24 Mar 2023

Shallow Geothermal Technology, Opportunities in Cold Regions, and Related Data for Deployment at Fort Wainwright

ABSTRACT: The DoD considers improving Arctic capabilities critical (DoD 2019; HQDA 2021). Deployment of shallow geothermal energy systems at cold regions installations provides opportunity to increase thermal energy resilience by lessening dependence on fuel supply and supporting installations’ NetZero transitions. Deployment can be leveraged across facilities, for ex-ample using Fort Wainwright metrics for implementation of geothermal in cold region bases. Fort Wainwright is an extreme case of heating dominant loads owing to harsh conditions in Alaska, making it ideal for proving feasibility in most heating dominant installations. Proven feasibility and potential mass deployment will help reduce emissions and increase resilience across the DoD cold region network. This report introduces the shallow geothermal energy and storage technology combination that would best fit demonstration in Alaska. Focus is on leveraging shallow, low-temperature geothermal for the development of a larger geothermal district heating and cooling (GDHC) system with underground thermal energy storage (UTES) and geothermal heat exchangers (GHX). Such systems are proven in cooling dominant climates, and individual components are proven in heating dominant climates, but deployment of a larger system in a heating dominant climate is not well established. Deployment at Fort Wainwright would represent an improvement in the technology.

21 Mar 2023

Characterization of Pigmented Microbial Isolates for Use in Material Applications

Abstract: Organisms (i.e., plants and microorganisms) contain pigments that allow them to adapt and thrive under stressful conditions, such as elevated ultraviolet radiation. The pigments elicit characteristic spectral responses when measured by active and passive sensors. This research study focused on characterizing the spectral response of three organisms and how they compared to background spectral signatures of a complex environment. Specifically, spectra were collected from a fungus, a plant, and two pigmented bacteria, one of which is an extremophile bacterium. The samples were measured using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and discriminated using chemometric means. A top-down examination of the spectral data revealed that organisms could be discriminated from one another through principal component analysis (PCA). Furthermore, there was a strong distinction between the plant and the pigmented microorganisms. Spectral differences resulting in samples with the highest variance from the natural background were identified using PCA loading plots. The outcome of this work is a spectral library of pigmented biological candidates for coatings applications.

22 Dec 2022

National Ordinary High Water Mark Field Delineation Manual for Rivers and Streams : Interim Version

Abstract: The ordinary high water mark (OHWM) defines the lateral extent of nontidal aquatic features in the absence of adjacent wetlands in the United States. The federal regulatory definition of the OHWM, 33 CFR 328.3(c)(7), states the OHWM is “that line on the shore established by the fluctuations of water and indicated by physical characteristics such as [a] clear, natural line impressed on the bank, shelving, changes in the character of soil, destruction of terrestrial vegetation, the presence of litter and debris, or other appropriate means that consider the characteristics of the surrounding areas.” This is the first manual to present a methodology for nationwide identification and delineation of the OHWM. A two-page data sheet and field procedure outline a weight-of-evidence (WoE) methodology to organize and evaluate observations at stream sites. This manual presents a consistent, science-based method for delineating the OHWM in streams. It also describes regional differences and challenges in identifying the OHWM at sites disturbed by human-induced or natural changes and illustrates how to use remote data to structure field inquiries and interpret field evidence using the principles of fluvial science. The manual demonstrates that, in many landscape settings, the OHWM may be located near the bankfull elevation.

16 Dec 2022

Helicopter Rotor Blade Planform Optimization Using Parametric Design and Multi-Objective Genetic Algorithm

Abstract: In this paper, an automated framework is presented to perform helicopter rotor blade planform optimization. This framework contains three elements, Dakota, ParBlade, and RCAS. These elements are integrated into an environment control tool, Galaxy Simulation Builder, which is used to carry out the optimization. The main objective of this work is to conduct rotor performance design optimizations for forward flight and hover. The blade design variables manipulated by ParBlade are twist, sweep, and anhedral. The multi-objective genetic algorithm method is used in this study to search for the optimum blade design; the optimization objective is to minimize the rotor power required. Following design parameter substitution, ParBlade generates the modified blade shape and updates the rotor blade properties in the RCAS script before running RCAS. After the RCAS simulations are complete, the desired performance metrics (objectives and constraints) are extracted and returned to the Dakota optimizer. Demonstrative optimization case studies were conducted using a UH-60A main rotor as the base case. Rotor power in hover and forward flight, at advance ratio 𝜇𝜇 = 0.3, are used as objective functions. The results of this study show improvement in rotor power of 6.13% and 8.52% in hover and an advance ratio of 0.3, respectively. This configuration also yields greater reductions in rotor power for high advance ratios, e.g., 12.42% reduction at 𝜇𝜇 = 0.4.

29 Nov 2022

National Ordinary High Water Mark Field Delineation Manual for Rivers and Streams : Interim Version

Abstract: The ordinary high water mark (OHWM) defines the lateral extent of nontidal aquatic features in the absence of adjacent wetlands in the United States. The federal regulatory definition of the OHWM, 33 CFR 328.3(c)(7), states the OHWM is “that line on the shore established by the fluctuations of water and indicated by physical characteristics such as [a] clear, natural line impressed on the bank, shelving, changes in the character of soil, destruction of terrestrial vegetation, the presence of litter and debris, or other appropriate means that consider the characteristics of the surrounding areas.” This is the first manual to present a methodology for nationwide identification and delineation of the OHWM. A two-page data sheet and field procedure outline a weight-of-evidence (WoE) methodology to organize and evaluate observations at stream sites. This manual presents a consistent, science-based method for delineating the OHWM in streams. It also describes regional differences and challenges in identifying the OHWM at sites disturbed by human-induced or natural changes and illustrates how to use remote data to structure field inquiries and interpret field evidence using the principles of fluvial science. The manual demonstrates that, in many landscape settings, the OHWM may be located near the bankfull elevation.

10 Nov 2022

Understanding Plant Volatiles for Environmental Awareness: Chemical Composition in Response to Natural Light Cycles and Wounding

Abstract: Plants emit a bouquet of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in response to both biotic and abiotic stresses and, simultaneously, eavesdrop on emitted signals to activate direct and indirect defenses. By gaining even a slight insight into the semantics of interplant communications, a unique awareness of the operational environment may be obtainable (e.g., knowledge of a disturbance within). In this effort, we used five species of plants, Arabidopsis thaliana, Panicum virgatum, Festuca rubra, Tradescantia zebrina, and Achillea millefolium, to produce and query VOCs emitted in response to mechanical wounding and light cycles. These plants provide a basis for further investigation in this communication system as they span model organisms, common house plants, and Arctic plants. The VOC composition was complex; our parameter filtering often enabled us to reduce the noise to fewer than 50 compounds emitted over minutes to hours in a day. We were able to detect and measure the plant response through two analytical methods. This report documents the methods used, the data collected, and the analyses performed on the VOCs to determine if they can be used to increase environmental awareness of the battlespace.

9 Nov 2022

Meteorological Influences of a Major Dust Storm in Southwest Asia during July–August 2018

Abstract: Dust storms can be hazardous for aviation, military activities, and respiratory health and can occur on a wide variety of spatiotemporal scales with little to no warning. To properly forecast these storms, a comprehensive understanding of the meteorological dynamics that control their evolution is a prerequisite. To that end, we chose a major dust storm that occurred in Southwest Asia during July–August 2018 and conducted an observation-based analysis of the meteorological conditions that influenced the storm’s evolution. We found that the main impetus behind the dust storm was a large-scale meteorological system (i.e., a cyclone) that affected Southwest Asia. It seems that cascading effects from this system produced a smaller, near-surface warm anomaly in Mesopotamia that may have triggered the dust storm, guided its trajectory over the Arabian Peninsula, and potentially catalyzed the development of a small low-pressure system over the southeastern end of the peninsula. This low-pressure system may have contributed to some convective activity over the same region. This type of analysis may provide important information about large-scale meteorological forcings for not only this particular dust storm but also for future dust storms in Southwest Asia and other regions of the world.

8 Nov 2022

A 𝘬-Means Analysis of the Voltage Response of a Soil-Based Microbial Fuel Cell to an Injected Military-Relevant Compound (Urea)

Abstract: Biotechnology offers new ways to use biological processes as environmental sensors. For example, in soil microbial fuel cells (MFCs), soil electro-genic microorganisms are recruited to electrodes embedded in soil and produce electricity (measured by voltage) through the breakdown of substrate. Because the voltage produced by the electrogenic microbes is a function of their environment, we hypothesize that the voltage may change in a characteristic manner given environmental disturbances, such as the contamination by exogenous material, in a way that can be modelled and serve as a diagnostic. In this study, we aimed to statistically analyze voltage from soil MFCs injected with urea as a proxy for gross contamination. Specifically, we used 𝘬-means clustering to discern between voltage output before and after the injection of urea. Our results showed that the 𝘬-means algorithm recognized 4–6 distinctive voltage regions, defining unique periods of the MFC voltage that clearly identify pre- and postinjection and other phases of the MFC lifecycle. This demonstrates that 𝘬-means can identify voltage patterns temporally, which could be further improve the sensing capabilities of MFCs by identifying specific regions of dissimilarity in voltage, indicating changes in the environment.

7 Nov 2022

Cold Regions Vehicle Start: Next-Generation Lithium-Ion Battery Technologies for Stryker Vehicles

Abstract: Operating vehicles in extremely cold environments is a significant problem for not only the public but also the military. The Department of Defense has encountered issues when trying to reliably cold start large, heavy-duty military vehicles, specifically the M1126 Stryker Combat Vehicle, in cold regions. As noted in previous work, the issue stems from the current battery technology’s limited temperature range. This current project utilized the protocol established in the previous phase to evaluate next-generation lithium-ion battery technologies for use in cold regions. Selected battery technologies met necessary military specifications for use in large military combat vehicles and were evaluated using a mechanical load system developed in previous work to simulate the starting of a Stryker engine. This work also evaluated the performance of the existing battery technology of a Stryker under Alaskan winter temperatures, which will verify the accuracy of the simulated cold room testing on the mechanical load system. The results of the tests showed that while the system was able to reliably operate down to −20°C, the battery management system encountered challenges at the lower end of the temperature range. This technology has a potential to reliably support cold regions operations but needs further evaluation.

7 Nov 2022

Dissolution of NTO, DNAN, and Insensitive Munitions Formulations and Their Fates in Soils: SERDP ER-2220

Abstract: The US military is interested in replacing TNT (2,4,6-trinitrotoluene) and RDX (1,3,5-hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine) with DNAN (2,4-dinitroanisole) and NTO (3-nitro-1,2,4-triazol-5-one), which have similar explosive characteristics but are less likely to detonate unintentionally. Although these replacements are good explosives, basic information about their fate and transport was needed to evaluate their environmental impact and life-cycle management. This project measured their dissolution, photodegradation, and how aqueous solutions interact with soils, data critical to determining exposure potential and, consequently, risk.