of dollars annua...

Year 2001 Alabama rail plan update

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2002-01-01

The State of Alabama is crisscrossed by some 4,728 miles rail lines hauling 93.5 million tons of cargo annually. There are five Class I railroads that operate in Alabama: Burlington Northern Santa Fe, Canadian National/Illinois Central, CSX Transport...

In Congress Budget Update for NOAA, USGS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Richman, Barbara T.

Among the agenda items facing Congress as it reconvenes this week are the fiscal 1984 budgets for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which is part of the Department of Commerce, and for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), which is within the Department of the Interior. Fiscal year 1984 begins October 1, 1983. As Congress rolls up its shirtsleeves and gets down to business, Eos presents a status report on the two agency budgets.Both House and Senate appropriations committees have finished their work on the NOAA budget, which had been targeted by President Ronald Reagan for a $799.8 million appropriation request (program level of $843.2 million) in his proposed fiscal 1984 budget (Eos, February 15, 1983, p. 65). The House appropriation for NOAA (H.R. 3134 and H.R. 3222) is $998.5 million, with a program level of $1043.9 million. The Senate Appropriations Committee set its appropriation (S. 1721) at $987.8 million, with a program level of $1041.0 million.

75 FR 41157 - U.S. Cleantech Trade & Investment Mission

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-07-15

... providing the means to increase renewable energy capacity. Wind and solar power especially are at the core... from 6.7 percent in 2004 to 20 percent by 2020. Also, installed capacity for photovoltaic (PV) power is..., 5 million solar thermal units are to be installed in buildings by 2020, 80 percent of these in homes...

The Solar City Daegu 2050 Project: Visions for a Sustainable City

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Jong-dall; Han, Dong-hi; Na, Jung-gyu

2006-01-01

The Solar City Daegu 2050 Project (SCD 2050) represents a comprehensive model for shaping the future of this city of 2.5 million residents with a mixed industrial and services economic base. Its specific aims are as follows: realization of a carbon footprint consistent with standards of global sustainability and equity; the development of a…

Concept designs for NASA's Solar Electric Propulsion Technology Demonstration Mission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mcguire, Melissa L.; Hack, Kurt J.; Manzella, David H.; Herman, Daniel A.

2014-01-01

Multiple Solar Electric Propulsion Technology Demonstration Mission were developed to assess vehicle performance and estimated mission cost. Concepts ranged from a 10,000 kilogram spacecraft capable of delivering 4000 kilogram of payload to one of the Earth Moon Lagrange points in support of future human-crewed outposts to a 180 kilogram spacecraft capable of performing an asteroid rendezvous mission after launched to a geostationary transfer orbit as a secondary payload. Low-cost and maximum Delta-V capability variants of a spacecraft concept based on utilizing a secondary payload adapter as the primary bus structure were developed as were concepts designed to be co-manifested with another spacecraft on a single launch vehicle. Each of the Solar Electric Propulsion Technology Demonstration Mission concepts developed included an estimated spacecraft cost. These data suggest estimated spacecraft costs of $200 million - $300 million if 30 kilowatt-class solar arrays and the corresponding electric propulsion system currently under development are used as the basis for sizing the mission concept regardless of launch vehicle costs. The most affordable mission concept developed based on subscale variants of the advanced solar arrays and electric propulsion technology currently under development by the NASA Space Technology Mission Directorate has an estimated cost of $50M and could provide a Delta-V capability comparable to much larger spacecraft concepts.

Nowcast and Short-Term Forecast of Solar Radiation for Photovoltaic power and Solar thermal using 3rd generation geostationary satellite.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Takenaka, H.; Teruyuki, N.; Nakajima, T. Y.; Higurashi, A.; Hashimoto, M.; Suzuki, K.; Uchida, J.; Nagao, T. M.; Shi, C.; Inoue, T.

2017-12-01

It is important to estimate the earth's radiation budget accurately for understanding of climate. Clouds can cool the Earth by reflecting solar radiation but also maintain warmth by absorbing and emitting terrestrial radiation. similarly aerosols also have an effect on radiation budget by absorption and scattering of Solar radiation. In this study, we developed the high speed and accurate algorithm for shortwave (SW) radiation budget and it's applied to geostationary satellite for rapid analysis. It enabled highly accurate monitoring of solar radiation and photo voltaic (PV) power generation. Next step, we try to update the algorithm for retrieval of Aerosols and Clouds. It indicates the accurate atmospheric parameters for estimation of solar radiation. (This research was supported in part by CREST/EMS).

Updated Mars Mission Architectures Featuring Nuclear Thermal Propulsion

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rodriguez, Mitchell A.; Percy, Thomas K.

2017-01-01

Nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) can potentially enable routine human exploration of Mars and the solar system. By using nuclear fission instead of a chemical combustion process, and using hydrogen as the propellant, NTP systems promise rocket efficiencies roughly twice that of the best chemical rocket engines currently available. The most recent major Mars architecture study featuring NTP was the Design Reference Architecture 5.0 (DRA 5.0), performed in 2009. Currently, the predominant transportation options being considered are solar electric propulsion (SEP) and chemical propulsion; however, given NTP's capabilities, an updated architectural analysis is needed. This paper provides a top-level overview of several different architectures featuring updated NTP performance data. New architectures presented include a proposed update to the DRA 5.0 as well as an investigation of architectures based on the current Evolvable Mars Campaign, which is the focus of NASA's current analyses for the Journey to Mars. Architectures investigated leverage the latest information relating to NTP performance and design considerations and address new support elements not available at the time of DRA 5.0, most notably the Orion crew module and the Space Launch System (SLS). The paper provides a top level quantitative comparison of key performance metrics as well as a qualitative discussion of improvements and key challenges still to be addressed. Preliminary results indicate that the updated NTP architectures can significantly reduce the campaign mass and subsequently the costs for assembly and number of launches.

2017 - The Year @NASA - [Updated 12-12-2017

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-12-12

2017: A year of groundbreaking discoveries and record-setting exploration at NASA. The Moon became a focal point for the agency, we brought you unique coverage of the first coast-to-coast total solar eclipse in the U.S. in 99 years, we announced the most Earth-size planets ever found in the habitable zone of a star outside our solar system, and more!

Evidence for Widespread 26Al in the Solar Nebula and Constraints for Nebula Time Scales

PubMed

Russell; Srinivasan; Huss; Wasserburg; MacPherson

1996-08-09

A search was made for 26Mg (26Mg*) from the decay of 26Al (half-life = 0.73 million years) in Al-rich objects from unequilibrated ordinary chondrites. Two Ca-Al-rich inclusions (CAIs) and two Al-rich chondrules (not CAIs) were found that contained 26Al when they formed. Internal isochrons for the CAIs yielded an initial 26Al/27Al ratio [(26Al/27Al)0] of 5 x 10(-5), indistinguishable from most CAIs in carbonaceous chondrites. This result shows that CAIs with this level of 26Al are present throughout the classes of chondrites and strengthens the notion that 26Al was widespread in the early solar system. The two Al-rich chondrules have lower 26Mg*, corresponding to a (26Al/27Al)0 ratio of approximately 9 x 10(-6). Five other Al-rich chondrules contain no resolvable 26Mg*. If chondrules and CAIs formed from an isotopically homogeneous reservoir, then the chondrules with 26Al must have formed or been last altered approximately2 million years after CAIs formed; the 26Mg*-free chondrules formed >1 to 3 million years later still. Because 26Mg*-containing and 26Mg*-free chondrules are both found in Chainpur, which was not heated to more than approximately400°C, it follows that parent body metamorphism cannot explain the absence of 26Mg* in some of these chondrules. Rather, its absence indicates that the lifetime of the solar nebula over which CAIs and chondrules formed extended over approximately5 million years.

Validating a magnetic reconnection model for the magnetopause

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schultz, Colin

2012-01-01

Originating in the Sun's million-degree corona, the solar wind flows at supersonic speeds into interplanetary space, carrying with it the solar magnetic field. As the solar wind reaches Earth's orbit, its interaction with the geomagnetic field forms the magnetosphere, a bubble-like structure within the solar wind flow that shields Earth from direct exposure to the solar wind as well as to the highly energetic charged particles produced during solar storms. Under certain orientations, the magnetic field entrained in the solar wind, known as the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF), merges with the geomagnetic field, transferring mass, momentum, and energy to the magnetosphere. The merging of these two distinct magnetic fields occurs through magnetic reconnection, a fundamental plasma-physical process that converts magnetic energy into kinetic energy and heat.

Solar energy system performance evaluation. Seasonal report for SEECO Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1980-01-01

The Solar Engineering and Equipment Company (SEECO) Lincoln solar energy system, designed for space heating only, is described and its operational performance for a 12 month period from April 1979 through March 1980 is evaluated. The system met 27 percent of the space heating load; however, system losses into the heated space from the storage bin and ductwork were significant. Reducing these losses would add appreciably to the system's efficiency. Net fossil energy savings were 11.31 million BTUs.

Solar Energy Development on DoD Installations in the Mojave & Colorado Deserts

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-11-30

roof mount • Acreage: – ~6.2 million acres on 9 installations – 250,000 acres with some level of suitability for solar – 120,000 acres are estimated...technologies: thin - film and crystalline PV x fixed and single-axis tracking; trough; dish/Stirling engine. • 2 ownership structures (MILCON and 3rd party...1icfi.com | Solar Energy Development on DoD Installations in the Mojave & Colorado Deserts Bob Kwartin ICF International November 30, 2011 Report

Heating mechanisms of the solar corona

PubMed Central

SAKURAI, Takashi

2017-01-01

The solar corona is a tenuous outer atmosphere of the Sun. Its million-degree temperature was discovered spectroscopically in the 1940s, but its origin has been debated since then without complete convergence. Currently there are two classes of models; the wave theory and the microflare/nanoflare theory. Both models have merits and disadvantages, but the essential issues are nearly pinned down. Recent revival of the wave theory is one of the many contributions from Japanese solar observing satellite Hinode launched in 2006. PMID:28190871

Simulation of DKIST solar adaptive optics system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marino, Jose; Carlisle, Elizabeth; Schmidt, Dirk

2016-07-01

Solar adaptive optics (AO) simulations are a valuable tool to guide the design and optimization process of current and future solar AO and multi-conjugate AO (MCAO) systems. Solar AO and MCAO systems rely on extended object cross-correlating Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensors to measure the wavefront. Accurate solar AO simulations require computationally intensive operations, which have until recently presented a prohibitive computational cost. We present an update on the status of a solar AO and MCAO simulation tool being developed at the National Solar Observatory. The simulation tool is a multi-threaded application written in the C++ language that takes advantage of current large multi-core CPU computer systems and fast ethernet connections to provide accurate full simulation of solar AO and MCAO systems. It interfaces with KAOS, a state of the art solar AO control software developed by the Kiepenheuer-Institut fuer Sonnenphysik, that provides reliable AO control. We report on the latest results produced by the solar AO simulation tool.

Comparative environmental and economic analysis of conventional and nanofluid solar hot water technologies.

PubMed

Otanicar, Todd P; Golden, Jay S

2009-08-01

This study compares environmental and economic impacts of using nanofluids to enhance solar collector efficiency as compared to conventional solar collectors for domestic hotwater systems. Results show that for the current cost of nanoparticles the nanofluid based solar collector has a slightly longer payback period but at the end of its useful life has the same economic savings as a conventional solar collector. The nanofluid based collector has a lower embodied energy (approximately 9%) and approximately 3% higher levels of pollution offsets than a conventional collector. In addition if 50% penetration of residential nanofluid based solar collector systems for hot water heating could be achieved in Phoenix, Arizona over 1 million metric tons of CO2 would be offset per year.

Effecting IT infrastructure culture change: management by processes and metrics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Miller, R. L.

2001-01-01

This talk describes the processes and metrics used by Jet Propulsion Laboratory to bring about the required IT infrastructure culture change to update and certify, as Y2K compliant, thousands of computers and millions of lines of code.

SETI among galaxies by virtue of black holes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maccone, Claudio

2012-09-01

In two recent papers (Refs. Maccone (2011, 2009) [1,2]) this author proved that the radio communications among any pair of stars within our Galaxy are feasible with modest transmitted powers if the gravitational lenses of both stars are exploited. In the present paper we extend those innovative results to the case of radio communications among nearby galaxies. We show that the radio communications among galaxies may become feasible if the supermassive black holes, usually located at the center of galaxies, are exploited as gravitational lenses. In other words, a massive black hole may be regarded as a huge focusing device for radio waves being transmitted out of that galaxy and/or being received from another galaxy. This happens because a black hole is such a highly massive and compact object that all electromagnetic waves flying by its surface are highly deflected by its gravitational field and made to focus at a comparatively short distance from the black hole itself.Next we consider the possibility of building radio bridges between our own Galaxy (the Milky Way) and other nearby galaxies. This possibility is serious because, since 1974, astronomers have come to known that a supermassive black hole called Sagittarius A* does exist at the center of our Galaxy. In 2002 its mass was estimated to be of the order of 2.6 million solar masses, and in 2008 this estimate was increased to 4.31 million solar masses. Furthermore, in 2004 a team of astronomers reported the discovery of a potential intermediate-class black hole called GCIRS 13E orbiting around SgrA* at about three light-years and having an estimated mass of 1,300 solar masses. These two big black holes could be our Galaxy's “antennae” for communications with alien civilizations harboring in other nearby galaxies.We mathematically show that the following radio bridges may be created between SgrA* and the supermassive black hole located at the center of the nearby galaxies:The SgrA*-Andromeda's (M31) P2 Black Hole radio bridge, having the distance of 2.5 million light years. The P2 Andromeda black hole is estimated to have a mass of about 40 million solar masses.The SgrA*-M32 (a dwarf elliptical galaxy satellite of Andromeda-M31) radio bridge, with a 2.65 million light year distance. The M32 black hole is estimated to have a mass of about 3 million solar masses.The SgrA*-M106 (also called NGC 4258, a spiral galaxy with anomalous arms) radio bridge, at about 24 million light years. The M106 black hole is estimated to have a mass of about 40 million solar masses.The SgrA*-Sombrero Galaxy (also called M104 or NGC 4594, an unbarred spiral galaxy) at a distance of 29.3 million light years. Its black hole is estimated to have a mass of 1 billion solar masses.The SgrA*-M87 radio bridge. M87 is the supergiant elliptical galaxy located at the center of the super-cluster of galaxies to which we belong, i.e. the Local Super Cluster, at the edge of which we are located. The distance between M87 and us is 53.5 million light years in the direction of the constellation of Virgo, which is why M87 and its surrounding clusters of galaxies are sometimes referred to as the Virgo Super Cluster. At the center of M87 is a supermassive black hole estimated to have a mass of 6.4 billion solar masses. M87 is also well known as “the jet galaxy” since a jet of energetic plasma originates at the core and extends out at least 5000 light-years.The conclusion that we draw from the mathematics describing these radio bridges across huge inter-galactic distances is surprising: they all perform better that the simple Sun-Alpha Cen A radio bridge, first studied in detail by this author in Ref. [1]. In other words, the powers necessary to keep the radio link between SgrA* and all of the above big black holes located in other nearby galaxies are smaller than the powers requested to keep the radio bridge between the Sun and Alpha Cen A. In other words still, despite inter-galactic distances are huge with respect to ordinary interstellar distances within the Milky Way, the black hole masses in the game are so much huger than the stellar masses than the intergalactic bridges perform better than the interstellar bridges. This unexpected and new result might have profound consequences on SETI done currently by Humans on Earth. In fact, more advanced civilizations might already have built such intergalactic radio-bridges. Thus our SETI searches should be tuned-up to match with this new situation, and the conclusion is that the possibility of SETI signals reaching us from other galaxies should not be ruled out.

X-rays from Eta Carinae

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chlebowski, T.; Seward, F. D.; Swank, J.; Szymkowiak, A.

1984-01-01

X-ray observations of Eta Car obtained with the high-resolution imager and solid-state spectrometer of the Einstein observatory are reported and interpreted in terms of a two-shell model. A soft component with temperature 5 million K is located in the expanding outer shell, and the hard core component with temperature 80 million K is attributed to the interaction of a high-velocity stellar wind from the massive central object with the inner edge of a dust shell. Model calculations based on comparison with optical and IR data permit estimation of the mass of the outer shell (0.004 solar mass), the mass of the dust shell (3 solar mass), and the total shell expansion energy (less than 2 x 10 to the 49th ergs).

Multi-thermal observations of flares and eruptions with the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly on the Solar Dynamics Observatory. (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schrijver, C. J.; Aia Science Team

2010-12-01

The revolutionary advance in observational capabilities offered by SDO's AIA offers new views of solar flares and eruptions. The high cadence and spatial resolution, the full-Sun coverage, and the variety of thermal responses of the AIA channels from thousands to millions of degrees enable the study the source regions of solar explosions, as well as the responses of the solar corona from their immediate vicinity to regions over a solar radius away. These observations emphasize the importance of magnetic connectivity and topology, the frequent occurrence of fast wave-like perturbations, and the contrasts between impulsive compact X-ray-bright flares and long-duration EUV-bright phenomena.

Evidence for the late formation of hydrous asteroids from young meteoritic carbonates.

PubMed

Fujiya, Wataru; Sugiura, Naoji; Hotta, Hideyuki; Ichimura, Koji; Sano, Yuji

2012-01-17

The accretion of small bodies in the Solar System is a fundamental process that was followed by planet formation. Chronological information of meteorites can constrain when asteroids formed. Secondary carbonates show extremely old (53)Mn-(53)Cr radiometric ages, indicating that some hydrous asteroids accreted rapidly. However, previous studies have failed to define accurate Mn/Cr ratios; hence, these old ages could be artefacts. Here we develop a new method for accurate Mn/Cr determination, and report a reliable age of 4,563.4+0.4/-0.5 million years ago for carbonates in carbonaceous chondrites. We find that these carbonates have identical ages, which are younger than those previously estimated. This result suggests the late onset of aqueous activities in the Solar System. The young carbonate age cannot be explained if the parent asteroid accreted within 3 million years after the birth of the Solar System. Thus, we conclude that hydrous asteroids accreted later than differentiated and metamorphosed asteroids.

Solar Storm's Radiation at Martian Orbit and Surface

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-09-29

Energetic particles from a large solar storm in September 2017 were seen both in Mars orbit and on the surface of Mars by NASA missions to the Red Planet. The horizontal axis for both parts of this graphic is the time from Sept. 10 to Sept. 15, 2017. The upper portion of this graphic shows the increase in protons in two ranges of energy levels (15- to-100 million electron volts and 80-to-220 million electron volts), as recorded by the Solar Energetic Particle instrument on NASA's on NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution orbiter, or MAVEN. The lower portion shows the radiation dose on the Martian surface, in micrograys per day, as measured by the Radiation Assessment Monitor instrument on NASA' Curiosity Mars rover. Micrograys are unit of measurement for absorbed radiation dose. Note that only protons in the higher bracket of energy levels penetrate the atmosphere enough to be detected on the surface. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21856

Space transfer concepts and analysis for exploration missions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1990-01-01

The progress and results are summarized for mission/system requirements database; mission analysis; GN and C (Guidance, Navigation, and Control), aeroheating, Mars landing; radiation protection; aerobrake mass analysis; Shuttle-Z, TMIS (Trans-Mars Injection Stage); Long Duration Habitat Trade Study; evolutionary lunar and Mars options; NTR (Nuclear Thermal Rocket); NEP (Nuclear Electric Propulsion) update; SEP (Solar Electric Propulsion) update; orbital and space-based requirements; technology; piloted rover; programmatic task; and evolutionary and innovative architecture.

Solar Data | Geospatial Data Science | NREL

Science.gov Websites

System Name: WGS_1984 Coverage File Last Updated Metadata KMZ File Lower 48 and Hawaii DNI 10-km Resolution 1998-2009 Zip 9.6 MB 09/12/2012 Direct Normal.xml Direct Normal.kmz Lower 48 and Hawaii GHI 10-km : GCS_North_American_1983 Coverage File Last Updated Metadata KMZ File Lower 48 DNI 10-km Resolution 1998-2005 Zip 9.1 MB 12

Updated estimates of long-term average dissolved-solids loading in streams and rivers of the Upper Colorado River Basin

USGS Publications Warehouse

Tillman, Fred D.; Anning, David W.

2014-01-01

The Colorado River and its tributaries supply water to more than 35 million people in the United States and 3 million people in Mexico, irrigating over 4.5 million acres of farmland, and annually generating about 12 billion kilowatt hours of hydroelectric power. The Upper Colorado River Basin, part of the Colorado River Basin, encompasses more than 110,000 mi2 and is the source of much of more than 9 million tons of dissolved solids that annually flows past the Hoover Dam. High dissolved-solids concentrations in the river are the cause of substantial economic damages to users, primarily in reduced agricultural crop yields and corrosion, with damages estimated to be greater than 300 million dollars annually. In 1974, the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Act created the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Program to investigate and implement a broad range of salinity control measures. A 2009 study by the U.S. Geological Survey, supported by the Salinity Control Program, used the Spatially Referenced Regressions on Watershed Attributes surface-water quality model to examine dissolved-solids supply and transport within the Upper Colorado River Basin. Dissolved-solids loads developed for 218 monitoring sites were used to calibrate the 2009 Upper Colorado River Basin Spatially Referenced Regressions on Watershed Attributes dissolved-solids model. This study updates and develops new dissolved-solids loading estimates for 323 Upper Colorado River Basin monitoring sites using streamflow and dissolved-solids concentration data through 2012, to support a planned Spatially Referenced Regressions on Watershed Attributes modeling effort that will investigate the contributions to dissolved-solids loads from irrigation and rangeland practices.

JPRS Report, Science & Technology, China: Energy.

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-02-10

bedrock growth anticlines, buried hill fault blocks, rolling anticlines, compression anticlines, draped anticlines, volcanic diapers and others. The...development and utilization of solar , wind, geothermal and other energy resources, the energy conservation capacity and newly-added energy resources were...equivalent to 20 million tons of standard coal. The firewood-saving capacity in wood and coal-saving stoves, biogas pits and solar cookers alone was

The DKIST Data Center: Meeting the Data Challenges for Next-Generation, Ground-Based Solar Physics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Davey, A. R.; Reardon, K.; Berukoff, S. J.; Hays, T.; Spiess, D.; Watson, F. T.; Wiant, S.

2016-12-01

The Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST) is under construction on the summit of Haleakalā in Maui, and scheduled to start science operations in 2020. The DKIST design includes a four-meter primary mirror coupled to an adaptive optics system, and a flexible instrumentation suite capable of delivering high-resolution optical and infrared observations of the solar chromosphere, photosphere, and corona. Through investigator-driven science proposals, the facility will generate an average of 8 TB of data daily, comprised of millions of images and hundreds of millions of metadata elements. The DKIST Data Center is responsible for the long-term curation and calibration of data received from the DKIST, and for distributing it to the user community for scientific use. Two key elements necessary to meet the inherent big data challenge are the development of flexible public/private cloud computing and coupled relational and non-relational data storage mechanisms. We discuss how this infrastructure is being designed to meet the significant expectation of automatic and manual calibration of ground-based solar physics data, and the maximization the data's utility through efficient, long-term data management practices implemented with prudent process definition and technology exploitation.

The Hazards of Our Star

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Klimchuk, James A.

2011-01-01

The Sun's magnetic field permeates its atmosphere - ranging from the solar photosphere (the visible "surface") to the corona above. Think of this field as a collection of invisible rubber bands that are slowly stretched and twisted until they eventually reach a breaking point, When the field breaks, it releases a small amount of energy, known as a nanoflare. Millions of nanoflares occur every second, and the combined effect heats the solar corona to more than 1 million kelvins, hundreds of times hotter than the photosphere. The super-heated gas emits X-ray and ultraviolet radiation; Earth's upper atmosphere absorbs it, which changes our atmosphere's properties. This can disrupt communication, navigation, and surveillance systems, and also alter the orbits of satellites. On much larger scales, huge sections of the corona explosively erupt in coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and solar flares. CMEs directed toward Earth cause geomagnetic storms, which can wreck havoc on electrical power grids and produce widespread blackouts. Highly energetic particles can damage or even disable critical spacecraft components. Intense radiation from flares has the same effects as nanoflares, but to a greater degree. The need to understand how solar phenomena impact Earth has led to an important science field called space weather.

A nonmagnetic differentiated early planetary body

DOE PAGES

Weiss, Benjamin P.; Wang, Huapei; Sharp, Thomas G.; ...

2017-06-19

Paleomagnetic studies of meteorites have shown that the solar nebula was likely magnetized and that many early planetary bodies generated dynamo magnetic fields in their advecting metallic cores. The surface fields on these bodies were recorded by a diversity of chondrites and achondrites, ranging in intensity from several μT to several hundred μT. In fact, an achondrite parent body without evidence for paleomagnetic fields has yet to be confidently identified, hinting that early solar system field generation and the dynamo process in particular may have been common. Here we present paleomagnetic measurements of the ungrouped achondrite NWA 7325 indicating thatmore » it last cooled in a near-zero field (<~1.7μT), estimated to have occurred at 4563.09 ± 0.26 million years ago (Ma) from Al–Mg chronometry. Because NWA 7325 is highly depleted in siderophile elements, its parent body nevertheless underwent large-scale metal-silicate differentiation and likely formed a metallic core. This makes NWA 7325 the first recognized example of an essentially unmagnetized igneous rock from a differentiated early solar system body. These results indicate that all magnetic fields, including those from any core dynamo on the NWA 7325 parent body, the solar nebula, young Sun, and solar wind, were <1.7 μT at the location of NWA 7325 at 4563 Ma. Finally, this supports a recent conclusion that the solar nebula had dissipated by ~4 million years after solar system formation. NWA 7325 also serves as an experimental control that gives greater confidence in the positive identification of remanent magnetization in other achondrites.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Weiss, Benjamin P.; Wang, Huapei; Sharp, Thomas G.

Paleomagnetic studies of meteorites have shown that the solar nebula was likely magnetized and that many early planetary bodies generated dynamo magnetic fields in their advecting metallic cores. The surface fields on these bodies were recorded by a diversity of chondrites and achondrites, ranging in intensity from several μT to several hundred μT. In fact, an achondrite parent body without evidence for paleomagnetic fields has yet to be confidently identified, hinting that early solar system field generation and the dynamo process in particular may have been common. Here we present paleomagnetic measurements of the ungrouped achondrite NWA 7325 indicating thatmore » it last cooled in a near-zero field (<~1.7μT), estimated to have occurred at 4563.09 ± 0.26 million years ago (Ma) from Al–Mg chronometry. Because NWA 7325 is highly depleted in siderophile elements, its parent body nevertheless underwent large-scale metal-silicate differentiation and likely formed a metallic core. This makes NWA 7325 the first recognized example of an essentially unmagnetized igneous rock from a differentiated early solar system body. These results indicate that all magnetic fields, including those from any core dynamo on the NWA 7325 parent body, the solar nebula, young Sun, and solar wind, were <1.7 μT at the location of NWA 7325 at 4563 Ma. Finally, this supports a recent conclusion that the solar nebula had dissipated by ~4 million years after solar system formation. NWA 7325 also serves as an experimental control that gives greater confidence in the positive identification of remanent magnetization in other achondrites.« less

A nonmagnetic differentiated early planetary body

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weiss, Benjamin P.; Wang, Huapei; Sharp, Thomas G.; Gattacceca, Jérôme; Shuster, David L.; Downey, Brynna; Hu, Jinping; Fu, Roger R.; Kuan, Aaron T.; Suavet, Clément; Irving, Anthony J.; Wang, Jun; Wang, Jiajun

2017-06-01

Paleomagnetic studies of meteorites have shown that the solar nebula was likely magnetized and that many early planetary bodies generated dynamo magnetic fields in their advecting metallic cores. The surface fields on these bodies were recorded by a diversity of chondrites and achondrites, ranging in intensity from several μT to several hundred μT. In fact, an achondrite parent body without evidence for paleomagnetic fields has yet to be confidently identified, hinting that early solar system field generation and the dynamo process in particular may have been common. Here we present paleomagnetic measurements of the ungrouped achondrite NWA 7325 indicating that it last cooled in a near-zero field (<∼1.7 μT), estimated to have occurred at 4563.09 ± 0.26 million years ago (Ma) from Al-Mg chronometry. Because NWA 7325 is highly depleted in siderophile elements, its parent body nevertheless underwent large-scale metal-silicate differentiation and likely formed a metallic core. This makes NWA 7325 the first recognized example of an essentially unmagnetized igneous rock from a differentiated early solar system body. These results indicate that all magnetic fields, including those from any core dynamo on the NWA 7325 parent body, the solar nebula, young Sun, and solar wind, were <1.7 μT at the location of NWA 7325 at 4563 Ma. This supports a recent conclusion that the solar nebula had dissipated by ∼4 million years after solar system formation. NWA 7325 also serves as an experimental control that gives greater confidence in the positive identification of remanent magnetization in other achondrites.

The MSFC Solar Activity Future Estimation (MSAFE) Model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Suggs, Ron

2017-01-01

The MSAFE model provides forecasts for the solar indices SSN, F10.7, and Ap. These solar indices are used as inputs to space environment models used in orbital spacecraft operations and space mission analysis. Forecasts from the MSAFE model are provided on the MSFC Natural Environments Branch's solar web page and are updated as new monthly observations become available. The MSAFE prediction routine employs a statistical technique that calculates deviations of past solar cycles from the mean cycle and performs a regression analysis to calculate the deviation from the mean cycle of the solar index at the next future time interval. The forecasts are initiated for a given cycle after about 8 to 9 monthly observations from the start of the cycle are collected. A forecast made at the beginning of cycle 24 using the MSAFE program captured the cycle fairly well with some difficulty in discerning the double peak that occurred at solar cycle maximum.

Boeing's High Voltage Solar Tile Test Results

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reed, Brian J.; Harden, David E.; Ferguson, Dale C.; Snyder, David B.

2002-10-01

Real concerns of spacecraft charging and experience with solar array augmented electrostatic discharge arcs on spacecraft have minimized the use of high voltages on large solar arrays despite numerous vehicle system mass and efficiency advantages. Boeing's solar tile (patent pending) allows high voltage to be generated at the array without the mass and efficiency losses of electronic conversion. Direct drive electric propulsion and higher power payloads (lower spacecraft weight) will benefit from this design. As future power demand grows, spacecraft designers must use higher voltage to minimize transmission loss and power cable mass for very large area arrays. This paper will describe the design and discuss the successful test of Boeing's 500-Volt Solar Tile in NASA Glenn's Tenney chamber in the Space Plasma Interaction Facility. The work was sponsored by NASA's Space Solar Power Exploratory Research and Technology (SERT) Program and will result in updated high voltage solar array design guidelines being published.

Boeing's High Voltage Solar Tile Test Results

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reed, Brian J.; Harden, David E.; Ferguson, Dale C.; Snyder, David B.

2002-01-01

Real concerns of spacecraft charging and experience with solar array augmented electrostatic discharge arcs on spacecraft have minimized the use of high voltages on large solar arrays despite numerous vehicle system mass and efficiency advantages. Boeing's solar tile (patent pending) allows high voltage to be generated at the array without the mass and efficiency losses of electronic conversion. Direct drive electric propulsion and higher power payloads (lower spacecraft weight) will benefit from this design. As future power demand grows, spacecraft designers must use higher voltage to minimize transmission loss and power cable mass for very large area arrays. This paper will describe the design and discuss the successful test of Boeing's 500-Volt Solar Tile in NASA Glenn's Tenney chamber in the Space Plasma Interaction Facility. The work was sponsored by NASA's Space Solar Power Exploratory Research and Technology (SERT) Program and will result in updated high voltage solar array design guidelines being published.

How to Find the Right Therapist

MedlinePlus

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The gamma-ray spectrometer experiment on the solar maximum mission satellite

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chupp, E. L.

1988-01-01

The major activities (through 15 November l987) of the Solar Maximum Mission Gamma-Ray Spectrometer (SMM GRS) team members at the University of New Hampshire and the Naval Research Laboratory and the work of the Guest Investigators since the last Semi-Annual Report are summarized. In addition, an updated list of published papers and invited papers or papers presented at scientific meetings is provided.

Update on obstructive sleep apnea and its relation to COPD

PubMed Central

Mieczkowski, Brian; Ezzie, Michael E

2014-01-01

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a common and preventable lung disease that affects millions of people in the United States. Sleep disorders including obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) are also common. It is not surprising that many people with COPD also suffer from OSA. This relationship, however, puts people at risk for more nocturnal desaturations and potential complications related to this, including pulmonary hypertension and heart rhythm disturbances. This update focuses on the physiology of sleep disturbances in COPD as well as the clinical implications of OSA in COPD. PMID:24748786

Analysis of improved government geological map information for mineral exploration: Incorporating efficiency, productivity, effectiveness, and risk considerations

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bernknopf, R.L.; Wein, A.M.; St-Onge, M. R.; Lucas, S.B.

2007-01-01

This bulletin/professional paper focuses on the value of geoscientific information and knowledge, as provided in published government bedrock geological maps, to the mineral exploration sector. An economic model is developed that uses an attribute- ranking approach to convert geological maps into domains of mineral favourability. Information about known deposits in these (or analogous) favourability domains allow the calculation of exploration search statistics that provide input into measures of exploration efficiency, productivity, effectiveness, risk, and cost stemming from the use of the published geological maps. Two case studies, the Flin Flon Belt (Manitoba and Saskatchewan) and the south Baffin Island area (Nunavut), demonstrate that updated, finer resolution maps can be used to identify more exploration campaign options, and campaigns thats are more efficient, more effective, and less risky than old, coarser resolution maps when used as a guide for mineral exploration. The Flin Flon Belt study illustrates that an updated, coarser resolution bedrock map enables improved mineral exploration efficiency, productivity, and effectiveness by locating 60% more targets and supporting an exploration campaign that is 44% more efficient. Refining the map resolution provides an additional 17% reduction in search effort across all favourable domains and a 55% reduction in search effort in the most favourable domain. The south Baffin Island case study projects a 40% increase in expected targets and a 27% reduction in search effort when the updated, finer resolution map is used in lieu of the old, coarser resolution map. On southern Baffin Island, the economic value of the up dated map ranges from CAN$2.28 million to CAN$15.21 million, which can be compared to the CAN$1.86 million that it cost to produce the map (a multiplier effect of up to eight).

Planetary Surface Visualization and Analytics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Law, E. S.; Solar System Treks Team

2018-04-01

An introduction and update of the Solar System Treks Project which provides a suite of interactive visualization and analysis tools to enable users (engineers, scientists, public) to access large amounts of mapped planetary data products.

An update on the correlation between the cosmic radiation intensity and the geomagnetic AA index

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shea, M. A.; Smart, D. F.

1985-01-01

A statistical study between the cosmic ray intensity, as observed by a neutron monitor, and of the geomagnetic aa index, as representative of perturbations in the plasma and interplanetary magnetic field in the heliosphere, has been updated to specifically exclude time periods around the reversal of the solar magnetic field. The results of this study show a strong negative correlation for the period 1960 through 1968 with a correlation coefficient of approximately -0.86. However, there is essentially no correlation between the cosmic ray intensity and the aa index for the period 1972-1979 (i.e. correlation coefficient less than 0.16). These results would appear to support the theory of preferential particle propagation into the heliosphere vis the ecliptic during the period 1960-1968 and via the solar polar regions during 1972-1979.

Modelling Solar Energetic Particle Events Using the iPATH Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, G.; Hu, J.; Ao, X.; Zank, G. P.; Verkhoglyadova, O. P.

2016-12-01

Solar Energetic Particles (SEPs) is the No. 1 space weather hazard. Understanding how particles are energized and propagated in these events is of practical concerns to the manned space missions. In particular, both the radial evolution and the longitudinal extent of a gradual solarenergetic particle (SEP) event are central topics for space weather forecasting. In this talk, I discuss the improved Particle Acceleration and Transport in the Heliosphere (iPATH) model. The iPATH model consists of three parts: (1) an updated ZEUS3D V3.5 MHD module that models thebackground solar wind and the initiation of a CME in a 2D domain; (2) an updated shock acceleration module where we investigate particle acceleration at different longitudinal locations along the surface of a CME-driven shock. Accelerated particle spectrum are obtained at the shock under the diffusive shock acceleration mechanism. Shock parameters and particle distributions are recorded and used as inputs for the later part. (3) an updated transport module where we follow the transport of accelerated particles from the shock to any destinations (Earth and/or Mars, e.g.) using a Monte-Carlo method. Both pitch angle scattering due to MHD turbulence and perpendicular diffusion across magnetic field are included. Our iPATH model is therefore intrinsically 2D in nature. The model is capable of generating time intensity profiles and instantaneous particle spectra atvarious locations and can greatly improve our current space weather forecasting capability.

Research Update: Comparison of salt- and molecular-based iodine treatments of PbS nanocrystal solids for solar cells

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jähnig, Fabian; Bozyigit, Deniz; Yarema, Olesya

2015-02-01

Molecular- and salt-based chemical treatments are believed to passivate electronic trap states in nanocrystal-based semiconductors, which are considered promising for solar cells but suffer from high carrier recombination. Here, we compare the chemical, optical, and electronic properties of PbS nanocrystal-based solids treated with molecular iodine and tetrabutylammonium iodide. Surprisingly, both treatments increase—rather than decrease—the number density of trap states; however, the increase does not directly influence solar cell performance. We explain the origins of the observed impact on solar cell performance and the potential in using different chemical treatments to tune charge carrier dynamics in nanocrystal-solids.

Evidence for Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein effects in solar neutrino flavor transitions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fogli, G. L.; Lisi, E.; Marrone, A.; Palazzo, A.

2004-03-01

We point out that the recent data from the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory, together with other relevant measurements from solar and reactor neutrino experiments, convincingly show that the flavor transitions of solar neutrinos are affected by Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein (MSW) effects. More precisely, one can safely reject the null hypothesis of no MSW interaction energy in matter, despite the fact that the interaction amplitude (formally treated as a free parameter) is still weakly constrained by the current phenomenology. Such a constraint can be improved, however, by future data from the KamLAND experiment. In the standard MSW case, we also perform an updated analysis of two-family active oscillations of solar and reactor neutrinos.

Hydrogen production from solar energy

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Eisenstadt, M. M.; Cox, K. E.

1975-01-01

Three alternatives for hydrogen production from solar energy have been analyzed on both efficiency and economic grounds. The analysis shows that the alternative using solar energy followed by thermochemical decomposition of water to produce hydrogen is the optimum one. The other schemes considered were the direct conversion of solar energy to electricity by silicon cells and water electrolysis, and the use of solar energy to power a vapor cycle followed by electrical generation and electrolysis. The capital cost of hydrogen via the thermochemical alternative was estimated at $575/kW of hydrogen output or $3.15/million Btu. Although this cost appears high when compared with hydrogen from other primary energy sources or from fossil fuel, environmental and social costs which favor solar energy may prove this scheme feasible in the future.

microPIR2: a comprehensive database for human–mouse comparative study of microRNA–promoter interactions

PubMed Central

Piriyapongsa, Jittima; Bootchai, Chaiwat; Ngamphiw, Chumpol; Tongsima, Sissades

2014-01-01

microRNA (miRNA)–promoter interaction resource (microPIR) is a public database containing over 15 million predicted miRNA target sites located within human promoter sequences. These predicted targets are presented along with their related genomic and experimental data, making the microPIR database the most comprehensive repository of miRNA promoter target sites. Here, we describe major updates of the microPIR database including new target predictions in the mouse genome and revised human target predictions. The updated database (microPIR2) now provides ∼80 million human and 40 million mouse predicted target sites. In addition to being a reference database, microPIR2 is a tool for comparative analysis of target sites on the promoters of human–mouse orthologous genes. In particular, this new feature was designed to identify potential miRNA–promoter interactions conserved between species that could be stronger candidates for further experimental validation. We also incorporated additional supporting information to microPIR2 such as nuclear and cytoplasmic localization of miRNAs and miRNA–disease association. Extra search features were also implemented to enable various investigations of targets of interest. Database URL: http://www4a.biotec.or.th/micropir2 PMID:25425035

RAID v2.0: an updated resource of RNA-associated interactions across organisms.

PubMed

Yi, Ying; Zhao, Yue; Li, Chunhua; Zhang, Lin; Huang, Huiying; Li, Yana; Liu, Lanlan; Hou, Ping; Cui, Tianyu; Tan, Puwen; Hu, Yongfei; Zhang, Ting; Huang, Yan; Li, Xiaobo; Yu, Jia; Wang, Dong

2017-01-04

With the development of biotechnologies and computational prediction algorithms, the number of experimental and computational prediction RNA-associated interactions has grown rapidly in recent years. However, diverse RNA-associated interactions are scattered over a wide variety of resources and organisms, whereas a fully comprehensive view of diverse RNA-associated interactions is still not available for any species. Hence, we have updated the RAID database to version 2.0 (RAID v2.0, www.rna-society.org/raid/) by integrating experimental and computational prediction interactions from manually reading literature and other database resources under one common framework. The new developments in RAID v2.0 include (i) over 850-fold RNA-associated interactions, an enhancement compared to the previous version; (ii) numerous resources integrated with experimental or computational prediction evidence for each RNA-associated interaction; (iii) a reliability assessment for each RNA-associated interaction based on an integrative confidence score; and (iv) an increase of species coverage to 60. Consequently, RAID v2.0 recruits more than 5.27 million RNA-associated interactions, including more than 4 million RNA-RNA interactions and more than 1.2 million RNA-protein interactions, referring to nearly 130 000 RNA/protein symbols across 60 species. © The Author(s) 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

RETINAL VEIN OCCLUSIONS, FROM BASICS TO THE LATEST TREATMENT.

PubMed

Ho, Mary; Liu, David T L; Lam, Dennis S C; Jonas, Jost B

2016-03-01

To review the pathophysiology, diagnosis, and updated treatments of retinal vein occlusions (RVOs). A review of the literature was performed, focusing on the epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatments (including both medical and surgical treatments) of RVO. Based on this review, a comprehensive overview was provided regarding the topic of RVO and focused on recent treatment updates. Retinal vein occlusions have an age- and sex-standardized prevalence of 5.20 per 1,000 for any RVO, 4.42 per 1,000 for branch RVO, 0.80 per 1,000 for central RVO. Worldwide, an estimated 16.4 million adults are affected by RVOs, with 2.5 million affected by central RVO and 13.9 million affected by branch RVO. Retinal vein occlusion is recognized as an important cause of blindness and the diagnostic approaches and treatment options for RVO are reviewed and reported. The current treatment options including medical treatments (bevacizumab, ranibizumab, aflibercept, triamcinolone, and dexamethasone implants) and surgical alternatives were reviewed and reported with summaries on the corresponding strength of evidence. Despite the understanding of this disease entity, challenges persist in the long-term treatment of RVO-related complications and visual loss. This review provided a detailed summary on the rationality and efficacy of recently developed treatment regimes and evaluated the potential benefit of combination therapy.

New isotopic clues to solar system formation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lee, T.

1979-01-01

The presence of two new extinct nuclides Al-26 and Pd-107 with half lives of approximately one million years in the early solar system implies that there were nucleosynthetic activities involving a great many elements almost at the instant of solar system formation. Rate gas and oxygen isotopic abundance variations ('anomalies') relative to the 'cosmic' composition were observed in a variety of planetary objects, which indicates that isotopic heterogeneities caused by the incomplete mixing of distinct nucleosynthesis components permeate the entire solar system. These new results have major implications for cosmochronology, nucleosynthesis theory, star formation, planetary heating, and the genetic relationship between different planetary bodies

Stereo Science Update

NASA Image and Video Library

2009-04-13

Michael Kaiser, project scientist, Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) at Goddard Space Flight Center, left, makes a point during a Science Update on the STEREO mission at NASA Headquarters in Washington, Tuesday, April 14, 2009, as Angelo Vourlidas, project scientist, Sun Earth Connection Coronal and Heliospheric Investigation, at the Naval Research Laboratory, Toni Galvin, principal investigator, Plasma and Superthermal Ion Composition instrument at the University of New Hampshire and Madhulika Guhathkurta, STEREO program scientist, right, look on. Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul E. Alers)

Solar System Observations with the James Webb Space Telescope

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Norwood, James; Hammel, Heidi; Milam, Stefanie; Stansberry, John; Lunine, Jonathan; Chanover, Nancy; Hines, Dean; Sonneborn, George; Tiscareno, Matthew; Brown, Michael;

Solar System Observations with JWST

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Norwood, James; Hammel, Heidi; Milam, Stefanie; Stansberry, John; Lunine, Jonathan; Chanover, Nancy; Hines, Dean; Sonneborn, George; Tiscareno, Matthew; Brown, Michael;

OMI Global Tropospheric Bromine Oxide (BrO) Column Densities: Algorithm, Retrieval and Initial Validation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suleiman, R. M.; Chance, K.; Liu, X.; Kurosu, T. P.; Gonzalez Abad, G.

2014-12-01

We present and discuss a detailed description of the retrieval algorithms for the OMI BrO product. The BrO algorithms are based on direct fitting of radiances from 319.0-347.5 nm. Radiances are modeled from the solar irradiance, attenuated and adjusted by contributions from the target gas and interfering gases, rotational Raman scattering, undersampling, additive and multiplicative closure polynomials and a common mode spectrum. The version of the algorithm used for both BrO includes relevant changes with respect to the operational code, including the fit of the O2-O2 collisional complex, updates in the high resolution solar reference spectrum, updates in spectroscopy, an updated Air Mass Factor (AMF) calculation scheme, and the inclusion of scattering weights and vertical profiles in the level 2 products. Updates to the algorithms include accurate scattering weights and air mass factor calculations, scattering weights and profiles in outputs and available cross sections. We include retrieval parameter and window optimization to reduce the interference from O3, HCHO, O2-O2, SO2, improve fitting accuracy and uncertainty, reduce striping, and improve the long-term stability. We validate OMI BrO with ground-based measurements from Harestua and with chemical transport model simulations. We analyze the global distribution and seasonal variation of BrO and investigate BrO emissions from volcanoes and salt lakes.

Reduced Lignin Alfalfa - Update

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

U.S. farmers harvested alfalfa (Medicago sativa) for hay or haylage from 24.5million acres in 2009. Midwestern states harvested 57 % of 2009 acreage for hay and haylage. However, acreage is stable to declining. Alfalfa provides an excellent source of fiber, protein, minerals and vitamins that partia...

The Development of a New Model of Solar EUV Irradiance Variability

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Warren, Harry; Wagner, William J. (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

The goal of this research project is the development of a new model of solar EUV (Extreme Ultraviolet) irradiance variability. The model is based on combining differential emission measure distributions derived from spatially and spectrally resolved observations of active regions, coronal holes, and the quiet Sun with full-disk solar images. An initial version of this model was developed with earlier funding from NASA. The new version of the model developed with this research grant will incorporate observations from SoHO as well as updated compilations of atomic data. These improvements will make the model calculations much more accurate.

Here Comes the Sun! Residential Solar Systems Add up to Savings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roman, Harry T.

2007-01-01

Every day, the sun showers the planet with millions of times more energy that its people use. The only problem is that the energy is spread out over the entire earth's surface and thus must be harvested. Engineers are learning to capture and use some of this energy to make electricity for homes. A well-designed solar system can last for 20 years…

Volatiles in the Earth and Moon: Constraints on planetary formation and evolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Parai, Rita

The volatile inventories of the Earth and Moon reflect unique histories of volatile acquisition and loss in the early Solar System. The terrestrial volatile inventory was established after the giant impact phase of accretion, and the planet subsequently settled into a regime of long-term volatile exchange between the mantle and surface reservoirs in association with plate tectonics. Therefore, volatiles in the Earth and Moon shed light on a diverse array of processes that shaped planetary bodies in the Solar System as they evolved to their present-day states. Here we investigate new constraints on volatile depletion in the early Solar System, early outgassing of the terrestrial mantle, and the long-term evolution of the deep Earth volatile budget. We develop a Monte Carlo model of long-term water exchange between the mantle and surface reservoirs. Previous estimates of the deep Earth return flux of water are up to an order of magnitude too large, and incorporation of recycled slabs on average rehydrates the upper mantle but dehydrates the plume source. We find evidence for heterogeneous recycling of atmospheric argon and xenon into the upper mantle from noble gases in Southwest Indian Ridge basalts. Xenon isotope systematics indicate that xenon budgets of mid-ocean ridge and plume-related mantle sources are dominated by recycled atmospheric xenon, though the two sources have experienced different degrees of degassing. Differences between the mid-ocean ridge and plume sources were initiated within the first 100 million years of Earth history, and the two sources have never subsequently been homogenized. New high-precision xenon isotopic data contribute to an emerging portrait of two mantle reservoirs with distinct histories of outgassing and incorporation of recycled material in association with plate tectonics. Xenon isotopes indicate that the Moon likely formed within ˜70 million years of the start of the Solar System. To further investigate early Solar System chronology, we determined strontium isotopic compositions in a suite of planetary materials. If the Moon is derived from proto-Earth material, then rubidium-strontium systematics in the lunar anorthosite 60025 and Moore County plagioclase indicate that Moon formation occurred within ~62 million years of the start of the Solar System.

Biological and ecological science for Nevada—The Silver State

USGS Publications Warehouse

,

2017-10-04

Nevada is rich in minerals, energy, rangelands, mountains, deserts, lakes, fish, and wildlife. Many enterprises critical to Nevada's economy are based on natural resources including solar energy, livestock production, hunting, fishing, and other outdoor recreation. Nevada is a national leader in both geothermal and solar utility-scale energy production, and invested more than $1.2 million in 2016 in solar development alone. Agriculture, primarily livestock production, generates more than half a billion dollars annually, and wildlife watching, hunting, and fishing contribute more than $1 billion to Nevada's economy annually.

The MSFC Solar Activity Future Estimation (MSAFE) Model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Suggs, Ronnie J.

2017-01-01

The MSAFE model provides forecasts for the solar indices SSN, F10.7, and Ap. These solar indices are used as inputs to many space environment models used in orbital spacecraft operations and space mission analysis. Forecasts from the MSAFE model are provided on the MSFC Natural Environments Branch's solar webpage and are updated as new monthly observations come available. The MSAFE prediction routine employs a statistical technique that calculates deviations of past solar cycles from the mean cycle and performs a regression analysis to predict the deviation from the mean cycle of the solar index at the next future time interval. The prediction algorithm is applied recursively to produce monthly smoothed solar index values for the remaining of the cycle. The forecasts are initiated for a given cycle after about 8 to 12 months of observations are collected. A forecast made at the beginning of cycle 24 using the MSAFE program captured the cycle fairly well with some difficulty in discerning the double peak that occurred at solar cycle maximum.

The MSFC Solar Activity Future Estimation (MSAFE) Model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Suggs, Ron

2017-01-01

The Natural Environments Branch of the Engineering Directorate at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) provides solar cycle forecasts for NASA space flight programs and the aerospace community. These forecasts provide future statistical estimates of sunspot number, solar radio 10.7 cm flux (F10.7), and the geomagnetic planetary index, Ap, for input to various space environment models. For example, many thermosphere density computer models used in spacecraft operations, orbital lifetime analysis, and the planning of future spacecraft missions require as inputs the F10.7 and Ap. The solar forecast is updated each month by executing MSAFE using historical and the latest month's observed solar indices to provide estimates for the balance of the current solar cycle. The forecasted solar indices represent the 13-month smoothed values consisting of a best estimate value stated as a 50 percentile value along with approximate +/- 2 sigma values stated as 95 and 5 percentile statistical values. This presentation will give an overview of the MSAFE model and the forecast for the current solar cycle.

From a Million Miles Away, NASA Camera Shows Moon Crossing Face of Earth

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-08-05

This animation shows images of the far side of the moon, illuminated by the sun, as it crosses between the DISCOVR spacecraft's Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) camera and telescope, and the Earth - one million miles away. Credits: NASA/NOAA A NASA camera aboard the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) satellite captured a unique view of the moon as it moved in front of the sunlit side of Earth last month. The series of test images shows the fully illuminated “dark side” of the moon that is never visible from Earth. The images were captured by NASA’s Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC), a four megapixel CCD camera and telescope on the DSCOVR satellite orbiting 1 million miles from Earth. From its position between the sun and Earth, DSCOVR conducts its primary mission of real-time solar wind monitoring for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Read more: www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/from-a-million-miles-away-na... NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

From a Million Miles Away, NASA Camera Shows Moon Crossing Face of Earth

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-12-08

This animation still image shows the far side of the moon, illuminated by the sun, as it crosses between the DISCOVR spacecraft's Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) camera and telescope, and the Earth - one million miles away. Credits: NASA/NOAA A NASA camera aboard the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) satellite captured a unique view of the moon as it moved in front of the sunlit side of Earth last month. The series of test images shows the fully illuminated “dark side” of the moon that is never visible from Earth. The images were captured by NASA’s Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC), a four megapixel CCD camera and telescope on the DSCOVR satellite orbiting 1 million miles from Earth. From its position between the sun and Earth, DSCOVR conducts its primary mission of real-time solar wind monitoring for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Read more: www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/from-a-million-miles-away-na... NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

Constraints on the formation age of cometary material from the NASA Stardust mission.

PubMed

Matzel, J E P; Ishii, H A; Joswiak, D; Hutcheon, I D; Bradley, J P; Brownlee, D; Weber, P K; Teslich, N; Matrajt, G; McKeegan, K D; MacPherson, G J

2010-04-23

We measured the 26Al-26Mg isotope systematics of a approximately 5-micrometer refractory particle, Coki, returned from comet 81P/Wild 2 in order to relate the time scales of formation of cometary inclusions to their meteoritic counterparts. The data show no evidence of radiogenic 26Mg and define an upper limit to the abundance of 26Al at the time of particle formation: 26Al/27Al < 1 x 10(-5). The absence of 26Al indicates that Coki formed >1.7 million years after the oldest solids in the solar system, calcium- and aluminum-rich inclusions (CAIs). The data suggest that high-temperature inner solar system material formed, was subsequently transferred to the Kuiper Belt, and was incorporated into comets several million years after CAI formation.

Department of Energy's regional solar updates 1979. Volume two. Invited papers and appendices

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

None

Twenty-six invited papers for the regional meetings at Dearborn, Michigan; Orlando, Florida; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Los Angeles, California are included. Separate abstracts were prepared for each paper. (MHR)

(Updated) NCI Fiscal 2016 Bypass Budget Proposes $25 Million for Frederick National Lab | Poster

Cancer.gov

By Nancy Parrish, Staff Writer; image by Richard Frederickson, Staff Photographer The additional funding requested for Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research (FNLCR) in the Fiscal 2016 Bypass Budget was $25 million, or approximately 3.5 percent of the total additional funding request of $715 million. Officially called the Professional Judgment Budget, the Bypass Budget is a result of the National Cancer Act of 1971, which authorizes NCI to submit a budget directly to the president, to send to Congress. With a focus on NCI’s research priorities and areas of cancer research with potential for investment, the Bypass Budget specifies additional funding, over and above the current budget, that is needed to advance

Biggest Solar Flare on Record

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2002-01-01

View an animation from the Extreme ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT). At 4:51 p.m. EDT, on Monday, April 2, 2001, the sun unleashed the biggest solar flare ever recorded, as observed by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) satellite. The flare was definitely more powerful than the famous solar flare on March 6, 1989, which was related to the disruption of power grids in Canada. This recent explosion from the active region near the sun's northwest limb hurled a coronal mass ejection into space at a whopping speed of roughly 7.2 million kilometers per hour. Luckily, the flare was not aimed directly towards Earth. Solar flares, among the solar system's mightiest eruptions, are tremendous explosions in the atmosphere of the Sun capable of releasing as much energy as a billion megatons of TNT. Caused by the sudden release of magnetic energy, in just a few seconds flares can accelerate solar particles to very high velocities, almost to the speed of light, and heat solar material to tens of millions of degrees. Solar ejections are often associated with flares and sometimes occur shortly after the flare explosion. Coronal mass ejections are clouds of electrified, magnetic gas weighing billions of tons ejected from the Sun and hurled into space with speeds ranging from 12 to 1,250 miles per second. Depending on the orientation of the magnetic fields carried by the ejection cloud, Earth-directed coronal mass ejections cause magnetic storms by interacting with the Earth's magnetic field, distorting its shape, and accelerating electrically charged particles (electrons and atomic nuclei) trapped within. Severe solar weather is often heralded by dramatic auroral displays, northern and southern lights, and magnetic storms that occasionally affect satellites, radio communications and power systems. The flare and solar ejection has also generated a storm of high-velocity particles, and the number of particles with ten million electron-volts of energy in the space near Earth is now 10,000 times greater than normal. The increase of particles at this energy level still poses no appreciable hazard to air travelers, astronauts or satellites, and the NOAA SEC rates this radiation storm as a moderate S2 to S3, on a scale that goes to S5. Monday's solar flare produced an R4 radio blackout on the sunlit side of the Earth. An R4 blackout, rated by the NOAA SEC, is second to the most severe R5 classification. The classification measures the disruption in radio communications. X-ray and ultraviolet light from the flare changed the structure of the Earth's electrically charged upper atmosphere (ionosphere). This affected radio communication frequencies that either pass through the ionosphere to satellites or are reflected by it to traverse the globe. The SOHO mission is being conducted collaboratively between the European Space Agency and NASA. Images courtesy SOHO Project, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

Update of the ISTP Solar Maximum Mission: ISTP Project Scientist for Theory and Ground-Based Observations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Curtis, Steve

1999-01-01

Building upon the numerous successes of the pre-solar maximum International Solar Terrestrial Physics (ISTP) mission, the ISTP Solar Maximum Mission is expected to produce new insights into global flow of energy, momentum, and mass, from the Sun, through the heliosphere, into the magnetosphere and to their final deposition in the terrestrial upper atmosphere/ionosphere system. Of particular interest is the determination of the geo-effectiveness of solar events, principally Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs). Given the expected increased frequency and strength of CMEs during the Solar Maximum period, a major advance in our understanding of nature of the coupling of CMEs to the magnetosphere-ionosphere-atmosphere system is expected. The roles during this time of the various ISTP assets will be discussed. These assets will include the SOHO, Wind, Polar, and Geotail spacecraft, the ground-based observing networks and the theory tools.

Monte Carlo simulation of Ising models by multispin coding on a vector computer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wansleben, Stephan; Zabolitzky, John G.; Kalle, Claus

1984-11-01

Rebbi's efficient multispin coding algorithm for Ising models is combined with the use of the vector computer CDC Cyber 205. A speed of 21.2 million updates per second is reached. This is comparable to that obtained by special- purpose computers.

Solar proton fluxes since 1956. [sunspot activity correlation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reedy, R. C.

1977-01-01

The fluxes of protons emitted during solar flares since 1956 were evaluated. The depth-versus-activity profiles of Co-56 in several lunar rocks are consistent with the solar proton fluxes detected by experiments on several satellites. Only about 20% of the solar-proton-induced activities of Na-22 and Fe-55 in lunar rocks from early Apollo missions were produced by protons emitted from the sun during solar cycle 20 (1965-1975). The depth-versus-activity data for these radionuclides in several lunar rocks were used to determine the fluxes of protons during solar cycle 19 (1954-1964). The average proton fluxes for cycle 19 are about five times those for both the last million years and for cycle 20 and are about five times the previous estimate for cycle 19 based on neutron-monitor and radio ionospheric measurements. These solar-proton flux variations correlate with changes in sunspot activity.

Castro Valley High School's Solar Panels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lew, A.; Ham, S.; Shin, Y.; Yang, W.; Lam, J.

2014-12-01

Solar panels are photovoltaic cells that are designed to convert the sun's kinetic energy to generate usable energy in the form of electricity. Castro Valley High School has tried to offset the cost of electricity by installing solar panels, costing the district approximately 3.29 million dollars, but have been installed incorrectly and are not operating at peak efficency. By using trigonometry we deduced that Castro Valley High School's south facing solar panels were at an incline of 10o and that the east and west facing solar panels are at an incline of 5o. By taking the averages of the optimum angles for the months of September through May, roughly when school is in session, we found that the optimum angle for south facing solar panels should be roughly 46o. This shows that Castro Valley High School has not used it's budget to its full potential due to the fact that the solar panels were haphazardly installed.

A Nonmagnetic Differentiated Early Planetary Body

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Weiss, Benjamin P.; Wang, Jun

2017-06-15

Paleomagnetic studies of meteorites have shown that the solar nebula was likely magnetized and that many early planetary bodies generated dynamo magnetic fields in their advecting metallic cores. The surface fields on these bodies were recorded by a diversity of chondrites and achondrites, ranging in intensity from several μT to several hundred μT. In fact, an achondrite parent body without evidence for paleomagnetic fields has yet to be confidently identified, hinting that early solar system field generation and the dynamo process in particular may have been common. Here we present paleomagnetic measurements of the ungrouped achondrite NWA 7325 indicating thatmore » it last cooled in a near-zero field (<∼1.7μT), estimated to have occurred at 4563.09 ± 0.26 million years ago (Ma) from Al–Mg chronometry. Because NWA 7325 is highly depleted in siderophile elements, its parent body nevertheless underwent large-scale metal-silicate differentiation and likely formed a metallic core. This makes NWA 7325 the first recognized example of an essentially unmagnetized igneous rock from a differentiated early solar system body. These results indicate that all magnetic fields, including those from any core dynamo on the NWA 7325 parent body, the solar nebula, young Sun, and solar wind, were <1.7 μT at the location of NWA 7325 at 4563 Ma. This supports a recent conclusion that the solar nebula had dissipated by ∼4 million years after solar system formation. NWA 7325 also serves as an experimental control that gives greater confidence in the positive identification of remanent magnetization in other achondrites.« less

Galaxy and the solar system

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Smoluchowski, R.; Bahcall, J.M.; Matthews, M.S.

1986-01-01

The solar-Galactic neighborhood, massive interstellar clouds and other Galactic features, the Oort cloud, perturbations of the solar system, and the existence and stability of a solar companion star are examined in chapters based on contributions to a conference held in Tucson, AZ during January 1985. The individual topics addressed include: the Galactic environment of the solar system; stars within 25 pc of the sun; the path of the sun in 100 million years; the local velocity field in the last billion years; interstellar clouds near the sun; and evidence for a local recent supernova. Also considered are: dynamic influence ofmore » Galactic tides and molecular clouds on the Oort cloud; cometary evidence for a solar companion; dynamical interactions between the Oort cloud and the Galaxy; geological periodicities and the Galaxy; giant comets and the Galaxy; dynamical evidence for Planet X; evolution of the solar system in the presence of a solar companion star; mass extinctions, crater ages, and comet showers; evidence for Nemesis, a solar companion star.« less

Cosmic-ray exposure ages of the ordinary chondrites and their significance for parent body stratigraphy

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Crabb, J.; Schultz, L.

1981-01-01

Improved exposure ages are derived for 201 H, 203 L, and 38 LL chondrites in an effort to understand the characteristics of the chondrite parent body. The Ne-21 exposure ages were calculated from literature values taking into account shielding differences, a trapped component and radiogenic He. The exposure age distributions show clear peaks at 4.5 and 20 million years for the H chondrites, while the Ls and LLs appear more as a continuous series of intermediate peaks which may be modeled by at least six peaks between 1 and 35 million years in the case of L chondrites. The observations that every petrological type occurs in each large peak and contain solar wind gases suggest that the parent bodies have been fragmented and reassembled into a megabreccia. The H meteorites are proposed to represent the surface layer of a body with a substantial, active regolith as indicated by the relatively high abundances of solar gases. The L chondrites, on the other hand, are attributed to a parent body that was fragmented by collision about 500 million years ago.

Stereo Science Update

NASA Image and Video Library

2009-04-13

Michael Kaiser, project scientist, Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) at Goddard Space Flight Center, left, makes a comment during a Science Update on the STEREO mission at NASA Headquarters in Washington, Tuesday, April 14, 2009, as Angelo Vourlidas, project scientist, Sun Earth Connection Coronal and Heliospheric Investigation, at the Naval Research Laboratory, second from left, Toni Galvin, principal investigator, Plasma and Superthermal Ion Composition instrument at the University of New Hampshire and Madhulika Guhathakurta, STEREO program scientist, right, look on. Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul E. Alers)

Stereo Science Update

NASA Image and Video Library

2009-04-13

Angelo Vourlidas, project scientist, Sun Earth Connection Coronal and Heliospheric Investigation, at the Naval Research Laboratory, second from left, makes a comment during a Science Update on the STEREO mission at NASA Headquarters in Washington, Tuesday, April 14, 2009, as Michael Kaiser, project scientist, Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) at Goddard Space Flight Center, left, Toni Galvin, principal investigator, Plasma and Superthermal Ion Composition instrument at the University of New Hampshire and Madhulika Guhathakurta, STEREO program scientist, right, look on. Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul E. Alers)

Updates on CCMC Activities and GSFC Space Weather Services

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zhengm Y.; Hesse, M.; Kuznetsova, M.; Pulkkinen, A.; Rastaetter, L.; Maddox, M.; Taktakishvili, A.; Berrios, D.; Chulaki, A.; Lee, H.;

Arsenic in tube well water in Bangladesh: health and economic impacts and implications for arsenic mitigation.

PubMed

Flanagan, Sara V; Johnston, Richard B; Zheng, Yan

2012-11-01

A national drinking water quality survey conducted in 2009 furnished data that were used to make an updated estimate of chronic arsenic exposure in Bangladesh. About 20 million and 45 million people were found to be exposed to concentrations above the national standard of 50 µg/L and the World Health Organization's guideline value of 10 µg/L, respectively. From the updated exposure data and all-cause mortality hazard ratios based on local epidemiological studies, it was estimated that arsenic exposures to concentrations > 50 µg/L and 10-50 µg/L account for an annual 24,000 and perhaps as many as 19,000 adult deaths in the country, respectively. Exposure varies widely in the 64 districts; among adults, arsenic-related deaths account for 0-15% of all deaths. An arsenic-related mortality rate of 1 in every 16 adult deaths could represent an economic burden of 13 billion United States dollars (US$) in lost productivity alone over the next 20 years. Arsenic mitigation should follow a two-tiered approach: (i) prioritizing provision of safe water to an estimated 5 million people exposed to > 200 µg/L arsenic, and (ii) building local arsenic testing capacity. The effectiveness of such an approach was demonstrated during the United Nations Children's Fund 2006-2011 country programme, which provided safe water to arsenic-contaminated areas at a cost of US$ 11 per capita. National scale-up of such an approach would cost a few hundred million US dollars but would improve the health and productivity of the population, especially in future generations.

Iran rebuilds family planning services.

PubMed

Butta, P

1993-07-01

After the revolution, the Islamic Republic of Iran instituted pronatalist policies which included lowering the minimum marriage age for girls to 9 years, abolishing some laws securing women's rights, and limiting availability of family planning (FP) services. By 1983, Iran's population growth rate was 3.9% which was among the highest worldwide. Before the revolution, Iran had 37 million people. About 2 million more people were added each year, resulting in a population size of 60 million by 1992. By the mid-1980s, economic development stood idle, there were not enough houses, children attended schools on 3 shifts, and malnutrition was spreading. In 1989, the government formed a population council and reestablished FP services. It also increased the minimum age of marriage for girls to 13 years, slightly improved women status, and eliminated fertility incentives for couples with at least 4 children. It also significantly increased funding for FP (from 560 million to 13 billion rials between 1990 and 1992). Government spending for FP will likely increase 2% annually until 2011. The government initiated a promotion of FP mass media campaign, emphasizing a 2-child family. Some posters showed a family with 2 girls. The mass media campaign promoted specific contraceptive methods (even tubal occlusion and vasectomy), a practice other Middle Eastern countries not do. 80% of sterilization acceptors claimed to learn about sterilization from the radio or newspapers. The Ministry of Health has invited the Association for Voluntary Surgical Contraception (AVSC) to help with its campaign to update sterilization techniques, including the non scalpel vasectomy technique. AVSC hopes to become even more involved in helping Iran update its national FP program.

77 FR 75628 - Combined Notice of Filings #1

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-12-21

... Supplement to 10/31/2012 updated market power analysis for the Northeast region. Filed Date: 12/10/12...)(2)(iii: Amendment to LGIA for Silver State South Solar Project to be effective 11/16/2012. Filed...

Solar Orbiter Status Update

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zouganelis, Y.; Mueller, D.; St Cyr, O. C.; Gilbert, H. R.

2016-12-01

Solar Orbiter, the first mission of ESA's Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 programme, promises to deliver groundbreaking science with previously unavailable observational capabilities provided by a suite of in-situ and remote-sensing instruments in a unique orbit. The mission will address the central question of heliophysics: How does the Sun create and control the heliosphere? The heliosphere represents a uniquely accessible domain of space, where fundamental physical processes common to solar, astrophysical and laboratory plasmas can be studied under conditions impossible to reproduce on Earth and unfeasible to observe from astronomical distances. In this talk, we highlight the scientific goals of Solar Orbiter, address the synergy between this joint ESA/NASA mission and other new space and ground-based observatories, and present the mission's development status.

PROM7: 1D modeler of solar filaments or prominences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gouttebroze, P.

2018-05-01

PROM7 is an update of PROM4 (ascl:1306.004) and computes simple models of solar prominences and filaments using Partial Radiative Distribution (PRD). The models consist of plane-parallel slabs standing vertically above the solar surface. Each model is defined by 5 parameters: temperature, density, geometrical thickness, microturbulent velocity and height above the solar surface. It solves the equations of radiative transfer, statistical equilibrium, ionization and pressure equilibria, and computes electron and hydrogen level population and hydrogen line profiles. Moreover, the code treats calcium atom which is reduced to 3 ionization states (Ca I, Ca II, CA III). Ca II ion has 5 levels which are useful for computing 2 resonance lines (H and K) and infrared triplet (to 8500 A).

Solar heating for an observatory--Lincoln, Nebraska

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1981-01-01

Report describes solar-energy system for 50 seat observatory that provides 60 percent of space heating needs. System includes 9 flat-plate collectors, rock storage bin, blowers, controls, ducting, and auxiliary natural-gas furnace; it has five operation modes. Net energy savings were 11.31 million Btu for 12 months, or equivalent of 1.9 barrels of oil. Report appendixes list performance factor definitions, performance equations, and average area weather conditions.

Sending an Instrument to Psyche, the Largest Metal Asteroid in the Solar System

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Burks, Morgan

In a few years, an instrument designed and built by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory researchers will be flying hundreds of millions of miles through space to explore a rare, largely metal asteroid. The Livermore gamma ray spectrometer will be built in collaboration with researchers from the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory for the first-ever visit to Psyche, the largest metal asteroid in the solar system.

The Origin of the Local 1/4-KeV X-Ray Flux in Both Charge Exhange and a Hot Bubble

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Galeazzi, M.; Chiao, M.; Collier, M. R.; Cravens, T.; Koutroumpa, D.; Kuntz, K. D.; Lallement, R.; Lepri, S. T.; McCammon, D.; Morgan, K.;

The origin of the local 1/4-keV X-ray flux in both charge exchange and a hot bubble.

PubMed

Galeazzi, M; Chiao, M; Collier, M R; Cravens, T; Koutroumpa, D; Kuntz, K D; Lallement, R; Lepri, S T; McCammon, D; Morgan, K; Porter, F S; Robertson, I P; Snowden, S L; Thomas, N E; Uprety, Y; Ursino, E; Walsh, B M

2014-08-14

The solar neighbourhood is the closest and most easily studied sample of the Galactic interstellar medium, an understanding of which is essential for models of star formation and galaxy evolution. Observations of an unexpectedly intense diffuse flux of easily absorbed 1/4-kiloelectronvolt X-rays, coupled with the discovery that interstellar space within about a hundred parsecs of the Sun is almost completely devoid of cool absorbing gas, led to a picture of a 'local cavity' filled with X-ray-emitting hot gas, dubbed the local hot bubble. This model was recently challenged by suggestions that the emission could instead be readily produced within the Solar System by heavy solar-wind ions exchanging electrons with neutral H and He in interplanetary space, potentially removing the major piece of evidence for the local existence of million-degree gas within the Galactic disk. Here we report observations showing that the total solar-wind charge-exchange contribution is approximately 40 per cent of the 1/4-keV flux in the Galactic plane. The fact that the measured flux is not dominated by charge exchange supports the notion of a million-degree hot bubble extending about a hundred parsecs from the Sun.

Solar radiation on Mars: Update 1991

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Appelbaum, Joseph; Landis, Geoffrey A.

1991-01-01

Detailed information on solar radiation characteristics on Mars are necessary for effective design of future planned solar energy systems operating on the surface of Mars. A procedure and solar radiation related data are presented from which the daily variation of the global, direct beam and diffuse insolation on Mars are calculated. Given the optical depth of the Mars atmosphere, the global radiation is calculated from the normalized net flux function based on multiple wavelength and multiple scattering of the solar radiation. The direct beam was derived from the optical depth using Beer's law, and the diffuse component was obtained from the difference of the global and the direct beam radiation. The optical depths of the Mars atmosphere were derived from images taken of the Sun with a special diode on the cameras used on the two Viking Landers.

Detection of Vortex Tubes in Solar Granulation from Observations SUNRISE

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Steiner, O.; Franz, M.; González, N. B.; Nutto, C.; Rezaei, R.; Pillet, V. M.; Bonet, J. A.; Iniesta, J. C. d. T.; Domingo, V.; Solanki, S. K.; Knölker, M.; Schmidt, W.; Barthol, P.; Gandorfer, A.

2012-05-01

We investigated a time series of continuum intensity maps and Dopplergrams of granulation in a very quiet solar region at the disk center, recorded with the Imaging Magnetograph eXperiment (IMaX) on board the balloon-borne solar observatory SUNRISE. We find that granules frequently show substructure in the form of lanes composed of a leading bright rim and a trailing dark edge, which move together from the boundary of a granule into the granule itself. We find strikingly similar events in synthesized intensity maps from an ab initio numerical simulation of solar surface convection. We conclude that these granular lanes are the visible signature of (horizontally oriented) vortex tubes. The characteristic optical appearance of vortex tubes at the solar surface is explained. This paper is a summary and update of the results previously presented in Steiner et al. (2010).

A Methodology for the Optimization of Disaggregated Space System Conceptual Designs

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-06-18

orbit disaggregated space systems. Savings of $82 million are identified for an optimized fire detection system. Savings of $5.7 billion are...solutions and update architecture ................................................................31 Fire detection problem...149 Figure 30 – Example cost vs. weighted mean science return output [37] ...................... 153 Figure 31

A research update for the Stuttgart National Aquaculture Research Center

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Aquaculture (fish farming) has played an ever-increasing role in providing people with fish, shrimp, and shellfish. Aquaculture is currently the fastest growing sector of global food production and in 2016 totaled 90 million tons valued at $180 billion. The production of food-fish from aquaculture...

Update of the space and launch insurance industry : Quarterly Launch Report : special report

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1998-01-01

Insurance is a basic requirement for the maintenance of a commercial space industry. Space activity mishaps can result in hundreds of millions of dollars of expenses. Two recent launch vehicles that failed (a Titan 4A and the initial Delta 3) were va...

The New Rules of Engagement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nealy, Michelle J.

2009-01-01

College students across the nation are chronicling their lives on Facebook and other social networks such as MySpace with photos, videos, instantaneous status updates and blog entries that highlight their thoughts, opinions, interests and dislikes. Facebook, one of the largest social networking sites in the country with 175 million users, connects…

Longleaf Pine: An Updated Bibliography

Treesearch

John S. Kush; Ralph S. Meldahl; William D. Boyer; Charles K. McMahon

1996-01-01

The longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) forest figured prominently in the cultural and economic development of the South. What was once one of the most extensive forest ecosystems in North America has now become critically endangered (6). At the time of European settlement, this ecosystem dominated as much as 92 million acres throughout the...

A Business Educator's Guide to Transitioning to a Digital Curriculum

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roberts, Scott D.; Rains, Russell E.; Perry, Gregory E.

2012-01-01

The authors, representing three key digital media business disciplines, present a case for how business curriculum could be updated to include a strong digital element without recreating the entire business school enterprise or spending millions on new faculty and technology. The three key disciplines are technology, law, and marketing.

A Research Update for the Stuttgart National Aquaculture Research Center

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Aquaculture (fish farming) has played an ever-increasing role in providing people with fish, shrimp, and shellfish. Aquaculture is currently the fastest growing sector of global food production and in 2014 totaled 80 million tons valued at $140 billion. The production of food-fish from aquaculture...

Solar energy system performance evaluation. Seasonal report for Colt Pueblo, Pueblo, Colorado

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1980-01-01

The Colt-Pueblo solar energy system, designed to provide space heating and hot water preheating, is described and its operational performance for a 12 month period from February 1979 through January 1980 is evaluated. The space heating subsystem met 31 percent of the measured space heating load which was close to the expected 34 percent solar fraction. Although the hot water solar fraction was 79 percent, the overall energy saving capability was reduced because of the low hot water demand. The measured heating subsystem performance would have improved considerably if the uncontrolled losses primarily from transport piping could have been reduced to an inconsequential level. Fossil energy savings of 70.31 million BTUs are estimated.

White-nose syndrome in North American bats - U.S. Geological Survey updates

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lankau, Emily W.; Moede Rogall, Gail

2016-12-27

White-nose syndrome is a devastating wildlife disease that has killed millions of hibernating bats. This disease first appeared in New York during 2007 and has continued to spread at an alarming rate from the northeastern to the central United States and throughout eastern Canada. The disease is named for the fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans, which often appears white when it infects the skin of the nose, ears, and wings of hibernating bats. This fact sheet provides updates on white-nose syndrome research and management efforts and highlights US Geological Survey scientists’ contributions to understanding and combating this disease.

Multiple Chronic Conditions Among US Adults: A 2012 Update

PubMed Central

Schiller, Jeannine S.; Goodman, Richard A.

2014-01-01

The objective of this research was to update earlier estimates of prevalence rates of single chronic conditions and multiple (>2) chronic conditions (MCC) among the noninstitutionalized, civilian US adult population. Data from the 2012 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) were used to generate estimates of MCC for US adults and by select demographic characteristics. Approximately half (117 million) of US adults have at least one of the 10 chronic conditions examined (ie, hypertension, coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer, arthritis, hepatitis, weak or failing kidneys, current asthma, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [COPD]). Furthermore, 1 in 4 adults has MCC. PMID:24742395

10 Million Solar Roofs Act of 2011

THOMAS, 112th Congress

Sen. Sanders, Bernard [I-VT

2011-05-26

Senate - 02/07/2012 Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 313. (All Actions) Tracker: This bill has the status IntroducedHere are the steps for Status of Legislation:

10 Million Solar Roofs Act of 2010

THOMAS, 111th Congress

Sen. Sanders, Bernard [I-VT

2010-06-07

Senate - 09/27/2010 Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 618. (All Actions) Tracker: This bill has the status IntroducedHere are the steps for Status of Legislation:

Recovering from "amnesia" brought about by radiation. Verification of the "Over the air" (OTA) application software update mechanism On-Board Solar Orbiter's Energetic Particle Detector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Da Silva, Antonio; Sánchez Prieto, Sebastián; Rodriguez Polo, Oscar; Parra Espada, Pablo

Computer memories are not supposed to forget, but they do. Because of the proximity of the Sun, from the Solar Orbiter boot software perspective, it is mandatory to look out for permanent memory errors resulting from (SEL) latch-up failures in application binaries stored in EEPROM and its SDRAM deployment areas. In this situation, the last line in defense established by FDIR mechanisms is the capability of the boot software to provide an accurate report of the memories’ damages and to perform an application software update, that avoid the harmed locations by flashing EEPROM with a new binary. This paper describes the OTA EEPROM firmware update procedure verification of the boot software that will run in the Instrument Control Unit (ICU) of the Energetic Particle Detector (EPD) on-board Solar Orbiter. Since the maximum number of rewrites on real EEPROM is limited and permanent memory faults cannot be friendly emulated in real hardware, the verification has been accomplished by the use of a LEON2 Virtual Platform (Leon2ViP) with fault injection capabilities and real SpaceWire interfaces developed by the Space Research Group (SRG) of the University of Alcalá. This way it is possible to run the exact same target binary software as if was run on the real ICU platform. Furthermore, the use of this virtual hardware-in-the-loop (VHIL) approach makes it possible to communicate with Electrical Ground Support Equipment (EGSE) through real SpaceWire interfaces in an agile, controlled and deterministic environment.

EEC focuses new energy budget on solar and conservation R and D

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1979-12-17

Solar energy, followed by conservation and geothermal energy, will have top priority for the European Economic Community's (ECC) $142 million energy research budget through 1983. Proposals for the cost-shared projects, of which EEC will pay half, are being accepted by eligible companies and research organizations. Committees for each technology advise the European Commission on which proposals to accept and suggest an appropriate funding level. The EEC also funds demonstrations of promising research to determine economic feasibility. Major emphasis will be placed during the present four-year budget for solar research on photovoltaics. Other projects include a European solar-insolation atlas and solar-heatingmore » manual, advanced batteries, and energy storage systems. Geothermal projects will focus on resource mapping, exploratory drilling, hydrogen production, and energy forecasting. (DCK)« less

Solar Effects of Low-Earth Orbit objects in ORDEM 3.0

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vavrin, A. B.; Anz-Meador, P.; Kelley, R. L.

2014-01-01

Variances in atmospheric density are directly related to the variances in solar flux intensity between 11- year solar cycles. The Orbital Debris Engineering Model (ORDEM 3.0) uses a solar flux table as input for calculating orbital lifetime of intact and debris objects in Low-Earth Orbit. Long term projections in solar flux activity developed by the NASA Orbital Debris Program Office (ODPO) extend the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Space Environment Center (NOAA/SEC) daily historical flux values with a 5-year projection. For purposes of programmatic scheduling, the Q2 2009 solar flux table was chosen for ORDEM 3.0. Current solar flux activity shows that the current solar cycle has entered a period of lower solar flux intensity than previously forecasted in 2009. This results in a deviation of the true orbital debris environment propagation in ORDEM 3.0. In this paper, we present updated orbital debris populations in LEO using the latest solar flux values. We discuss the effects on recent breakup events such as the FY-1C anti-satellite test and the Iridium 33 / Cosmos 2251 accidental collision. Justifications for chosen solar flux tables are discussed.

The Updated BaSTI Stellar Evolution Models and Isochrones. I. Solar-scaled Calculations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hidalgo, Sebastian L.; Pietrinferni, Adriano; Cassisi, Santi; Salaris, Maurizio; Mucciarelli, Alessio; Savino, Alessandro; Aparicio, Antonio; Silva Aguirre, Victor; Verma, Kuldeep

2018-04-01

We present an updated release of the BaSTI (a Bag of Stellar Tracks and Isochrones) stellar model and isochrone library for a solar-scaled heavy element distribution. The main input physics that have been changed from the previous BaSTI release include the solar metal mixture, electron conduction opacities, a few nuclear reaction rates, bolometric corrections, and the treatment of the overshooting efficiency for shrinking convective cores. The new model calculations cover a mass range between 0.1 and 15 M ⊙, 22 initial chemical compositions between [Fe/H] = ‑3.20 and +0.45, with helium to metal enrichment ratio dY/dZ = 1.31. The isochrones cover an age range between 20 Myr and 14.5 Gyr, consistently take into account the pre-main-sequence phase, and have been translated to a large number of popular photometric systems. Asteroseismic properties of the theoretical models have also been calculated. We compare our isochrones with results from independent databases and with several sets of observations to test the accuracy of the calculations. All stellar evolution tracks, asteroseismic properties, and isochrones are made available through a dedicated web site.

Solar energy development and application in Japan - An outsiders assessment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Knopp, E.

1982-04-01

The Sunshine Project was initiated in Japan in 1974 in order to develop energy resources to meet future needs. The solar program consists of three categories; solar home construction, the construction and operation of a 1000 kWe capacity solar thermal power generation plant, and the development of a photovoltaic system with a cost per watt reduced to 1/100 of the present cost. Low interest loans to promote the use of solar systems have resulted in the installation of one million solar collectors. Solar water heaters produced have a 2 sq m collection area and a 200 liters water storage capacity, and an evacuated tube collector with an efficiency of 64% has been developed. Work is being devoted to the production of a 50 times concentrating tracking circular Fresnel-type photovoltaic device, and a solar driven cooling system with a 5.35 kW capacity, which operates with a highly efficient freon vapor expander, has been developed. The problem of collected heat storage is being tested and assessed.

Progress & Frontiers in PV Performance

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Deline, Chris; DiOrio, Nick; Jordan, Dirk

2016-09-12

PowerPoint slides for a presentation given at Solar Power International 2016. Presentation includes System Advisor Model (SAM) introduction and battery modeling, bifacial PV modules and modeling, shade modeling and module level power electronics (MLPE), degradation rates, and PVWatts updates and validation.

Update on High-Resolution Geodetically Controlled LROC Polar Mosaics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Archinal, B.; Lee, E.; Weller, L.; Richie, J.; Edmundson, K.; Laura, J.; Robinson, M.; Speyerer, E.; Boyd, A.; Bowman-Cisneros, E.; Wagner, R.; Nefian, A.

2015-10-01

We describe progress on high-resolution (1 m/pixel) geodetically controlled LROC mosaics of the lunar poles, which can be used for locating illumination resources (for solar power or cold traps) or landing site and surface operations planning.

Fundamentals and techniques of nonimaging optics for solar energy concentration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Winston, R.; Gallagher, J. J.

1980-05-01

The properties of a variety of new and previously known nonimaging optical configurations were investigated. A thermodynamic model which explains quantitatively the enhancement of effective absorptance of gray body receivers through cavity effects was developed. The classic method of Liu and Jordan, which allows one to predict the diffuse sunlight levels through correlation with the total and direct fraction was revised and updated and applied to predict the performance of nonimaging solar collectors. The conceptual design for an optimized solar collector which integrates the techniques of nonimaging concentration with evacuated tube collector technology was carried out and is presently the basis for a separately funded hardware development project.

Satellite Power Study (SPS) concept definition study (Exhibit D). Volume 1: Executive summary

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hanley, G. M.

1981-01-01

Efforts concentrated on updating of the Rockwell reference concept, definition of new system options, studies of special emphasis topics, further definition of the transportation system, and further program definition. The Rockwell reference satellite concept has a gallium arsenide (GaAs) solar cell array having flat concentrators with an effective concentration ratio of 1.83at end of life. Alternatives to this concept includes solid state power amplifiers or magnetrons for dc/RF conversion and multibandgap solar cells for solar to dc energy conversion. Two solid state concepts were studied. It was determined that the magnetron approach was the lowest mass and cost system.

Research Update: Photoelectrochemical water splitting and photocatalytic hydrogen production using ferrites (MFe2O4) under visible light irradiation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dillert, Ralf; Taffa, Dereje H.; Wark, Michael; Bredow, Thomas; Bahnemann, Detlef W.

2015-10-01

The utilization of solar light for the photoelectrochemical and photocatalytic production of molecular hydrogen from water is a scientific and technical challenge. Semiconductors with suitable properties to promote solar-driven water splitting are a desideratum. A hitherto rarely investigated group of semiconductors are ferrites with the empirical formula MFe2O4 and related compounds. This contribution summarizes the published results of the experimental investigations on the photoelectrochemical and photocatalytic properties of these compounds. It will be shown that the potential of this group of compounds in regard to the production of solar hydrogen has not been fully explored yet.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Noreen, D; LeChevalier, R; Choi, M

President Carter established a goal that would require installation of at least one million solar water heaters by 1985 and 20 million water-heating systems by the year 2000. The goals established require that the solar industry be sufficiently mature to provide cost-effective, reliable designs in the immediate future. The objective of this study was to provide the Department of Energy with quantified data that can be used to assess and redirect, if necessary, the program plans to assure compliance with the President's goals. Results deal with the product, the industry, the market, and the consumer. All issues are examined inmore » the framework of the conventional-hot-water industry. Based on the results of this solar hot water assessment study, there is documented proof that the solar industry is blessed with over 20 good solar hot water systems. A total of eight generic types are currently being produced, but a majority of the systems being sold are included in only five generic types. The good systems are well-packaged for quality, performance and installation ease. These leading systems are sized and designed to fit the requirements of the consumer in every respect. This delivery end also suffers from a lack of understanding of the best methods for selling the product. At the supplier end, there are problems also, including: some design deficiencies, improper materials selection and, occasionally, the improper selection of components and subsystems. These, in total, are not serious problems in the better systems and will be resolved as this industry matures.« less

Thermonuclear runaways in thick hydrogen rich envelopes of neutron stars

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Starrfield, S. G.; Kenyon, S.; Truran, J. W.; Sparks, W. M.

1981-01-01

A Lagrangian, fully implicit, one dimensional hydrodynamic computer code was used to evolve thermonuclear runaways in the accreted hydrogen rich envelopes of 1.0 Msub solar neutron stars with radii of 10 km and 20 km. Simulations produce outbursts which last from about 750 seconds to about one week. Peak effective temeratures and luninosities were 26 million K and 80 thousand Lsub solar for the 10 km study and 5.3 millison and 600 Lsub solar for the 20 km study. Hydrodynamic expansion on the 10 km neutron star produced a precursor lasting about one ten thousandth seconds.

The global evolution of the primordial solar nebula

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ruden, S. P.; Lin, D. N. C.

1986-01-01

Complete radial, time-dependent calculations of the structure and evolution of the primordial solar nebula during the viscous diffusion stage are presented. The viscous stress is derived from analytic one-zone models of the vertical nebular structure based on detailed grain opacities. Comparisons with full numerical integrations indicate that the effective viscous alpha parameter is about 0.01. The evolution time of a minimum mass nebula is one-million yr or less. The flow pattern of fluid elements in the disk is examined and the implications the results have on the theory of the formation of the solar system are discussed.

Addressing forecast uncertainty impact on CSP annual performance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferretti, Fabio; Hogendijk, Christopher; Aga, Vipluv; Ehrsam, Andreas

2017-06-01

This work analyzes the impact of weather forecast uncertainty on the annual performance of a Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plant. Forecast time series has been produced by a commercial forecast provider using the technique of hindcasting for the full year 2011 in hourly resolution for Ouarzazate, Morocco. Impact of forecast uncertainty has been measured on three case studies, representing typical tariff schemes observed in recent CSP projects plus a spot market price scenario. The analysis has been carried out using an annual performance model and a standard dispatch optimization algorithm based on dynamic programming. The dispatch optimizer has been demonstrated to be a key requisite to maximize the annual revenues depending on the price scenario, harvesting the maximum potential out of the CSP plant. Forecasting uncertainty affects the revenue enhancement outcome of a dispatch optimizer depending on the error level and the price function. Results show that forecasting accuracy of direct solar irradiance (DNI) is important to make best use of an optimized dispatch but also that a higher number of calculation updates can partially compensate this uncertainty. Improvement in revenues can be significant depending on the price profile and the optimal operation strategy. Pathways to achieve better performance are presented by having more updates both by repeatedly generating new optimized trajectories but also more often updating weather forecasts. This study shows the importance of working on DNI weather forecasting for revenue enhancement as well as selecting weather services that can provide multiple updates a day and probabilistic forecast information.

Solar Physics at Evergreen: Solar Dynamo and Chromospheric MHD

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zita, E. J.; Maxwell, J.; Song, N.; Dikpati, M.

2006-12-01

We describe our five year old solar physics research program at The Evergreen State College. Famed for its cloudy skies, the Pacific Northwest is an ideal location for theoretical and remote solar physics research activities. Why does the Sun's magnetic field flip polarity every 11 years or so? How does this contribute to the magnetic storms Earth experiences when the Sun's field reverses? Why is the temperature in the Sun's upper atmosphere millions of degrees higher than the Sun's surface temperature? How do magnetic waves transport energy in the Sun’s chromosphere and the Earth’s atmosphere? How does solar variability affect climate change? Faculty and undergraduates investigate questions such as these in collaboration with the High Altitude Observatory (HAO) at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder. We will describe successful student research projects, logistics of remote computing, and our current physics investigations into (1) the solar dynamo and (2) chromospheric magnetohydrodynamics.

Intracellular mechanisms of solar water disinfection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Castro-Alférez, María; Polo-López, María Inmaculada; Fernández-Ibáñez, Pilar

2016-12-01

Solar water disinfection (SODIS) is a zero-cost intervention measure to disinfect drinking water in areas of poor access to improved water sources, used by more than 6 million people in the world. The bactericidal action of solar radiation in water has been widely proven, nevertheless the causes for this remain still unclear. Scientific literature points out that generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) inside microorganisms promoted by solar light absorption is the main reason. For the first time, this work reports on the experimental measurement of accumulated intracellular ROS in E. coli during solar irradiation. For this experimental achievement, a modified protocol based on the fluorescent probe dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate (DCFH-DA), widely used for oxidative stress in eukaryotic cells, has been tested and validated for E. coli. Our results demonstrate that ROS and their accumulated oxidative damages at intracellular level are key in solar water disinfection.

Intracellular mechanisms of solar water disinfection

PubMed Central

Castro-Alférez, María; Polo-López, María Inmaculada; Fernández-Ibáñez, Pilar

2016-01-01

Solar water disinfection (SODIS) is a zero-cost intervention measure to disinfect drinking water in areas of poor access to improved water sources, used by more than 6 million people in the world. The bactericidal action of solar radiation in water has been widely proven, nevertheless the causes for this remain still unclear. Scientific literature points out that generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) inside microorganisms promoted by solar light absorption is the main reason. For the first time, this work reports on the experimental measurement of accumulated intracellular ROS in E. coli during solar irradiation. For this experimental achievement, a modified protocol based on the fluorescent probe dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate (DCFH-DA), widely used for oxidative stress in eukaryotic cells, has been tested and validated for E. coli. Our results demonstrate that ROS and their accumulated oxidative damages at intracellular level are key in solar water disinfection. PMID:27909341

Intracellular mechanisms of solar water disinfection.

PubMed

Castro-Alférez, María; Polo-López, María Inmaculada; Fernández-Ibáñez, Pilar

2016-12-02

Solar water disinfection (SODIS) is a zero-cost intervention measure to disinfect drinking water in areas of poor access to improved water sources, used by more than 6 million people in the world. The bactericidal action of solar radiation in water has been widely proven, nevertheless the causes for this remain still unclear. Scientific literature points out that generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) inside microorganisms promoted by solar light absorption is the main reason. For the first time, this work reports on the experimental measurement of accumulated intracellular ROS in E. coli during solar irradiation. For this experimental achievement, a modified protocol based on the fluorescent probe dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate (DCFH-DA), widely used for oxidative stress in eukaryotic cells, has been tested and validated for E. coli. Our results demonstrate that ROS and their accumulated oxidative damages at intracellular level are key in solar water disinfection.

Do Facebook Status Updates Reflect Subjective Well-Being?

PubMed

Liu, Pan; Tov, William; Kosinski, Michal; Stillwell, David J; Qiu, Lin

2015-07-01

Nowadays, millions of people around the world use social networking sites to express everyday thoughts and feelings. Many researchers have tried to make use of social media to study users' online behaviors and psychological states. However, previous studies show mixed results about whether self-generated contents on Facebook reflect users' subjective well-being (SWB). This study analyzed Facebook status updates to determine the extent to which users' emotional expression predicted their SWB-specifically their self-reported satisfaction with life. It was found that positive emotional expressions on Facebook did not correlate with life satisfaction, whereas negative emotional expressions within the past 9-10 months (but not beyond) were significantly related to life satisfaction. These findings suggest that both the type of emotional expressions and the time frame of status updates determine whether emotional expressions in Facebook status updates can effectively reflect users' SWB. The findings shed light on the characteristics of online social media and improve the understanding of how user-generated contents reflect users' psychological states.

Solar energy system performance evaluation: Seasonal report for Colt Yosemite, Yosemite National Park, California

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1980-01-01

The system's operational performance from May 1979 through April 1980 is described. Solar energy satisfied 23 percent of the total performance load, which was significantly below the design value of 56 percent. A fossil savings of 80.89 million Btu's or 578 gallons of fuel oil is estimated. If uncontrolled losses could have been reduced to an inconsequential level, the system's efficiency would have been improved considerably.

From the Sun with Love

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-12-08

This Solar Dynamics Observatory image of the Sun taken on February 1, 2013 in extreme ultraviolet light captures a heart-shaped dark coronal hole. Coronal holes are areas of the Sun's surface that are the source of open magnetic field lines that head way out into space. They are also the source regions of the fast solar wind, which is characterized by a relatively steady speed of approximately 800 km/s (about 1.8 million mph).

Orbiting observatory SOHO finds source of high-speed "wind" blowing from the Sun

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

1999-02-01

"The search for the source of the solar wind has been like the hunt for the source of the Nile," said Dr. Don Hassler of the Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, Colorado, lead author of the paper in Science. "For 30 years, scientists have observed high-speed solar wind coming from regions in the solar atmosphere with open magnetic field lines, called coronal holes. However, only recently, with the observations from SOHO, have we been able to measure the detailed structure of this source region". The solar wind comes in two varieties : high-speed and low-speed. The low-speed solar wind moves at "only" 1.5 million kilometres per hour, while the high-speed wind is even faster, moving at speeds as high as 3 million kilometres per hour. As it flows past Earth, the solar wind changes the shape and structure of the Earth's magnetic field. In the past, the solar wind didn't affect us directly, but as we become increasingly dependent on advanced technology, we become more susceptible to its effects. Researchers are learning that variations in the solar wind flow can cause dramatic changes in the shape of the Earth's magnetic field, which can damage satellites and disrupt communications and electrical power systems. The nature and origin of the solar wind is one of the main mysteries ESA's solar observatory SOHO was designed to solve. It has long been thought that the solar wind flows from coronal holes; what is new is the discovery that these outflows are concentrated in specific patches at the edges of the honeycomb-shaped magnetic fields. Just below the surface of the Sun there are large convection cells, and each cell has a magnetic field associated with it. "If one thinks of these cells as paving stones in a patio, then the solar wind is breaking through like grass around the edges, concentrated in the corners where the paving stones meet", said Dr. Helen Mason, University of Cambridge, England, and co-author of the paper to appear in Science. "However, at speeds ranging from 30,000 km/h at the surface to over 3 million km/h, the solar wind "grows" much faster than grass". "Looking at the spot where the solar wind actually appears is extremely important", says co-author Dr. Philippe Lemaire of the Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale in Orsay, France. The Solar Ultraviolet Measurements of Emitted Radiation (SUMER) spectrometer on SOHO detected the solar wind by observing the ultraviolet spectrum over a large area of the solar north polar region. The SUMER instrument was built under the leadership of Dr. Klaus Wilhelm at the Max-Planck-Institut für Aeronomie in Lindau, Germany, with key contributions from the Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale in Orsay, France, the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and the University of California at Berkeley, with financial support from German, French, US and Swiss national agencies. "Identification of the detailed structure of the source region of the fast solar wind is an important step in solving the solar wind acceleration problem. We can now focus our attention on the plasma conditions and the dynamic processes seen in the corners of the magnetic field structures", says Dr. Wilhelm, also co-author of the Science paper. A spectrum results from the separation of light into its component colours, which correspond to different wavelengths. Blue light has a shorter wavelength and is more energetic than red. A spectrum is similar to what is seen when a prism separates white light into a rainbow of distinct colours. By analysing light this way, astronomers learn a great deal about the object emitting the light, such as its temperature, chemical composition, and motion. The ultraviolet light observed by SUMER is actually invisible to the human eye and cannot penetrate the Earth's atmosphere. The hot gas in the solar wind source region emits light at certain ultraviolet wavelengths. When the hot gas flows towards Earth, as it does in the solar wind, the wavelengths of the ultraviolet light emitted become shorter, a phenomenon called Doppler shift. This is similar to the way an ambulance siren appears to change tone as it speeds by. When the ambulance moves towards us, its sound is compressed to a shorter wavelength, resulting in a higher tone. As it moves away, its sound is stretched to a longer wavelength, resulting in a lower tone. Motion towards us, away from the solar surface, was detected as blueshifts and identified as the beginning of the solar wind. SOHO operates at a special vantage point 1.5 million kilometres out in space, on the sunward side of the Earth. The project is an international collaboration between ESA and NASA. SOHO was launched on an Atlas rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Station, Florida, in December 1995 and is operated from the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

Fast Updating National Geo-Spatial Databases with High Resolution Imagery: China's Methodology and Experience

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, J.; Wang, D.; Zhao, R. L.; Zhang, H.; Liao, A.; Jiu, J.

2014-04-01

Geospatial databases are irreplaceable national treasure of immense importance. Their up-to-dateness referring to its consistency with respect to the real world plays a critical role in its value and applications. The continuous updating of map databases at 1:50,000 scales is a massive and difficult task for larger countries of the size of more than several million's kilometer squares. This paper presents the research and technological development to support the national map updating at 1:50,000 scales in China, including the development of updating models and methods, production tools and systems for large-scale and rapid updating, as well as the design and implementation of the continuous updating workflow. The use of many data sources and the integration of these data to form a high accuracy, quality checked product were required. It had in turn required up to date techniques of image matching, semantic integration, generalization, data base management and conflict resolution. Design and develop specific software tools and packages to support the large-scale updating production with high resolution imagery and large-scale data generalization, such as map generalization, GIS-supported change interpretation from imagery, DEM interpolation, image matching-based orthophoto generation, data control at different levels. A national 1:50,000 databases updating strategy and its production workflow were designed, including a full coverage updating pattern characterized by all element topographic data modeling, change detection in all related areas, and whole process data quality controlling, a series of technical production specifications, and a network of updating production units in different geographic places in the country.

Workshop I: Systems/Standards/Arrays

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Piszczor, Mike; Reed, Brad

2007-01-01

Workshop Format: 1) 1:00 - 3:00 to cover various topics as appropriate; 2) At last SPRAT, conducted Workshop topic on solar cell and array qualification standards. Brad Reed will present update on status of that effort; 3) Second workshop topic: The Future of PV Research within NASA. 4) Any time remaining, specific topics from participants. 5) Reminder for IAPG Members! RECWG today 3:00-5:00 in Federal Room, 2nd Floor OAI. a chart is presented showing: Evaluation of Solar Array Technology Readiness Levels.

2001 News Releases | NREL

Science.gov Websites

Showcase Open Doors to Renewable Energy Information - (10/04/01) Pricing Programs Spur Growth of Renewable Technology Could Spur Growth in Photovoltaic Panels - (04/24/01) $6 Million in Awards to Advance Solar Cell

NREL Funds Research into Low-Cost Solar Electricity

Science.gov Websites

Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Recipients of the money will research ways to lower will contribute $35 million. The rest of the money comes from corporate partners. Universities will

Improving a Good Thing.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

School Planning & Management, 2002

2002-01-01

Summarizes research from the Florida Solar Energy Center at the University of Central Florida which demonstrated that improvements in portable classrooms involving illumination and ventilation saved Florida 40 percent in electric use and $6 million in energy costs. (EV)

77 FR 14837 - Advisory Committee on the Medical Uses of Isotopes: Meeting Notice

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-03-13

... function of solar activity. The agenda is subject to change. The current agenda and any updates will be.... Address for Public Meeting: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Two White Flint North Building, Room T2...

Progress Towards Deriving an Improved Long-Term Global Solar Resource

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cox, Stephen J.; Mikovitz, J. Colleen; Zhang, Taiping; Sorlie, Susan; Stackhouse, Paul W., Jr.; Perez, Richard; Hemker, Karl, Jr.; Schlemmer, James; Kivalov, Sergey; Renne, David;

OF MICE, MEN, MONKEYS AND METABOLISM: AN UPDATE ON THE DEVELOPMENTAL TOXICITY OF METHANOL

EPA Science Inventory

With a world production ca. 30 million tons per year, methanol is a solvent, is used to produce formaldehyde, MTBE, and acetic acid, is a component of aspartame, and has been proposed as an alternate vehicle fuel. Methanol occurs naturally in plants and animals. It is sequentiall...

Charter School Movement: History, Politics, Policies, Economics & Effectiveness. Second Edition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grey House Publishing, 2009

2009-01-01

From zero in 1991 to 3,800 eighteen years later, charter schools (public schools under contract) today educate well over a million students. This updated, second edition examines the unusual experiment that is charter education and the controversies that surround public choice and charter schools as a means of educational reform. Written by…

Budget Update, November 9, 2010. Report 10-20

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Woolfork, Kevin

2010-01-01

On October 8, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the 2010-11 Budget Act for the State of California. This budget was the outcome of many months of negotiation between the Governor and the Legislature. The Governor vetoed $963 million in spending from the Legislature's budget, arriving at a budget that addresses an estimated $19.1 billion…

Update on the DNT In Vitro Alternative Methods Project at the USEPA

EPA Science Inventory

Current approaches to toxicity testing rely heavily on the use of animals, can cost millions of dollars and can take years to complete for a single chemical. To implement the predictive toxicity testing envisioned in the NAS report on Toxicity Testing in the 21st century, rapid a...

Baby Stars in Orion Solve Solar System Mystery

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wanjek, Christopher

2003-01-01

What do X-rays, meteoroids, infant stars in the Orion Nebula, and our solar system have in common? Perhaps much more than anyone thought. Eric Feigelson of Penn State University stumbled onto a connection one day while his thoughts were far from the solar system, turned toward the vibrant neighborhood of young stars, hot gas, and caliginous dust of the Orion Nebula. This nebula, 1500 light-years away, is visible to the naked eye in the constellation Orion, a gem to behold with a good pair of binoculars or a telescope under dark skies. In Orion, Feigelson inadvertently found a possible solution to a long-standing mystery about our own solar system: the presence of exotic isotopes locked away in meteoroids. Scientists have assumed that these short-lived isotopes - special forms of atomic nuclei, such as aluminum-26 and calcium-41 - were transported here by a nearby supernova. Only tenuous evidence for such an explosion exists, but what else could have made the isotopes? The isotopes are about as old as the solar system, and the Sun couldn t possibly have been powerful enough to create them. Well, maybe we need to give the Sun a little more credit. Feigelson found that very young, midsized stars in the Orion Nebula - in the same stellar class as our Sun except they are only a million years old - produce powerful flares visible in X-rays. His team spotted these X-ray flares with the Chandra X-Ray Observatory. These baby-tantrum flares are indeed energetic enough to forge heavy isotopes, Feigelson says. If the infant stars in Orion can do it now, then our Sun could have done the same when the solar system was forming about 4.5 billion years ago, when the Sun itself was only a few million years old.

The human hookworm vaccine: recent updates and prospects for success.

PubMed

Bottazzi, M E

2015-09-01

Approximately 440 million people globally are afflicted by hookworm disease, one of the 17 WHO-recognized neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). The iron-deficiency anaemia attributed to this disease contributes to at least 3.2 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) according to the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010. The current WHO-recommended control strategies rely primarily on mass drug administration or preventive chemotherapy. However, evidence is starting to accumulate confirming that preventive chemotherapy alone will not be sufficient to reduce the reinfection rates of hookworm, especially in areas of heavy transmission. The global health and research community is currently building a consensus stressing the need for the advancement of research and innovation to bridge the gaps and identify new public health interventions for diseases such as hookworm and other NTDs. This paper presents the strategies used by the Sabin Vaccine Institute Product Development Partnership (Sabin PDP) in their ongoing endeavour for the development of a human hookworm vaccine. Recent updates and the current prospects for success of an effective human hookworm vaccine, as a new technology to be linked to or combined with drug interventions, are presented.

SPECTRO-POLARIMETRIC IMAGING REVEALS HELICAL MAGNETIC FIELDS IN SOLAR PROMINENCE FEET

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

González, M. J. Martínez; Sainz, R. Manso; Ramos, A. Asensio

2015-03-20

Solar prominences are clouds of cool plasma levitating above the solar surface and insulated from the million-degree corona by magnetic fields. They form in regions of complex magnetic topology, characterized by non-potential fields, which can evolve abruptly, disintegrating the prominence and ejecting magnetized material into the heliosphere. However, their physics is not yet fully understood because mapping such complex magnetic configurations and their evolution is extremely challenging, and must often be guessed by proxy from photometric observations. Using state-of-the-art spectro-polarimetric data, we reconstruct the structure of the magnetic field in a prominence. We find that prominence feet harbor helical magneticmore » fields connecting the prominence to the solar surface below.« less

Arsenic in tube well water in Bangladesh: health and economic impacts and implications for arsenic mitigation

PubMed Central

Flanagan, Sara V; Johnston, Richard B

2012-01-01

Abstract A national drinking water quality survey conducted in 2009 furnished data that were used to make an updated estimate of chronic arsenic exposure in Bangladesh. About 20 million and 45 million people were found to be exposed to concentrations above the national standard of 50 µg/L and the World Health Organization’s guideline value of 10 µg/L, respectively. From the updated exposure data and all-cause mortality hazard ratios based on local epidemiological studies, it was estimated that arsenic exposures to concentrations > 50 µg/L and 10–50 µg/L account for an annual 24 000 and perhaps as many as 19 000 adult deaths in the country, respectively. Exposure varies widely in the 64 districts; among adults, arsenic-related deaths account for 0–15% of all deaths. An arsenic-related mortality rate of 1 in every 16 adult deaths could represent an economic burden of 13 billion United States dollars (US$) in lost productivity alone over the next 20 years. Arsenic mitigation should follow a two-tiered approach: (i) prioritizing provision of safe water to an estimated 5 million people exposed to > 200 µg/L arsenic, and (ii) building local arsenic testing capacity. The effectiveness of such an approach was demonstrated during the United Nations Children’s Fund 2006–2011 country programme, which provided safe water to arsenic-contaminated areas at a cost of US$ 11 per capita. National scale-up of such an approach would cost a few hundred million US dollars but would improve the health and productivity of the population, especially in future generations. PMID:23226896

Basic Modeling of the Solar Atmosphere and Spectrum

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Avrett, Eugene H.; Wagner, William J. (Technical Monitor)

2000-01-01

During the last three years we have continued the development of extensive computer programs for constructing realistic models of the solar atmosphere and for calculating detailed spectra to use in the interpretation of solar observations. This research involves two major interrelated efforts: work by Avrett and Loeser on the Pandora computer program for optically thick non-LTE modeling of the solar atmosphere including a wide range of physical processes, and work by Kurucz on the detailed high-resolution synthesis of the solar spectrum using data for over 58 million atomic and molecular lines. Our objective is to construct atmospheric models from which the calculated spectra agree as well as possible with high-and low-resolution observations over a wide wavelength range. Such modeling leads to an improved understanding of the physical processes responsible for the structure and behavior of the atmosphere.

Transient behavior of a flare-associated solar wind. I - Gas dynamics in a radial open field region

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nagai, F.

1984-01-01

A numerical investigation is conducted into the way in which a solar wind model initially satisfying both steady state and energy balance conditions is disturbed and deformed, under the assumption of heating that correspoonds to the energy release of solar flares of an importance value of approximately 1 which occur in radial open field regions. Flare-associated solar wind transient behavior is modeled for 1-8 solar radii. The coronal temperature around the heat source region rises, and a large thermal conductive flux flows inward to the chromosphere and outward to interplanetary space along field lines. The speed of the front of expanding chromospheric material generated by the impingement of the conduction front on the upper chromosphere exceeds the local sound velocity in a few minutes and eventually exceeds 100 million cm/sec.

Investigation of Solar Wind Correlations and Solar Wind Modifications Near Earth by Multi-Spacecraft Observations: IMP 8, WIND and INTERBALL-1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Paularena, Karolen I.; Richardson, John D.; Zastenker, Georgy N.

2002-01-01

The foundation of this Project is use of the opportunity available during the ISTP (International Solar-Terrestrial Physics) era to compare solar wind measurements obtained simultaneously by three spacecraft - IMP 8, WIND and INTERBALL-1 at wide-separated points. Using these data allows us to study three important topics: (1) the size and dynamics of near-Earth mid-scale (with dimension about 1-10 million km) and small-scale (with dimension about 10-100 thousand km) solar wind structures; (2) the reliability of the common assumption that solar wind conditions at the upstream Lagrangian (L1) point accurately predict the conditions affecting Earth's magnetosphere; (3) modification of the solar wind plasma and magnetic field in the regions near the Earth magnetosphere, the foreshock and the magnetosheath. Our Project was dedicated to these problems. Our research has made substantial contributions to the field and has lead others to undertake similar work.

Multijunction Solar Cell Technology for Mars Surface Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stella, Paul M.; Mardesich, Nick; Ewell, Richard C.; Mueller, Robert L.; Endicter, Scott; Aiken, Daniel; Edmondson, Kenneth; Fetze, Chris

2006-01-01

Solar cells used for Mars surface applications have been commercial space qualified AM0 optimized devices. Due to the Martian atmosphere, these cells are not optimized for the Mars surface and as a result operate at a reduced efficiency. A multi-year program, MOST (Mars Optimized Solar Cell Technology), managed by JPL and funded by NASA Code S, was initiated in 2004, to develop tools to modify commercial AM0 cells for the Mars surface solar spectrum and to fabricate Mars optimized devices for verification. This effort required defining the surface incident spectrum, developing an appropriate laboratory solar simulator measurement capability, and to develop and test commercial cells modified for the Mars surface spectrum. This paper discusses the program, including results for the initial modified cells. Simulated Mars surface measurements of MER cells and Phoenix Lander cells (2007 launch) are provided to characterize the performance loss for those missions. In addition, the performance of the MER rover solar arrays is updated to reflect their more than two (2) year operation.

Hinode ``a new solar observatory in space''

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsuneta, S.; Harra, L. K.; Masuda, S.

2009-05-01

Since its launch in September 2006, the Japan-US-UK solar physics satellite, Hinode, has continued its observation of the sun, sending back solar images of unprecedented clarity every day. Hinode is equipped with three telescopes, a visible light telescope, an X-ray telescope, and an extreme ultraviolet imaging spectrometer. The Hinode optical telescope has a large primary mirror measuring 50 centimeters in diameter and is the world's largest space telescope for observing the sun and its vector magnetic fields. The impact of Hinode as an optical telescope on solar physics is comparable to that of the Hubble Space Telescope on optical astronomy. While the optical telescope observes the sun's surface, the Hinode X-ray telescope captures images of the corona and the high-temperature flares that range between several million and several tens of millions of degrees. The telescope has captured coronal structures that are clearer than ever. The Hinode EUV imaging spectrometer possesses approximately ten times the sensitivity and four times the resolution of a similar instrument on the SOHO satellite. The source of energy for the sun is in the nuclear fusion reaction that takes place at its core. Here temperature drops closer to the surface, where the temperature measures about 6,000 degrees. Mysteriously, the temperature starts rising again above the surface, and the temperature of the corona is exceptionally high, several millions of degrees. It is as if water were boiling fiercely in a kettle placed on a stove with no fire, inconceivable as it may sound. The phenomenon is referred to as the coronal heating problem, and it is one of the major astronomical mysteries. The Hinode observatory was designed to solve this mystery. It is expected that Hinode would also provide clues to unraveling why strong magnetic fields are formed and how solar flares are triggered. An overview on the initial results from Hinode is presented. Dynamic video pictures captured by Hinode can be viewed on the website of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) at http://hinode.nao.ac.jp/index_e.shtml

The Hetu'u Global Network: Measuring the Distance to the Sun with the Transit of Venus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rodriguez, David; Faherty, J.

2013-01-01

In the spirit of historic astronomical endeavors, we invited school groups across the globe to collaborate in a solar distance measurement using the 2012 transit of Venus. In total, our group (stationed at Easter Island, Chile) recruited 19 school groups spread over 6 continents and 10 countries to participate in our Hetu’u Global Network. Applying the methods of French astronomer Joseph-Nicolas Delisle, we used individual second and third Venus-Sun contact times to calculate the distance to the Sun. Ten of the sites in our network had amiable weather; 8 of which measured second contact and 5 of which measured third contact leading to consistent solar distance measurements of 152+/-30 million km and 163+/-30 million km respectively. The distance to the Sun at the time of the transit was 152.25 million km; therefore, our measurements are also consistent within 1-sigma of the known value. The goal of our international school group network was to inspire the next generation of scientists using the excitement and accessibility of such a rare astronomical event. In the process, we connected hundreds of participating students representing a diverse, multi-cultural group with differing political, economic, and racial backgrounds.

Attic Inlet Technology Update

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Attic inlets are a popular addition for new construction and energy saving retrofits. Proper management of attic inlets is necessary to get maximum benefits from the system and reduce the likelihood of moisture-related problems in the structure. Solar energy levels were determined for the continen...

Concentrating Solar Power Projects - SunCan Dunhuang 10 MW Phase I |

Science.gov Websites

: Operational Start Year: 2016 Do you have more information, corrections, or comments? Background Technology Break Ground: August 30, 2014 Start Production: December 26, 2016 Cost (approx): 420 RMB million

High resolution X-ray spectra of solar flares. V - Interpretation of inner-shell transitions in Fe XX-Fe XXIII

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Doschek, G. A.; Feldman, U.; Cowan, R. D.

1981-01-01

The paper examines high-resolution solar flare iron line spectra recorded between 1.82 and 1.97 A by a spectrometer flown by the Naval Research Laboratory on an Air Force spacecraft launched on 1979 February 24. The emission line spectrum is due to inner-shell transitions in the ions Fe XX-Fe XXV. Using theoretical spectra and calculations of line intensities obtained by methods discussed by Merts, Cowan, and Magee (1976), electron temperatures as a function of time for two large class X flares are derived. These temperatures are deduced from intensities of lines of Fe XXII, Fe XXIII, and Fe XXIV. The determination of the differential emission measure between about 12-million and 20-million K using these temperatures is considered. The possibility of determining electron densities in flare and tokamak plasmas using the inner-shell spectra of Fe XXI and Fe XX is discussed.

News and Views: Kleopatra a pile of rubble, shedding moons; Did plasma flow falter to stretch solar minimum? Amateurs hit 20 million variable-star observations; Climate maths; Planetary priorities; New roles in BGA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2011-04-01

Metallic asteroid 216 Kleopatra is shaped like a dog's bone and has two tiny moons - which came from the asteroid itself - according to a team of astronomers from France and the US, who also measured its surprisingly low density and concluded that it is a collection of rubble. The recent solar minimum was longer and lower than expected, with a low polar field and an unusually large number of days with no sunspots visible. Models of the magnetic field and plasma flow within the Sun suggest that fast, then slow meridional flow could account for this pattern. Variable stars are a significant scientific target for amateur astronomers. The American Association of Variable Star Observers runs the world's largest database of variable star observations, from volunteers, and reached 20 million observations in February.

Paleoclimate of the Earth and solar activity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dergachev, V. A.

2017-09-01

The paper focuses on climate variations caused by the orbital effect and solar activity over the last one million years and oscillations (warming or cooling) of the climate since the last ice age retreat. Attention is paid to a significant discrepancy in the trend of global temperature change during the modern interglacial epoch (Holocene) obtained by various methods. A long-term cooling trend was observed in the summer temperature of the Northern Hemisphere during the last 2000 years.

KSC-97PC1141

NASA Image and Video Library

1997-07-29

The first stage of the Delta II rocket which will to be used to launch the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) spacecraft is erected at Launch Complex 17A at Cape Canaveral Air Station. Scheduled for launch on Aug. 25, ACE will study low-energy particles of solar origin and high-energy galactic particles. The ACE observatory will be placed into an orbit almost a million miles (1.5 million kilometers) away from the Earth, about 1/100 the distance from the Earth to the Sun

KSC-97PC1143

NASA Image and Video Library

1997-07-29

The first stage of the Delta II rocket which will to be used to launch the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) spacecraft is erected at Launch Complex 17A at Cape Canaveral Air Station. Scheduled for launch on Aug. 25, ACE will study low-energy particles of solar origin and high-energy galactic particles. The ACE observatory will be placed into an orbit almost a million miles (1.5 million kilometers) away from the Earth, about 1/100 the distance from the Earth to the Sun

KSC-97PC1142

NASA Image and Video Library

1997-07-29

The first stage of the Delta II rocket which will to be used to launch the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) spacecraft is erected at Launch Complex 17A at Cape Canaveral Air Station. Scheduled for launch on Aug. 25, ACE will study low-energy particles of solar origin and high-energy galactic particles. The ACE observatory will be placed into an orbit almost a million miles (1.5 million kilometers) away from the Earth, about 1/100 the distance from the Earth to the Sun

KSC-97PC1170

NASA Image and Video Library

1997-07-31

The solid rocket motors of the Delta II rocket which will to be used to launch the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) spacecraft are erected at Launch Complex 17A at Cape Canaveral Air Station. Scheduled for launch on Aug. 25, ACE will study low-energy particles of solar origin and high-energy galactic particles. The ACE observatory will be placed into an orbit almost a million miles (1.5 million kilometers) away from the Earth, about 1/100 the distance from the Earth to the Sun

KSC-97PC1175

NASA Image and Video Library

1997-08-02

The second stage of the Delta II rocket which will to be used to launch the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) spacecraft is erected at Launch Complex 17A at Cape Canaveral Air Station. Scheduled for launch on Aug. 25, ACE will study low-energy particles of solar origin and high-energy galactic particles. The ACE observatory will be placed into an orbit almost a million miles (1.5 million kilometers) away from the Earth, about 1/100 the distance from the Earth to the Sun

KSC-97PC1144

NASA Image and Video Library

1997-07-29

The first stage of the Delta II rocket which will to be used to launch the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) spacecraft is erected at Launch Complex 17A at Cape Canaveral Air Station. Scheduled for launch on Aug. 25, ACE will study low-energy particles of solar origin and high-energy galactic particles. The ACE observatory will be placed into an orbit almost a million miles (1.5 million kilometers) away from the Earth, about 1/100 the distance from the Earth to the Sun

Advanced Solar Cell Testing and Characterization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bailey, Sheila; Curtis, Henry; Piszczor, Michael

2005-01-01

The topic for this workshop stems from an ongoing effort by the photovoltaic community and U.S. government to address issues and recent problems associated with solar cells and arrays experienced by a number of different space systems. In April 2003, a workshop session was held at the Aerospace Space Power Workshop to discuss an effort by the Air Force to update and standardize solar cell and array qualification test procedures in an effort to ameliorate some of these problems. The organizers of that workshop session thought it was important to continue these discussions and present this information to the entire photovoltaic community. Thus, it was decided to include this topic as a workshop at the following SPRAT conference.

Research Update: Photoelectrochemical water splitting and photocatalytic hydrogen production using ferrites (MFe{sub 2}O{sub 4}) under visible light irradiation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dillert, Ralf; Laboratorium für Nano- und Quantenengineering, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Universität Hannover, Schneiderberg 39, 30167 Hannover; Taffa, Dereje H.

2015-10-01

The utilization of solar light for the photoelectrochemical and photocatalytic production of molecular hydrogen from water is a scientific and technical challenge. Semiconductors with suitable properties to promote solar-driven water splitting are a desideratum. A hitherto rarely investigated group of semiconductors are ferrites with the empirical formula MFe{sub 2}O{sub 4} and related compounds. This contribution summarizes the published results of the experimental investigations on the photoelectrochemical and photocatalytic properties of these compounds. It will be shown that the potential of this group of compounds in regard to the production of solar hydrogen has not been fully explored yet.

Close encounters and collisions of comets with the earth

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sekanina, Z.; Yeomans, D. K.

1984-01-01

A computer search for earth-approaching comets among those listed in Marsden's (1983) updated orbit catalog has identified 36 cases at which minimum separation distance was less than 2500 earth radii. A strong representation of short period comets in the sample is noted, and the constant rate of the close approaching comets in the last 300 years is interpreted to suggest the lack of long-period comets intrinsically fainter than an absolute magnitude of about 11. A comet-earth collision rate derived from the statistics of these close encounters implies an average period of 33-64 million years between any two events. This rate is comparable with the frequency of geologically recent global catastrophes which appear to be associated with extraterrestrial object impacts, such as the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction 65 million years ago and the late Eocene event 34 million years ago.

Solar energy system demonstration project at Wilmington Swim School, New Castle, Delaware

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

1980-07-01

A solar energy system located at the Wilmington Swim School, New Castle, Delaware is described. The system was designed for a 40 percent heating and a 30 percent hot water solar contribution serving the heat loads in the following order: space heat - new addition, domestic water - entire facility, and pool heating - entire facility. On a cost basis for 2920 hours of operation, the heat reclaimed would cost $969.66 annually if provided by gas at 3.79 per million Btu's. At 5.5 centers per kwh, heat recovery costs of $481.80 percent a net savings of $487.86 annually.

Solar energy system demonstration project at Wilmington Swim School, New Castle, Delaware

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1980-01-01

A solar energy system located at the Wilmington Swim School, New Castle, Delaware is described. The system was designed for a 40 percent heating and a 30 percent hot water solar contribution serving the heat loads in the following order: space heat - new addition, domestic water - entire facility, and pool heating - entire facility. On a cost basis for 2920 hours of operation, the heat reclaimed would cost $969.66 annually if provided by gas at 3.79 per million Btu's. At 5.5 centers per kwh, heat recovery costs of $481.80 percent a net savings of $487.86 annually.

Solar flare and galactic cosmic ray studies of Apollo 14 and 15 samples.

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Crozaz, G.; Drozd, R.; Hohenberg, C. M.; Hoyt, H. P., Jr.; Ragan, D.; Walker, R. M.; Yuhas, D.

1972-01-01

Thermoluminescence (TL) measurements in rock 14310 show a strong depth dependence consistent with that expected from solar flares. This effect should prove useful in studying solar flare fluctuations in the time interval of 100 to 100,000 years. Rare gas spallation ages for rock 14301, 14306, and 14311 are respectively 102 plus or minus 30, 25 plus or minus 2, and 661 plus or minus 72 m.y. The 14306 value supports the idea that Cone Crater was formed 25 million years ago. Groupings of exposure ages suggest the dates of other major cratering events. Galactic track data in 14310 show little depth dependence.

Chondritic Asteroids--When Did Aqueous Alteration Happen?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Doyle, P. M.

2015-06-01

Using a synthesized fayalite (Fe2SiO4) standard for improved 53Mn-53Cr radiometric age dating, Patricia Doyle (previously at the University of Hawaii and now at the University of Cape Town, South Africa) and coauthors from Hawaii, the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, University of Chicago, and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, analyzed aqueously formed fayalite in the ordinary chondrite Elephant Moraine 90161 (L3.05) and in the carbonaceous chondrites Asuka 881317 (CV3) and MacAlpine Hills 88107 (CO3-like) from Antarctica. The data obtained indicate that liquid water existed - and aqueous alteration started - on the chondritic parent bodies about three million years earlier than previously determined. This discovery has implications for understanding when and where the asteroids accreted. The 53Mn-53Cr chronology of chondrite aqueous alteration, combined with thermodynamic calculations and physical modeling, signifies that hydrated asteroids, at least those sampled by meteorites, accreted in the inner Solar System (2-4 AU) near the main asteroid belt 2-4 million years after the beginning of the Solar System, rather than migrating inward after forming in the Solar System's colder, outer regions beyond Jupiter's present orbit (5-15 AU).

NVST Data Archiving System Based On FastBit NoSQL Database

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Ying-bo; Wang, Feng; Ji, Kai-fan; Deng, Hui; Dai, Wei; Liang, Bo

2014-06-01

The New Vacuum Solar Telescope (NVST) is a 1-meter vacuum solar telescope that aims to observe the fine structures of active regions on the Sun. The main tasks of the NVST are high resolution imaging and spectral observations, including the measurements of the solar magnetic field. The NVST has been collecting more than 20 million FITS files since it began routine observations in 2012 and produces a maximum observational records of 120 thousand files in a day. Given the large amount of files, the effective archiving and retrieval of files becomes a critical and urgent problem. In this study, we implement a new data archiving system for the NVST based on the Fastbit Not Only Structured Query Language (NoSQL) database. Comparing to the relational database (i.e., MySQL; My Structured Query Language), the Fastbit database manifests distinctive advantages on indexing and querying performance. In a large scale database of 40 million records, the multi-field combined query response time of Fastbit database is about 15 times faster and fully meets the requirements of the NVST. Our study brings a new idea for massive astronomical data archiving and would contribute to the design of data management systems for other astronomical telescopes.

Toward Near Real-Time Tomography of the Upper Mantle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Debayle, E.; Dubuffet, F.

2014-12-01

We added a layer of automation to the Debayle and Ricard (2012)'s waveform modeling scheme for fundamental and higher mode surface waves in the period range 50-160s. We processed all the Rayleigh waveforms recorded on the LHZ channel by the virtual networks GSN_broadband, FDSN_all, and US_backbone between January 1996 and December 2013. Six millions of waveforms were obtained from IRIS DMC. We check that all the necessary information (instrument response, global CMT determination) is available and that each record includes a velocity window which encompasses the surface wave. Selected data must also have a signal-to-noise ratio greater than 3 in a range covering at least the periods between 50 and 100 s. About 3 millions of waveforms are selected (92% of the rejections are due to the signal to noise ratio criterion) and processed using Debayle and Ricard (2012)'s scheme, which allows the successful modeling of about 1.5 millions of waveforms. We complete this database with 60,000 waveforms recorded between 1976 and 1996 or after 1996 during various temporary experiments and with 161,730 Rayleigh waveforms analyzed at longer period, between 120 and 360 s. The whole data set is inverted using Debayle and Sambridge (2004)'s scheme to produce a 3D shear velocity model. A simple shell command "update_tomo" can then update our seismic model in an entirely automated way. Currently, this command checks from the CMT catalog what are the potential data available at the GSN_broadband, FDSN_all, and US_backbone virtual networks, uses web services to request these data from IRIS DMC and applies the processing chain described above to update our seismic model. We plan to update our seismic model on a regular basis in a near future, and to make it available on the web. Our most recent seismic model includes azimuthal anisotropy, achieves a lateral resolution of few hundred kilometers and a vertical resolution of a few tens of kilometers. The correlation with surface tectonics is very strong in the uppermost 200 km. Regions deeper than 400 km show no velocity contrasts larger than 1%, except for high velocity slabs which produce broad high velocity regions within the transition zone. The use of higher modes and long period surface waves allows us to extract the shear velocity structure down to about 1000 km depth.

Potential of Securitization in Solar PV Finance

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lowder, Travis; Mendelsohn, Michael

This report aims to demonstrate, hypothetically and at a high level, what volumes of solar deployment could be supported given solar industry access to the capital markets in the form of security issuance. Securitization is not anticipated to replace tax equity in the near- to mid-term, but it could provide an additional source of funds that would be comparatively inexpensive and could reduce the weighted average cost of capital for a given solar project or portfolio. Thus, the potential to securitize solar assets and seek financing in the capital markets could help to sustain the solar industry when the investmentmore » tax credit (ITC) -- one of the federal incentives that has leveraged billions of dollars of private capital in the solar industry -- drops from 30% to 10% at the close of 2016. The report offers analysis on the size of the U.S. third-party financed solar market, as well as on the volumes (in MW) of solar asset origination possible through a $100 million securitization fund (assuming no overcollateralization). It also provides data on the size of the relevant securities markets and how the solar asset class may fit into these markets.« less

New estimates of gaps and transitions in health insurance.

PubMed

Short, Pamela Farley; Graefe, Deborah R; Swartz, Katherine; Uberoi, Namrata

2012-12-01

Changes in individual or family circumstances cause many Americans to experience gaps and transitions in public and private health insurance. Using data from the 2004-2007 Survey of Income and Program Participation, this article updates earlier analyses of insurance gaps and transitions. Eighty-nine million people (one third of nonelderly Americans) were uninsured for at least 1 month during those 4 years. Approximately 23 million lost insurance more than once. The analyses call attention to the continuing instability and insecurity of health insurance, can inform implementation of national reforms, and establish a recent baseline that will be helpful in evaluating the reforms' effects on coverage stability.

Post-Launch Calibration and Testing of Space Weather Instruments on GOES-R Satellite

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tadikonda, S. K.; Merrow, Cynthia S.; Kronenwetter, Jeffrey A.; Comeyne, Gustave J.; Flanagan, Daniel G.; Todrita, Monica

2016-01-01

The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite - R (GOES-R) is the first of a series of satellites to be launched, with the first launch scheduled for October 2016. The three instruments Solar UltraViolet Imager (SUVI), Extreme ultraviolet and X-ray Irradiance Sensor (EXIS), and Space Environment In-Situ Suite (SEISS) provide the data needed as inputs for the product updates National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) provides to the public. SUVI is a full-disk extreme ultraviolet imager enabling Active Region characterization, filament eruption, and flare detection. EXIS provides inputs to solar back-ground-sevents impacting climate models. SEISS provides particle measurements over a wide energy-and-flux range that varies by several orders of magnitude and these data enable updates to spacecraft charge models for electrostatic discharge. EXIS and SEISS have been tested and calibrated end-to-end in ground test facilities around the United States. Due to the complexity of the SUVI design, data from component tests were used in a model to predict on-orbit performance. The ground tests and model updates provided inputs for designing the on-orbit calibration tests. A series of such tests have been planned for the Post-Launch Testing (PLT) of each of these instruments, and specific parameters have been identified that will be updated in the Ground Processing Algorithms, on-orbit parameter tables, or both. Some of SUVI and EXIS calibrations require slewing them off the Sun, while no such maneuvers are needed for SEISS. After a six-month PLT period the GOES-R is expected to be operational. The calibration details are presented in this paper.

Post-Launch Calibration and Testing of Space Weather Instruments on GOES-R Satellite

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tadikonda, Sivakumara S. K.; Merrow, Cynthia S.; Kronenwetter, Jeffrey A.; Comeyne, Gustave J.; Flanagan, Daniel G.; Todirita, Monica

2016-01-01

The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite - R (GOES-R) is the first of a series of satellites to be launched, with the first launch scheduled for October 2016. The three instruments - Solar Ultra Violet Imager (SUVI), Extreme ultraviolet and X-ray Irradiance Sensor (EXIS), and Space Environment In-Situ Suite (SEISS) provide the data needed as inputs for the product updates National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) provides to the public. SUVI is a full-disk extreme ultraviolet imager enabling Active Region characterization, filament eruption, and flare detection. EXIS provides inputs to solar backgrounds/events impacting climate models. SEISS provides particle measurements over a wide energy-and-flux range that varies by several orders of magnitude and these data enable updates to spacecraft charge models for electrostatic discharge. EXIS and SEISS have been tested and calibrated end-to-end in ground test facilities around the United States. Due to the complexity of the SUVI design, data from component tests were used in a model to predict on-orbit performance. The ground tests and model updates provided inputs for designing the on-orbit calibration tests. A series of such tests have been planned for the Post-Launch Testing (PLT) of each of these instruments, and specific parameters have been identified that will be updated in the Ground Processing Algorithms, on-orbit parameter tables, or both. Some of SUVI and EXIS calibrations require slewing them off the Sun, while no such maneuvers are needed for SEISS. After a six-month PLT period the GOES-R is expected to be operational. The calibration details are presented in this paper.

NewsMars: Express journey to Mars ASE 2003: Knocked out by meteorites Events: Sun-Earth Day ASE 2003: Fun Physics - popular as ever Appointments: Sykes to bring science to the people UK Science Education: The future's bright, the future's science ASE 2003: A grand finale for Catherine Teaching Resources: UK goes to the planets Cambridge Physics Update: Basement physics Conferences: Earth Science Teachers' Association Conference 2003 New Website: JESEI sets sail GIREP: Teacher education seminar Malaysia: Rewards for curriculum change Cambridge Physics Update: My boomerang will come back! Teaching Resources: Widening particiption through ideas and evidence with the University of Surrey Wales: First Ffiseg Events: Nuna: Solar car on tour Physics on Stage: Physics on Stage 3 embraces life Symposium: In what sense a nuclear 'debate'? Gifted and Talented: Able pupils experiencing challenging science Australia: ISS flies high Down Under

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2003-03-01

Mars: Express journey to Mars ASE 2003: Knocked out by meteorites Events: Sun-Earth Day ASE 2003: Fun Physics - popular as ever Appointments: Sykes to bring science to the people UK Science Education: The future's bright, the future's science ASE 2003: A grand finale for Catherine Teaching Resources: UK goes to the planets Cambridge Physics Update: Basement physics Conferences: Earth Science Teachers' Association Conference 2003 New Website: JESEI sets sail GIREP: Teacher education seminar Malaysia: Rewards for curriculum change Cambridge Physics Update: My boomerang will come back! Teaching Resources: Widening particiption through ideas and evidence with the University of Surrey Wales: First Ffiseg Events: Nuna: Solar car on tour Physics on Stage: Physics on Stage 3 embraces life Symposium: In what sense a nuclear 'debate'? Gifted and Talented: Able pupils experiencing challenging science Australia: ISS flies high Down Under

Chemical Agent Resistant Coatings: Status Update

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-02-01

Phosphate Alternatives for Ferrous  Low Solar Absorbing and Insulative Reactive or self decontaminating • Super hydrophobic & olephobic coatings • UV... epoxy primer (0.8 - 1.2 mils) Substrate (ferrous or nonferrous) CARC Camouflage Polyurethane Topcoat (1.8 mil) Chemical Conversion Coating (0.2-0.3

Concentrating Solar Power Projects - City of Medicine Hat ISCC Project |

Science.gov Websites

trough Turbine Capacity: Net: 1.1 MW Gross: 1.1 MW Status: Operational Start Year: 2014 Do you have more Start Production: November 2014 Cost (approx): 9 $ million Project Type: ISCC Demonstration Participants

Neutrino oscillations refitted

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Forero, D. V.; Tórtola, M.; Valle, J. W. F.

2014-11-01

Here, we update our previous global fit of neutrino oscillations by including the recent results that have appeared since the Neutrino 2012 conference. These include the measurements of reactor antineutrino disappearance reported by Daya Bay and RENO, together with latest T2K and MINOS data including both disappearance and appearance channels. We also include the revised results from the third solar phase of Super-Kamiokande, SK-III, as well as new solar results from the fourth phase of Super-Kamiokande, SK-IV. We find that the preferred global determination of the atmospheric angle θ23 is consistent with maximal mixing. We also determine the impact of the new data upon all the other neutrino oscillation parameters with an emphasis on the increasing sensitivity to the C P phase, thanks to the interplay between accelerator and reactor data. In the Appendix, we present the updated results obtained after the inclusion of new reactor data presented at the Neutrino 2014 conference. We discuss their impact on the global neutrino analysis.

Cassini observations of carbon-based anions in Titan's ionosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Desai, Ravindra; Lewis, Gethyn; Waite, J. Hunter; Kataria, Dhiren; Wellbrock, Anne; Jones, Geraint; Coates, Andrew

2016-07-01

Cassini observations of Titan's ionosphere revealed an atmosphere rich in positively and negatively charged ions and organic molecules. The detection of large quantities of negatively charged ions was particularly surprising and adds Titan to the growing list of locations where anion chemistry has been observed to play an important role. In this study we present updated analysis on these negatively charged ions through an enhanced understanding of the Cassini CAPS Electron Spectrometer (CAPS-ELS) instrument response. The ionisation of Titan's dominant atmospheric constituent, N2, by the HeII Solar line, results in an observable photoelectron population at 24.1eV which we use to correct for differential spacecraft charging. Correcting for further energy-angle signatures within this dataset, we use an updated fitting procedure to show how the ELS mass spectrum, previously grouped into broad mass ranges, can be resolved into specific peaks at multiples of carbon-based anion species up to over 100amu/q. These peaks are shown to be ubiquitous within Titan's upper atmosphere and reminiscent of carbon-based anions identified in dense molecular clouds beyond our Solar System. It is thus shown how the moon Titan in the Outer Solar System can be used as an analogue to study these even more remote and exotic astrophysical environments.

ESSA and Students with Disabilities. Policy Update. Vol. 23, No. 20

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parsi, Ace; Casey, Meghan

2016-01-01

The nation's six million students with disabilities have graduation rates nearly 25 percent lower than their general education peers and significantly lower postsecondary enrollment and completion rates. For the last decade and a half, state policy leaders have decried No Child Left Behind's lack of flexibility and one-size-fits-all design for…

ESSA and English Language Learners. Policy Update. Vol. 23, No. 21

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parsi, Ace

2016-01-01

Representing an estimated 4.4 million students in the United States, English language learners (ELLs) are the fastest growing segment of the public school population and yet are twice as likely to drop out of high school and significantly less likely to attend and complete postsecondary education. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) includes…

76 FR 39077 - Notice of Commission Meeting and Public Hearing

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-07-05

... Borough, D-1974-061 CP-3. An application to renew the approval to discharge up to 0.345 million gallons... County, Pennsylvania. 2. Ambler Borough, D-1975-016 CP-3. An application to renew the approval to..., Pennsylvania. 3. Robeson Township, D-1983-034 CP-2. An application to update the approval of the existing 0.30...

Le Monde’s Perception of the U.S.-Soviet Strategic Balance: An Update for 1979-1981.

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-12-01

ICBMs in silos comprised 56 percent of their launchers [ lanceurs ], 75 percent of their warheads [ogives], and 70 percent of their throw-weight. For the... structures , in-place protection of one part of the population (about 20 million inhabitants) is anticipated, and the movement of the rest to less

The Read-Aloud Handbook. Fourth Edition. Revised and Updated.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Trelease, Jim

This new edition of a guide which has made reading aloud a special pleasure for millions of people offers a chance for a new generation of parents, teachers, grandparents, and siblings to discover the rewards--and the necessity--of reading aloud. The guide provides an up-to-date annotated bibliography ("treasury") of more than 1200…

Solar energy system performance evaluation: Seasonal report for IBM System 1B, Carlsbad, New Mexico

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1980-01-01

A hot solar heating and hot water system's operational performance from April 1979 through March 1980 is evaluated. The space heating and hot water loads were near expected values for the year. Solar energy provided 43 percent of the space heating and 53 percent of the hot water energy. The system did not meet the total system solar fraction design value of 69 percent because of a combination of higher estimated space heating load than was actually encountered and the apportioning of solar energy between the space heating and the domestic hot water loads. System losses and high building temperatures also contributed to this deviation. Total net savings were 23.072 million BTUs. Most of the energy savings came during the winter months, but hot water savings were sufficient to justify running the system during the summer months.

On the watch for geomagnetic storms

USGS Publications Warehouse

Green, Arthur W.; Brown, William M.

1997-01-01

Geomagnetic storms, induced by solar activity, pose significant hazards to satellites, electrical power distribution systems, radio communications, navigation, and geophysical surveys. Strong storms can expose astronauts and crews of high-flying aircraft to dangerous levels of radiation. Economic losses from recent geomagnetic storms have run into hundreds of millions of dollars. With the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) as the lead agency, an international network of geomagnetic observatories monitors the onset of solar-induced storms and gives warnings that help diminish losses to military and commercial operations and facilities.

KSC-2009-4762

NASA Image and Video Library

2009-08-17

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- At Vandenberg Air Force Base's Astrotech processing facility in California, NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, spacecraft is situated on a work stand. At right is the fixed panel solar array. The satellite will survey the entire sky at infrared wavelengths, creating a cosmic clearinghouse of hundreds of millions of objects, which will be catalogued, providing a vast storehouse of knowledge about the solar system, the Milky Way, and the universe. Launch is scheduled no earlier than Dec. 10. Photo credit: NASA/Moore, VAFB

KSC-2009-4759

NASA Image and Video Library

2009-08-17

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- At Vandenberg Air Force Base's Astrotech processing facility in California, workers secure NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, spacecraft onto a work stand. At right is seen the fixed panel solar array. The satellite will survey the entire sky at infrared wavelengths, creating a cosmic clearinghouse of hundreds of millions of objects, which will be catalogued, providing a vast storehouse of knowledge about the solar system, the Milky Way, and the universe. Launch is scheduled no earlier than Dec. 10. Photo credit: NASA/Moore, VAFB

KSC-2009-4761

NASA Image and Video Library

2009-08-17

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- At Vandenberg Air Force Base's Astrotech processing facility in California, NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, spacecraft is situated on a work stand. In front is the fixed panel solar array. The satellite will survey the entire sky at infrared wavelengths, creating a cosmic clearinghouse of hundreds of millions of objects, which will be catalogued, providing a vast storehouse of knowledge about the solar system, the Milky Way, and the universe. Launch is scheduled no earlier than Dec. 10. Photo credit: NASA/Moore, VAFB

NREL's Renewable Energy Development Expertise Reduces Project Risks (Fact Sheet)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

2012-12-01

This National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) success story fact sheet highlights a June 2012 solar power purchase agreement between the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority and three corporations. The fact sheet describes how technical assistance from DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory enabled the U.S. Virgin Islands to realistically assess its clean energy resources and identify the most viable and cost-effective solutions to its energy challenges--resulting in a $65 million investment in solar energy in the territory.

Diffusion of Innovation: Factors Promoting Interest in Solar Photovoltaic Generation Systems Within Air Force Installations

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-03-01

KMO Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin KW Kilo-watts KwH Kilo-watt-hour MAJCOM Major Command MSR Million Solar Roofs MW Mega-watts MWH/yr Mega-watt...direct oblimin rotation and factor restriction for each analysis. A Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin ( KMO ) value of .315 was calculated for the items related to...knowledge, experience, and familiarity, while a KMO value of .389 was calculated for the items related to the two variables of motivation and interest

Ballet of Loops

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-06-11

Giant, bright coronal loops trace out the magnetic field lines above an active region from June 4-6, 2018. The wavelength of extreme ultraviolet light shown here is emitted by ionized iron travelling along the field lines, super-heated to approximately 1 million degrees K. Coronal loops were not seen in this level of detail until the Solar Dynamics Observatory was launched in 2010 and came online, giving solar scientists new data with which to study the Sun and its processes. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA22508

Solar Smarter Faster

ScienceCinema

Armbrust, Dan; Haldar, Pradeep; Kaloyeros, Alain; Holladay, Dan

2018-05-11

As part of the SunShot Initiative, U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced on April 15th the selection of up to $112.5 million over five years for funding to support the development of advanced solar photovoltaic (PV)-related manufacturing processes throughout the United States. The effort is led by Sematech, with a proven track record in breathing life back into the US semiconduster industry, and in partnership with CNSE, The College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, who supplies world class R&D experts and facilities.

Bright Solar Flare

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-12-08

A bright solar flare is captured by the EIT 195Å instrument on 1998 May 2. A solar flare (a sudden, rapid, and intense variation in brightness) occurs when magnetic energy that has built up in the solar atmosphere is suddenly released, launching material outward at millions of km per hour. The Sun’s magnetic fields tend to restrain each other and force the buildup of tremendous energy, like twisting rubber bands, so much that they eventually break. At some point, the magnetic lines of force merge and cancel in a process known as magnetic reconnection, causing plasma to forcefully escape from the Sun. Credit: NASA/GSFC/SOHO/ESA To learn more go to the SOHO website: sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/home.html To learn more about NASA's Sun Earth Day go here: sunearthday.nasa.gov/2010/index.php

On the generation of solar spicules and Alfvénic waves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martínez-Sykora, J.; De Pontieu, B.; Hansteen, V. H.; Rouppe van der Voort, L.; Carlsson, M.; Pereira, T. M. D.

2017-06-01

In the lower solar atmosphere, the chromosphere is permeated by jets known as spicules, in which plasma is propelled at speeds of 50 to 150 kilometers per second into the corona. The origin of the spicules is poorly understood, although they are expected to play a role in heating the million-degree corona and are associated with Alfvénic waves that help drive the solar wind. We compare magnetohydrodynamic simulations of spicules with observations from the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph and the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope. Spicules are shown to occur when magnetic tension is amplified and transported upward through interactions between ions and neutrals or ambipolar diffusion. The tension is impulsively released to drive flows, heat plasma (through ambipolar diffusion), and generate Alfvénic waves.

Have We Entered a 21st Century Prolonged Minimum of Solar Activity? Updated Implications of a 1987 Prediction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shirley, James H.

2009-05-01

Fairbridge and Shirley (1987) predicted that a new prolonged minimum of solar activity would be underway by the year 2013 (Solar Physics 110, 191). While it is much too early to tell if this prediction will be fully realized, recent observations document a striking reduction in the Sun's general level of activity. While other forecasts of reduced future activity levels on decadal time scales have appeared, the Fairbridge-Shirley (FS) prediction is unique in pinpointing the current epoch. We are unaware of any forecast method that shows a better correspondence with the actual behavior of the Sun to this point. The FS prediction was based on the present-day recurrence of two physical indicators that were correlated in time with the occurrence of the Wolf, Sporer, and Maunder Minima. The amplitude of the inertial revolution of the axis of symmetry of the Sun's orbital motion about the solar system barycenter, and the direction in space of that axis, each bear a relationship to the occurrence of the prolonged minima of the historic record. The FS prediction appeared before the importance of solar meridional flows was generally appreciated, and before the existence and role of the tachocline was suspected. We will update and restate some of the physical implications of the FS results, along with those of some more recent investigations, particularly with reference to orbit-spin coupling hypotheses (Shirley, 2006: M.N.R.A.S. 368, 280). New investigations combining and integrating modern dynamo models with physical solutions describing key aspects of the variability of the solar motion may lead to significant advances in our ability to forecast future changes in the Sun. Acknowledgement: This work was supported by the resources of the author. No part of this work was performed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory under a contract from NASA.

Calculating salt loads to Great Salt Lake and the associated uncertainties for water year 2013; updating a 48 year old standard

USGS Publications Warehouse

Shope, Christopher L.; Angeroth, Cory E.

2015-01-01

Effective management of surface waters requires a robust understanding of spatiotemporal constituent loadings from upstream sources and the uncertainty associated with these estimates. We compared the total dissolved solids loading into the Great Salt Lake (GSL) for water year 2013 with estimates of previously sampled periods in the early 1960s.We also provide updated results on GSL loading, quantitatively bounded by sampling uncertainties, which are useful for current and future management efforts. Our statistical loading results were more accurate than those from simple regression models. Our results indicate that TDS loading to the GSL in water year 2013 was 14.6 million metric tons with uncertainty ranging from 2.8 to 46.3 million metric tons, which varies greatly from previous regression estimates for water year 1964 of 2.7 million metric tons. Results also indicate that locations with increased sampling frequency are correlated with decreasing confidence intervals. Because time is incorporated into the LOADEST models, discrepancies are largely expected to be a function of temporally lagged salt storage delivery to the GSL associated with terrestrial and in-stream processes. By incorporating temporally variable estimates and statistically derived uncertainty of these estimates,we have provided quantifiable variability in the annual estimates of dissolved solids loading into the GSL. Further, our results support the need for increased monitoring of dissolved solids loading into saline lakes like the GSL by demonstrating the uncertainty associated with different levels of sampling frequency.

Lengthy Coronal Hole

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-01-09

An elongated coronal hole rotated across the face of the sun this past week so that it is now streaming solar wind towards Earth (Jan. 2-5, 2017). Coronal holes are areas of open magnetic field from which solar wind particles stream into space. In this wavelength of extreme ultraviolet light it appears as a dark area near the center and lower portion of the sun. The particle stream will likely generate aurora here on Earth. Check spaceweather.com for updates on auroral activity. Movies are available at http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA14093

Forthcoming Occultations of Astrometric Radio Sources by Planets

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

L'vov, Victor; Malkin, Zinovy; Tsekmeister, Svetlana

2010-01-01

Astrometric observations of radio source occultations by solar system bodies may be of large interest for testing gravity theories, dynamical astronomy, and planetary physics. In this paper, we present an updated list of the occultations of astrometric radio sources by planets expected in the coming years. Such events, like solar eclipses, generally speaking can only be observed in a limited region. A map of the shadow path is provided for the events that will occurr in regions with several VLBI stations and hence will be the most interesting for radio astronomy experiments.

Super-Kamiokande [CETUP 2015: Workshop on dark matter, neutrino physics and astrophysics; PPC 2015: 9. international conference on interconnections between particle physics and cosmology

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Magro, Lluís Martí, E-mail: martillu@suketto.icrr.u-tokyo.ac.jp

The Super-Kamiokande experiment performs a large variety of studies, many of them in the neutrino sector. The archetypes are atmospheric neutrino (recently awarded with the Nobel prize for Mr. T. Kajita) and the solar neutrinos analyses. In these proceedings we report our latest results and present updates to indirect dark matter searches, our solar neutrino analysis and discuss the future upgrade of Super-Kamiokande by loading gadolinium into our ultra-pure water.

Update of the 2 Kw Solar Dynamic Ground Test Demonstration Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shaltens, Richard K.; Boyle, Robert V.

1994-01-01

The Solar Dynamic (SD) Ground Test Demonstration (GTD) program demonstrates the operation of a complete 2 kW, SD system in a simulated space environment at a NASA Lewis Research Center (LeRC) thermal-vacuum facility. This paper reviews the goals and status of the SD GTD program. A brief description of the SD system identifying key design features of the system, subsystems, and components is included. An aerospace industry/government team is working together to design, fabricate, assemble, and test a complete SD system.

Validation of the National Solar Radiation Database (NSRDB) (2005-2012): Preprint

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sengupta, Manajit; Weekley, Andrew; Habte, Aron

Publicly accessible, high-quality, long-term, satellite-based solar resource data is foundational and critical to solar technologies to quantify system output predictions and deploy solar energy technologies in grid-tied systems. Solar radiation models have been in development for more than three decades. For many years, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) developed and/or updated such models through the National Solar Radiation Data Base (NSRDB). There are two widely used approaches to derive solar resource data from models: (a) an empirical approach that relates ground-based observations to satellite measurements and (b) a physics-based approach that considers the radiation received at the satellite andmore » creates retrievals to estimate clouds and surface radiation. Although empirical methods have been traditionally used for computing surface radiation, the advent of faster computing has made operational physical models viable. The Global Solar Insolation Project (GSIP) is an operational physical model from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that computes global horizontal irradiance (GHI) using the visible and infrared channel measurements from the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) system. GSIP uses a two-stage scheme that first retrieves cloud properties and then uses those properties in the Satellite Algorithm for Surface Radiation Budget (SASRAB) model to calculate surface radiation. NREL, the University of Wisconsin, and NOAA have recently collaborated to adapt GSIP to create a high temporal and spatial resolution data set. The product initially generates the cloud properties using the AVHRR Pathfinder Atmospheres-Extended (PATMOS-x) algorithms [3], whereas the GHI is calculated using SASRAB. Then NREL implements accurate and high-resolution input parameters such as aerosol optical depth (AOD) and precipitable water vapor (PWV) to compute direct normal irradiance (DNI) using the DISC model. The AOD and PWV, temperature, and pressure data are also combined with the MMAC model to simulate solar radiation under clear-sky conditions. The current NSRDB update is based on a 4-km x 4-km resolution at a 30-minute time interval, which has a higher temporal and spatial resolution. This paper demonstrates the evaluation of the data set using ground-measured data and detailed evaluation statistics. The result of the comparison shows a good correlation to the NSRDB data set. Further, an outline of the new version of the NSRDB and future plans for enhancement and improvement are provided.« less

Solar-assisted gas-energy water-heating feasibility for apartments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Davis, E. S.

1975-01-01

Studies of residential energy use, solar-energy technology for buildings, and the requirements for implementing technology in the housing industry led to a project to develop a solar water heater for apartments. A design study for a specific apartment was used to establish a solar water-heater cost model which is based on plumbing contractor bids and manufacturer estimates. The cost model was used to size the system to minimize the annualized cost of hot water. The annualized cost of solar-assisted gas-energy water heating is found to be less expensive than electric water heating but more expensive than gas water heating. The feasibility of a natural gas utility supplying the auxiliary fuel is evaluated. It is estimated that gas-utilizing companies will find it profitable to offer solar water heating as part of a total energy service option or on a lease basis when the price of new base-load supplies of natural gas reaches $2.50-$3.00 per million Btu.

Golden Rays - July 2016 | Solar Research | NREL

Science.gov Websites

. See the video or read the NREL news release. Must Reads Side-by-Side Comparison of CPV Module and installations across the country, and the next million systems are expected to be installed during the next 2

Solar-cosmic-ray fluxes during the last ten million years

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reedy, Robert C.; Marti, Kurt

1991-01-01

The fluxes of energetic (E is greater than or approximately equal to 10 MeV) solar particles in the vicinity of the earth in the past can be determined from nuclides that they produced in the top centimeter of lunar rocks. Activity-vs-depth profiles of short-lived radioactivities measured in the top centimeter of lunar rocks agree with profiles calculated with directly measured solar-proton fluxes since about 1965 and were used with indirect observations to get solar-proton fluxes back to 1956. Lunar-rock profiles for long-lived radionuclides have been used to infer solar-proton fluxes averaged over several time periods in the past. New results are reported for solar-proton-produced Kr-81 measured in lunar rock 68815. Activities of 76,000-yr Ni-59 can be used to get fluxes of solar alpha particles averaged over the last 100,000 yr. The average solar-proton fluxes in the past are not greatly different from those observed during the last three 11-yr solar cycles. The work that needs to be done to determine more and better fluxes of energetic particles from the sun in the past is discussed.

Terminal navigation analysis for the 1980 comet Encke slow flyby mission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jacobson, R. A.; Mcdanell, J. P.; Rinker, G. C.

1973-01-01

The initial results of a terminal navigation analysis for the proposed 1980 solar electric slow flyby mission to the comet Encke are presented. The navigation technique employs onboard optical measurements with the scientific television camera, groundbased observations of the spacecraft and comet, and groundbased orbit determination and thrust vector update computation. The knowledge and delivery accuracies of the spacecraft are evaluated as a function of the important parameters affecting the terminal navigation. These include optical measurement accuracy, thruster noise level, duration of the planned terminal coast period, comet ephemeris uncertainty, guidance initiation time, guidance update frequency, and optical data rate.

Managing, profiling and analyzing a library of 2.6 million compounds gathered from 32 chemical providers.

PubMed

Monge, Aurélien; Arrault, Alban; Marot, Christophe; Morin-Allory, Luc

2006-08-01

The data for 3.8 million compounds from structural databases of 32 providers were gathered and stored in a single chemical database. Duplicates are removed using the IUPAC International Chemical Identifier. After this, 2.6 million compounds remain. Each database and the final one were studied in term of uniqueness, diversity, frameworks, 'drug-like' and 'lead-like' properties. This study also shows that there are more than 87 000 frameworks in the database. It contains 2.1 million 'drug-like' molecules among which, more than one million are 'lead-like'. This study has been carried out using 'ScreeningAssistant', a software dedicated to chemical databases management and screening sets generation. Compounds are stored in a MySQL database and all the operations on this database are carried out by Java code. The druglikeness and leadlikeness are estimated with 'in-house' scores using functions to estimate convenience to properties; unicity using the InChI code and diversity using molecular frameworks and fingerprints. The software has been conceived in order to facilitate the update of the database. 'ScreeningAssistant' is freely available under the GPL license.

Baby Solar System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Currie, Thayne; Grady, Carol

2012-01-01

What did our solar system look like in its infancy,...... when the planets were forming? We cannot travel back in time to take an image of the early solar system, but in principle we can have the next best thing: images of infant planetary systems around Sun-like stars with ages of 1 to 5 million years, the time we think it took for the giant planets to form. Infant exoplanetary systems are critically important because they can help us understand how our solar system fits within the context of planet formation in general. More than 80% of stars are born with gas- and dust-rich disks, and thus have the potential to form planets. Through many methods we have identified more than 760 planetary systems around middle-aged stars like the Sun, but many of these have architectures that look nothing like our solar system. Young planetary systems are important missing links between various endpoints and may help us understand how and when these differences emerge. Well-known star-forming regions in Taurus, Scorpius. and Orion contain stars that could have infant planetary systems. But these stars are much more distant than our nearest neighbors such as Alpha Centauri or Sirius, making it extremely challenging to produce clear images of systems that can reveal signs of recent planet formation, let alone reveal the planets themselves. Recently, a star with the unassuming name LkCa 15 may have given us our first detailed "baby picture" of a young planetary system similar to our solar system. Located about 450 light-years away in the Taurus starforming region. LkCa 15 has a mass comparable to the Sun (0.97 solar mass) and an age of l to 5 million years, comparable to the time at which Saturn and perhaps Jupiter formed. The star is surrounded by a gas-rich disk similar in structure to the one in our solar system from which the planets formed. With new technologies and observing strategies, we have confirmed suspicions that LkCa 15's disk harbors a young planetary system.

Argentina: the road to energy independence. Part 1. Petroleum and natural gas (in English and Spanish)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1982-12-09

It is established that Argentina is now self-sufficient in oil. The only import contract (with Saudi Arabia) was to expire at the end of 1982. But new discoveries are needed and more conservation measures taken to avoid imports without endangering industrial development. Oil reserves currently are about 2500 million barrels. Production was 179.7 million barrels in 1980 and 181.4 million barrels in 1981; production in 1982 should slightly exceed that of 1981. Natural gas reserves have increased during the past 16 years from almost 6321 million cubic feet in 1966 to 22,919 million cubic feet in 1982. Brazil and Uruguaymore » are suggested as possible importers. Argentine territory contains 19 sedimentary basins (43% in the continent and 36% on its continental shelf). According to Gas del Estado, the 10 main sedimentary basins have an estimated 21,189 million cubic feet of proven reserves of natural gas. One official estimates that there are also some 8,829,000 million cubic feet more in the country. Argentina's natural gas production in the first half of 1982 was 196,173 million cubic feet; production in 1981 was 399,056 million cubic feet; 368,191 in 1980; 342,517 in 1979, and 317,055 in 1978. Natural gas participation in total national energy consumption is now 23%, and oil is 67%. Officials expect natural gas to account for 30% by 1985. The Energy Detente fuel price/tax series is updated for countries of the Eastern Hemisphere.« less

TRAPPIST-1 Compared to Jovian Moons and Inner Solar System - Updated Feb. 2018

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-02-05

All seven planets discovered in orbit around the red dwarf star TRAPPIST-1 could easily fit inside the orbit of Mercury, the innermost planet of our solar system. In fact, they would have room to spare. TRAPPIST-1 also is only a fraction of the size of our Sun; it isn't much larger than Jupiter. So, the TRAPPIST-1 system's proportions look more like Jupiter and its moons than those of our solar system. The seven planets of TRAPPIST-1 are all Earth-sized and terrestrial. TRAPPIST-1 is an ultra-cool dwarf star in the constellation Aquarius, and its planets orbit very close to it. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA22096

Polycrystalline silicon material availability and market pricing outlook for 1980 through 1988

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Costogue, E. N.; Ferber, R. R.

1984-01-01

The results of the second JPL update to an original report to assess the availability and prices of polycrystalline Si for solar cells in the 1983-88 interval are reported. It is noted that the demand for poly-Si for solar cells competes with the demand for the same material for semiconductors, although the solar cell industry can use material rejected from the semiconductor industry. A sufficient supply is projected for the 6 yr period, rising from 3224 metric tons to 10,220 metric tons in 1988, with prices dropping from the 1980 level of $140/kg to $25/kg. The price reduction and improved production are noted to be due in large part to DOE efforts at defining lower-cost production processes.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Goltz, G.; Weiner, H.

A computer program has been developed for designing and analyzing the performance of solar array/battery power systems for the U.S. Coast Guard Navigational Aids. This program is called the Design Synthesis/Performance Analysis (DSPA) Computer Program. The basic function of the Design Synthesis portion of the DSPA program is to evaluate functional and economic criteria to provide specifications for viable solar array/battery power systems. The basic function of the Performance Analysis portion of the DSPA program is to simulate the operation of solar array/battery power systems under specific loads and environmental conditions. This document provides a detailed description of the DSPAmore » Computer Program system and its subprograms. This manual will assist the programmer in revising or updating the several subprograms.« less

Using a Magnetic Flux Transport Model to Predict the Solar Cycle

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lyatskaya, S.; Hathaway, D.; Winebarger, A.

2007-01-01

We present the results of an investigation into the use of a magnetic flux transport model to predict the amplitude of future solar cycles. Recently Dikpati, de Toma, & Gilman (2006) showed how their dynamo model could be used to accurately predict the amplitudes of the last eight solar cycles and offered a prediction for the next solar cycle - a large amplitude cycle. Cameron & Schussler (2007) found that they could reproduce this predictive skill with a simple 1-dimensional surface flux transport model - provided they used the same parameters and data as Dikpati, de Toma, & Gilman. However, when they tried incorporating the data in what they argued was a more realistic manner, they found that the predictive skill dropped dramatically. We have written our own code for examining this problem and have incorporated updated and corrected data for the source terms - the emergence of magnetic flux in active regions. We present both the model itself and our results from it - in particular our tests of its effectiveness at predicting solar cycles.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Osborn, C.S.; Osborn, D.E.

Through a small grant from the Center for Renewable Resources and a matching grant from the Arizona Solar Energy Commission, the Arizona Solar Energy Association has produced a state-wide catalogue of model solar projects. This catalogue presents some of the best solar and conservation projects in the state. It includes solar buildings, educational programs, community development programs, agricultural and industrial projects, state and legislative efforts, and commercial and business programs. Project selection was based on five main considerations: (1) cost-effectiveness, (2) valuable use of resources, (3) generation of jobs and transfer of skills, (4) replicability, and (5) scope. Shorter descriptionsmore » of significant projects not meeting the selection criteria were also included. The development of the catalogue program, its use and impact as a networking tool and the development and implementation of a regular updating program are described. The success of this type of program on information exchange, public education, and cross fertilization are explored. Special emphasis projects from the catalogue are also described.« less

Magnetic tornadoes as energy channels into the solar corona.

PubMed

Wedemeyer-Böhm, Sven; Scullion, Eamon; Steiner, Oskar; van der Voort, Luc Rouppe; de la Cruz Rodriguez, Jaime; Fedun, Viktor; Erdélyi, Robert

2012-06-27

Heating the outer layers of the magnetically quiet solar atmosphere to more than one million kelvin and accelerating the solar wind requires an energy flux of approximately 100 to 300 watts per square metre, but how this energy is transferred and dissipated there is a puzzle and several alternative solutions have been proposed. Braiding and twisting of magnetic field structures, which is caused by the convective flows at the solar surface, was suggested as an efficient mechanism for atmospheric heating. Convectively driven vortex flows that harbour magnetic fields are observed to be abundant in the photosphere (the visible surface of the Sun). Recently, corresponding swirling motions have been discovered in the chromosphere, the atmospheric layer sandwiched between the photosphere and the corona. Here we report the imprints of these chromospheric swirls in the transition region and low corona, and identify them as observational signatures of rapidly rotating magnetic structures. These ubiquitous structures, which resemble super-tornadoes under solar conditions, reach from the convection zone into the upper solar atmosphere and provide an alternative mechanism for channelling energy from the lower into the upper solar atmosphere.

Solar Activity Forecasting for use in Orbit Prediction

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schatten, Kenneth

2001-01-01

Orbital prediction for satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) or low planetary orbit depends strongly on exospheric densities. Solar activity forecasting is important in orbital prediction, as the solar UV and EUV inflate the upper atmospheric layers of the Earth and planets, forming the exosphere in which satellites orbit. Geomagnetic effects also relate to solar activity. Because of the complex and ephemeral nature of solar activity, with different cycles varying in strength by more than 100%, many different forecasting techniques have been utilized. The methods range from purely numerical techniques (essentially curve fitting) to numerous oddball schemes, as well as a small subset, called 'Precursor techniques.' The situation can be puzzling, owing to the numerous methodologies involved, somewhat akin to the numerous ether theories near the turn of the last century. Nevertheless, the Precursor techniques alone have a physical basis, namely dynamo theory, which provides a physical explanation for why this subset seems to work. I discuss this solar cycle's predictions, as well as the Sun's observed activity. I also discuss the SODA (Solar Dynamo Amplitude) index, which provides the user with the ability to track the Sun's hidden, interior dynamo magnetic fields. As a result, one may then update solar activity predictions continuously, by monitoring the solar magnetic fields as they change throughout the solar cycle. This paper ends by providing a glimpse into what the next solar cycle (#24) portends.

Development, Production and Validation of the NOAA Solar Irradiance Climate Data Record

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Coddington, O.; Lean, J.; Pilewskie, P.; Snow, M. A.; Lindholm, D. M.

2015-12-01

A new climate data record of Total Solar Irradiance (TSI) and Solar Spectral Irradiance (SSI), including source code and supporting documentation is now publicly available as part of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) Climate Data Record (CDR) Program. Daily and monthly averaged values of TSI and SSI, with associated time and wavelength dependent uncertainties, are estimated from 1882 to the present with yearly averaged values since 1610, updated quarterly for the foreseeable future. The new Solar Irradiance Climate Data Record, jointly developed by the University of Colorado at Boulder's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) and the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), is constructed from solar irradiance models that determine the changes from quiet Sun conditions when bright faculae and dark sunspots are present on the solar disk. The magnitudes of the irradiance changes that these features produce are determined from linear regression of the proxy Mg II index and sunspot area indices against the approximately decade-long solar irradiance measurements made by instruments on the SOlar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) spacecraft. We describe the model formulation, uncertainty estimates, operational implementation and validation approach. Future efforts to improve the uncertainty estimates of the Solar Irradiance CDR arising from model assumptions, and augmentation of the solar irradiance reconstructions with direct measurements from the Total and Spectral Solar Irradiance Sensor (TSIS: launch date, July 2017) are also discussed.

Seismological comparisons of solar models with element diffusion using the MHD, OPAL, and SIREFF equations of state

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Guzik, J.A.; Swenson, F.J.

We compare the thermodynamic and helioseismic properties of solar models evolved using three different equation of state (EOS) treatments: the Mihalas, D{umlt a}ppen & Hummer EOS tables (MHD); the latest Rogers, Swenson, & Iglesias EOS tables (OPAL), and a new analytical EOS (SIREFF) developed by Swenson {ital et al.} All of the models include diffusive settling of helium and heavier elements. The models use updated OPAL opacity tables based on the 1993 Grevesse & Noels solar element mixture, incorporating 21 elements instead of the 14 elements used for earlier tables. The properties of solar models that are evolved with themore » SIREFF EOS agree closely with those of models evolved using the OPAL or MHD tables. However, unlike the MHD or OPAL EOS tables, the SIREFF in-line EOS can readily account for variations in overall Z abundance and the element mixture resulting from nuclear processing and diffusive element settling. Accounting for Z abundance variations in the EOS has a small, but non-negligible, effect on model properties (e.g., pressure or squared sound speed), as much as 0.2{percent} at the solar center and in the convection zone. The OPAL and SIREFF equations of state include electron exchange, which produces models requiring a slightly higher initial helium abundance, and increases the convection zone depth compared to models using the MHD EOS. However, the updated OPAL opacities are as much as 5{percent} lower near the convection zone base, resulting in a small decrease in convection zone depth. The calculated low-degree nonadiabatic frequencies for all of the models agree with the observed frequencies to within a few microhertz (0.1{percent}). The SIREFF analytical calibrations are intended to work over a wide range of interior conditions found in stellar models of mass greater than 0.25M{sub {circle_dot}} and evolutionary states from pre-main-sequence through the asymptotic giant branch (AGB). It is significant that the SIREFF EOS produces solar models that both measure up to the stringent requirements imposed by solar oscillation observations and inferences, and are more versatile than EOS tables. {copyright} {ital 1997} {ital The American Astronomical Society}« less

Solar Resource Assessment for Sri Lanka and Maldives

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Renne, D.; George, R.; Marion, B.

2003-08-01

The countries of Sri Lanka and the Maldives lie within the equatorial belt, a region where substantial solar energy resources exist throughout much of the year in adequate quantities for many applications, including solar water heating, solar electricity, and desalination. The extent of solar resources in Sri Lanka has been estimated in the past based on a study of the daily total direct sunshine hours recorded at a number of weather and agricultural stations throughout the country. These data have been applied to the well-known Angstrom relationship in order to obtain an estimate of the distribution of monthly average dailymore » total solar resources at these stations. This study is an effort in improve on these estimates in two ways: (1) to apply a gridded cloud cover database at a 40-km resolution to produce updated monthly average daily total estimates of all solar resources (global horizontal, DNI, and diffuse) for the country, and (2) to input hourly or three-hourly cloud cover observations made at nine weather stations in Sri Lanka and two in the Maldives into a solar model that produces estimates of hourly solar radiation values of the direct normal, global, and diffuse resource covering the length of the observational period. Details and results of these studies are summarized in this report.« less

How Documentalists Update SIMBAD

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buga, M.; Bot, C.; Brouty, M.; Bruneau, C.; Brunet, C.; Cambresy, L.; Eisele, A.; Genova, F.; Lesteven, S.; Loup, C.; Neuville, M.; Oberto, A.; Ochsenbein, F.; Perret, E.; Siebert, A.; Son, E.; Vannier, P.; Vollmer, B.; Vonflie, P.; Wenger, M.; Woelfel, F.

2015-04-01

The Strasbourg astronomical Data Center (CDS) was created in 1972 and has had a major role in astronomy for more than forty years. CDS develops a service called SIMBAD that provides basic data, cross-identifications, bibliography, and measurements for astronomical objects outside the solar system. It brings to the scientific community an added value to content which is updated daily by a team of documentalists working together in close collaboration with astronomers and IT specialists. We explain how the CDS staff updates SIMBAD with object citations in the main astronomical journals, as well as with astronomical data and measurements. We also explain how the identification is made between the objects found in the literature and those already existing in SIMBAD. We show the steps followed by the documentalist team to update the database using different tools developed at CDS, like the sky visualizer Aladin, and the large catalogues and survey database VizieR. As a direct result of this teamwork, SIMBAD integrates almost 10.000 bibliographic references per year. The service receives more than 400.000 queries per day.

Solar nebula heterogeneity in p-process samarium and neodymium isotopes.

PubMed

Andreasen, Rasmus; Sharma, Mukul

2006-11-03

Bulk carbonaceous chondrites display a deficit of approximately 100 parts per million (ppm) in 144Sm with respect to other meteorites and terrestrial standards, leading to a decrease in their 142Nd/144Nd ratios by approximately 11 ppm. The data require that samarium and neodymium isotopes produced by the p process associated with photodisintegration reactions in supernovae were heterogeneously distributed in the solar nebula. Other samarium and neodymium isotopes produced by rapid neutron capture (r process) in supernovae and by slow neutron capture (s process) in red giants were homogeneously distributed. The supernovae sources supplying the p- and r-process nuclides to the solar nebula were thus disconnected or only weakly connected.

Superflares and Giant Planets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rubenstein, Eric P.

2001-02-01

Nine solar analogues, stars similar in size and composition to the Sun, are known to have produced enormous flares. These outbursts, which were from 100 to 10 million times the size of even the largest solar flares, have puzzled astronomers, because sunlike stars should in theory vary little in brightness. A likely explanation is that these stars have unseen planetary companions circling in close orbits. Giant planets with large magnetic fields would, over time, entangle the magnetic fields of the parent stars. Eventually, the stretched and twisted magnetic-field lines would break and reattach themselves in a less complicated arrangement. This process, called magnetic reconnection, neatly explains how vast amounts of energy can be released so suddenly from superflaring solar analogues.

Commercialization of solar space power

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pant, Alok; Sera, Gary

1995-01-01

The objective of this research is to help U.S. companies commercialize renewable energy in India, with a special focus on solar energy. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Mid-Continent Technology Transfer Center (MCTTC) is working with ENTECH, Inc., a solar photovoltaic (SPV) systems manufacturer to form partnerships with Indian companies. MCTTC has conducted both secondary and primary market research and obtained travel funding to meet potential Indian partners face to face. MCTTC and ENTECH traveled to India during June 2-20, 1994, and visited New Delhi, Bombay, Pune and Calcutta. Meetings were held with several key government officials and premier Indian business houses and entrepreneurs in the area of solar energy. A firsthand knowledge of India's renewable energy industry was gained, and companies were qualified in terms of capabilities and commitment to the SPV business. The World Bank has awarded India with 280 million to commercialize renewable energies, including 55 million for SPV. There is a market in India for both small-scale (kW) and large SPV (MW) applications. Each U.S. company needs to form a joint venture with an Indian firm and let the latter identify the states and projects with the greatest business potential. Several big Indian companies and entrepreneurs are planning to enter the SPV business, and they currently are seeking foreign technology partners. Since the lager companies have adopted a more conservative approach, however, partnerships with entrepreneurs might offer the quickest route to market entry in India.

X-ray Emission from Pre-Main-Sequence Stars - Testing the Solar Analogy

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Skinner, Stephen L.

2000-01-01

This LTSA award funded my research on the origin of stellar X-ray emission and the validity of the solar-stellar analogy. This research broadly addresses the relevance of our current understanding of solar X-ray physics to the interpretation of X-ray emission from stars in general. During the past five years the emphasis has been on space-based X-ray observations of very young stars in star-forming regions (T Tauri stars and protostars), cool solar-like G stars, and evolved high-mass Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars. These observations were carried out primarily with the ASCA and ROSAT space-based observatories (and most recently with Chandra), supplemented by ground-based observations. This research has focused on the identification of physical processes that are responsible for the high levels of X-ray emission seen in pre-main-sequence (PMS) stars, active cool stars, and WR stars. A related issue is how the X-ray emission of such stars changes over time, both on short timescales of days to years and on evolutionary timescales of millions of years. In the case of the Sun it is known that magnetic fields play a key role in the production of X-rays by confining the coronal plasma in loop-like structures where it is heated to temperatures of several million K. The extent to which the magnetically-confined corona interpretation can be applied to other X-ray emitting stars is the key issue that drives the research summarized here.

Cometary kilometric radio waves and plasma waves correlated with ion pick-up effect at Comet Halley

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Oya, H.; Morioka, A.; Miyake, W.; Smith, E. J.; Tsurutani, B. T.

1985-01-01

Bow-shock movements at Comet Halley are inferred from the discrete spectra of the cometary kilometric radiation (30-195 kHz); the observed emissions can be interpreted as being generated and propagating from the moving shock. The shock motion is possibly associated with the time variation of the solar wind and cometary outgassing. It is concluded that these plasma wave phenomena are manifestations of ion pick-up processes, which occur even in a remote region 7 million to 10 million km from the cometary nucleus.

Evidence for black holes.

PubMed

Begelman, Mitchell C

2003-06-20

Black holes are common objects in the universe. Each galaxy contains large numbers-perhaps millions-of stellar-mass black holes, each the remnant of a massive star. In addition, nearly every galaxy contains a supermassive black hole at its center, with a mass ranging from millions to billions of solar masses. This review discusses the demographics of black holes, the ways in which they interact with their environment, factors that may regulate their formation and growth, and progress toward determining whether these objects really warp spacetime as predicted by the general theory of relativity.

A Solar Wind Source Tracking Concept for Inner Heliosphere Constellations of Spacecraft

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luhmann, J. G.; Li, Yan; Arge, C. N.; Hoeksema, Todd; Zhao, Xuepu

2003-09-01

During the next decade, a number of spacecraft carrying in-situ particles and fields instruments, including the twin STEREO spacecraft, ACE, WIND, and possibly Triana, will be monitoring the solar wind in the inner heliosphere. At the same time, several suitably instrumented planetary missions, including Nozomi, Mars Express, and Messenger will be in either their cruise or orbital phases which expose them at times to interplanetary conditions and/or regions affected by the solar wind interaction. In addition to the mutual support role for the individual missions that can be gained from this coincidence, this set provides an opportunity for evaluating the challenges and tools for a future targeted heliospheric constellation mission. In the past few years the capability of estimating the solar sources of the local solar wind has improved, in part due to the ability to monitor the full-disk magnetic field of the Sun on an almost continuous basis. We illustrate a concept for a model and web-based display that routinely updates the estimated sources of the solar wind arriving at inner heliospheric spacecraft.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

None

This volume contains the entire proceedings of the solar update. All papers presented by DOE officials, DOE contractors, and demonstration site representatives are presented, as well as summaries of all workshops, comments from questionnaires, and a listing of all participants. Twenty-eight papers are included. Two were abstracted previously for EDB. Separate abstracts were prepared for twenty-six. (MHR)

Multiyear Interactive Computer Almanac (MICA)

Science.gov Websites

from the U.S. Naval Observatory About MICA Features System Requirements Delta T File and Software Requirements | Delta T and Software Updates | FAQ and Bug Reports | Ordering ] Features MICA can perform the , and delta T). Twilight, rise, set, and transit times for major solar system bodies, selected bright

Supplement to photographic catalog of selected planetary size comparisons

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Meszaros, Stephen Paul

1991-01-01

This document updates and extends the photographic catalog of selected planetary size comparisons. It utilizes photographs taken by NASA spacecraft to illustrate size comparisons of planets and moons of the solar system. Global views are depicted at the same scale, within each comparison, allowing size relationships to be studied visually.

JPRS Report Near East & South Asia

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-06-24

countries. Secondly, the exchange of important missions. Indian delegations from the Confederation of Indian Industry, ministry of agriculture, solar ...1993 are about to invest in it tens of millions of dollars in new factories. The refrigerator factory of Tadiran, the diapers of Hogla, Kislok, Moraz

Global, regional, and national causes of under-5 mortality in 2000-15: an updated systematic analysis with implications for the Sustainable Development Goals.

PubMed

Liu, Li; Oza, Shefali; Hogan, Dan; Chu, Yue; Perin, Jamie; Zhu, Jun; Lawn, Joy E; Cousens, Simon; Mathers, Colin; Black, Robert E

2016-12-17

Despite remarkable progress in the improvement of child survival between 1990 and 2015, the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 4 target of a two-thirds reduction of under-5 mortality rate (U5MR) was not achieved globally. In this paper, we updated our annual estimates of child mortality by cause to 2000-15 to reflect on progress toward the MDG 4 and consider implications for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) target for child survival. We increased the estimation input data for causes of deaths by 43% among neonates and 23% among 1-59-month-olds, respectively. We used adequate vital registration (VR) data where available, and modelled cause-specific mortality fractions applying multinomial logistic regressions using adequate VR for low U5MR countries and verbal autopsy data for high U5MR countries. We updated the estimation to use Plasmodium falciparum parasite rate in place of malaria index in the modelling of malaria deaths; to use adjusted empirical estimates instead of modelled estimates for China; and to consider the effects of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine and rotavirus vaccine in the estimation. In 2015, among the 5·9 million under-5 deaths, 2·7 million occurred in the neonatal period. The leading under-5 causes were preterm birth complications (1·055 million [95% uncertainty range (UR) 0·935-1·179]), pneumonia (0·921 million [0·812 -1·117]), and intrapartum-related events (0·691 million [0·598 -0·778]). In the two MDG regions with the most under-5 deaths, the leading cause was pneumonia in sub-Saharan Africa and preterm birth complications in southern Asia. Reductions in mortality rates for pneumonia, diarrhoea, neonatal intrapartum-related events, malaria, and measles were responsible for 61% of the total reduction of 35 per 1000 livebirths in U5MR in 2000-15. Stratified by U5MR, pneumonia was the leading cause in countries with very high U5MR. Preterm birth complications and pneumonia were both important in high, medium high, and medium child mortality countries; whereas congenital abnormalities was the most important cause in countries with low and very low U5MR. In the SDG era, countries are advised to prioritise child survival policy and programmes based on their child cause-of-death composition. Continued and enhanced efforts to scale up proven life-saving interventions are needed to achieve the SDG child survival target. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, WHO. Copyright © 2016 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY license. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

The Propulsive Small Expendable Deployer System (ProSEDS)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lorenzini, Enrico C.

2002-01-01

This Annual Report covers the following main topics: 1) Updated Reference Mission. The reference ProSEDS (Propulsive Small Expendable Deployer System) mission is evaluated for an updated launch date in the Summer of 2002 and for the new 80-s current operating cycle. Simulations are run for nominal solar activity condition at the time of launch and for extreme conditions of dynamic forcing. Simulations include the dynamics of the system, the electrodynamics of the bare tether, the neutral atmosphere and the thermal response of the tether. 2) Evaluation of power delivered by the tether system. The power delivered by the tethered system during the battery charging mode is computed under the assumption of minimum solar activity for the new launch date. 3) Updated Deployment Control Profiles and Simulations. A number of new deployment profiles were derived based on the latest results of the deployment ground tests. The flight profile is then derived based on the friction characteristics obtained from the deployment tests of the F-1 tether. 4) Analysis/estimation of deployment flight data. A process was developed to estimate the deployment trajectory of the endmass with respect to the Delta and the final libration amplitude from the data of the deployer turn counters. This software was tested successfully during the ProSEDS mission simulation at MSFC (Marshall Space Flight Center) EDAC (Environments Data Analysis Center).

Solar disinfection of water reduces diarrhoeal disease: an update

PubMed Central

Conroy, R.; Meegan, M. E.; Joyce, T.; McGuigan, K.; Barnes, J.

1999-01-01

349 Maasai children younger than 6 years old were randomised by alternate household to drink water either left in plastic bottles exposed to sunlight on the roof of the house or kept indoors (control). The trial was run in Maasai by Maasai community elders. Children drinking solar disinfected water had a significantly lower risk of severe diarrhoeal disease over 8705 two weekly follow up visits; two week period prevalence was 48.8% compared with 58.1% in controls, corresponding to an attributable fraction of 16.0%. While this reduction is modest, it was sustained over a year in free living children. It confirms solar disinfection as effective in vivo as a free, low technology, point of consumption method of improving water quality. The continuing use of solar disinfection by the community underlines the value of community participation in research.

 PMID:10490440

Neutron monitors and muon detectors for solar modulation studies: 2. ϕ time series

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghelfi, A.; Maurin, D.; Cheminet, A.; Derome, L.; Hubert, G.; Melot, F.

2017-08-01

The level of solar modulation at different times (related to the solar activity) is a central question of solar and galactic cosmic-ray physics. In the first paper of this series, we have established a correspondence between the uncertainties on ground-based detectors count rates and the parameter ϕ (modulation level in the force-field approximation) reconstructed from these count rates. In this second paper, we detail a procedure to obtain a reference ϕ time series from neutron monitor data. We show that we can have an unbiased and accurate ϕ reconstruction (Δϕ / ϕ ≃ 10 %). We also discuss the potential of Bonner spheres spectrometers and muon detectors to provide ϕ time series. Two by-products of this calculation are updated ϕ values for the cosmic-ray database and a web interface to retrieve and plot ϕ from the 50's to today (http://lpsc.in2p3.fr/crdb).

Modeling and Flight Data Analysis of Spacecraft Dynamics with a Large Solar Array Paddle

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Iwata, Takanori; Maeda, Ken; Hoshino, Hiroki

2007-01-01

The Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) was launched on January 24 2006 and has been operated successfully since then. This satellite has the attitude dynamics characterized by three large flexible structures, four large moving components, and stringent attitude/pointing stability requirements. In particular, it has one of the largest solar array paddles. Presented in this paper are flight data analyses and modeling of spacecraft attitude motion induced by the large solar array paddle. On orbit attitude dynamics was first characterized and summarized. These characteristic motions associated with the solar array paddle were identified and assessed. These motions are thermally induced motion, the pitch excitation by the paddle drive, and the role excitation. The thermally induced motion and the pitch excitation by the paddle drive were modeled and simulated to verify the mechanics of the motions. The control law updates implemented to mitigate the attitude vibrations are also reported.

SafeConnect Solar - Final Scientific/Technical Report (Updated)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

McNish, Zachary

2016-02-03

Final Scientific/Technical Report from Tier 0 SunShot Incubator award for hardware-based solution to reducing soft costs of installed solar. The primary objective of this project was for SafeConnect Solar (“SafeConnect”) to create working proof-of-concept hardware prototypes from its proprietary intellectual property and business concepts for a plug-and-play, safety-oriented hardware solution for photovoltaic solar systems. Specifically, SafeConnect sought to build prototypes of its “SmartBox” and related cabling and connectors, as well as the firmware needed to run the hardware. This hardware is designed to ensure a residential PV system installed with it can address all safety concerns that currently form themore » basis of AHJ electrical permitting and licensing requirements, thereby reducing the amount of permitting and specialized labor required on a residential PV system, and also opening up new sales channels and customer acquisition opportunities.« less

17 CFR 275.203A-1 - Eligibility for SEC registration; switching to or from SEC registration.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... adviser statute, you are not required to register with the Commission, unless: (i) You have assets under... investment adviser statute, you may register with the Commission if you have assets under management of at... updating amendment to your Form ADV reporting that you have at least $30 million of assets under management...

Pinon pine mortality event in the Southwest: An update for 2005

Treesearch

D. Allen-Reid; J. Anhold; D. Cluck; T. Eager; R. Mask; J. McMillin; S. Munson; J. Negron; T. Rogers; D. Ryerson; E. Smith; S. Smith; B. Steed; R. Thier

2008-01-01

(Please note, this is an abstract only) Drought conditions in the Southwest have persisted for a number of years resulting in large areas of pinon pine mortality. In 2002 drought conditions became extreme, facilitating an outbreak of pinon ips beetles (Ips confusus, Coleoptera: Scolytidae) that killed many millions of pinon pines over a six-state region by 2003. In...

Below the Surface: Solving the Hidden Graduation Rate Crisis. Updated

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cardichon, Jessica; Lovell, Phillip

2015-01-01

The U.S. national high school graduation rate recently reached a record high with 81 percent of the Class of 2013 graduating within four years. While this accomplishment is laudable, it should not obscure the fact that more than 1,200 high schools, serving more than 1.1 million students, still fail to graduate one-third or more of their students…

Assessing the economic and environmental feasibility of utility scaled PV electricity production in the state of Georgia.

PubMed

Taylor, Ruthie; Critttenden, John

2012-01-01

Photovoltaic (PV) technology, an increasingly popular source for renewable energy, is being deployed in places with solar insolation that is comparable to that in state of Georgia. This study assesses the feasibility and environmental impact of utility scale photovoltaic (PV) electricity production in Georgia by assessing the economic costs, avoided costs, health benefits, and environmental benefits. The cost of PV used in this study is 3.52 $/kW. The RETScreen model was employed to analyze the impact of incentives on the economic viability of the plants that produce 93 GWh, 371 GWh, and 1,484 GWh, respectively. 57% of the capital cost is required in the form of incentives or subsidies to make the projects economically feasible. The high estimated cost of cleaning the equivalent amount of emissions from a coal-fired power plant is $14.5 million, $58 million, and $232 million for a 50 MW, 200 MW, and 800 MW plant, respectively Avoided costs in health damages are estimated to be $28 million, $112 million, and $449 million and the numbers of jobs to be created are 2,500, 10,000, and 40,000 for 50 MW, 200 MW, and 800 MW plants, respectively. And, the cumulative value of renewable energy credits from a 50 MW, 200 MW, and a 800 MW plant are $59 million, $237 million, and $789 million, respectively.

New Estimates of Gaps and Transitions in Health Insurance

PubMed Central

Short, Pamela Farley; Graefe, Deborah R.; Swartz, Katherine; Uberoi, Namrata

2014-01-01

Changes in individual or family circumstances cause many Americans to experience gaps and transitions in public and private health insurance. Using data from the 2004–2007 Survey of Income and Program Participation, this article updates earlier analyses of insurance gaps and transitions. Eighty-nine million people (one third of non-elderly Americans) were uninsured for at least one month during those four years. Approximately twenty-three million lost insurance more than once. The analyses call attention to the continuing instability and insecurity of health insurance, can inform implementation of national reforms, and establish a recent baseline that will be helpful in evaluating the reforms’ effects on coverage stability. PMID:22833452

Areas of Polar Coronal Holes from 1996 Through 2010

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Webber, Hess S. A.; Karna, N.; Pesnell, W. D.; Kirk, M. S.

2014-01-01

Polar coronal holes (PCHs) trace the magnetic variability of the Sun throughout the solar cycle. Their size and evolution have been studied as proxies for the global magnetic field. We present measurements of the PCH areas from 1996 through 2010, derived from an updated perimeter-tracing method and two synoptic-map methods. The perimeter tracing method detects PCH boundaries along the solar limb, using full-disk images from the SOlar and Heliospheric Observatory/Extreme ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (SOHO/EIT). One synoptic-map method uses the line-of-sight magnetic field from the SOHO/Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI) to determine the unipolarity boundaries near the poles. The other method applies thresholding techniques to synoptic maps created from EUV image data from EIT. The results from all three methods suggest that the solar maxima and minima of the two hemispheres are out of phase. The maximum PCH area, averaged over the methods in each hemisphere, is approximately 6 % during both solar minima spanned by the data (between Solar Cycles 22/23 and 23/24). The northern PCH area began a declining trend in 2010, suggesting a downturn toward the maximum of Solar Cycle 24 in that hemisphere, while the southern hole remained large throughout 2010.

Ions with low charges in the solar wind as measured by SWICS on board Ulysses. [Solar Wind Ion Composition Spectrometer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Geiss, J.; Ogilvie, K. W.; Von Steiger, R.; Mall, U.; Gloeckler, G.; Galvin, A. B.; Ipavich, F.; Wilken, B.; Gliem, F.

1992-01-01

We present new data on rare ions in the solar wind. Using the Ulysses-SWICS instrument with its very low background we have searched for low-charge ions during a 6-d period of low-speed solar wind and established sensitive upper limits for many species. In the solar wind, we found He(1+)/He(2+) of less than 5 x 10 exp -4. This result and the charge state distributions of heavier elements indicate that all components of the investigated ion population went through a regular coronal expansion and experienced the typical electron temperatures of 1 to 2 million Kelvin. We argue that the virtual absence of low-charge ions demonstrates a very low level of nonsolar contamination in the source region of the solar wind sample we studied. Since this sample showed the FlP effect typical for low-speed solar wind, i.e., an enhancement in the abundances of elements with low first ionization potential, we conclude that this enhancement was caused by an ion-atom separation mechanism operating near the solar surface and not by foreign material in the corona.

The Astrophysics of the Solar Corona at the August 21, 2017, American Total Solar Eclipse

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pasachoff, Jay

2017-01-01

The first total solar eclipse to cross the United States from coast to coast in 99 years will occur on August 21, 2017, with a 70-mile-wide path of totality from Oregon to South Carolina, with cloudiness statistics more favorable in the northwest than in the southeast. I will discuss a series of observations of the solar corona made during recent solar eclipses and related spacecraft observations. I will further discuss plans for using the 2017 eclipse for furthering our studies of the heating of the solar corona to millions of kelvins, of the dynamics of coronal mass ejections and polar plumes, and of the response of the corona to the solar magnetic field. I will conclude by discussing public-education plans for the eclipse, during which the whole U.S., Mexico, Central America, and Canada will enjoy a partial eclipse. My work at solar eclipses has recently been supported by the NSF and the Committee for Research and Exploration of the National Geographic Society, and I thank them both for research grants for our scientific studies of the 2017 total eclipse, including AGS-1602461 from the NSF and 987816 from National Geographic.

Galaxy growth in a massive halo in the first billion years of cosmic history

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marrone, D. P.; Spilker, J. S.; Hayward, C. C.; Vieira, J. D.; Aravena, M.; Ashby, M. L. N.; Bayliss, M. B.; Béthermin, M.; Brodwin, M.; Bothwell, M. S.; Carlstrom, J. E.; Chapman, S. C.; Chen, Chian-Chou; Crawford, T. M.; Cunningham, D. J. M.; De Breuck, C.; Fassnacht, C. D.; Gonzalez, A. H.; Greve, T. R.; Hezaveh, Y. D.; Lacaille, K.; Litke, K. C.; Lower, S.; Ma, J.; Malkan, M.; Miller, T. B.; Morningstar, W. R.; Murphy, E. J.; Narayanan, D.; Phadke, K. A.; Rotermund, K. M.; Sreevani, J.; Stalder, B.; Stark, A. A.; Strandet, M. L.; Tang, M.; Weiß, A.

2018-01-01

According to the current understanding of cosmic structure formation, the precursors of the most massive structures in the Universe began to form shortly after the Big Bang, in regions corresponding to the largest fluctuations in the cosmic density field. Observing these structures during their period of active growth and assembly—the first few hundred million years of the Universe—is challenging because it requires surveys that are sensitive enough to detect the distant galaxies that act as signposts for these structures and wide enough to capture the rarest objects. As a result, very few such objects have been detected so far. Here we report observations of a far-infrared-luminous object at redshift 6.900 (less than 800 million years after the Big Bang) that was discovered in a wide-field survey. High-resolution imaging shows it to be a pair of extremely massive star-forming galaxies. The larger is forming stars at a rate of 2,900 solar masses per year, contains 270 billion solar masses of gas and 2.5 billion solar masses of dust, and is more massive than any other known object at a redshift of more than 6. Its rapid star formation is probably triggered by its companion galaxy at a projected separation of 8 kiloparsecs. This merging companion hosts 35 billion solar masses of stars and has a star-formation rate of 540 solar masses per year, but has an order of magnitude less gas and dust than its neighbour and physical conditions akin to those observed in lower-metallicity galaxies in the nearby Universe. These objects suggest the presence of a dark-matter halo with a mass of more than 100 billion solar masses, making it among the rarest dark-matter haloes that should exist in the Universe at this epoch.

Galaxy growth in a massive halo in the first billion years of cosmic history.

PubMed

Marrone, D P; Spilker, J S; Hayward, C C; Vieira, J D; Aravena, M; Ashby, M L N; Bayliss, M B; Béthermin, M; Brodwin, M; Bothwell, M S; Carlstrom, J E; Chapman, S C; Chen, Chian-Chou; Crawford, T M; Cunningham, D J M; De Breuck, C; Fassnacht, C D; Gonzalez, A H; Greve, T R; Hezaveh, Y D; Lacaille, K; Litke, K C; Lower, S; Ma, J; Malkan, M; Miller, T B; Morningstar, W R; Murphy, E J; Narayanan, D; Phadke, K A; Rotermund, K M; Sreevani, J; Stalder, B; Stark, A A; Strandet, M L; Tang, M; Weiß, A

2018-01-04

According to the current understanding of cosmic structure formation, the precursors of the most massive structures in the Universe began to form shortly after the Big Bang, in regions corresponding to the largest fluctuations in the cosmic density field. Observing these structures during their period of active growth and assembly-the first few hundred million years of the Universe-is challenging because it requires surveys that are sensitive enough to detect the distant galaxies that act as signposts for these structures and wide enough to capture the rarest objects. As a result, very few such objects have been detected so far. Here we report observations of a far-infrared-luminous object at redshift 6.900 (less than 800 million years after the Big Bang) that was discovered in a wide-field survey. High-resolution imaging shows it to be a pair of extremely massive star-forming galaxies. The larger is forming stars at a rate of 2,900 solar masses per year, contains 270 billion solar masses of gas and 2.5 billion solar masses of dust, and is more massive than any other known object at a redshift of more than 6. Its rapid star formation is probably triggered by its companion galaxy at a projected separation of 8 kiloparsecs. This merging companion hosts 35 billion solar masses of stars and has a star-formation rate of 540 solar masses per year, but has an order of magnitude less gas and dust than its neighbour and physical conditions akin to those observed in lower-metallicity galaxies in the nearby Universe. These objects suggest the presence of a dark-matter halo with a mass of more than 100 billion solar masses, making it among the rarest dark-matter haloes that should exist in the Universe at this epoch.

The black tide model of QSOs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Young, P. J.; Shields, G. A.; Wheeler, J. C.

1977-01-01

The paper develops certain aspects of a model wherein a QSO is a massive black hole located in a dense galactic nucleus, with its growth and luminosity fueled by tidal disruption of passing stars. Cross sections for tidal disruptions are calculated, taking into account the thermal energy of stars, relativistic effects, and partial disruption removing only the outer layers of a star. Accretion rates are computed for a realistic distribution of stellar masses and evolutionary phases, the effect of the black hole on the cluster distribution is examined, and the red-giant disruption rate is evaluated for hole mass of at least 300 million solar masses, the cutoff of disruption of main-sequence stars. The results show that this black-tide model can explain QSO luminosities of at least 1 trillion suns if the black hole remains almost maximally Kerr as it grows above 100 million solar masses and if 'loss-cone' depletion of the number of stars in disruptive orbits is unimportant.

Near-infrared line and continuum emission from the blue dwarf galaxy II Zw 40

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Joy, Marshall; Lester, Daniel F.

1988-01-01

A multicolor analysis of new near-infrared line and continuum measurements indicates that nebular recombination emission and photospheric radiation from young blue stars produce most of the near-infrared continuum emission in the central 6 arcsec of the dwarf galaxy II Zw 40. The derived nebular recombination level is in excellent agreement with independent observations of the radio free-free continuum. It is found that evolved stars, which dominate the near-infrared emission from normal galaxies, contribute no more than 25 percent of the total 2.2 micron flux in the central region of II Zw 40. It is concluded that the total mass of the evolved stellar population in the central 400 pc of the galaxy is less than about two hundred million solar. The total mass of recently formed stars is about two million solar, and the stellar mass ratio is exceptionally large. Thus, II Zw 40 is a quintessential starburst galaxy.

Update on the Worsening Particle Radiation Environment Observed by CRaTER and Implications for Future Human Deep-Space Exploration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schwadron, N. A.; Rahmanifard, F.; Wilson, J.; Jordan, A. P.; Spence, H. E.; Joyce, C. J.; Blake, J. B.; Case, A. W.; de Wet, W.; Farrell, W. M.; Kasper, J. C.; Looper, M. D.; Lugaz, N.; Mays, L.; Mazur, J. E.; Niehof, J.; Petro, N.; Smith, C. W.; Townsend, L. W.; Winslow, R.; Zeitlin, C.

2018-03-01

Over the last decade, the solar wind has exhibited low densities and magnetic field strengths, representing anomalous states that have never been observed during the space age. As discussed by Schwadron, Blake, et al. (2014, https://doi.org/10.1002/2014SW001084), the cycle 23-24 solar activity led to the longest solar minimum in more than 80 years and continued into the "mini" solar maximum of cycle 24. During this weak activity, we observed galactic cosmic ray fluxes that exceeded theERobserved small solar energetic particle events. Here we provide an update to the Schwadron, Blake, et al. (2014, https://doi.org/10.1002/2014SW001084) observations from the Cosmic Ray Telescope for the Effects of Radiation (CRaTER) on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. The Schwadron, Blake, et al. (2014, https://doi.org/10.1002/2014SW001084) study examined the evolution of the interplanetary magnetic field and utilized a previously published study by Goelzer et al. (2013, https://doi.org/10.1002/2013JA019404) projecting out the interplanetary magnetic field strength based on the evolution of sunspots as a proxy for the rate that the Sun releases coronal mass ejections. This led to a projection of dose rates from galactic cosmic rays on the lunar surface, which suggested a ˜20% increase of dose rates from one solar minimum to the next and indicated that the radiation environment in space may be a worsening factor important for consideration in future planning of human space exploration. We compare the predictions of Schwadron, Blake, et al. (2014, https://doi.org/10.1002/2014SW001084) with the actual dose rates observed by CRaTER in the last 4 years. The observed dose rates exceed the predictions by ˜10%, showing that the radiation environment is worsening more rapidly than previously estimated. Much of this increase is attributable to relatively low-energy ions, which can be effectively shielded. Despite the continued paucity of solar activity, one of the hardest solar events in almost a decade occurred in September 2017 after more than a year of all-clear periods. These particle radiation conditions present important issues that must be carefully studied and accounted for in the planning and design of future missions (to the Moon, Mars, asteroids, and beyond).

Reinterpreting the Sharp Edges of Planetary Rings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rimlinger, Thomas; Hamilton, Douglas P.; Hahn, Joseph M.

2016-10-01

Narrow ringlets are found throughout the Solar System and are typically 1-100 km wide. Angular momentum, L, is the key to understanding how narrow rings remain confined; L2 ∝ a(1 - e2) for semimajor axis a and eccentricity e. In a circular ring, L conservation demands that the ring quickly spread apart when some colliding particles lose energy while others gain it. By contrast, in an eccentric ring, energy loss and the associated decay of the average semi-major axes can be offset by a decrease in the average eccentricity. We argue that a ring's lifetime can be greatly extended if particles arrange themselves in this way (Borderies et al. 1984). The key difference of our model, however, is that rings need not be shepherded and can confine themselves provided they are sufficiently eccentric. Satellites merely extend the rings' lifespans by pumping up their eccentricities.This confinement mechanism can explain the existence and longevity of narrow ringlets in a variety of contexts. Saturn's Titan ringlet, which is quite circular, may nevertheless be able to confine itself indefinitely if its eccentricity decay is balanced by the increase from the resonance with Titan. Preliminary simulations presented by Rimlinger et al. at this year's DDA Conference have verified that this ring can self-confine even in the absence of any satellite; we update these findings with new results that include the effects of Titan. Furthermore, Mimas' resonance with the edge of the B ring may excite its higher order modes to similar effect. We update the findings of Hahn and Spitale (2013), who used artificial forces to confine the B ring's edge, and suggest that with a suitable viscosity and density, no such forces will be needed to keep the edge sharp. Finally, a ring that is "born" with a sufficiently high eccentricity may live for hundreds of millions or even billions of years in isolation if the rate of decay is slow enough. We present simulations exploring such a scenario.

KSC-2009-4750

NASA Image and Video Library

2009-08-17

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --At Vandenberg Air Force Base's Astrotech processing facility in California, the fixed panel solar panel is seen on NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, spacecraft. WISE will be moved from the travel dolly it's on to a work stand. The satellite will survey the entire sky at infrared wavelengths, creating a cosmic clearinghouse of hundreds of millions of objects, which will be catalogued, providing a vast storehouse of knowledge about the solar system, the Milky Way, and the universe. Launch is scheduled no earlier than Dec. 10. Photo credit: NASA/Moore, VAFB

Energy Department Helps Advance Island Clean Energy Goals (Fact Sheet)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

2012-10-01

This U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) fact sheet highlights a June 2012 solar power purchase agreement between the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority and three corporations. The fact sheet describes how financial support from DOE and technical assistance from DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory enabled the U.S. Virgin Islands to realistically assess its clean energy resources and identify the most viable and cost-effective solutions to its energy challenges--resulting in a $65 million investment in solar energy in the territory.

Solar Irradiance Data Products at the LASP Interactive Solar IRradiance Datacenter (LISIRD)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lindholm, D. M.; Ware DeWolfe, A.; Wilson, A.; Pankratz, C. K.; Snow, M. A.; Woods, T. N.

2011-12-01

The Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) has developed the LASP Interactive Solar IRradiance Datacenter (LISIRD, http://lasp.colorado.edu/lisird/) web site to provide access to a comprehensive set of solar irradiance measurements and related datasets. Current data holdings include products from NASA missions SORCE, UARS, SME, and TIMED-SEE. The data provided covers a wavelength range from soft X-ray (XUV) at 0.1 nm up to the near infrared (NIR) at 2400 nm, as well as Total Solar Irradiance (TSI). Other datasets include solar indices, spectral and flare models, solar images, and more. The LISIRD web site features updated plotting, browsing, and download capabilities enabled by dygraphs, JavaScript, and Ajax calls to the LASP Time Series Server (LaTiS). In addition to the web browser interface, most of the LISIRD datasets can be accessed via the LaTiS web service interface that supports the OPeNDAP standard. OPeNDAP clients and other programming APIs are available for making requests that subset, aggregate, or filter data on the server before it is transported to the user. This poster provides an overview of the LISIRD system, summarizes the datasets currently available, and provides details on how to access solar irradiance data products through LISIRD's interfaces.

A global assessment of closed forests, deforestation and malaria risk

PubMed Central

GUERRA, C. A.; SNOW, R. W.; HAY, S. I.

2011-01-01

Global environmental change is expected to affect profoundly the transmission of the parasites that cause human malaria. Amongst the anthropogenic drivers of change, deforestation is arguably the most conspicuous, and its rate is projected to increase in the coming decades. The canonical epidemiological understanding is that deforestation increases malaria risk in Africa and the Americas and diminishes it in South–east Asia. Partial support for this position is provided here, through a systematic review of the published literature on deforestation, malaria and the relevant vector bionomics. By using recently updated boundaries for the spatial limits of malaria and remotely-sensed estimates of tree cover, it has been possible to determine the population at risk of malaria in closed forest, at least for those malaria-endemic countries that lie within the main blocks of tropical forest. Closed forests within areas of malaria risk cover approximately 1.5 million km2 in the Amazon region, 1.4 million km2 in Central Africa, 1.2 million km2 in the Western Pacific, and 0.7 million km2 in South–east Asia. The corresponding human populations at risk of malaria within these forests total 11.7 million, 18.7 million, 35.1 million and 70.1 million, respectively. By coupling these numbers with the country-specific rates of deforestation, it has been possible to rank malaria-endemic countries according to their potential for change in the population at risk of malaria, as the result of deforestation. The on-going research aimed at evaluating these relationships more quantitatively, through the Malaria Atlas Project (MAP), is highlighted. PMID:16630376

Technical books and monographs: 1978 catalog

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

This publication is a bibliography of books and monographs sponsored by the U. S. Department of Energy (DOE) and by the earlier organizations that were brought together to form DOE. In general, information for each published book, and for each book in press when known, includes title; author and author affiliation; publisher and publication date; page count; size of book; price; availability information if the book is not available from the publisher; Library of Congress card number (LC), with CIP to indicate books that have cataloging information in the publication; International Standard Book Number (ISBN); a brief descriptive statement concerningmore » the book; and for the more recent books a list or a description of the contents. The books and monographs are grouped under thirteen subject categories. At the end of each subject category are separate sections listing recent published symposiums and bibliographies that received support from DOE or one of the earlier organizations. Also, at the end of the catalog are described the following DOE publications: Energy Research Abstracts, Energy Abstracts for Policy Analysis, Energy Conservation Update, Fossil Energy Update, F usion Energy Update, Geothermal Energy Update, Solar Energy Update, Nuclear Safety, and Power Reactor Docket Information.« less

Technical books and monographs. 1979 catalog

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

This publication is a bibliography of books and monographs sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and by the earlier organizations that were brought together to form DOE. In general, information for each published book, and for each book in press when known, includes title, author, and author affiliation, publisher and publication date, page count, size of book, price, availability information if the book is not available from the publisher, Library of Congress card number (LC) (with CIP to indicate books that have cataloging information in the publication), International Standard Book Number (ISBN), a brief descriptive statement concerning themore » book, and (for the more recent books) a list or a description of the contents. The books and monographs are grouped under thirteen subject categories. At the end of each subject category are separate sections listing recently published symposium proceedings and bibliographies that received support from DOE or one of the earlier organizations. Also, at the end of the catalog are described the following DOE publications: Energy Research Abstracts, Energy Abstracts for Policy Analysis, Energy Conservation Update, Fossil Energy Update, Fusion Energy Update, Geothermal Energy Update, Solar Energy Update, and Nuclear Safety.« less

Inter-University Upper Atmosphere Global Observation Network (IUGONET) Metadata Database and Its Interoperability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yatagai, A. I.; Iyemori, T.; Ritschel, B.; Koyama, Y.; Hori, T.; Abe, S.; Tanaka, Y.; Shinbori, A.; Umemura, N.; Sato, Y.; Yagi, M.; Ueno, S.; Hashiguchi, N. O.; Kaneda, N.; Belehaki, A.; Hapgood, M. A.

2013-12-01

The IUGONET is a Japanese program to build a metadata database for ground-based observations of the upper atmosphere [1]. The project began in 2009 with five Japanese institutions which archive data observed by radars, magnetometers, photometers, radio telescopes and helioscopes, and so on, at various altitudes from the Earth's surface to the Sun. Systems have been developed to allow searching of the above described metadata. We have been updating the system and adding new and updated metadata. The IUGONET development team adopted the SPASE metadata model [2] to describe the upper atmosphere data. This model is used as the common metadata format by the virtual observatories for solar-terrestrial physics. It includes metadata referring to each data file (called a 'Granule'), which enable a search for data files as well as data sets. Further details are described in [2] and [3]. Currently, three additional Japanese institutions are being incorporated in IUGONET. Furthermore, metadata of observations of the troposphere, taken at the observatories of the middle and upper atmosphere radar at Shigaraki and the Meteor radar in Indonesia, have been incorporated. These additions will contribute to efficient interdisciplinary scientific research. In the beginning of 2013, the registration of the 'Observatory' and 'Instrument' metadata was completed, which makes it easy to overview of the metadata database. The number of registered metadata as of the end of July, totalled 8.8 million, including 793 observatories and 878 instruments. It is important to promote interoperability and/or metadata exchange between the database development groups. A memorandum of agreement has been signed with the European Near-Earth Space Data Infrastructure for e-Science (ESPAS) project, which has similar objectives to IUGONET with regard to a framework for formal collaboration. Furthermore, observations by satellites and the International Space Station are being incorporated with a view for making/linking metadata databases. The development of effective data systems will contribute to the progress of scientific research on solar terrestrial physics, climate and the geophysical environment. Any kind of cooperation, metadata input and feedback, especially for linkage of the databases, is welcomed. References 1. Hayashi, H. et al., Inter-university Upper Atmosphere Global Observation Network (IUGONET), Data Sci. J., 12, WDS179-184, 2013. 2. King, T. et al., SPASE 2.0: A standard data model for space physics. Earth Sci. Inform. 3, 67-73, 2010, doi:10.1007/s12145-010-0053-4. 3. Hori, T., et al., Development of IUGONET metadata format and metadata management system. J. Space Sci. Info. Jpn., 105-111, 2012. (in Japanese)

Anesthesia Service Use During Outpatient Gastroenterology Procedures Continued to Increase From 2010 to 2013 and Potentially Discretionary Spending Remained High.

PubMed

Predmore, Zachary; Nie, Xiaoyu; Main, Regan; Mattke, Soeren; Liu, Hangsheng

2017-02-01

Previous studies have identified an increasing number of gastroenterology (GI) procedures using anesthesia services to provide sedation, with a majority of these services delivered to low-risk patients. The aim of this study was to update these trends with the most recent years of data. We used Medicare and commercial claims data from 2010 to 2013 to identify GI procedures and anesthesia services based on CPT codes, which were linked together using patient identifiers and dates of service. We defined low-risk patients as those who were classified as ASA (American Society of Anesthesiologists) physical status class I or II. For those patients without an ASA class listed on the claim, we used a prediction algorithm to impute an ASA physical status. Over 6.6 million patients in our sample had a GI procedure between 2010 and 2013. GI procedures involving anesthesia service accounted for 33.7% in 2010 and 47.6% in 2013 in Medicare patients, and 38.3% in 2010 and 53.0% in 2013 in commercially insured patients. Overall, as more patients used anesthesia services, total anesthesia service use in low-risk patients increased 14%, from 27,191 to 33,181 per million Medicare enrollees. Similarly, we observed a nearly identical uptick in commercially insured patients from 15,871 to 22,247 per million, an increase of almost 15%. During 2010-2013, spending associated with anesthesia services in low-risk patients increased from US$3.14 million to US$3.45 million per million Medicare enrollees and from US$7.69 million to US$10.66 million per million commercially insured patients. During 2010 to 2013, anesthesia service use in GI procedures continued to increase and the proportion of these services rendered for low-risk patients remained high.

Deep Space One High-Voltage Bus Management

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rachocki, Ken; Nieraeth, Donald

1999-01-01

The design of the High Voltage Power Converter Unit on DS1 allows both the spacecraft avionics and ion propulsion to operate in a stable manner near the PPP of the solar array. This approach relies on a fairly well-defined solar array model to determine the projected PPP. The solar array voltage set-points have to be updated every week to maintain operation near PPP. Stable operation even to the LEFT of the Peak Power Point is achievable so long as you do not change the operating power level of the ion engine. The next step for this technology is to investigate the use of onboard autonomy to determine the optimum SA voltage regulation set-point (i.e. near the PPP); this is for future missions that have one or more ion propulsion subsystems.

Revolution Now 2016

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Paul Donohoo-Vallett

Revolution Now is an annually updated report produced by the Energy Department’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy that documents the accelerated deployment of five clean energy technologies thriving in the U.S. market – wind turbines, solar technologies for both utility-scale and distributed photovoltaic (PV), electric vehicles (EVs) and light-emitting diodes (LEDs).

Design, fabrication, test, qualification and price analysis of third generation design solar cell modules. Part 1: Intermediate load module

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bottenberg, W. R.

1981-01-01

The updated program plan and narrative reflects the design and development work done and progress made in establishing a viable design for these modules. Design alterations from the preproduction plan are discussed based on experience gained during the preproduction phase of the program.

Comparison of Columnar Water Vapor Measurements During The Fall 1997 ARM Intensive Observation Period: Optical Methods

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schmid, Beat; Michalsky, J.; Slater, D.; Barnard, J.; Halthore, R.; Liljegren, J.; Holben, B.; Eck, T.; Livingston, J.; Russell, P.;

Evaluation on newly developed high resolution of surface solar radiation from MTSAT observations for the Tibetan Plateau

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Niu, X.; Yang, K.; Tang, W.; Qin, J.

2015-12-01

Neither surface measurement nor existing remote sensing products of the Surface Solar Radiation (SSR) can meet the application requirements of hydrological and land process modeling in the Tibetan Plateau (TP). High resolution (hourly; 0.1⁰) of SSR estimates have been derived recently from the geostationary satellite observations - the Multi-functional Transport Satellite (MTSAT). This SSR estimation is based on updating an existing physical model, the UMD-SRB (University of Maryland Surface Radiation Budget) which is the basis of the well-known GEWEX-SRB model. In the updated framework introduced is the high-resolution Global Land Surface Broadband Albedo Product (GLASS) with spatial continuity. The developed SSR estimates are demonstrated at different temporal resolutions over the TP and are evaluated against ground observations and other satellite products from: (1) China Meteorological Administration (CMA) radiation stations in TP; (2) three TP radiation stations contributed from the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research; (3) and the universal used satellite products (i.e. ISCCP-FD, GEWEX-SRB) in relatively low spatial resolution (0.5º-2.5º) and temporal resolution (3-hourly, daily, or monthly).

Nature of the fossil evidence - Moon and meteorites. [solar activity effects

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Walker, R. M.

1980-01-01

The nature of the fossil evidence to be found in extraterrestrial materials concerning the history of solar activity is reviewed. The various types of lunar rocks and meteorites containing evidence of exposure to solar radiations are distinguished, including igneous rocks, breccias, glassy agglutinates, single mineral crystals, carbonaceous meteorites, and the Antarctic meteorites, some of which fell to earth as much as a million years ago. The characteristic effects of energetic particles from space in materials are then examined, including ion implantation and surface radiation damage to a depth of several hundred A by the solar wind, radioactivity, electron trapping and track production induced by solar flares to depths from millimeters to centimeters, and spallation due to galactic cosmic rays at depths from centimeters to meters. Complications in the interpretation of radiation exposure histories represented by dynamic surface processes, the nonsolar origin of some trapped elements, and difficulties in determining the duration and epoch of surface exposure of individual crystals are also noted.

Brightness Rural Electrification Program: Renewable Energy in China

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

2004-04-01

Fact sheet describes China's New Brightness Rural Electrification Program to provide electricity for 23 million people in remote areas of China using renewable energy such as wind energy and solar power (photovoltaics). Targets, results, and progress are described. Regions targeted are Inner Mongolia, Tibet, and Gansu.

Mass extinctions caused by large bolide impacts

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Alvarez, L.W.

1987-07-01

Evidence indicates that the collision of Earth and a large piece of Solar System derbris such as a meteoroid, asteroid or comet caused the great extinctions of 65 million years ago, leading to the transition from the age of the dinosaurs to the age of the mammals.

Designing a Smaller Power Inverter: The Google Little Box Challenge

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lundstrom, Blake

Google's Little Box Challenge offered $1 million to the team that built the best kilowatt-scale solar inverter with a power density greater than 50 watts per cubic inch. To help determine the winner, NREL validated the entries at the Energy Systems Integration Facility.

Early formation of the Moon 4.51 billion years ago

PubMed Central

Barboni, Melanie; Boehnke, Patrick; Keller, Brenhin; Kohl, Issaku E.; Schoene, Blair; Young, Edward D.; McKeegan, Kevin D.

2017-01-01

Establishing the age of the Moon is critical to understanding solar system evolution and the formation of rocky planets, including Earth. However, despite its importance, the age of the Moon has never been accurately determined. We present uranium-lead dating of Apollo 14 zircon fragments that yield highly precise, concordant ages, demonstrating that they are robust against postcrystallization isotopic disturbances. Hafnium isotopic analyses of the same fragments show extremely low initial 176Hf/177Hf ratios corrected for cosmic ray exposure that are near the solar system initial value. Our data indicate differentiation of the lunar crust by 4.51 billion years, indicating the formation of the Moon within the first ~60 million years after the birth of the solar system. PMID:28097222

Sifting Through SDO's AIA Cosmic Ray Hits to Find Treasure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kirk, M. S.; Thompson, B. J.; Viall, N. M.; Young, P. R.

2017-12-01

The Solar Dynamics Observatory's Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (SDO AIA) has revolutionized solar imaging with its high temporal and spatial resolution, unprecedented spatial and temporal coverage, and seven EUV channels. Automated algorithms routinely clean these images to remove cosmic ray intensity spikes as a part of its preprocessing algorithm. We take a novel approach to survey the entire set of AIA "spike" data to identify and group compact brightenings across the entire SDO mission. The AIA team applies a de-spiking algorithm to remove magnetospheric particle impacts on the CCD cameras, but it has been found that compact, intense solar brightenings are often removed as well. We use the spike database to mine the data and form statistics on compact solar brightenings without having to process large volumes of full-disk AIA data. There are approximately 3 trillion "spiked pixels" removed from images over the mission to date. We estimate that 0.001% of those are of solar origin and removed by mistake, giving us a pre-segmented dataset of 30 million events. We explore the implications of these statistics and the physical qualities of the "spikes" of solar origin.

SDO Spots Extra Energy in the Sun's Corona

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-12-08

NASA release July 27, 2011 These jets, known as spicules, were captured in an SDO image on April 25, 2010. Combined with the energy from ripples in the magnetic field, they may contain enough energy to power the solar wind that streams from the sun toward Earth at 1.5 million miles per hour. Credit: NASA/SDO/AIA Like giant strands of seaweed some 32,000 miles high, material shooting up from the sun sways back and forth with the atmosphere. In the ocean, it's moving water that pulls the seaweed along for a ride; in the sun's corona, magnetic field ripples called Alfvén waves cause the swaying. For years these waves were too difficult to detect directly, but NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) is now able to track the movements of this solar "seaweed" and measure how much energy is carried by the Alfvén waves. The research shows that the waves carry more energy than previously thought, and possibly enough to drive two solar phenomena whose causes remain points of debate: the intense heating of the corona to some 20 times hotter than the sun's surface and solar winds that blast up to 1.5 million miles per hour. "SDO has amazing resolution so you can actually see individual waves," says Scott McIntosh at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo. "Now we can see that instead of these waves having about 1000th the energy needed as we previously thought, it has the equivalent of about 1100W light bulb for every 11 square feet of the sun's surface, which is enough to heat the sun's atmosphere and drive the solar wind." To read more go to: www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sdo/news/alfven-waves.html NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

Most Amazing High Definition Image of Earth - Blue Marble 2012

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-12-08

January 25, 2012 *Updated February 2, 2012: According to Flickr, "The western hemisphere Blue Marble 2012 image has rocketed up to over 3.1 million views making it one of the all time most viewed images on the site after only one week." A 'Blue Marble' image of the Earth taken from the VIIRS instrument aboard NASA's most recently launched Earth-observing satellite - Suomi NPP. This composite image uses a number of swaths of the Earth's surface taken on January 4, 2012. The NPP satellite was renamed 'Suomi NPP' on January 24, 2012 to honor the late Verner E. Suomi of the University of Wisconsin. Suomi NPP is NASA's next Earth-observing research satellite. It is the first of a new generation of satellites that will observe many facets of our changing Earth. Suomi NPP is carrying five instruments on board. The biggest and most important instrument is The Visible/Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite or VIIRS. To read more about NASA's Suomi NPP go to: www.nasa.gov/npp Credit: NASA/NOAA/GSFC/Suomi NPP/VIIRS/Norman Kuring NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

The Expanded Owens Valley Solar Array

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gary, Dale E.; Hurford, G. J.; Nita, G. M.; White, S. M.; Tun, S. D.; Fleishman, G. D.; McTiernan, J. M.

2011-05-01

The Expanded Owens Valley Solar Array (EOVSA) is now under construction near Big Pine, CA as a solar-dedicated microwave imaging array operating in the frequency range 1-18 GHz. The solar science to be addressed focuses on the 3D structure of the solar corona (magnetic field, temperature and density), on the sudden release of energy and subsequent particle acceleration, transport and heating, and on space weather phenomena. The project will support the scientific community by providing open data access and software tools for analysis of the data, to exploit synergies with on-going solar research in other wavelengths. The New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) is expanding OVSA from its previous complement of 7 antennas to a total of 15 by adding 8 new antennas, and will reinvest in the existing infrastructure by replacing the existing control systems, signal transmission, and signal processing with modern, far more capable and reliable systems based on new technology developed for the Frequency Agile Solar Radiotelescope (FASR). The project will be completed in time to provide solar-dedicated observations during the upcoming solar maximum in 2013 and beyond. We provide an update on current status and our preparations for exploiting the data through modeling and data analysis tools. This research is supported by NSF grants AST-0908344, and AGS-0961867 and NASA grant NNX10AF27G to New Jersey Institute of Technology.

Alfvén Waves in the Solar Corona

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tomczyk, S.; McIntosh, S. W.; Keil, S. L.; Judge, P. G.; Schad, T.; Seeley, D. H.; Edmondson, J.

2007-08-01

Alfvén waves, transverse incompressible magnetic oscillations, have been proposed as a possible mechanism to heat the Sun’s corona to millions of degrees by transporting convective energy from the photosphere into the diffuse corona. We report the detection of Alfvén waves in intensity, line-of-sight velocity, and linear polarization images of the solar corona taken using the FeXIII 1074.7-nanometer coronal emission line with the Coronal Multi-Channel Polarimeter (CoMP) instrument at the National Solar Observatory, New Mexico. Ubiquitous upward propagating waves were seen, with phase speeds of 1 to 4 megameters per second and trajectories consistent with the direction of the magnetic field inferred from the linear polarization measurements. An estimate of the energy carried by the waves that we spatially resolved indicates that they are too weak to heat the solar corona; however, unresolved Alfvén waves may carry sufficient energy.

Heating of the Solar Corona and its Loops

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Klimchuk, James A.

2009-01-01

At several million degrees, the solar corona is more than two orders of magnitude hotter than the underlying solar surface. The reason for these extreme conditions has been a puzzle for decades and is considered one of the fundamental problems in astrophysics. Much of the coronal plasma is organized by the magnetic field into arch-like structures called loops. Recent observational and theoretical advances have led to great progress in understanding the nature of these loops. In particular, we now believe they are bundles of unresolved magnetic strands that are heated by storms of impulsive energy bursts called nanoflares. Turbulent convection at the solar surface shuffles the footpoints of the strands and causes them to become tangled. A nanoflare occurs when the magnetic stresses reach a critical threshold, probably by way of a mechanism called the secondary instability. I will describe our current state of knowledge concerning the corona, its loops, and how they are heated.

The provenances of asteroids, and their contributions to the volatile inventories of the terrestrial planets.

PubMed

Alexander, C M O'D; Bowden, R; Fogel, M L; Howard, K T; Herd, C D K; Nittler, L R

2012-08-10

Determining the source(s) of hydrogen, carbon, and nitrogen accreted by Earth is important for understanding the origins of water and life and for constraining dynamical processes that operated during planet formation. Chondritic meteorites are asteroidal fragments that retain records of the first few million years of solar system history. The deuterium/hydrogen (D/H) values of water in carbonaceous chondrites are distinct from those in comets and Saturn's moon Enceladus, implying that they formed in a different region of the solar system, contrary to predictions of recent dynamical models. The D/H values of water in carbonaceous chondrites also argue against an influx of water ice from the outer solar system, which has been invoked to explain the nonsolar oxygen isotopic composition of the inner solar system. The bulk hydrogen and nitrogen isotopic compositions of CI chondrites suggest that they were the principal source of Earth's volatiles.

Nitrogen airglow sources - Comparison of Triton, Titan, and earth

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Strobel, Darrell F.; Meier, R. R.; Summers, Michael E.; Strickland, Douglas J.

1991-01-01

The individual contributions of direct solar excitation, photoelectron excitation, and magnetospheric electron excitation of Triton and Titan airglow observed by the Voyager Ultraviolet Spectrometer (UVS) are quantified. The principal spectral features of Triton's airglow are shown to be consistent with precipitation of magnetospheric electrons with power dissipation about 500 million W. Solar excitation rates of the dominant N2 and N(+) emission features are factors of 2-7 weaker than magnetospheric electron excitation. On Titan, the calculated disk center and bright limb N(+) 1085 A intensities due to solar excitation agree with observed values, while the 970 A feature is mostly N21 c5 band emission. The calculated LBH intensity by photoelectrons suggests that magnetospheric electrons play a minor role in Titan's UV airglow. On earth, solar/photoelectron excitation explains the observed N(+) 1085 A and LBH intensites and accounts for only 40 percent of the N(+) 916 A intensity.

Extinct 244Pu in ancient zircons.

PubMed

Turner, Grenville; Harrison, T Mark; Holland, Greg; Mojzsis, Stephen J; Gilmour, Jamie

2004-10-01

We have found evidence, in the form of fissiogenic xenon isotopes, for in situ decay of 244Pu in individual 4.1- to 4.2-billion-year-old zircons from the Jack Hills region of Western Australia. Because of its short half-life, 82 million years, 244Pu was extinct within 600 million years of Earth's formation. Detrital zircons are the only known relics to have survived from this period, and a study of their Pu geochemistry will allow us to date ancient metamorphic events and determine the terrestrial Pu/U ratio for comparison with the solar ratio.

Solar-energy-system performance evaluation: Honeywell OTS 44, Ocmulgee, Georgia

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mathur, A. K.; Pederson, S.

1982-01-01

The operation and technical performance of the solar operational test site (OTS 44) are described, based on data collected between April, 1981 and August, 1981. The following topics are discussed: system description, performance assessment, operating energy, energy savings, system maintenance, and conclusions. The solar energy system at OTS 44 is a hydronic heating and cooling system consisting of 5040 square feet of liquid cooled flat plate collectors; a 4000 gallon thermal storage tank; one 25 ton capacity organic Rankine cycle engine assisted water chillers; a forced draft cooling tower; and associated piping, pumps, valves, controls and heat rejection equipment. The solar system has eight basic modes of operation and several combination modes for providing space conditioning and hot water to the building. Data monitored during the 4 months of the operational test period found that the solar system collected 285 MMBtu of thermal energy of the total incident solar energy of 1040 MMBtu and provided 210 MMBtu for cooling and 10 MMBtu for heating and hot water. The net electrical energy saving due to the solar system was approximately 2600 kWh(e), and fossil energy saving was about 20 million Btu (MMBtu).

The faint young Sun paradox: an observational test of an alternative solar model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gaidos, E. J.; Gudel, M.; Blake, G. A.

2000-01-01

We report the results of deep observations at radio (3.6 cm) wavelengths of the nearby solar-type star pi 01 Ursa Majoris with the Very Large Array (VLA) intended to test an alternative theory of solar luminosity evolution. The standard model predicts a solar luminosity only 75% of the present value and surface temperatures below freezing on Earth and Mars at 4 Ga, seemingly in conflict with geologic evidence for liquid water on these planets. An alternative model invokes a compensatory mass loss through a declining solar wind that results in a more consistent early luminosity. The free-free emission from an enhanced wind around nearby young Sun-like stars should be detectable at microwave frequencies. Our observations of pi 01 UMa, a 300 million year-old solar-mass star, place an upper limit on the mass loss rate of 4-5 x 10(-11) M(solar) yr-1. Total mass loss from such a star over 4 Gyr would be less than 6%. If this star is indeed an analog of the early Sun, it casts doubt on the alternative model as a solution to the faint young Sun paradox, particularly for Mars.

Early Paleogene Orbital Variations in Atmospheric CO2 and New Astronomical Solutions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zeebe, R. E.

2017-12-01

Geologic records across the globe show prominent variations on orbital time scales during numerous epochs going back hundreds of millions of years. The origin of the Milankovic cycles are variations in orbital parameters of the bodies of the Solar System. On long time scales, the orbital variations can not be computed analytically because of the chaotic nature of the Solar System. Thus, numerical solutions are used to estimate changes in, e.g., Earth's orbital parameters in the past. The orbital solutions represent the backbone of cyclostratigraphy and astrochronology, now widely used in geology and paleoclimatology. Hitherto only two solutions for Earth's eccentricity appear to be used in paleoclimate studies, provided by two different groups that integrated the full Solar System equations over the past >100 Myr. In this presentation, I will touch on the basic physics behind, and present new results of, accurate Solar System integrations for Earth's eccentricity over the past hundred million years. I will discuss various limitations within the framework of the present simulations and compare the results to existing solutions. Furthermore, I will present new results from practical applications of such orbital solutions, including effects of orbital forcing on coupled climate- and carbon cycle variations. For instance, we have recently revealed a mechanism for a large lag between changes in carbon isotope ratios and eccentricity at the 400-kyr period, which has been observed in Paleocene, Oligocene, and Miocene sections. Finally, I will present the first estimates of orbital-scale variations in atmospheric CO2 during the early Paleogene.

Revolution…Now The Future Arrives for Five Clean Energy Technologies – 2015 Update

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

None

In 2013, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) released the Revolution Now report, highlighting four transformational technologies: land-based wind power, silicon photovoltaic (PV) solar modules, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), and electric vehicles (EVs). That study and its 2014 update showed how dramatic reductions in cost are driving a surge in consumer, industrial, and commercial adoption for these clean energy technologies—as well as yearly progress. In addition to presenting the continued progress made over the last year in these areas, this year’s update goes further. Two separate sections now cover large, central, utility-scale PV plants and smaller, rooftop, distributed PV systems tomore » highlight how both have achieved significant deployment nationwide, and have done so through different innovations, such as easier access to capital for utility-scale PV and reductions of non-hardware costs and third-party ownership for distributed PV. Along with these core technologies« less

Colours of the Outer Solar System Origins Survey: An Update

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schwamb, Megan E.; Fraser, Wesley C.; Pike, Rosemary E.; Bannister, Michele T.; Marsset, Michaël; Kavelaars, J. J.; Benecchi, Susan; Delsanti, Audrey C.; Lehner, Matthew J.; Wang, Shiang-Yu; Thirouin, Audrey; Nesvorný, David

2018-01-01

The vast majority of the known dwarf-planet sized bodies are bright enough to be studied through optical and infrared spectroscopy. As a result, we have an understanding of the surface properties for the largest Kuiper belt objects (KBOs) which retain their primordial inventory of volatile ices. For the typically smaller > 22 mag KBO, we must rely instead on what colors reveal by proxy; yet this picture remains incomplete. Most KBO physical property studies examine the hodgepodge set of objects discovered by various surveys with different and varying detection biases that make it difficult if not impossible to reliably estimate the sizes of the different surface color groupings (compositional classes) residing in the modern-day Kuiper belt.The Colours of the Outer Solar System Origins Survey (Col-OSSOS) probes the surface properties within the Kuiper belt primarily through near simultaneous g,r and J colors with the Gemini North Telescope and u-band with Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope. The project aims to target ~100 KBOs brighter than 23.6 r‧ mag found by the Outer Solar System Origins Survey (OSSOS), a survey with a well-measured detection efficiency. Thus, Col-OSSOS provides the first brightness-complete, compositional-dynamical map of the Outer Solar System, probing in a new light the radial color distribution in the primordial planetesimal disk from which KBOs originated. We will provide an update on the current status of the program highlighting results from the first two years of the survey; including size estimates of the two color KBO subgroups (the red and neutral surfaces) within the dynamically excited Kuiper belt and implications for the early planetesimal disk composition based on neutral-colored binaries found in the cold classical Kuiper belt.

EUNIS Underflight Calibrations of CDS, EIT, TRACE, EIS, and EUVI

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thomas, Roger J.; Rabin, Douglas M.; Jess, David B.; Wang, Tongjiang

2008-01-01

The Extreme-Ultraviolet Normal-Incidence Spectrograph (EUNIS) is a sounding rocket instrument that obtains imaged high-resolution solar spectra. It has now had two successful flights, on 2006 April 12 and 2007 November 16, providing data to support underflight calibrations for a number of orbiting solar experiments on both occasions. A regular part of each campaign is the end-to-end radiometric calibration of the rocket payload carried out at RAL in the UK, using the same facility that provided pre-flight CDS and EIS calibrations. The measurements, traceable to primary radiometric standards, can establish the absolute EUNIS response within a relative uncertainty of 10% over its full longwave bandpass of 300-370A. During each EUNIS flight, coordinated observations are made of overlapping solar locations by all participating space experiments, and identified by subsequent image co-registrations, allowing the EUNIS calibrations to be applied to these other instruments as well. The calibration transfer is straightforward for wavelengths within the EUNIS LW bandpass, and is extended to other wavelengths by means of a series of 'insensitive' line-ratios, with one line of each pair in the calibrated band and the other in the transfer band. In this way, the EUNIS-06 flight is able to update the radiometric calibrations of CDS NISl (plus 2nd order NIS2 near 2x304A), all four channels of EIT, and the three EUV channels of TRACE. The EUNIS-07 flight will further update those missions, as well as both channels of Hinode/EIT and all four channels of STEREO/SECCHI/EUVI. Future EUNIS flights have been proposed that will continue this underflight calibration service. EUNIS is supported by the NASA Heliophysics Division through its Low Cost Access to Space Program in Solar and Heliospheric Physics.

EUNIS Underflight Calibrations of CDS, EIT, TRACE, EIS, and EUVI

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thomas, Roger J.; Wang, Tongjiang; Rabin, Douglas M.; Jess, David B.

2008-01-01

The Extreme-Ultraviolet Normal-Incidence Spectrograph (EUNIS) is a sounding rocket instrument that obtains imaged high-resolution solar spectra. It has now had two successful flights, on 2006 April 12 and 2007 November 16, providing data to support underflight calibrations for a number of orbiting solar experiments on both occasions. A regular part of each campaign is the end-to-end radiometric calibration of the rocket payload carried out at RAL in the UK, using the same facility that provided pre-flight CDS and EIS calibrations. The measurements, traceable to primary radiometric standards, can establish the absolute EUNIS response within a total uncertainty of 10% over its full longwave bandpass of 300-370A. During each EUNIS flight, coordinated observations are made of overlapping solar locations by all participating space experiments, and identified by subsequent image co-registrations, allowing the EUNIS calibrations to be applied to these other instruments as well. The calibration transfer is straightforward for wavelengths within the EUNIS LW bandpass, and is extended to other wavelengths by means of a series of temperature- and density-insensitive line-ratios, with one line of each pair in the calibrated band and the other in the transfer band. In this way, the EUNIS-06 flight is able to update the radiometric calibrations of CDS NISl (and 2nd-order NIS2 near 2x304A), all four channels of EIT, and the three EUV channels of TRACE. The EUNIS-07 flight will further update those missions, as well as both channels of Hinode/EIS and all four channels of STEREO/SECCHI/EUVI. Future EUNIS flights have been proposed that will continue this underflight calibration service. EUNIS is supported by the NASA Heliophysics Division through its Low Cost Access to Space Program in Solar and Heliospheric Physics.

SOLAR PASTEURIZER WITH INTEGRAL HEAT EXCHANGER FOR TREATING WATER IN RURAL AREAS

EPA Science Inventory

According to the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation there are currently 1.1 billion people without access to safe water on the planet. Every year more than five million people die from the lack of safe water and improper sanitation. Child...

A Real-time 3D Visualization of Global MHD Simulation for Space Weather Forecasting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Murata, K.; Matsuoka, D.; Kubo, T.; Shimazu, H.; Tanaka, T.; Fujita, S.; Watari, S.; Miyachi, H.; Yamamoto, K.; Kimura, E.; Ishikura, S.

2006-12-01

Recently, many satellites for communication networks and scientific observation are launched in the vicinity of the Earth (geo-space). The electromagnetic (EM) environments around the spacecraft are always influenced by the solar wind blowing from the Sun and induced electromagnetic fields. They occasionally cause various troubles or damages, such as electrification and interference, to the spacecraft. It is important to forecast the geo-space EM environment as well as the ground weather forecasting. Owing to the recent remarkable progresses of super-computer technologies, numerical simulations have become powerful research methods in the solar-terrestrial physics. For the necessity of space weather forecasting, NICT (National Institute of Information and Communications Technology) has developed a real-time global MHD simulation system of solar wind-magnetosphere-ionosphere couplings, which has been performed on a super-computer SX-6. The real-time solar wind parameters from the ACE spacecraft at every one minute are adopted as boundary conditions for the simulation. Simulation results (2-D plots) are updated every 1 minute on a NICT website. However, 3D visualization of simulation results is indispensable to forecast space weather more accurately. In the present study, we develop a real-time 3D webcite for the global MHD simulations. The 3-D visualization results of simulation results are updated every 20 minutes in the following three formats: (1)Streamlines of magnetic field lines, (2)Isosurface of temperature in the magnetosphere and (3)Isoline of conductivity and orthogonal plane of potential in the ionosphere. For the present study, we developed a 3-D viewer application working on Internet Explorer browser (ActiveX) is implemented, which was developed on the AVS/Express. Numerical data are saved in the HDF5 format data files every 1 minute. Users can easily search, retrieve and plot past simulation results (3D visualization data and numerical data) by using the STARS (Solar-terrestrial data Analysis and Reference System). The STARS is a data analysis system for satellite and ground-based observation data for solar-terrestrial physics.

Updated Model of the Solar Energetic Proton Environment in Space

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiggens, Piers; Heynderickx, Daniel; Sandberg, Ingmar; Truscott, Pete; Raukunen, Osku; Vainio, Rami

2018-05-01

The Solar Accumulated and Peak Proton and Heavy Ion Radiation Environment (SAPPHIRE) model provides environment specification outputs for all aspects of the Solar Energetic Particle (SEP) environment. The model is based upon a thoroughly cleaned and carefully processed data set. Herein the evolution of the solar proton model is discussed with comparisons to other models and data. This paper discusses the construction of the underlying data set, the modelling methodology, optimisation of fitted flux distributions and extrapolation of model outputs to cover a range of proton energies from 0.1 MeV to 1 GeV. The model provides outputs in terms of mission cumulative fluence, maximum event fluence and peak flux for both solar maximum and solar minimum periods. A new method for describing maximum event fluence and peak flux outputs in terms of 1-in-x-year SPEs is also described. SAPPHIRE proton model outputs are compared with previous models including CREME96, ESP-PSYCHIC and the JPL model. Low energy outputs are compared to SEP data from ACE/EPAM whilst high energy outputs are compared to a new model based on GLEs detected by Neutron Monitors (NMs).

Accessing Solar Irradiance Data Products From the LASP Interactive Solar IRradiance Datacenter (LISIRD)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ware Dewolfe, A.; Wilson, A.; Lindholm, D. M.; Pankratz, C. K.; Snow, M.; Woods, T. N.

2009-12-01

The Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) is enhancing the LASP Interactive Solar IRradiance Datacenter (LISIRD) to provide access to a comprehensive set of solar spectral irradiance measurements. LISIRD has recently been updated to serve many new datasets and models, including sunspot index, photometric sunspot index, Lyman-alpha, and magnesium-II core-to-wing ratio. A new user interface emphasizes web-based interactive visualizations, allowing users to explore and compare this data before downloading it for analysis. The data provided covers a wavelength range from soft X-ray (XUV) at 0.1 nm up to the near infrared (NIR) at 2400 nm, as well as wavelength-independent Total Solar Irradiance (TSI). Combined data from the SORCE, TIMED-SEE, UARS-SOLSTICE, and SME instruments provide almost continuous coverage from 1981 to the present, while Hydrogen Lyman-alpha (121.6 nm) measurements / models date from 1947 to the present. This poster provides an overview of the LISIRD system, summarizes the data sets currently available, describes future plans and capabilities, and provides details on how to access solar irradiance data through LISIRD interfaces at http://lasp.colorado.edu/lisird/.

Solar Irradiance Data Products at the LASP Interactive Solar IRradiance Datacenter (LISIRD)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ware Dewolfe, A.; Wilson, A.; Lindholm, D. M.; Pankratz, C. K.; Snow, M. A.; Woods, T. N.

2010-12-01

The Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) has developed the LASP Interactive Solar IRradiance Datacenter (LISIRD) to provide access to a comprehensive set of solar irradiance measurements. LISIRD has recently been updated to serve many new datasets and models, including data from SORCE, UARS-SOLSTICE, SME, and TIMED-SEE, and model data from the Flare Irradiance Spectral Model (FISM). The user interface emphasizes web-based interactive visualizations, allowing users to explore and compare this data before downloading it for analysis. The data provided covers a wavelength range from soft X-ray (XUV) at 0.1 nm up to the near infrared (NIR) at 2400 nm, as well as wavelength-independent Total Solar Irradiance (TSI). Combined data from the SORCE, TIMED-SEE, UARS-SOLSTICE, and SME instruments provide continuous coverage from 1981 to the present, while Lyman-alpha measurements, FISM daily data, and TSI models date from the 1940s to the present. LISIRD will also host Glory TSI data as part of the SORCE data system. This poster provides an overview of the LISIRD system, summarizes the data sets currently available, describes future plans and capabilities, and provides details on how to access solar irradiance data through LISIRD’s interfaces.

Comparing WSA coronal and solar wind model predictions driven by line-of-sight and vector HMI ADAPT maps

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arge, C. N.; Henney, C. J.; Shurkin, K.; Wallace, S.

2017-12-01

As the primary input to nearly all coronal models, reliable estimates of the global solar photospheric magnetic field distribution are critical for accurate modeling and understanding of solar and heliospheric magnetic fields. The Air Force Data Assimilative Photospheric flux Transport (ADAPT) model generates synchronic (i.e., globally instantaneous) maps by evolving observed solar magnetic flux using relatively well understood transport processes when measurements are not available and then updating modeled flux with new observations (available from both the Earth and the far-side of the Sun) using data assimilation methods that rigorously take into account model and observational uncertainties. ADAPT is capable of assimilating line-of-sight and vector magnetic field data from all observatory sources including the expected photospheric vector magnetograms from the Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager (PHI) on the Solar Orbiter, as well as those generated using helioseismic methods. This paper compares Wang-Sheeley-Arge (WSA) coronal and solar wind modeling results at Earth and STEREO A & B using ADAPT input model maps derived from both line-of-site and vector SDO/HMI magnetograms that include methods for incorporating observations of a large, newly emerged (July 2010) far-side active region (AR11087).

New atmospheric and solar results from Super-Kamiokande

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moriyama, S.; Super-Kamiokande Collaboration

2017-09-01

The Super-Kamiokande (SK) experiment has accumulated data on atmospheric neutrino and solar neutrino events and has made improvements in their measurements over the last 20 years. A three-flavor oscillation analysis was conducted with the atmospheric neutrino data in order to study the mass hierarchy, the leptonic CP violation term, and other oscillation parameters. A stronger preference for the normal mass hierarchy was obtained with SK + T2K external data: Δχ2 = χ2 NH - χ2 IH = -5.2 (-3.1 was expected when assuming the best fit parameters of the SK + T2K). The analysis of the appearance of t neutrinos has been updated and a significance of 4.6σ was observed. The observation of ~84,000 solar neutrinos give precise measurements of the energy spectrum and time variation testing terrestrial and solar matter effects. This data favor a lower Δm2 21 value than that measured with reactor anti-neutrinos by KamLAND by more than 2s, and they determine this parameter in the solar neutrino oscillation fit.

Improvements in Modeling Thruster Plume Erosion Damage to Spacecraft Surfaces

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Soares, Carlos; Olsen, Randy; Steagall, Courtney; Huang, Alvin; Mikatarian, Ron; Myers, Brandon; Koontz, Steven; Worthy, Erica

2015-01-01

Spacecraft bipropellant thrusters impact spacecraft surfaces with high speed droplets of unburned and partially burned propellant. These impacts can produce erosion damage to optically sensitive hardware and systems (e.g., windows, camera lenses, solar cells and protective coatings). On the International Space Station (ISS), operational constraints are levied on the position and orientation of the solar arrays to mitigate erosion effects during thruster operations. In 2007, the ISS Program requested evaluation of erosion constraint relief to alleviate operational impacts due to an impaired Solar Alpha Rotary Joint (SARJ). Boeing Space Environments initiated an activity to identify and remove sources of conservatism in the plume induced erosion model to support an expanded range of acceptable solar array positions ? The original plume erosion model over-predicted plume erosion and was adjusted to better correlate with flight experiment results. This paper discusses findings from flight experiments and the methodology employed in modifying the original plume erosion model for better correlation of predictions with flight experiment data. The updated model has been successful employed in reducing conservatism and allowing for enhanced flexibility in ISS solar array operations.

The Ion Propulsion System for the Solar Electric Propulsion Technology Demonstration Mission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Herman, Daniel A.; Santiago, Walter; Kamhawi, Hani; Polk, James E.; Snyder, John Steven; Hofer, Richard; Parker, J. Morgan

2015-01-01

The Asteroid Redirect Robotic Mission is a candidate Solar Electric Propulsion Technology Demonstration Mission whose main objectives are to develop and demonstrate a high-power solar electric propulsion capability for the Agency and return an asteroidal mass for rendezvous and characterization in a subsequent human-crewed mission. The ion propulsion subsystem must be capable of operating over an 8-year time period and processing up to 10,000 kg of xenon propellant. This high-power solar electric propulsion capability, or an extensible derivative of it, has been identified as an enabling element of an affordable beyond low-earth orbit human-crewed exploration architecture. Under the NASA Space Technology Mission Directorate the critical electric propulsion and solar array technologies are being developed. The ion propulsion system for the Asteroid Redirect Vehicle is based on the NASA-developed 12.5 kW Hall Effect Rocket with Magnetic Shielding thruster and power processing technologies. This paper presents the conceptual design for the ion propulsion system, a status on the NASA in-house thruster and power processing is provided, and an update on acquisition for flight provided.

Exploring the prominence-corona connection and its expansion into the outer corona using total solar eclipse observations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Habbal, Shadia Rifai; Morgan, Huw; Druckmüller, Miloslav, E-mail: shadia@ifa.hawaii.edu

Prominences constitute the most complex magnetic structures in the solar corona. The ubiquitous presence of their seemingly confined dense and cool plasma in an otherwise million-degree environment remains a puzzle. Using a decade of white light total solar eclipse observations, we show how these images reveal an intricate relationship between prominences and coronal structures both in their immediate vicinity, known as coronal cavities, and in the extended corona out to several solar radii. Observations of suspended prominences and twisted helical structures spanning several solar radii are central to these findings. The different manifestations of the prominence-corona interface that emerge frommore » this study underscore the fundamental role played by prominences in defining and controlling the complex expansion and dynamic behavior of the solar magnetic field in the neighborhood of magnetic polarity reversal regions. This study suggests that the unraveling of prominences and the outward expansion of the helical twisted field lines linked to them could be the solar origin of twisted magnetic flux ropes detected in interplanetary space, and of the mechanism by which the Sun sheds its magnetic helicity. This work also underscores the likely role of the prominence-corona interface as a source of the slow solar wind.« less

The SPICAV-SOIR instrument probing the atmosphere of Venus: an overview

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trompet, Loïc; Mahieux, Arnaud; Wilquet, Valérie; Robert, Séverine; Chamberlain, Sarah; Thomas, Ian; Carine Vandaele, Ann; Bertaux, Jean-Loup

2016-04-01

The Solar Occultation in the Infrared (SOIR) channel mounted on top of the SPICAV instrument of the ESA's Venus Express mission has observed the atmosphere of Venus during more than eight years. This IR spectrometer (2.2-4.3 μm) with a high spectral resolution (0.12 cm-1) combined an echelle grating with an acousto-optic tunable filter for order selection. SOIR performed more than 1500 solar occultation measurements leading to about two millions spectra. The Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (BIRA-IASB) was in charge of SOIR's development and operations as well as its data pipeline. BIRA-IASB carried out several studies on the composition of Venus mesosphere and lower thermosphere: carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrogen halide (HF, HCl, DF, DCl), sulfur dioxide, water (H2O, HDO) as well as sulphuric acid aerosols in the upper haze of Venus. Density and temperature profiles of the upper atmosphere of Venus (60 km to 170 km) at the terminator have been retrieved from SOIR's spectra using different assumptions, wherein the hydrostatic equilibrium and the local thermodynamical equilibrium in the radiative transfer calculations. These results allow us to produce an Atmospheric model of Venus called Venus Atmosphere from SOIR measurements at the Terminator (VAST). Data obtained by SOIR will also contribute to update the Venus International Reference Atmosphere (VIRA). Recently, the treatment of the raw data to transmittance has been optimized, and a new dataset of spectra has been produced. All raw spectra (PSA level 2) as well as calibrated spectra (PSA level 3) have been delivered to ESA's Planetary Science Archive (PDSPSA). Consequently the re-analysis of all spectra has been undergone. We will briefly present the improvements implemented in the data pipeline. We will also show a compilation of results obtained by the instrument considering the complete mission duration.

Completing the census of young stars near the Sun with the FunnelWeb spectroscopic survey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lawson, Warrick; Murphy, Simon; Tinney, Christopher G.; Ireland, Michael; Bessell, Michael S.

2016-06-01

From late 2016, the Australian FunnelWeb survey will obtain medium-resolution (R~2000) spectra covering the full optical range for 2 million of the brightest stars (I<12) in the southern sky. It will do so using an upgraded UK Schmidt Telescope at Siding Spring Observatory, equipped with a revolutionary, parallelizable optical fibre positioner ("Starbugs") and spectrograph. The ability to reconfigure a multi-fibre plate in less than 5 minutes allows FunnelWeb to observe more stars per night than any other competing multi-fibre spectrograph and enables a range of previously inefficient bright star science not attempted since the completion of the HD catalogues in the 1940s. Among its key science aims, FunnelWeb will obtain spectra for thousands of young and adolescent (<1 Gyr) stars near the Sun (<200 pc) across a wide range of spectral types. These spectra will include well-studied youth and activity indicators such as H-alpha, Li I 6708A, Ca II H&K, as well as surface gravity diagnostics (e.g. Na I, K I). In addition, FunnelWeb will obtain stellar parameters (Teff, logg, vsini), abundances (Fe/H, alpha/Fe) and radial velocities to 1-2 km/s for every star in the survey. When combined with high precision parallaxes and proper motions from the Gaia mission expected from 2017, this dataset will provide a near-complete census of adolescent stars in the solar neighbourhood. It will help reveal the typical formation environments of young solar-type stars, how such stars move from their stellar nurseries to their adult lives in the field, and identifying thousands of high-priority targets for follow-up direct imaging (GPI, SPHERE), transit (including TESS) and radial velocity exoplanet studies. In this poster contribution we introduce the FunnelWeb survey, its science goals and input catalogue, as well as provide an update on the status of the fibre positioner and spectrograph commissioning at Siding Spring.

Sedimentation survey of Lago Lucchetti, Yauco, Puerto Rico, September 2013–May 2014

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gómez-Fragoso, Julieta

2016-08-23

The U.S. Geological Survey conducted a sedimentation survey of Lago Lucchetti, Yauco, Puerto Rico, in 2013–14 in cooperation with the Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority. The survey updated a previous survey, conducted in 2000, and provided accurate information regarding reservoir storage capacity and sedimen­tation rate using bathymetric techniques and a global positioning system coupled with a depth sounder device. The results of the 2013–14 survey indicated a total storage capacity for Lago Lucchetti of 10.21 million cubic meters and a long­-term sedimentation rate loss of 0.16 million cubic meters per year based on the original capacity in 1952. Sediment accumulation was about 10.14 million cubic meters over the life of the reservoir, which represents a storage decrease of about 50 percent of the original capacity in 1952. On the basis of a comparison between the 2013–14 and 2000 surveys, the useful life for Lago Lucchetti is projected to end in 2076.

Hydrogen Data | Geospatial Data Science | NREL

Science.gov Websites

Hydrogen Data Hydrogen Data This hydrogen data estimates the potential for producing hydrogen from Coordinate System Name: GCS_North_American_1983 Coverage File Last Updated Metadata KMZ File Hydrogen Zip of hydrogen could be produced annually from wind, solar, and biomass resources in the United States

Finding Multiple Lanes in Urban Road Networks with Vision and Lidar

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-03-24

drawbacks. First, the cost of updating and main- taining millions of kilometers of roadway is prohibitive. Second, the danger of autonomous vehicles perceiving... autonomous vehicles . We propose that a data infrastructure is useful for topological information and sparse geometry, but reject relying upon it for dense...Throughout the race, approximately 50 human- driven and autonomous vehicles were simultaneously active, thus providing realistic traffic scenarios. Our most

Drinking Water in Nigeria: A Public Health Threat and Burden

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-04-01

solutions. Statistical data is incorporated to substantiate the significance of the disease burden and display the access to safe drinking water...the Nigerian government ministry information and updated health statistics , and the lack of public health related resources at the Muir S...fluctuates based on the statistical source, but the largest figure is estimated at 140 million according to that latest census conducted in 2006. The

A sensitivity analysis of "Forests on the Edge: Housing Development on America's Private Forests."

Treesearch

Eric M. White; Ralph J. Alig; Lisa G. Mahal; David M. Theobald

2009-01-01

The original Forests on the Edge report (FOTE 1) indicated that 44.2 million acres of private forest land was projected to experience substantial increases in residential development in the coming decades. In this study, we examined the sensitivity of the FOTE 1 results to four factors: (1) use of updated private land and forest cover spatial data and a revised model...

Flexible Display Technologies...Do They Have a Role in the Cockpit?

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-03-01

can be updated as needed via wireless technology. The main element of Radio PaperTM is an electronic ink, consisting of millions of microcapsules ...creating black text and images against an otherwise white (negatively charged) background. The microcapsules can retain their charge (and hence the image...for as long as months without additional power. Figure 3. Example of eltrophoretic display (Source: E-Ink Corporation). The microcapsules are

HIV Testing in the Past Year among the U.S. Household Population Aged 15-44: 2011-2013. NCHS Data Brief. Number 202

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Copen, Casey E.; Chandra, Anjani; Febo-Vazquez, Isaedmarie

2015-01-01

In 2011, more than 1 million Americans aged 13 and over were living with HIV infection, and one in seven did not know their infection status. Routine, voluntary HIV testing is a recognized way to reduce HIV transmission. Using data from the 2011-2013 National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG), this report updates nationally representative estimates…

Global income and production impacts of using GM crop technology 1996–2013

PubMed Central

Brookes, Graham; Barfoot, Peter

2015-01-01

abstract This paper provides an economic assessment of the value of using genetically modified (GM) crop technology in agriculture at the farm level. It follows and updates earlier annual studies which examined economic impacts on yields, key costs of production, direct farm income and effects, and impacts on the production base of the 4 main crops of soybeans, corn, cotton and canola. The commercialisation of GM crops has continued to occur at a rapid rate since the mid 1990s, with important changes in both the overall level of adoption and impact occurring in 2013. This annual updated analysis shows that there continues to be very significant net economic benefits at the farm level amounting to $20.5 billion in 2013 and $133.4 billion for the 18 years period (in nominal terms). These economic gains have been divided roughly 50% each to farmers in developed and developing countries. About 70% of the gains have derived from yield and production gains with the remaining 30% coming from cost savings. The technology have also made important contributions to increasing global production levels of the 4 main crops, having added 138 million tonnes and 273 million tonnes respectively, to the global production of soybeans and maize since the introduction of the technology in the mid 1990s. PMID:25738324

Global income and production impacts of using GM crop technology 1996-2013.

PubMed

Brookes, Graham; Barfoot, Peter

2015-01-01

This paper provides an economic assessment of the value of using genetically modified (GM) crop technology in agriculture at the farm level. It follows and updates earlier annual studies which examined economic impacts on yields, key costs of production, direct farm income and effects, and impacts on the production base of the 4 main crops of soybeans, corn, cotton and canola. The commercialisation of GM crops has continued to occur at a rapid rate since the mid 1990s, with important changes in both the overall level of adoption and impact occurring in 2013. This annual updated analysis shows that there continues to be very significant net economic benefits at the farm level amounting to $20.5 billion in 2013 and $133.4 billion for the 18 years period (in nominal terms). These economic gains have been divided roughly 50% each to farmers in developed and developing countries. About 70% of the gains have derived from yield and production gains with the remaining 30% coming from cost savings. The technology have also made important contributions to increasing global production levels of the 4 main crops, having added 138 million tonnes and 273 million tonnes respectively, to the global production of soybeans and maize since the introduction of the technology in the mid 1990s.

The National Solar Permitting Database

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gunderson, Renic

"The soft costs of solar — costs not associated with hardware — remain stubbornly high. Among the biggest soft costs are those associated with inefficiencies in local permitting and inspection. A study by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory estimates that these costs add an average of $0.22/W per residential installation. This project helps reduce non-hardware/balance of system (BOS) costs by creating and maintaining a free and available site of permitting requirements and solar system verification software that installers can use to reduce time, capital, and resource investments in tracking permitting requirements. Software tools to identifymore » best permitting practices can enable government stakeholders to optimize their permitting process and remove superfluous costs and requirements. Like ""a Wikipedia for solar permitting"", users can add, edit, delete, and update information for a given jurisdiction. We incentivize this crowdsourcing approach by recognizing users for their contributions in the form of SEO benefits to their company or organization by linking back to users' websites."« less

Overview of Suomi National Polar-Orbiting Partnership (NPP) Satellite Instrument Calibration and Validation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weng, F.

2015-12-01

The Suomi National Polar-Orbiting Partnership (SNPP) satellite carries five instruments on board including ATMS, CrIS, VIIRS, OMPS and CERES. During the SNPP intensive calval, ATMS was pitched over to observe the cold space radiation. This unique data set was used for diagnostics of the ATMS scan-angle dependent bias and a scan-to-scan variation. A new algorithm is proposed to correct the ATMS scan angle dependent bias related to the reflector emission. ATMS radiometric calibration is also revised in IDPS with the full radiance processing (FRP). CrIS is the first Fourier transform Michelson interferometer and measures three infrared spectral bands from 650 to 1095, 1210 to 1750 and 2155 to 2550 cm-1 with spectral resolutions of 0.625 cm-1, respectively. Its spectral calibration is with an accuracy of better than 2 ppm and its noise is also well characterized with the Allan variance. Since CrIS was switched to the transmission of full spectral resolution (FSR) of RDR data to the ground in January 2015. The CrIS FSR SDR data are also produced offline at NOAA STAR. VIIRS has 22 spectral bands covering the spectrum between 0.412 μm and 12.01 μm, including 16 moderate resolution bands (M-bands) with a spatial resolution of 750 m at nadir, five imaging resolution bands (I-bands) with a spatial resolution of 375 m at nadir, and one day-night band (DNB) with a nearly-constant 750 m spatial resolution throughout the scan. The calibration of VIIRS reflective solar bands (RSB) requires a solar diffuser (SD) and a solar diffuser stability monitor (SDSM). Using the SNPP yaw maneuver data, SDSM screen transmission function can be updated to better capture the fine structures of the vignetting function. For OMPS nadir mapper (NM) and nadir profiler (NP), the detector signal-to-noise ratio, and sensor signal-to-noise ratio meet the system requirement. Detector gain and bias performance trends are generally stable. System linearity performance is stable and highly consistent with the prelaunch values. The recent updates on OMPS wavelength, solar flux and radiance coefficients have resulted in viewing angle dependent bias in the earth view observations. OMPS dark currents are updated weekly and monitored for further improving the radiometric calibration.

The Thermal Expansion of Ring Particles and the Secular Orbital Evolution of Rings Around Planets and Asteroids

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rubincam, David P.

2013-01-01

The thermal expansion and contraction of ring particles orbiting a planet or asteroid can cause secular orbit evolution. This effect, called here the thermal expansion effect, depends on ring particles entering and exiting the shadow of the body they orbit. A particle cools off in the shadow and heats up again in the sunshine, suffering thermal contraction and expansion. The changing cross-section it presents to solar radiation pressure plus time lags due to thermal inertia lead to a net along-track force. The effect causes outward drift for rocky particles. For the equatorial orbits considered here, the thermal expansion effect is larger than Poynting-Robertson drag in the inner solar system for particles in the size range approx. 0.001 - 0.02 m. This leads to a net increase in the semimajor axis from the two opposing effects at rates ranging from approx. 0.1 R per million years for Mars to approx. 1 R per million years for Mercury, for distances approx. 2R from the body, where R is the body's radius. Asteroid 243 Ida has approx. 10 R per million years, while a hypothetical Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA) can have faster rates of approx. 0.5 R per thousand years, due chiefly to its small radius compared to the planets. The thermal expansion effect weakens greatly at Jupiter and is overwhelmed by Poynting-Robertson for icy particles orbiting Saturn. Meteoroids in eccentric orbits about the Sun also suffer the thermal expansion effect, but with only approx. 0.0003e2 AU change in semimajor axis over a million years for a 2 m meteoroid orbiting between Mercury and Earth.

KSC-2009-4760

NASA Image and Video Library

2009-08-17

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- At Vandenberg Air Force Base's Astrotech processing facility in California, NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, spacecraft is situated on a work stand. At left on the spacecraft is the fixed panel solar array. In front, the square is the HGA Slotted Array (Ku-Band). The satellite will survey the entire sky at infrared wavelengths, creating a cosmic clearinghouse of hundreds of millions of objects, which will be catalogued, providing a vast storehouse of knowledge about the solar system, the Milky Way, and the universe. Launch is scheduled no earlier than Dec. 10. Photo credit: NASA/Moore, VAFB

Sokaogon Chippewa Community Emission-Free and Treaty Resource Protection Clean Energy Initiative

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Quade, Ron

Final Report for DOE project DE-IE0000036 The Sokaogon Chippewa Community received a tribal clean energy initiative grant and installed a community wide solar system estimated to produce 606 kw of carbon free clean energy on seventeen (17) tribal buildings and three (3) residential homes significantly reducing the tribes’ energy bills over the life of the system, potentially saving the tribe up to $2.7 million in energy savings over a thirty (30) year time span. Fifteen (15) solar installations utilized aluminum roof-top mounting systems while two (2) installations utilized a ground mount aluminum racking system.

The pick-up of cometary protons by the solar wind

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Neugebauer, M.; Goldstein, B. E.; Goldstein, R.; Lazarus, A. J.; Altwegg, K.; Balsiger, H.

1987-01-01

The HERS detector of the Ion Mass Spectrometer on the Giotto spacecraft measured the 3-dimensional distribution of picked-up cometary protons over a distance of about 8 million km upstream of the bow shock of comet P/Hally. The protons were observed to be elastically scattered out of their original cycloidal trajectories such that they were nonuniformly distributed over a spherical shell in velocity space. The shell radius (relative to its expected radius) and thickness increased as the bow shock was approached. Down-stream of the shock, the cometary protons could not be distinguished from the heated solar wind protons.

The Focusing Optics X-ray Solar Imager: Second Flight and Recent Results

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Christe, S.; Krucker, S.; Glesener, L.; Ishikawa, S. N.; Ramsey, B.; Buitrago Casas, J. C.; Foster, N.

2014-12-01

Solar flares accelerate particles up to high energies through various acceleration mechanisms which are not currently understood. Hard X-rays are the most direct diagnostic of flare-accelerated electrons. However past and current hard x-ray observation lack the sensitivity and dynamic range necessary to observe the faint signature of accelerated electrons in the acceleration region, the solar corona. These limitations can be easily overcome through the use of HXR focusing optics coupled with solid state pixelated detectors. We present on recent updates on the FOXSI sounding rocket program. During its first flight FOXSI observed imaged a microflare with simultaneous observations by RHESSI. We present recent imaging analysis of the FOXSI observations and detailed comparison with RHESSI. New detector calibration results are also presented and, time-permitting, preliminary results from the second launch of FOXSI scheduled for December 2014.

SAMICS: Input data preparation. [Solar Array Manufacturing Industry Costing Standards

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chamberlain, R. G.; Aster, R. W.

1979-01-01

The Solar Array Manufacturing Industry Costing Standards (SAMICS) provide standard formats, data, assumptions, and procedures for estimating the price that a manufacturer would have to charge for the product of a specified manufacturing process sequence. A line-by-line explanation is given of those standard formats which describe the economically important characteristics of the manufacturing processes and the technological structure of the companies and the industry. This revision provides an updated presentation of Format A Process Description, consistent with the October 1978 version of that form. A checklist of items which should be entered on Format A as direct expenses is included.

From the Sun with Love

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-12-08

This Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) image of the Sun taken on January 20, 2012 in extreme ultraviolet light captures a heart-shaped dark coronal hole. Coronal holes are areas of the Sun's surface that are the source of open magnetic field lines that head way out into space. They are also the source regions of the fast solar wind, which is characterized by a relatively steady speed of approximately 800 km/s (about 1.8 million mph). NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

Modern Solar Mysteries

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hathaway, David H.

2004-01-01

100 years ago we thought that the Sun and stars shone as a result of slow gravitational contraction over a few tens of millions of years - putting astronomers at odds with geologists who claimed that the Earth was much, much older. That mystery was solved in the 1920s and 30s with the discovery of nuclear energy (proving that the geologists had it right all along). Other scientific mysteries concerning the Sun have come and gone but three major mysteries remain: 1) How does the Sun produce sunspots with an 11-year cycle? 2) What produces the huge explosions that result in solar flares, prominence eruptions, and coronal mass ejections? and 3) Why is the Sun's outer atmosphere, the corona, so darned hot? Recent progress in solar astronomy reveals a single key to understanding all three of these mysteries.

A solar power plant for Curtin University Malaysia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Palanichamy, C.

2016-03-01

The Curtin University, Sarawak Malaysia (Curtin Sarawak) is the first and largest offshore campus of Curtin University in Perth, Western Australia, and the first foreign university to be established in East Malaysia in partnership with the Sarawak State Government. Today's major concern of Curtin is its monthly electrical energy consumption and the electricity bill since its monthly energy consumption exceeds 0.3 Million kWh, and the corresponding electricity bill surpasses RM 95000. Such a situation necessitates Curtin to curtail the heavy energy consumption with immediate effect. Introducing Renewable Energy Source such as PV Solar Systems is a cost-effective and environmental friendly solution to reduce the exponential increase in energy consumption charges of Curtin. Hence, this paper proposes a 90 kW solar power plant for Curtin Sarawak.

Capturing Callisto

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2007-01-01

The New Horizons Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) captured these two images of Jupiter's outermost large moon, Callisto, as the spacecraft flew past Jupiter in late February. New Horizons' closest approach distance to Jupiter was 2.3 million kilometers (1.4 million miles), not far outside Callisto's orbit, which has a radius of 1.9 million kilometers (1.2 million miles). However, Callisto happened to be on the opposite side of Jupiter during the spacecraft's pass through the Jupiter system, so these images, taken from 4.7 million kilometers (3.0 million miles) and 4.2 million kilometers (2.6 million miles) away, are the closest of Callisto that New Horizons obtained.

Callisto's ancient, crater-scarred surface makes it very different from its three more active sibling satellites, Io, Europa and Ganymede. Callisto, 4,800 kilometers (3000 miles) in diameter, displays no large-scale geological features other than impact craters, and every bright spot in these images is a crater. The largest impact feature on Callisto, the huge basin Valhalla, is visible as a bright patch at the 10 o'clock position. The craters are bright because they have excavated material relatively rich in water ice from beneath the dark, dusty material that coats most of the surface.

The two images show essentially the same side of Callisto -- the side that faces Jupiter -- under different illumination conditions. The images accompanied scans of Callisto's infrared spectrum with New Horizons' Linear Etalon Imaging Spectral Array (LEISA). The New Horizons science team designed these scans to study how the infrared spectrum of Callisto's water ice changes as lighting and viewing conditions change, and as the ice cools through Callisto's late afternoon. The infrared spectrum of water ice depends slightly on its temperature, and a goal of New Horizons when it reaches the Pluto system (in 2015) is to use the water ice features in the spectrum of Pluto's moon Charon, and perhaps on Pluto itself, to measure surface temperature. Callisto provided an ideal opportunity to test this technique on a much better-known body.

The left image, taken at 05:03 Universal Time on February 27, 2007, is centered at 5 degrees south, 5 degrees west, and has a solar phase angle of 46 degrees. The right image was taken at 03:25 Universal Time on February 28, 2007. It is centered at 4 degrees south, 356 degrees west, and has a solar phase angle of 76 degrees.

Forecasting Geomagnetic Activity Using Kalman Filters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Veeramani, T.; Sharma, A.

2006-05-01

The coupling of energy from the solar wind to the magnetosphere leads to the geomagnetic activity in the form of storms and substorms and are characterized by indices such as AL, Dst and Kp. The geomagnetic activity has been predicted near-real time using local linear filter models of the system dynamics wherein the time series of the input solar wind and the output magnetospheric response were used to reconstruct the phase space of the system by a time-delay embedding technique. Recently, the radiation belt dynamics have been studied using a adaptive linear state space model [Rigler et al. 2004]. This was achieved by assuming a linear autoregressive equation for the underlying process and an adaptive identification of the model parameters using a Kalman filter approach. We use such a model for predicting the geomagnetic activity. In the case of substorms, the Bargatze et al [1985] data set yields persistence like behaviour when a time resolution of 2.5 minutes was used to test the model for the prediction of the AL index. Unlike the local linear filters, which are driven by the solar wind input without feedback from the observations, the Kalman filter makes use of the observations as and when available to optimally update the model parameters. The update procedure requires the prediction intervals to be long enough so that the forecasts can be used in practice. The time resolution of the data suitable for such forecasting is studied by taking averages over different durations.

Satellite Imagery Analysis for Nighttime Temperature Inversion Clouds

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kawamoto, K.; Minnis, P.; Arduini, R.; Smith, W., Jr.

2001-01-01

Clouds play important roles in the climate system. Their optical and microphysical properties, which largely determine their radiative property, need to be investigated. Among several measurement means, satellite remote sensing seems to be the most promising. Since most of the cloud algorithms proposed so far are daytime use which utilizes solar radiation, Minnis et al. (1998) developed a nighttime use one using 3.7-, 11 - and 12-microns channels. Their algorithm, however, has a drawback that is not able to treat temperature inversion cases. We update their algorithm, incorporating new parameterization by Arduini et al. (1999) which is valid for temperature inversion cases. This updated algorithm has been applied to GOES satellite data and reasonable retrieval results were obtained.

Building a Construction Curriculum for Your School District

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ruder, Robert

2010-01-01

Embracing the notion of going green, an affluent school district in Pennsylvania spent $83 million as part of the high school's renovation and expansion project. The three-level addition is now equipped with self-dimming lights, energy-efficient windows, a rooftop solar water heater, and a geothermal cooling and heating system. As a bonus for…

Joint Force Cyberspace Component Command: Establishing Cyberspace Operations Unity of Effort for the Joint Force Commander

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-05-01

say/. According to the article, “the hackers targeted big-name makers of nuclear and solar technology, stealing confidential business information...As JTF-GNO synchronized efforts to disinfect and protect over 2.5 million computers in 3,500 DoD organizations spanning 99 countries, Defense

Understanding the usage of the Helioviewer Project clients and services

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ireland, J.; Zahniy, S.; Mueller, D.; Nicula, B.; Verstringe, F.; Bourgoignie, B.; Buchlin, E.; Alingery, P.

2017-12-01

The Helioviewer Project enables visual exploration of the Sun and the inner heliosphere for everyone, everywhere via intuitive interfaces and novel technology. The project mainly develops two clients, helioviewer.org and JHelioviewer, and the server-side capabilities accessed via those clients. Images from many different ground and space-based sources are currently available from multiple servers. Solar and heliospheric feature and event information, magnetic field extrapolations and important time-series can also be browsed and visualized using Helioviewer Project clients. Users of the Helioviewer Project have made over two million movies and many millions of screenshots since detailed (and anonymous) logging of Helioviewer Project usage was implemented in February 2011. These usage logs are analyzed to give a detailed breakdown on user interaction with solar and heliospheric data via Helioviewer Project clients and services. We present summary statistics on how our users are using our clients and services, which data they are interested in, and how they choose to interact with different data sources. At the poster presentation we will also be soliciting ideas from the community to improve our clients and services.

Chaotic Exchange of Solid Material Between Planetary Systems: Implications for Lithopanspermia

PubMed Central

Belbruno, Edward; Malhotra, Renu; Savransky, Dmitry

2012-01-01

Abstract We examined a low-energy mechanism for the transfer of meteoroids between two planetary systems embedded in a star cluster using quasi-parabolic orbits of minimal energy. Using Monte Carlo simulations, we found that the exchange of meteoroids could have been significantly more efficient than previously estimated. Our study is relevant to astrobiology, as it addresses whether life on Earth could have been transferred to other planetary systems in the Solar System's birth cluster and whether life on Earth could have been transferred from beyond the Solar System. In the Solar System, the timescale over which solid material was delivered to the region from where it could be transferred via this mechanism likely extended to several hundred million years (as indicated by the 3.8–4.0 Ga epoch of the Late Heavy Bombardment). This timescale could have overlapped with the lifetime of the Solar birth cluster (∼100–500 Myr). Therefore, we conclude that lithopanspermia is an open possibility if life had an early start. Adopting parameters from the minimum mass solar nebula, considering a range of planetesimal size distributions derived from observations of asteroids and Kuiper Belt objects and theoretical coagulation models, and taking into account Oort Cloud formation models, we discerned that the expected number of bodies with mass>10 kg that could have been transferred between the Sun and its nearest cluster neighbor could be of the order of 1014 to 3·1016, with transfer timescales of tens of millions of years. We estimate that of the order of 3·108·l (km) could potentially be life-bearing, where l is the depth of Earth's crust in kilometers that was ejected as the result of the early bombardment. Key Words: Extrasolar planets—Interplanetary dust—Interstellar meteorites—Lithopanspermia. Astrobiology 12, 754–774. PMID:22897115

Solar wind structure out of the ecliptic plane over solar cycles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sokol, J. M.; Bzowski, M.; Tokumaru, M.

2017-12-01

Sun constantly emits a stream of plasma known as solar wind. Ground-based observations of the solar wind speed through the interplanetary scintillations (IPS) of radio flux from distant point sources and in-situ measurements by Ulysses mission revealed that the solar wind flow has different characteristics depending on the latitude. This latitudinal structure evolves with the cycle of solar activity. The knowledge on the evolution of solar wind structure is important for understanding the interaction between the interstellar medium surrounding the Sun and the solar wind, which is responsible for creation of the heliosphere. The solar wind structure must be taken into account in interpretation of most of the observations of heliospheric energetic neutral atoms, interstellar neutral atoms, pickup ions, and heliospheric backscatter glow. The information on the solar wind structure is not any longer available from direct measurements after the termination of Ulysses mission and the only source of the solar wind out of the ecliptic plane is the IPS observations. However, the solar wind structure obtained from this method contains inevitable gaps in the time- and heliolatitude coverage. Sokół et al 2015 used the solar wind speed data out of the ecliptic plane retrieved from the IPS observations performed by Institute for Space-Earth Environmental Research (Nagoya University, Japan) and developed a methodology to construct a model of evolution of solar wind speed and density from 1985 to 2013 that fills the data gaps. In this paper we will present a refined model of the solar wind speed and density structure as a function of heliographic latitude updated by the most recent data from IPS observations. And we will discuss methods of extrapolation of the solar wind structure out of the ecliptic plane for the past solar cycles, when the data were not available, as well as forecasting for few years upward.

Solar electricity and solar fuels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spiers, David J.

1989-04-01

The nature of solar radiation and its variation with location is described. The distribution of energy in the solar spectrum places immediate limits on the theoretical efficiency of conversion processes, since practical absorbers cannot convert all wavelengths received to useful energy. The principles of solar energy conversion methods are described. Absorption of solar energy can give rise to direct electrical generation, heating, or chemical change. Electrical generation from sunlight can be achieved by photovoltaic systems directly or by thermal systems which use solar heat to drive a heat engine and generator. The technology used and under research for promising ways of producing electricity or fuel from solar energy is described. Photovoltaic technology is established today for remote area, small power applications, and photovoltaic module sales alone are over 100 million dollars per year at present. The photovoltaic market has grown steadily since the mid-1970's, as prices have fallen continuously. Future energy options are briefly described. The merits of a sustainable energy economy, based on renewable energy resources, including solar energy, are emphasized, as this seems to provide the only hope of eliminating the problems caused by the build-up of atmospheric carbon dioxide, acid rain pollution and nuclear waste disposal. There is no doubt that clean fuels which were derived from solar energy and either did not involve carbon dioxide and used atmospheric carbon dioxide as the source dioxide as the source of carbon would be a worthy ideal. Methods described could one day achieve this.

Brown dwarfs in young stellar clusters

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stringfellow, Guy S.

1991-01-01

The present calculations of the early evolution of brown dwarfs and very low mass stars (LMSs) yield isochrones spanning 0.01-0.2 solar masses for ages in the 1 to 300 million year range. Since the brown dwarfs remain sharply segregated in T(eff) from LMSs for ages of less than 100 million years, it follows that for coeval populations of known age, a domain exists in the H-R diagram in which only brown dwarfs exist. These theoretical results are compared with recent observations of the Pleiades brown dwarf candidates, using two new sets of color-T(eff) transformations. Both sets yield consistent interpretations.

KSC-99pp0409

NASA Image and Video Library

1999-04-08

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- The KSC Visitor Complex welcomes more than 2.75 million visitors each year. Featured are bus tours of the space center with up-close views of Space Shuttle launch facilities and International Space Station processing. The Visitor Complex has recently undergone a $13 million expansion, with new exhibits, films, and an International Space Station-themed ticket plaza, featuring a structure of overhanging solar panels and astronauts performing assembly tasks. The KSC Visitor Complex was inaugurated three decades ago and is now one of the top five tourist attractions in Florida. It is located on S.R. 407, east of I-95, within the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge

Surviving the Sun's Wrath at Mercury: The MESSENGER Mission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

DiGregorio, Barry E.

2008-03-01

In spite of the best efforts by satellite engineers to construct electronic components capable of surviving the harsh radiation environment of space, satellites continue to fall victim every year to high-energy particles from galactic cosmic rays, solar energetic particle events, and trapped particles in the Earth's magnetic field. According to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), $500 million in commercial satellite insurance claims were filed between 1994 and 1999 as a direct result of space weather impinging on satellite electronics systems [NOAA, 2006]. NOAA also reported that adverse space weather causes damage to U.S. Department of Defense satellites, amounting to $100 million every year.

Invited Article: Electric solar wind sail: Toward test missions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Janhunen, P.; Toivanen, P. K.; Polkko, J.; Merikallio, S.; Salminen, P.; Haeggström, E.; Seppänen, H.; Kurppa, R.; Ukkonen, J.; Kiprich, S.; Thornell, G.; Kratz, H.; Richter, L.; Krömer, O.; Rosta, R.; Noorma, M.; Envall, J.; Lätt, S.; Mengali, G.; Quarta, A. A.; Koivisto, H.; Tarvainen, O.; Kalvas, T.; Kauppinen, J.; Nuottajärvi, A.; Obraztsov, A.

2010-11-01

The electric solar wind sail (E-sail) is a space propulsion concept that uses the natural solar wind dynamic pressure for producing spacecraft thrust. In its baseline form, the E-sail consists of a number of long, thin, conducting, and centrifugally stretched tethers, which are kept in a high positive potential by an onboard electron gun. The concept gains its efficiency from the fact that the effective sail area, i.e., the potential structure of the tethers, can be millions of times larger than the physical area of the thin tethers wires, which offsets the fact that the dynamic pressure of the solar wind is very weak. Indeed, according to the most recent published estimates, an E-sail of 1 N thrust and 100 kg mass could be built in the rather near future, providing a revolutionary level of propulsive performance (specific acceleration) for travel in the solar system. Here we give a review of the ongoing technical development work of the E-sail, covering tether construction, overall mechanical design alternatives, guidance and navigation strategies, and dynamical and orbital simulations.

Invited article: Electric solar wind sail: toward test missions.

PubMed

Janhunen, P; Toivanen, P K; Polkko, J; Merikallio, S; Salminen, P; Haeggström, E; Seppänen, H; Kurppa, R; Ukkonen, J; Kiprich, S; Thornell, G; Kratz, H; Richter, L; Krömer, O; Rosta, R; Noorma, M; Envall, J; Lätt, S; Mengali, G; Quarta, A A; Koivisto, H; Tarvainen, O; Kalvas, T; Kauppinen, J; Nuottajärvi, A; Obraztsov, A

2010-11-01

The electric solar wind sail (E-sail) is a space propulsion concept that uses the natural solar wind dynamic pressure for producing spacecraft thrust. In its baseline form, the E-sail consists of a number of long, thin, conducting, and centrifugally stretched tethers, which are kept in a high positive potential by an onboard electron gun. The concept gains its efficiency from the fact that the effective sail area, i.e., the potential structure of the tethers, can be millions of times larger than the physical area of the thin tethers wires, which offsets the fact that the dynamic pressure of the solar wind is very weak. Indeed, according to the most recent published estimates, an E-sail of 1 N thrust and 100 kg mass could be built in the rather near future, providing a revolutionary level of propulsive performance (specific acceleration) for travel in the solar system. Here we give a review of the ongoing technical development work of the E-sail, covering tether construction, overall mechanical design alternatives, guidance and navigation strategies, and dynamical and orbital simulations.

Skin Cancer, Irradiation, and Sunspots: The Solar Cycle Effect

PubMed Central

Zurbenko, Igor

2014-01-01

Skin cancer is diagnosed in more than 2 million individuals annually in the United States. It is strongly associated with ultraviolet exposure, with melanoma risk doubling after five or more sunburns. Solar activity, characterized by features such as irradiance and sunspots, undergoes an 11-year solar cycle. This fingerprint frequency accounts for relatively small variation on Earth when compared to other uncorrelated time scales such as daily and seasonal cycles. Kolmogorov-Zurbenko filters, applied to the solar cycle and skin cancer data, separate the components of different time scales to detect weaker long term signals and investigate the relationships between long term trends. Analyses of crosscorrelations reveal epidemiologically consistent latencies between variables which can then be used for regression analysis to calculate a coefficient of influence. This method reveals that strong numerical associations, with correlations >0.5, exist between these small but distinct long term trends in the solar cycle and skin cancer. This improves modeling skin cancer trends on long time scales despite the stronger variation in other time scales and the destructive presence of noise. PMID:25126567

The chaotic "sculpting" of the Solar System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsiganis, K.

2006-01-01

The orbits of the large celestial bodies in our Solar System are stable for very long times, as can be shown by numerical simulation. This gives the erroneous impression of perpetual stability of the system. It is only when we study the orbital distribution of the numerous minor bodies in the Solar System that we discover the rich variety of complex dynamical processes that have in fact shaped our system. During the last decade, enormous progress has been made, in understanding the evolution of the system over the last ~3.9 Gy. However, it also became clear that, in order to unveil its behaviour during the first ~700 million years of its lifetime, we have to find convincing explanations for observations that appear as details of its dynamical architecture. In the following we are going to show how the two best known - and up to now unexplained - observations in the Solar System, namely (i) the heavily cratered surface of the Moon and (ii) the elliptic (and not circular) motion of the planets, lead us to the discovery of the chaotic sculpting of the Solar System [1]-[3].

Solar-Assisted Electric Vehicle Charging Station Interim Report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lapsa, Melissa Voss; Durfee, Norman; Maxey, L Curt

2011-09-01

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has been awarded $6.8 million in the Department of Energy (DOE) American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds as part of an overall $114.8 million ECOtality grant with matching funds from regional partners to install 125 solar-assisted Electric Vehicle (EV) charging stations across Knoxville, Nashville, Chattanooga, and Memphis. Significant progress has been made toward completing the scope with the installation of 25 solar-assisted charging stations at ORNL; six stations at Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI); and 27 stations at Nissan's Smyrna and Franklin sites, with three more stations under construction at Nissan's new lithium-ion batterymore » plant. Additionally, the procurement process for contracting the installation of 34 stations at Knoxville, the University of Tennessee Knoxville (UTK), and Nashville sites is underway with completion of installation scheduled for early 2012. Progress is also being made on finalizing sites and beginning installations of 30 stations in Nashville, Chattanooga, and Memphis by EPRI and Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). The solar-assisted EV charging station project has made great strides in fiscal year 2011. A total of 58 solar-assisted EV parking spaces have been commissioned in East and Middle Tennessee, and progress on installing the remaining 67 spaces is well underway. The contract for the 34 stations planned for Knoxville, UTK, and Nashville should be underway in October with completion scheduled for the end of March 2012; the remaining three Nissan stations are under construction and scheduled to be complete in November; and the EPRI/TVA stations for Chattanooga, Vanderbilt, and Memphis are underway and should be complete by the end of March 2012. As additional Nissan LEAFs are being delivered, usage of the charging stations has increased substantially. The project is on course to complete all 125 solar-assisted EV charging stations in time to collect meaningful data by the end of government fiscal year 2012. Lessons learned from the sites completed thus far are being incorporated and are proving to be invaluable in completion of the remaining sites.« less

A GLOBAL ASSESSMENT OF SOLAR ENERGY RESOURCES: NASA's Prediction of Worldwide Energy Resources (POWER) Project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, T.; Stackhouse, P. W., Jr.; Chandler, W.; Hoell, J. M.; Westberg, D.; Whitlock, C. H.

2010-12-01

NASA's POWER project, or the Prediction of the Worldwide Energy Resources project, synthesizes and analyzes data on a global scale. The products of the project find valuable applications in the solar and wind energy sectors of the renewable energy industries. The primary source data for the POWER project are NASA's World Climate Research Project (WCRP)/Global Energy and Water cycle Experiment (GEWEX) Surface Radiation Budget (SRB) project (Release 3.0) and the Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO) Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) assimilation model (V 4.0.3). Users of the POWER products access the data through NASA's Surface meteorology and Solar Energy (SSE, Version 6.0) website (http://power.larc.nasa.gov). Over 200 parameters are available to the users. The spatial resolution is 1 degree by 1 degree now and will be finer later. The data covers from July 1983 to December 2007, a time-span of 24.5 years, and are provided as 3-hourly, daily and monthly means. As of now, there have been over 18 million web hits and over 4 million data file downloads. The POWER products have been systematically validated against ground-based measurements, and in particular, data from the Baseline Surface Radiation Network (BSRN) archive, and also against the National Solar Radiation Data Base (NSRDB). Parameters such as minimum, maximum, daily mean temperature and dew points, relative humidity and surface pressure are validated against the National Climate Data Center (NCDC) data. SSE feeds data directly into Decision Support Systems including RETScreen International clean energy project analysis software that is written in 36 languages and has greater than 260,000 users worldwide.

Solar water disinfection (SODIS): a review from bench-top to roof-top.

PubMed

McGuigan, Kevin G; Conroy, Ronán M; Mosler, Hans-Joachim; du Preez, Martella; Ubomba-Jaswa, Eunice; Fernandez-Ibañez, Pilar

2012-10-15

Solar water disinfection (SODIS) has been known for more than 30 years. The technique consists of placing water into transparent plastic or glass containers (normally 2L PET beverage bottles) which are then exposed to the sun. Exposure times vary from 6 to depending on the intensity of sunlight and sensitivity of the pathogens. Its germicidal effect is based on the combined effect of thermal heating of solar light and UV radiation. It has been repeatedly shown to be effective for eliminating microbial pathogens and reduce diarrhoeal morbidity including cholera. Since 1980 much research has been carried out to investigate the mechanisms of solar radiation induced cell death in water and possible enhancement technologies to make it faster and safer. Since SODIS is simple to use and inexpensive, the method has spread throughout the developing world and is in daily use in more than 50 countries in Asia, Latin America, and Africa. More than 5 million people disinfect their drinking water with the solar disinfection (SODIS) technique. This review attempts to revise all relevant knowledge about solar disinfection from microbiological issues, laboratory research, solar testing, up to and including real application studies, limitations, factors influencing adoption of the technique and health impact. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Energy: An annotated selected bibliography

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Blow, S. J. (Compiler); Peacock, R. W. (Compiler); Sholy, J. J. (Compiler)

1979-01-01

This updated bibliography contains approximately 7,000 selected references on energy and energy related topics from bibliographic and other data sources from June 1977. Under each subject heading the entries are arranged by the date, with the latest works first. Geothermal, solar, wind, and ocean/water power sources are included. Magnetohydrodynamics and electrohydrodynamics, electric power engineering, automotive power plants, and energy storage are also covered.

Littoral Combat Ship and Frigate: Slowing Planned Frigate Acquisition Would Enable Better Informed Decisions

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-12-08

States Government Accountability Office United States Government Accountability Office Highlights of GAO-17-279T, a testimony before the...million in defects for each ship. Time will tell whether this amount is sufficient to account for discovered defects.6 Turning to cost and schedule...279T Year GAO recommendation DOD response 2010 • Update the LCS acquisition strategy to account for operational testing delays in the program

We Can Do Better: Child Care Aware® of America's Ranking of State Child Care Center Regulations and Oversight. 2013 Update

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Child Care Aware of America, 2013

2013-01-01

Each week, nearly 11 million children under age 5 are in some type of child care setting for an average of 35 hours. Parents, as consumers of child care, equate a child care license with state approval--a gold seal for those businesses to which a state grants a license. Child Care Aware® of America reviews state licensing policies, which include…

Updated Heliostorm Warning Mission: Enhancements Based on New Technology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Young, Roy M.

2010-01-01

The Heliostorm (also referred to as Geostorm) mission has been regarded as the best choice for the first application of solar sail technology. The objective of Heliostorm is to obtain data from an orbit station slightly displaced from the ecliptic at or nearer to the Sun than 0.98 AU, which places it twice as close to the sun as Earth's natural L1 point at 0.993 AU. Heliostorm has been the subject of several mission studies over the past decade, with the most complete study conducted in 1999 in conjunction with a proposed New Millennium Program (NMP) Space Technology 5 (ST-5) flight opportunity. Recently, over a two and one-half year period dating from 2002 through 2005, NASA s In-Space Propulsion Technology Program (ISTP) matured solar sail technology from laboratory components to fully integrated systems, demonstrated in as relevant a space environment as could feasibly be simulated on the ground. Work under this program has yielded promising results for enhanced Heliostorm mission performance. This paper will present the preliminary results of an updated Heliostorm mission design study including the enhancements incorporated during the design, development, analysis and testing of the system ground demonstrator.

Anomalously Weak Solar Convection

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hanasoge, Shravan M.; Duvall, Thomas L.; Sreenivasan, Katepalli R.

2012-01-01

Convection in the solar interior is thought to comprise structures on a spectrum of scales. This conclusion emerges from phenomenological studies and numerical simulations, though neither covers the proper range of dynamical parameters of solar convection. Here, we analyze observations of the wavefield in the solar photosphere using techniques of time-distance helioseismology to image flows in the solar interior. We downsample and synthesize 900 billion wavefield observations to produce 3 billion cross-correlations, which we average and fit, measuring 5 million wave travel times. Using these travel times, we deduce the underlying flow systems and study their statistics to bound convective velocity magnitudes in the solar interior, as a function of depth and spherical- harmonic degree l..Within the wavenumber band l < 60, convective velocities are 20-100 times weaker than current theoretical estimates. This constraint suggests the prevalence of a different paradigm of turbulence from that predicted by existing models, prompting the question: what mechanism transports the heat flux of a solar luminosity outwards? Advection is dominated by Coriolis forces for wavenumbers l < 60, with Rossby numbers smaller than approximately 10(exp -2) at r/R-solar = 0.96, suggesting that the Sun may be a much faster rotator than previously thought, and that large-scale convection may be quasi-geostrophic. The fact that isorotation contours in the Sun are not coaligned with the axis of rotation suggests the presence of a latitudinal entropy gradient.

Educating the Public about the 2017 Total Solar Eclipse

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pasachoff, Jay M.

2017-01-01

On behalf of the International Astronomical Union's Working Group on Solar Eclipses, I have long worked to bring knowledge about eclipses and how to observe the safely to the people of the various countries from which partial, annular, or total solar eclipses are visible. In 2017, we have first a chance to educate the people of South America on the occasion of the February 26 annular eclipse through southern Chile and Argentina that is partial throughout almost the entire continent (and an eclipse workshop will be held February 22-24 in Esquel, Argentina: http://sion.frm.utn.edu.ar/WDEAII) and then a chance to educate the 300 million people of the United States and others in adjacent countries as far south as northern South America about the glories of totality and how to observe partial phases. Our website, a compendium of links to information about maps, safe observing, science, and more is at http://eclipses.info. We link to important mapping sites at EclipseWise.com, GreatAmericanEclipse.com, and http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/solar_eclipses/xSE_GoogleMap3.php?Ecl=+20170821&Acc=2&Umb=1&Lmt=1&Mag=1&Max=1, and information about cloudiness statistics at http://eclipsophile.com, as well as simulation sites at https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/details.cgi?aid=4314 and http://eyes.jpl.nasa.gov. The American Astronomical Society's task force on the 2017 eclipse has a website at http://eclipse.aas.org. We are working to disseminate accurate information about how and why to observe the total solar eclipse, trying among other things to head off common misinformation about the hazards of looking at the sun at eclipses or otherwise. About 12 million Americans live within the 70-mile-wide band of totality, and we encourage others to travel into it, trying to make clear the difference between even a 99% partial eclipse and a total eclipse, with its glorious Baily's beads, diamond rings, and totality that on this occasion lasts between 2 minutes and 2 minutes 40 seconds on the centerline. Our research on the 2017 total solar eclipse is supported by grants from the Committee for Research and Exploration of the National Geographic Society and from the Solar Terrestrial Program of the Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences Division of the National Science Foundation.