Hydrogen storage is the most challenging task for the hydrogen economy. We established a multidisciplinary research program for high throughput combinatorial synthesis and characterization of novel nanoporous and metastable complex hydrides, coupled to fundamental material studies including electronic, structural and kinetic transport modeling, and pump-probe experiments. Our research is based the concept of hybrid nanostructures that store hydrogen by a combination of chemi- and physorption: atomic hydrogen is stored in metastable hydrides while molecule hydrogen is stored in the nanometer pores of the hydrides. Metastable nanostructured hydride has been achieved by introducing structural and compositional disorders through high throughput elemental substitution/doping, catalyst addition, and nonequilibrium processing. Fast screening compatible with the combinatorial synthesis was achieved by combining X-ray structural characterization with the development of a laser-based microbalance. Manufacturing of nanoporous metahydrides that are identified as promising by the combinatorial synthesis has been explored along with the materials search.

Numerical weather prediction models (ECMWF, NCEP) are evaluated using ARM observational data collected at the Southern Great Plains (SGP) site. Cloud forecasts generated by the models are compared with cloud microphysical quantities, retrieved using a variety of parameterizations. Information gained from this comparison will be utilized during the FASTER project, as models are evaluated for their ability to reproduce fast physical processes detected in the observations. Here the model performance is quantified against the observations through a statistical analysis. Observations from remote sensing instruments (radar, lidar, radiometer and radiosonde) are used to derive the cloud microphysical quantities: ice water content, liquid water content, ice effective radius and liquid effective radius. Unfortunately, discrepancies in the derived quantities arise when different retrieval schemes are applied to the observations. The uncertainty inherent in retrieving the microphysical quantities using various retrievals is estimated from the range of output microphysical values. ARM microphysical retrieval schemes (Microbase, Mace) are examined along with the CloudNet retrieval processing of data from the ARM sites for this purpose. Through the interfacing of CloudNet and “ARM” processing schemes an ARMNET product is produced and employed as accepted observations in the assessment of cloud model predictions.

Alterations to the composition of seawater are estimated for microbial oxidation of methane from large polar clathrate destabilizations, which may arise in the coming century. Gas fluxes are taken from porous flow models of warming Arctic sediment. Plume spread parameters are then used to bracket the volume of dilution. Consumption stoichiometries for the marine methanotrophs are based on growth efficiency and elemental/enzyme composition data. The nutritional demand implied by extra CH{sub 4} removal is compared with supply in various high latitude water masses. For emissions sized to fit the shelf break, reaction potential begins at one hundred micromolar and falls to order ten a thousand kilometers downstream. Oxygen loss and carbon dioxide production are sufficient respectively to hypoxify and acidify poorly ventilated basins. Nitrogen and the monooxygenase transition metals may be depleted in some locations as well. Deprivation is implied relative to existing ecosystems, along with dispersal of the excess dissolved gas. Physical uncertainties are inherent in the clathrate abundance, patch size, outflow buoyancy and mixing rate. Microbial ecology is even less defined but may involve nutrient recycling and anaerobic oxidizers.

Many experimental techniques have been developed to determine the compressive strength or flow stress of a material under high strain rate or shock loading conditions. In addition, pressure-shear techniques have been developed that allow for the measurement of the shearing response of materials under pressure. The technique described is similar to the traditional pressure-shear plate-impact experiments except that window interferometry is used to measure both the normal and transverse particle velocities at a sample-window interface. The velocities are measured using the normal displacement interferometer (NDI) for the normal velocity, and the transverse displacement interferometer (TDI) for the transverse velocity. A schematic of the experiment is shown in Figure 1. For our experiment, the diameters of the impactor, sample and window are 31.75 mm. A 3 mm thick Ta-10W flyer is used for all the experiments, and the window material is a 10 mm thick c-cut sapphire. Two types of samples, both polycrystalline Cu and V have been tested and have a nominal thickness of 1.5 mm. For the TDI measurement a 1200 lines/mm grating is etched in the sapphire and a thin ({approx}120 nm) metallic film is deposited over the grating. The sample attached to the film side of the …

Respective Roles of Shallow Convection and Stratiform Rainfall on the Simulation of Madden Julian Oscillation Joshua Xiouhua Fu IPRC, SOEST, University of Hawaii The IPRC/UH Hybrid-coupled GCM (HcGCM), which combined ECHAM-4 AGCM with UH intermediate ocean model, produces robust Tropical Intra-Seasonal Oscillations including the boreal-winter MJO and boreal-summer Monsoon Intra-Seasonal Oscillation. In this study, two sets of sensitivity experiments (i.e., short-term retrospective forecast of one MJO event observed during TOGA COARE and long-term free integrations) have been carried out to understand the respective roles of shallow-convection and stratiform rainfall on the simulations and predictions of the MJO. Major findings are summarized as following: Shallow-convection ahead of MJO deep convection moistens the lower-troposphere and preconditions the movement of the MJO. Present study shows that this process is very important to the eastward propagating speed of the MJO. A significant fraction of stratiform rainfall (~30%; stratiform part vs. total rainfall) is needed for ECHAM-4 to have a robust MJO. The above findings suggest that in addition to deep convection, shallow convection and stratiform rainfall needs to be well represented in conventional GCMs to ensure a robust model MJO.

This report begins by discussing the structure of agency travel card programs, and then discusses weaknesses in agency controls that have contributed to waste, fraud, and abuse. It then examines relevant legislation introduced or enacted in the 111th Congress, including the Government Charge Card Abuse Prevention Act of 2009 (H.R. 2189 and S. 942), and concludes with observations on the information available to Congress for oversight of agency travel card programs.

Design, analysis, and low-power tests are described on a 1.3 GHz ferroelectric tuner that could find application in the International Linear Collider or in Project X at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. The tuner configuration utilizes a three-deck sandwich imbedded in a WR-650 waveguide, in which ferroelectric bars are clamped between conducting plates that allow the tuning bias voltage to be applied. Use of a reduced one-third structure allowed tests of critical parameters of the configuration, including phase shift, loss, and switching speed. Issues that were revealed that require improvement include reducing loss tangent in the ferroelectric material, development of a reliable means of brazing ferroelectric elements to copper parts of the tuner, and simplification of the mechanical design of the configuration.

A cursory examination of historical ARSCL data indicates a common cloud feature in the tropics are thin detrainment shelves (Attendant Shelf Clouds, or ASCs) near the melting level (see figure for example). We use the ARSCL product to identify ASCs by defining them as cloud layers with bases above 4 km, a corresponding top below 6 km, and a thickness of less than 1 km. In order to prevent biases in determination of the diurnal cycle of cloud occurrence, we require that both the MMCR and MPL are operating well. In this study we use a total of 55 months of data collected over 14 years of deployments at the Manus, Nauru, and Darwin ARM sites in the Tropical Western Pacific to define the frequency of occurrence (~ 14% of the time) and diurnal cycle of these clouds, along with the atmospheric thermodynamic profile. We further investigate the horizontal extent, cloud radiative forcing, and cloud particle phase through a series of “golden cases” where there is a general absence of additional cloud types in the column and nearby deep convection. These cases indicate that the clouds can cover horizontal areas on the order of a GCM gridbox, have significant (but …

The deployment of the Scanning W-Band ARM Cloud Radar (SWACR) during the AMF campaign at Azores signals the first deployment of an ARM Facility-owned scanning cloud radar and offers a prelude for the type of 3D cloud observations that ARM will have the capability to provide at all the ARM Climate Research Facility sites by the end of 2010. The primary objective of the deployment of Scanning ARM Cloud Radars (SACRs) at the ARM Facility sites is to map continuously (operationally) the 3D structure of clouds and shallow precipitation and to provide 3D microphysical and dynamical retrievals for cloud life cycle and cloud-scale process studies. This is a challenging task, never attempted before, and requires significant research and development efforts in order to understand the radar's capabilities and limitations. At the same time, we need to look beyond the radar meteorology aspects of the challenge and ensure that the hardware and software capabilities of the new systems are utilized for the development of 3D data products that address the scientific needs of the new Atmospheric System Research (ASR) program. The SWACR observations at Azores provide a first look at such observations and the challenges associated with their analysis and interpretation. …

A dimensionless theory for new particle formation (NPF) was developed, using an aerosol population balance model incorporating recent developments in nucleation rates and measured particle growth rates. Based on this theoretical analysis, it was shown that a dimensionless parameter Lg, characterizing the ratio of the particle scavenging loss rate to the particle growth rate, exclusively determined whether or not NPF would occur on a particular day. This parameter determines the probability that a nucleated particle will grow to a detectable size before being lost by coagulation with the pre-existing aerosol. Cluster-cluster coagulation was shown to contribute negligibly to this survival probability under conditions pertinent to the atmosphere. Data acquired during intensive measurement campaigns in Tecamac (MILAGRO), Atlanta (ANARChE), Boulder, and Hyytiala (QUEST II, QUEST IV, and EUCAARI) were used to test the validity of Lg as an NPF criterion. Measurements included aerosol size distributions down to 3 nm and gas-phase sulfuric acid concentrations. The model was applied to 77 NPF events and 19 non-events (characterized by growth of pre-existing aerosol without NPF) measured in diverse environments with broad ranges in sulfuric acid concentrations, ultrafine number concentrations, aerosol surface areas, and particle growth rates (nearly two orders of magnitude). Across this …

Light scattering by aerosols plays an important role in Earth’s radiative balance, and quantification of this phenomenon is important in understanding and accounting for anthropogenic influences on Earth’s climate. Light scattering by an aerosol particle is determined by its radius and index of refraction, and for aerosol particles that are hygroscopic, both of these quantities vary with relative humidity RH. Here exact expressions are derived for the dependences of the radius ratio (relative to the volume-equivalent dry radius) and index of refraction on RH for aqueous solutions of single solutes. Both of these quantities depend on the apparent molal volume of the solute in solution and on the practical osmotic coefficient of the solution, which in turn depend on concentration and thus implicitly on RH. Simple but accurate approximations are also presented for the RH dependences of both radius ratio and index of refraction for several atmospherically important inorganic solutes over the entire range of RH values for which these substances can exist as solution drops. For all substances considered, the radius ratio is accurate to within a few percent, and the index of refraction to within ~0.02, over this range of RH. Such parameterizations will be useful in radiation …

This poster describes the Fast Physics Testbed for the new FAst-physics System Testbed and Research (FASTER) project. The overall objective is to provide a convenient and comprehensive platform for fast turn-around model evaluation against ARM observations and to facilitate development of parameterizations for cloud-related fast processes represented in global climate models. The testbed features three major components: a single column model (SCM) testbed, an NWP-Testbed, and high-resolution modeling (HRM). The web-based SCM-Testbed features multiple SCMs from major climate modeling centers and aims to maximize the potential of SCM approach to enhance and accelerate the evaluation and improvement of fast physics parameterizations through continuous evaluation of existing and evolving models against historical as well as new/improved ARM and other complementary measurements. The NWP-Testbed aims to capitalize on the large pool of operational numerical weather prediction products. Continuous evaluations of NWP forecasts against observations at ARM sites are carried out to systematically identify the biases and skills of physical parameterizations under all weather conditions. The highresolution modeling (HRM) activities aim to simulate the fast processes at high resolution to aid in the understanding of the fast processes and their parameterizations. A four-tier HRM framework is established to augment the SCM- and NWP-Testbeds …

In order to better use the long-term ARM measurements to evaluate parameterizations of fast processes used in global climate models --- mainly those related to clouds, precipitation and aerosols, the DOE Earth System Modeling (ESM) program funds a new multi-institution project led by the Brookhaven National Laboratory, FAst -physics System Testbed and Research (FASTER). This poster will present an overview of this new project and its scientific relationships to the ASR sciences and ARM measurements.

As part of the Indirect and Semi-Direct Aerosol Campaign (ISDAC) an Analytical Spectral Devices (ASD, Inc.) spectroradiometer was deployed at the Barrow NSA site during April and May of 2008, and in April-October of 2009. This instrument recorded one-minute averages of surface downwelling spectral flux in the wavelength interval 350-2200 nm, thus sampling the two major near infrared windows (1.6 and 2.2 microns) in which the flux is influenced by cloud microphysical properties including thermodynamic phase and effective particle size. Aircraft in situ measurements of cloud properties show mostly mixed-phase clouds over Barrow during the campaign, but with wide variability in relative liquid versus ice water content. At fixed total optical depth, this variability in phase composition can yield of order 5-10 Watts per square meter in surface flux variability, with greater cloud attenuation of the surface flux usually occurring under higher ice water content. Thus our data show that changes in cloud phase properties, even within the 'mixed-phase' category, can affect the surface energy balance at the same order of magnitude as greenhouse gas increases. Analysis of this spectral radiometric data provides suggestions for testing new mixed-phase parameterizations in climate models.

Understanding the onset of coalescence in warm clouds is key in our effort to improve cloud representation in numerical models. Coalescence acts at small scales, and its study requires detailed high-resolution dynamical and microphysical measurements from a comprehensive suite of instruments over a wide range of environmental conditions (e.g., aerosol loading). The first AMF is currently in its second year of a two-year deployment at Graciosa Island in the Azores, offering the opportunity to collect a long data set from a stable land-based platform in a marine stratocumulus regime. In this study, recorded WACR Doppler spectra are used to characterize the properties of Doppler spectra from warm clouds with and without drizzle, and from drizzle only, in an effort to observe the transition (onset) to precipitation in clouds. A retrieval technique that decomposes observed Doppler spectra into their cloud and/or drizzle components is applied in order to quantify drizzle growth.

This report is one of two providing Congress with background on the Government Accountability Office (GAO) bid-protest process. It provides an overview of the timeframes and procedures in a GAO bid protest, including several issues enumerated in the report's introduction.

New particle formation (NPF) in the atmospheric is a two-step process: Nucleation leads to the birth of stable nuclei that subsequently grow to sizes that can be detected and affect the atmosphere’s radiative properties. Our group is studying both of these processes. Our nucleation research is largely supported by NSF and involves measurements of neutral molecular clusters formed by nucleation with a new custom-designed mass spectrometer (the Cluster-CIMS) and measurements of nanoparticle size distributions as small as 1 nm with a new aerosol spectrometer (the DEG SMPS). These measurements are providing new insights into aspects of cluster behavior that affect nucleation rates. The U.S. DOE supports our research on nanoparticle growth rates. This research couples physical and chemical measurements of aerosol properties and behavior. The TDCIMS, which enables real-time measurements of composition for freshly nucleated particles as small as 8 nm and was developed with support from DOE, is the most important tool in this work. Our most important discoveries about processes that affect growth rates are summarized in a recent PNAS article (doi:10.1073/pnas.0912127107). In short, this work has shown that alkylammonium-carboxylate salts, formed, for example, by reactions between amines and carboxylic acids, account for 20–50% of the mass of …

The U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Site Office performed an annual review of the Area 3 and Area 5 Radioactive Wate Management Site (RWMS) Performance Assessments (PAs) and Composite Analyses (CAs) in fiscal year (FY) 2009. This annual summary report presents data and conclusions from the FY 2009 review, and determines the adequacy of the PAs and CAs. Operational factors (e.g., waste forms and containers, facility design, and waste receipts), closure plans, monitoring results, and research and development (R&D) activities were reviewed to determine the adequacy of the PAs. Likewise, the environmental restoration activities at the Nevada Test Site relevant to the sources of residual radioactive material that are considered in the CAs, the land-use planning, and the results of the environmental monitoring and R&D activities were reviewed to determine the adequacy of the CAs.

This Corrective Action Decision Document/Closure Report (CADD/CR) was prepared by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) for Corrective Action Unit (CAU) 383, Area 12 E-Tunnel Sites, which is the joint responsibility of DTRA and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Site Office (NNSA/NSO). This CADD/CR is consistent with the requirements of the Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order (FFACO) agreed to by the State of Nevada, the DOE, and the U.S. Department of Defense. Corrective Action Unit 383 is comprised of three Corrective Action Sites (CASs) and two adjacent areas: • CAS 12-06-06, Muckpile • CAS 12-25-02, Oil Spill • CAS 12-28-02, Radioactive Material • Drainage below the Muckpile • Ponds 1, 2, and 3 The purpose of this CADD/CR is to provide justification and documentation to support the recommendation for closure with no further corrective action, by placing use restrictions at the three CASs and two adjacent areas of CAU 383.

This Corrective Action Decision Document (CADD)/Closure Report (CR) was prepared by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) for Corrective Action Unit (CAU) 476, Area 12 T-Tunnel Muckpile. This CADD/CR is consistent with the requirements of the Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order (FFACO) agreed to by the State of Nevada, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the U.S. Department of Defense. Corrective Action Unit 476 is comprised of one Corrective Action Site (CAS): • 12-06-02, Muckpile The purpose of this CADD/CR is to provide justification and documentation supporting the recommendation for closure in place with use restrictions for CAU 476.

This Corrective Action Decision Document (CADD)/Closure Report (CR) was prepared by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) for Corrective Action Unit (CAU) 477, N-Tunnel Muckpile. This CADD/CR is consistent with the requirements of the Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order (FFACO) agreed to by the State of Nevada, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the U.S. Department of Defense. Corrective Action Unit 477 is comprised of one Corrective Action Site (CAS): • 12-06-03, Muckpile The purpose of this CADD/CR is to provide justification and documentation supporting the recommendation for closure with no further action, by placing use restrictions on CAU 477.

This Corrective Action Decision Document (CADD)/Closure Report (CR) was prepared by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) for Corrective Action Unit (CAU) 478, Area 12 T-Tunnel Ponds. This CADD/CR is consistent with the requirements of the Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order (FFACO) agreed to by the State of Nevada, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and the U.S. Department of Defense. Corrective Action Unit 478 is comprised of one corrective action site (CAS): • 12-23-01, Ponds (5) RAD Area The purpose of this CADD/CR is to provide justification and documentation supporting the recommendation for closure in place with use restrictions for CAU 478.

This Corrective Action Decision Document (CADD)/Closure Report (CR) was prepared by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) for Corrective Action Unit (CAU) 504, 16a-Tunnel Muckpile. This CADD/CR is consistent with the requirements of the Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order (FFACO) agreed to by the State of Nevada; U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Environmental Management; U.S. Department of Defense; and DOE, Legacy Management. Corrective Action Unit 504 is comprised of four Corrective Action Sites (CASs): • 16-06-01, Muckpile • 16-23-01, Contaminated Burial Pit • 16-23-02, Contaminated Area • 16-99-01, Concrete Construction Waste Corrective Action Site 16-23-01 is not a burial pit; it is part of CAS 16-06-01. Therefore, there is not a separate data analysis and assessment for CAS 16-23-01; it is included as part of the assessment for CAS 16-06-01. In addition to these CASs, the channel between CAS 16-23-02 (Contaminated Area) and Mid Valley Road was investigated with walk-over radiological surveys and soil sampling using hand tools. The purpose of this CADD/CR is to provide justification and documentation supporting the recommendation for closure in place with use restrictions for CAU 504. A CADD was originally submitted for CAU 504 and approved by the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection …

This Corrective Action Decision Document (CADD)/Closure Report (CR) was prepared by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) for Corrective Action Unit (CAU) 559, T-Tunnel Compressor/Blower Pad. This CADD/CR is consistent with the requirements of the Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order (FFACO) agreed to by the State of Nevada, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the U.S. Department of Defense. Corrective Action Unit 559 is comprised of one Corrective Action Site (CAS): • 12-25-13, Oil Stained Soil and Concrete The purpose of this CADD/CR is to provide justification and documentation supporting the recommendation for closure in place with use restrictions for CAU 559.