Oak Ridge Associated Universities

This study monitored four bioretention planters installed at Stevens Institute of Technology providing information on the hydrologic mitigation potential of planters and design considerations for future guidance. Monitoring during 18 months spanning 3 calendar years compared performance against several bioretention system design objectives, including fully captured events, peak flow reduction, and runoff retention. Hydraulic loading ratio and media porosity affected the fraction of captured events, with one-fifth of the events completely captured. The captured storms were less than 2.0 mm/m2 of drainage area 77% of the time. The planters halved the peak flow rate for 61% of observations. The entire media volume was wetted in almost half of the events but rarely fully saturated. A modified available water capacity calculation based on the difference between the field capacity and the lowest measured volumetric water content provided a useful estimate of the median retention per event. To use this estimator, it is proposed to estimate the modified available water capacity as the difference between the laboratory-measured field capacity and a laboratory-measured wilting point increased by a factor of safety to account for the practical issue that the planters never dried fully between rain events in the New Jersey temperate climate.

High-resolution temperature models are needed to describe and predict the thermal regime of streams/rivers under current and future management. Statistical models (e.g., spatial stream network models – SSN) can cover large extents at fine resolutions. Mechanistic models (e.g., Soil and Water Assessment Tool – SWAT) offer refined temporal resolution and process-based drivers in predictions, but are time consuming to parameterize. Hybrid modeling (e.g., hybrid SSN-SWAT) approaches can leverage benefits of both types to improve temporal robustness of thermal regime model predictions across entire networks. In the Upper Rogue River Basin, OR, we compared performance of a NorWeST August mean temperature (AMT) SSN model with a hybrid SSN-SWAT AMT (Hybrid AMT) model. We extended the hybrid SSN-SWAT approach to the 7-day average daily maximum temperature metric (Hybrid 7DADM). The Hybrid AMT and Hybrid 7DADM models performed well, with similar model diagnostics between the Hybrid AMT and NorWeST AMT models, and with other SSN and mechanistic temperature models (used for temperature total maximum daily loads – TMDLs). The hybrid SSN-SWAT approach was able to incorporate the effect of dams on downstream hydrology and temperature regimes. The best-fitting hybrid SSN models incorporated upstream shade effects spanning distances of 1-5 kilometers or 1-3 hours travel time, highlighting the need to maintain upstream riparian zones to protect downstream thermal regimes.

Delivery of biomolecules into plant vascular tissues remains a barrier to managing diseases caused by insect vector-borne pathogens and to modifying phenotypes of established perennial crops. Inspired by the vascularized growth of crown galls induced by Agrobacterium tumefaciens, we repurposed the bacterium’s plant growth regulator (PGR) genes to engineer autonomously dividing, transgene-expressing plant cell structures termed symbionts. A plant transformation vector (pSYM) incorporating the IaaM, IaaH, Ipt and gene5 cassette from A. tumefaciens strain C58 together with a gene of interest on the same transfer DNA was delivered to stems of herbaceous and woody dicots using disarmed A. tumefaciens strain EHA105. Symbiont morphology, vascular differentiation, transgene expression, molecular mobility and protein secretion were evaluated using microscopy, fluorescent reporters, dye tracing, RNA silencing assays and mass spectrometry-based proteomics. pSym inoculation reproducibly generated symbionts across diverse host plant species that were vascularly integrated into their host plants and transgene expression ranging from heterogeneous niches to more uniform patterns. Small molecules moved between symbionts and host vascular tissues, whereas larger proteins exhibited more restricted mobility. Post-transcriptional gene silencing signals moved freely throughout the symbiont and slightly into adjacent stem tissue. Under tested field and greenhouse conditions in potato and tomato, respectively, gall or symbiont formation had no negative impacts on plant growth or tuber and fruit yield. In vitro, symbiont cultures abundantly secreted recombinant protein into surrounding media. Together, these results establish symbionts as a modular, plant bioengineering platform capable of producing and potentially delivering biomolecules without modifying the host plant genome, providing a foundation for vascular-targeted therapeutics and phenotype modulation in crops.

The planetary boundary layer confines moisture, turbulence, and locally emitted air pollutants, thus accurately discerning the height of this layer is important for constraining pollutant transport and distribution and improved regional weather and climate forecasting. Traditional methods of boundary layer height (BLH) determination rely on radiosonde measurements of potential temperature profiles. However, these sounding measurements lack the instrumentation needed to characterize the chemical composition of the boundary layer that can be provided by larger airborne platforms. In 2024, the NASA DC-8 flew over the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand during the Airborne and Satellite Investigation of Asian Air Quality (ASIA-AQ) campaign. Measurements during this campaign included an extensive array of gas, particulate, and meteorological measurements. We will present results of a turbulence-based method using 3D winds to determine the boundary layer height across DC-8 vertical flight profiles, including missed approaches at urban airports. The results from this method were used to develop a boundary layer flag for the campaign, and the computed DC-8 BLHs were compared to mixed layer heights determined by an airborne-based LIDAR system.

Abstract. NASA's Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) geostationary satellite sensor provides high temporal and spatial resolution measurements critical for monitoring air quality. During the Synergistic TEMPO Air Quality Science (STAQS) component of the 2023 AGES+ campaign, extensive surface, airborne, and remote-sensing observations were collected over the New York City/Long Island Sound region, enabling comprehensive investigation of ozone and its precursors, including nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and formaldehyde (HCHO). Evaluating TEMPO (version 3) NO2 and HCHO column retrievals against Pandora and GEO-CAPE Airborne Simulator (GCAS) observations shows TEMPO can capture urban-suburban pollution gradients and exhibits biases comparable to previous satellite validation studies with strong agreements for NO2 (R ≈ 0.79–0.81), though sharp transitions between high and low emission regions remain challenging. The high-resolution (1.33 km × 1.33 km) WRF-Chem simulation reproduces the major spatiotemporal patterns of surface ozone and NO2 (R ≈ 0.56–0.73), supporting its use to fill observational gaps. By integrating TEMPO, WRF-Chem, in situ measurements, and Tropospheric Ozone Lidar network and Doppler wind lidar observations, we characterize the spatiotemporal dynamics of ozone under different pollution regimes. High-pollution days involve early urban precursor accumulation, entrainment of pollutant-rich residual-layer air, and sea-breeze-driven recirculation toward coastal regions. Moderate days exhibit localized enhancements driven by transport, such as downwind plume transport, while low-pollution days show efficient dispersion and limited ozone formation. This multi-platform framework highlights the importance of resolving fine-scale variability in coastal and transition zones and demonstrates TEMPO's value for improving ozone forecasting and mitigation in complex environments

Military standards favor clean shaven faces in soldiers to reinforce daily disciplinary habits and uniformity and ensure a proper seal of gas masks. In recent years, military beard policies have provided medical and religious exceptions. It has been anecdotally observed that Arctic warriors grow out their beards for added advantage in the extreme cold, but this has not been previously investigated from a thermoregulatory or frostbite injury protection perspective. Validated mathematical models and principles of biophysics were used to predict thermal responses for a standard man with varied levels of facial hair during rest (116W) and moderately active (350W) in 3 environmental conditions, mild heat stress (24 °C; 60% relative humidity (%, RH)), cold stress (-24 °C; 70% RH), and in extreme cold (-45 °C; 75% RH). Modeling was used to compare predicted times to reach core body temperatures and skin temperatures although clean shaven (B0), and in 3 progressively increased levels of facial hair (B1, B2, and B3). Core body temperature was assessed during heat stress conditions, while skin temperatures were assessed in cold and extreme cold conditions. Using existing thermoregulatory models, we determined that full beards compared to smooth shaven skin did not provide a significant advantage to protection of core temperature. However, finite elements modeling of thermographic changes in skin temperature predicted significant protection against frostbite injury to the face, and this was additional to protection provided by standard military balaclava wear in the Arctic. We conclude that beards provide a lethality advantage to male soldiers operating in the cold, enhancing military exploitation of extreme cold environments.

Black carbon, including char, is ubiquitous in soils from the incomplete combustion of biomass. Because chars are conductive, various redox and photocatalysis pathways are possible to transform biomass on surface soils. This study investigated the effects of wavelengths, conductive black carbon, and factory source on photolysis of the sugar processing byproduct (mill mud). During the course of photolysis, a new shortwave UV (250 nm) peak formed from mill mud extract if 700 °C biochar (20 wt %) was present. Generalized and moving window 2D correlation spectroscopy showed the greatest impact of photolysis on aromatic structures earlier (0.5 wk) in the 2-wk reaction. Conductive (700 °C but not 300 °C) biochar, electrochemically resembling graphite, putatively induces quinone-like structures capable of redox catalysis and photosensitization. Biochar-mediated photochemical production of aromatic structures could impact carbon cycles and nutrient availability, especially through sorption on nutrient-laden mineral surfaces.