2023 Impact Report

California's Federal Labs & Research Centers

Overview

Six federal laboratories and science centers in California have formal partnerships with CCST – the State’s premier resource to connect decision makers with leading scientists in California and beyond – as Federal Laboratory Partners. This Impact Report offers a glimpse of the resources and expertise that each lab can offer to California’s decision makers.

Each federal entity boasts a government relations team able to assist local, state, and federal offices. Together with CCST, these liaisons serve as a resource for community members and officials who want to learn more about federal labs and their broader impact for California. CCST helps facilitate links across the capabilities and talents of these labs and centers, and can help Members and Capitol staff navigate the tremendous resources spread across federal labs and science centers in California.

With this report, we invite you to learn how our federal labs and research centers help make California stronger with science and technology.

The cover of the 2023 federal labs impact report featuring photos from each lab and their logos

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Introduction

Dear Fellow Californians:

As the California Council on Science and Technology enters its 35th year of providing science and technology advice to the State, we celebrate the world class ecosystem of education and research institutions that sets us apart. Alongside academic powerhouses such as the University of California, California State University, California Community Colleges, Stanford, Caltech, and the University of Southern California, we also take pride in our unrivalled collection of federal laboratories and research centers.

Federal labs and research centers are set apart from other institutions by bringing to bear large-scale, mission-based projects and facilities on some of humanity’s most pressing and difficult scientific questions. They represent billions of dollars of federal research investment, providing a wealth of knowledge and expertise that California can draw on. These labs take us deep inside the genetic code, support the foundations of our energy and national security, and even launch us toward the stars.

Today, California is at a crossroads. As the State continues to rebuild in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, complex and intersecting disasters—including wildfires, climate change, floods and drought—are radically disrupting the ways in which Californians live and work, and threatening catastrophic loss of life and economic impacts. California’s federal labs and research centers are leveraging their world class expertise and technologies—as well as passionate researchers, students, and support staff—to invest in our resilience to disasters.

The unique nature of our federal labs and research centers puts them in an ideal position to pursue research and development in service of the public good. Whether it is developing tools to make our energy grid more resistant to external threats, using satellites to monitor emerging disasters to aid first responders, or deploying new technologies to decarbonize the transportation sector, the breakthroughs developed in these labs continue to benefit millions of Californians every year.

As California continues to move forward and confront big challenges, these labs and centers are ready to help. Here, we invite you to learn about just a few of the many ways that our federal labs and research centers are helping to make California—and the whole nation—more resilient.

Sincerely,

Amber Mace, PhD
CCST
Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

Peter Cowhey, PhD
CCST Board Chair
UC San Diego

Accessing California’s Federal Labs

Table of Contents

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Benefiting Governance and Livelihoods

California is home to a diverse range of federal labs, science centers, and field stations, spanning several U.S. agencies, departments, and bureaus. Six of these are founding members of CCST’s Federal Laboratory Partners:

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Field Centers

• NASA's Ames Research Center

• NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory

U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Laboratories

• Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

• Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

• Sandia National Laboratories-California

• SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Why Tap into Federal Science?

Uniquely Positioned

Federal agencies such as DOE and NASA are uniquely positioned to contribute to California’s scientific conversation. They leverage the might of federally directed research resources and facilities — bringing mission-oriented research and scientific facilities that complement the wealth of expertise at University of California, California State University, Caltech, Stanford, and other campuses.

Trusted Research Partners

Federal research includes many focal areas that can directly inform policy questions at the state level. Federal labs can partner with state agencies and campuses to conduct studies vital for our understanding of natural and physical processes. These federal-state-university partnerships require time for planning and implementation, but they yield collaborations and important knowledge for lifetimes.

Service to Policymakers

A map of California's Federal Laboratories.

CCST Federal Laboratory Affiliates

Why CCST?

The California Council on Science and Technology (CCST) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization established via Assembly Concurrent Resolution 162 in 1988. The resolution directed CCST “to respond to the Governor, the Legislature, and other entities on public policy issues related to science and technology.” To deliver independent advice to state policymakers, CCST engages science and technology (S&T) experts across California’s research enterprise, including through formal partnerships with the University of California (UC), California State University (CSU), California Community Colleges (CCC), Stanford, the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), the University of Southern California (USC) and the six federal laboratory partners described above.

By connecting policymakers with leading scientists in California and beyond, CCST increases policymaker access to S&T advice that is informed by diverse expert perspectives. Over the past three decades, state leaders have requested CCST reports and expert briefings on many issues of policy importance, from natural gas storage safety to sustainable water futures. The connections we facilitate between policymakers and scientists also enhance the ability of our 11 Partner Institutions to transmit S&T information for the public good, including by expanding opportunities for experts to participate in the policy arena and by identifying questions that will drive future research and innovation.

About the CCST Partnership with Federal Laboratories

In 2005, there was growing interest by state leaders to improve access to expertise found at federal laboratories and science centers across California and engage them on issues affecting the Golden State.

The call for advice coincided with conversations and coordination already ongoing between CCST and several federal research institutions in California. CCST welcomed six new Partner Institutions.

Of the six institutions, four came from the U.S. Department of Energy: the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory; and two came from NASA: the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the Ames Research Center.

CCST Disaster Resilience Initiative

In 2020, in recognition of a need for more agile science and technology advisory frameworks for the state and the increasing threat of natural disasters in California, CCST launched a Disaster Resilience Initiative, focused on increasing the delivery and responsiveness of the science advisory support provided by CCST’s science and technology experts to California policymakers. This five-year public-private partnership convenes diverse, interdisciplinary experts from throughout CCST’s network to address the State’s most urgent disaster resilience advisory needs through a series of needs-finding workshops, briefings to policymakers, advisory meetings, and other engagements.

How CCST Can Help

California’s leadership in technology, environmental stewardship, clean energy, and other critical fields relies on its policymakers having access to clearly communicated, scientifically informed advice. CCST can help Legislators, appointed officials, and Capitol and executive branch staff navigate the tremendous resources spread across federal labs and science centers in California.

CCST’s partnership with its Federal Laboratory Partners has resulted in several high-impact reports, briefings, convenings, and workshops that have delivered timely, nonpartisan, scientific analysis on complex issues. Examples include:

When to Contact CCST?

Policymakers should contact CCST:

During policy development, to obtain data and advice from subject area experts.
During the legislative process, to find experts for testimony at policy, fiscal, select committee, and other hearings.
During implementation and regulatory enforcement, accessing current science to review standards, technologies, efficacy, and relevance.
When analyzing natural disasters and human-engineered catastrophes and planning for prevention, preparation, response to, and recovery from these events.

If your office is considering legislation, regulations, or other work products that you believe would benefit from science and technology expertise, or if you are seeking data and advice to strengthen your decisions with science, contact CCST — and we will help you navigate the incredible network of top scientific minds available to California.

Federal Labs Research Benefiting California

In Service to the Nation and Its States

California has a long history of facing a wide variety of disasters and threats, from wildfires and earthquakes to pandemics and bioterrorism. Because of their state-of-the-art facilities, longstanding collaborations, and cross-disciplinary organization, the federal labs in California are uniquely positioned to coordinate the large research projects needed to develop technologies and inform strategies to improve the state’s resilience.

Below is a small sample of the labs’ recent and ongoing research with major implications for how California prevents, prepares for, responds to, and recovers from disasters. Beyond these important contributions, the labs are vital members of their local communities, employing thousands of Californians, supporting State businesses, and investing directly in these communities. Among the highlights of cutting-edge science and technology are stories of the many ways that the labs use their unique assets to provide tangible benefits to communities within California.

This overview is not an exhaustive list of all projects and research areas at these institutions, nor does it represent all federal labs and science centers located here in California. However, these highlights do illustrate the amazing breadth of federal research and applications available to policymakers in Sacramento.

NASA's Ames Research Center (NASA Ames)
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA JPL)
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab)
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL)
Sandia National Laboratories-California (Sandia California)
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC)

Preparing for Disasters

A black and white microscopy photo of microbes with a bar for a 2 micrometer scale.

A team of LLNL researchers have successfully produced fully synthetic versions of antibacterial minerals, while controlling the purity and reactivity of the compounds (LLNL).

Combatting antibiotic resistance (LLNL)

Exacerbated by the overuse of antibiotics in human and livestock, antibiotic resistant bacteria have resulted in increased mortality and financial strain on society. Certain naturally occurring clays have been shown to have antimicrobial properties and kill antibiotic resistant bacteria. Harnessing the activity of compounds within these clays that harbor antibiotic properties offers new therapeutic opportunities for fighting the potentially devastating effects of the post antibiotic era. A team of LLNL researchers have successfully produced fully synthetic versions of antibacterial minerals, while controlling the purity and reactivity of the compounds. Utilizing hydrothermal reactors, the team has developed protocols to synthesize chemically pure materials that mimic the physical and chemical properties of natural samples.

Drought-proofing California’s water supplies (Berkeley Lab)

A Berkeley Lab study projects that the Sierra Nevada could face persistent low-to-no snow years by the late 2050’s. The Lab’s Surface Atmospheric Laboratory (SAIL) has installed instruments along the headwaters of the Colorado River to provide researchers and water managers with better predictions of usable runoff to inform future reservoir operations. In response to the loss of snowpack, the region will need new strategies to ensure our water supplies. As one solution, Berkeley Lab research is supporting nature-based and engineered solutions to store more runoff through managed aquifer recharge. Further, through its leadership of the National Alliance for Water Innovation, the U.S. Department of Energy’s “‘Manhattan Project’ for water desalination,” the Lab is developing new low-cost, low-energy technologies aimed at enabling use of impaired waters and broader water re-use.

Climate effects on landslides (NASA JPL)

Slow-moving landslides, in which earth moves very slowly over a long period of time, can unexpectedly destabilize, causing catastrophic loss of life and property damage. A team of researchers at NASA JPL analyzing these events in California found that landslides in both wetter and drier regions in the State showed similar sensitivity to sudden extremes in precipitation. The study team used data obtained by the European Space Agency in conjunction with the JPL-Caltech Advanced Rapid Imaging and Analysis (ARIA) Center for Natural Hazards to gain new insights into the effects of a changing climate on landslides in California.

Fuel-Cell Materials (Sandia)

A team of Sandia materials scientists and computer scientists, along with their international collaborators, has spent more than a year creating 12 new hydrogen storage alloys and modeling hundreds more. This effort demonstrates how machine learning can help accelerate the future of hydrogen energy by making it easier to create hydrogen infrastructure for consumers. By developing a database of hydrogen storage research and thermodynamic values describing hydrogen interactions with different materials, Sandia and its partners demonstrated that machine-learning techniques can model the physics and chemistry of complex phenomena that occur when hydrogen interacts with metals.

NASA Earth Exchange (NASA Ames)

The NASA Earth Exchange (NEX) is a Big Data initiative using NASA Ames’ supercomputers to help scientists work with huge data sets from Earth-observing satellites. Among the many projects of NEX have been initiatives to resolve fine-scale climate and wildfire impacts and to study how they might affect a single town or region, like the Bay Area, today and into the future. The data from NEX projects becomes available in a NASA archive, helping inform policymaker, agency, and other stakeholder decisions about our climate future.

Designed to make the first-ever global survey of Earth’s surface water, the Surface Water and Ocean Topography, or SWOT, satellite will collect detailed measurements of how water bodies on Earth change over time (NASA JPL).

Measuring Earth’s waters (NASA JPL)

NASA JPL, as part of an international collaboration, recently launched a satellite that will help scientists around the world better understand Earth’s water resources. Designed to make the first-ever global survey of Earth’s surface water, the Surface Water and Ocean Topography, or SWOT, satellite will collect detailed measurements of how water bodies on Earth change over time. The satellite will survey at least 90% of the globe, studying Earth’s lakes, river, reservoirs, and oceans at least once every 21 days to improve ocean circulation models and climate predictions, and to aid in freshwater management around the world.

Science to Reduce Explosive Wildfire Risks; Advance a Circular Economy (Berkeley Lab)

While increased vegetation helped the land and oceans double CO₂ uptake over the last 50 years, historically crowded tree densities and higher temperatures are increasingly producing destructive mega-fires. Berkeley Lab researchers have partnered with UC Berkeley and others to develop a mobile biomass processing unit designed to gasify forest thinnings onsite, aimed at significantly reducing the cost of forest treatment and producing usable gas or liquid fuels. Researchers have also led development of the Functionally-Assembled Terrestrial Ecosystem Simulator (FATES), to model how climate change will affect the regeneration of burned lands and inform reforestation and carbon management strategies. And the Lab’s shared biomanufacturing process demonstration unit is being used by researchers and industry to advance the circular economy by pioneering the conversion of waste CO₂–from forest thinnings, farm and industrial wastes, as well as the atmosphere – back into low-carbon biofuels and commercially valuable, long-lived materials.

Modeling Extreme Weather Events (LLNL)

Numerical models are critical tools in predicting Earth’s climate conditions due to the complex and interrelated processes controlling the weather. Though developing simulations depicting the entire planet’s weather is challenging, global coverage continues to be necessary as local behavior spreads rapidly to distant areas of the globe. Using the Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SM) as the template, an LLNL-led research team has developed a powerful high-resolution new global atmosphere model: the Simple Cloud-Resolving E3SM Atmosphere Model (SCREAM). This high-resolution model is 30 times finer than the typical resolution for global climate models. The new model also captures the structure of important weather events, such as tropical and extratropical cyclones, atmospheric rivers, and cold air outbreaks which are poorly captured by typical climate models.

Measuring Sea level rise (NASA JPL)

Home to a suite of sea level height satellites and modeling tools since 1978, NASA JPL measures and predicts sea level rise. A recently published study from a team of NASA's JPL researchers offers new insights into the rate of sea level rise in the U.S., with results showing an average rise of approximately one foot for most coastlines by 2050. The report utilized data from the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich Satellite, launched in 2020, the latest in a series of satellite-based ocean height measurement missions conducted in partnership with France’s space program.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Smart Mobility (NASA Ames)

Innovation and diverse aircraft are key to NASA Ames’ response to climate change and wildfires. A small, uncrewed vehicle carrying instruments for wildfire and volcano science observations – developed through a small-business partnership with NASA – is one example. To help researchers devise more such uses for drones, aeronautics staff on the Smart Mobility team are creating a test environment at Ames. Technology they’re developing and integrating can increase pilots’ situational awareness in complex settings such as when fighting wildfires.

Building Resilient Infrastructure

Advancing Hydrogen (Electric Fuel Cell) for a Resilient Grid, Strong Economy (Berkeley Lab)

Use of hydrogen fuel cells can help industries decarbonize and keep the electric grid resilient during periods of low renewable energy production. Berkeley Lab co-leads the U.S. Department of Energy's Million Mile Fuel Cell Truck Consortium, aimed at developing rugged fuel cells that can power long-haul trucks a million miles, and is a leading lab in developing technologies to lower the cost of electrolysis. Berkeley Lab’s geosciences division is also assessing options for underground storage of hydrogen. Through support for California’s ARCHES consortium, the Lab is working with the Governor’s Office and the University of California to compete for a $1.25 billion federal grant to accelerate the use of green hydrogen for heavy-duty transportation and other hard-to-electrify sectors.

Improving Hydrogen Storage Materials (LLNL)

Hydrogen can store surplus renewable power, decarbonize transportation, and serve as a zero-emission energy carrier for sustainable energy use, but storing hydrogen poses great technical challenges. To overcome the challenges of conventional high-pressure or cryogenic storage, LLNL and collaborators have turned to metal hydrides. They provide exceptional energy densities and can reversibly release and take up hydrogen under relatively mild conditions. The scientists found a new way to ease the thermodynamic limitations on hydrogen uptake after initial release using a novel form of a material called alane—or aluminum hydride.

Water desalination (SLAC)

SLAC will collaborate with Stanford University in a research project led by the National Alliance for Water Innovation aimed at developing energy-efficient technologies to decontaminate nontraditional water sources for diverse uses including agriculture and drinking water. The lab will lend its powerful X-rays to studies that could, for example, reveal the physical processes underlying reverse osmosis, which could in turn suggest new materials for clean water technologies.

Tracking methane gas emissions (NASA JPL)

Methane is one of the most potent greenhouse gases contributing to climate change, resulting from human activity. NASA is independently surveying methane emissions with EMIT and airborne instruments and is also contributing to this via partnership with nonprofit Carbon Mapper. Using these instruments, scientists can use observations of methane plumes to detect leaks in infrastructure from agriculture, landfills, and oil and gas utilities, aiding facilities operators in repairing these leaks.

Reducing Reliance on Diesel Fuels with Hydrogen Ferry (Sandia)

Scripps Institution of Oceanography partnered with Sandia to develop a concept for hydrogen hybrid research vessels that can replace current research vessels powered by diesel engines. In addition to polluting the air and ocean, diesel engines can also corrupt samples and degrade the sensitivity of underwater hydrophones. This collaboration led to $35 million of funding from the California Legislature to build the first hydrogen hybrid research vessel.

Energy Storage, Flexible Demand for an Affordable, Resilient Grid (Berkeley Lab)

As California works to triple the capacity of its electricity grid, Berkeley Lab is leading work to ensure this transition is both resilient and affordable. Berkeley Lab’s Energy Storage Center engages over 200 researchers to support discoveries both in next-generation batteries and in lower-cost long duration energy storage, in support of DOE’s Long Duration Storage Earthshot and the Energy Storage Grand Challenge. This includes storage technology demonstrations and deployments in microgrids to fully utilize renewable sources. The Lab-led CalFlexHub, funded by the Energy Commission, is developing, testing and demonstrating novel software and automation controls to move electric load into non-peak times, making better use of existing generation resources and reducing ratepayer costs.

Improving Energy Resilience Through Longer-Lasting Batteries (SLAC)

Researchers at SLAC and Stanford University may have found a way to revitalize rechargeable lithium batteries, bringing “dead” lithium back to life. The study is one of many aiming to boost the range of electric vehicles and battery life in electronic devices. The new SLAC-Stanford Battery Center will spur collaborative R&D between the lab, the university and industry to bridge the gap between discovering and deploying sustainable energy storage solutions.

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory partners with city of Livermore to reduce carbon emissions

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the city of Livermore to collaborate on advancing climate action in Livermore and build community-wide resilience to climate change impacts. The city’s Climate Action Plan (CAP), anticipated to be adopted by the Livermore City Council this summer, will create a roadmap to achieve carbon neutrality (also known as net-zero emissions) by 2045. The CAP also will include adaptation and resiliency strategies to prepare Livermore for a changing climate.

The city is developing strategies to be consistent with state climate mitigation targets and new legislation that requires cities to plan for the impacts of climate change. The goal of the MOU is to present opportunities for collaboration toward advancing climate action in the community of Livermore and beyond. Last year, city officials met with LLNL representatives to discuss cooperating to demonstrate climate technologies at various sites and explore other potential collaborations and funding sources.

LLNL researchers proposed three climate technologies that could be demonstrated at several locations within the city. The first, biogas utilization, focuses on carbon removal from biomass and could be piloted at the sewage plant on the north side of Livermore. The second technology, known as “carbon farming,” functions by increasing decomposing plant material and microbes in soil; in urbanized areas like Livermore, improving the soil in this way can improve carbon uptake. Finally, creating localized, autonomous power microgrids can help assure electricity remains online during wider outages.

Breaking down energy storage barriers (LLNL)

LLNL scientists and collaborators have developed a broad suite of multiscale simulation capabilities to help identify, assess, and overcome microstructural impacts on ion transport in solid electrolytes. Through new research, the team gained a better understanding of the detailed relationship between microstructure and ionic transport properties. Exploring ion transport can help resolve long-standing debates about the importance of microstructure in solid electrolytes. This knowledge is critical to create viable solid electrolyte materials that retain high ionic conductivity.

Net-Zero Planning (Sandia)

Climate change is an urgent and growing threat to national and global security. Sandia is committed to addressing this threat through science, technology, and action. Modeling the way forward in site sustainability, Sandia is developing a plan to achieve net-zero emissions at its Livermore campus, as well as three other related goals: net-zero energy consumption, increased energy resilience, and demonstration of new net-zero technologies. From advancing building efficiency to investing in on-site renewable energy like solar and wind, this effort will incorporate a variety of approaches that not only reduce emissions but also improve laboratory safety and efficiency, while enabling greater resilience to the impacts of climate change.

Environmentally friendly mineral extraction (LLNL)

A new method developed at LLNL improves the extraction and separation of rare-earth elements—a group of 17 chemical elements critical for technologies such as smart phones and electric car batteries—from unconventional sources. Current methods for extracting and separating rare earths from such sources as industrial and electronic waste rely on harsh chemicals, are labor intensive, and are high cost. New research led by scientists at Pennsylvania State University and Livermore demonstrates how a protein isolated from bacteria can provide a more environmentally friendly way to extract these metals and to separate them from other metals and from each other. The method could eventually be scaled up to help develop a domestic supply of rare-earth metals from industrial waste and electronics due to be recycled.

Microgrid Development (Sandia)

Sandia is well known for designing reliable and resilient microgrids for military bases and vital city services. Researchers at the Labs are now working with NASA to design a microgrid for an American moon base. The research underway is also relevant to creating resiliency for communities on Earth, designing systems that are self-sustaining and can continue operating even if a solar panel array is damaged. Sandia’s Distributed Energy Technologies Laboratory is used to study the integration of renewable energy resources, such as wind turbines and solar panels, into larger energy systems.

A person in a Gismo t-shirt standing on a farm in front of cows.

SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory building resilient—and cool—farms in Central California

Four years ago, Gustavo Cezar’s team with SLAC’s GISMo lab—which stands for Grid Integration, Systems and Mobility—installed smart fans, solar panels, batteries, electricity meters, and weather sensors at a Central California farm. Together they help to keep the animals cool inside the barn and minimize the farm owner’s electricity costs, specifically by collecting real-time data, such as from the temperature sensors and the local electricity rates. The system then optimizes the operation of the fans and batteries to ensure the fans run when needed and at the lowest possible cost—an approach that has saved the farmer thousands of dollars each month.

$An award recipient shakes hands with the person granting them the award on stage.$

Sandia National Laboratories Celebrating Young Women in STEM

The Sandia Women’s Connection hosted the 30th annual Math and Science Awards. The Labs honored 38 female students from high schools in and around the Livermore Valley. Honorees are nominated by their teachers and awarded for their achievements in either math or science. The transition between high school and college is a critical point for young women as they decide whether to pursue STEM careers. One contributing factor for girls who turn away from STEM is thought to be a lack of female mentors in scientific fields. SWC hopes the awards will inspire juniors to both study STEM majors in college and connect with women at Sandia who can advise and encourage them in those fields.

Responding to Ongoing Disasters

Assessing and Responding to Energy Grid Threats with GISMo (SLAC)

SLAC’s Grid Integration, Systems, and Mobility (GISMo) lab explores the intersection of the power grid, building and ambient intelligence, and human mobility. Building upon the lab’s efforts to integrate and utilize large amounts of energy data, the Grid Resilience and Intelligence Project uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to identify vulnerabilities in the grid and build capabilities to anticipate and recover from grid events.

Swift HALE (NASA Ames)

Through NASA’s Small Business Innovation Research program, California’s Swift Engineering, with support from NASA Ames, developed a high-altitude, long-endurance uncrewed aircraft to carry scientific instruments and other small payloads. It is designed to stay aloft for 30 days at 65,000 feet, and its first flight provided critical data to prove that design requirements were met. Such aircraft can complement satellites with data on regional scales, and NASA is exploring their use for Earth system science and disaster response. Ames is partnering with the U.S. Forest Service to fly this vehicle in 2023 to demonstrate applications for fire science and management. These platforms have the potential to provide imagery similar to a geostationary satellite. During or after a natural disaster, they could gather real-time data or provide a communications relay.

Observing the SARS-CoV-2 virus (SLAC)

Over the past two years, scientists have studied the SARS-CoV-2 virus in great detail, laying the foundation for developing COVID-19 vaccines and antiviral treatments. Researchers recently used powerful X-rays at SLAC’s Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource to catch the virus severing a critical immunity pathway at the molecular level. Another study using SLAC’s cryogenic electron microscopy technology, or cryo-EM, produced 3D images of RNA from the virus, revealing tiny pockets that play a key role in its ability to replicate. These novel views deepen our understanding of how SARS-CoV-2 operates and could potentially inspire new therapeutic approaches.

Effects of Extreme Heat in a Changing Climate (NASA JPL)

Scientists at NASA JPL are measuring the impacts of drought and rising temperatures using an instrument on the International Space Station called ECOSTRESS, which measures the temperature of plants as they heat up when they run out of water. One recent study that utilized ECOSTRESS data has provided insights into the relationship between California wildfire intensity and water stress in plants measured in the months prior to the fires. Other studies (Las Vegas Heat Stress, Heat Islands Indian Heat Wave) use ECOSTRESS data to explore how built and natural surfaces respond differently to extreme heat in cities such as Las Vegas or Delhi.

A heat map of northern California counties with colories from dark red to light yellow indicating average maximum temperature.

Berkeley Lab Protecting Vulnerable Fresno Neighborhoods from Extreme Heat

Disadvantaged communities bear a great climate and pollution burden, with extreme heat in particular growing in severity, duration, and frequency. Residents of these communities are often among the least prepared to cope with heat waves. A team of Berkeley Lab researchers worked closely with two local community-based organizations in the Fresno area (West Fresno Family Resource Center and Every Neighborhood Partnership) as well as several other local stakeholders to complete two projects focused on advancing climate equity and heat and resilience in several disadvantaged neighborhoods in Fresno, a city with poor air quality that is historically underserved and with most homes built prior to 1980.

Berkeley Lab performed (1) neighborhood-scale modeling results for 17 active and cooling measures to better cope with extreme heat in Fresno; and (2) modeling of integrated packages including energy efficiency measures, electrified space and water heating, solar PV, and electric vehicles in residential sector single family homes. Both projects employed extensive community outreach to better focus research modeling and prioritize measures. Both projects also utilize the CityBES modeling platform for community-scale modeling of residential sector upgrades to improve resilience to extreme heat and to lower CO₂ emissions, and the methodology from these two studies can be applied to other disadvantaged communities. For the heat resilience project ("Cal-THRIVES"), performed for the Strategic Growth Council, Berkeley Lab developed a cooling toolkit that comprised community cooling guides, technology fact sheets, a heat vulnerability index tool, and policy and program recommendations. The toolkit is available online at Cal-THRIVES.lbl.gov.

Collecting and responding to community feedback was a key part of both projects to help understand how residents cope with extreme heat; to better understand resident needs, preferences, barriers to proposed cooling strategies and how they view community cooling centers; and to inform our modeling assumptions on baseline equipment. Outreach methods included community meetings; focus groups, in-home interviews, and phone interviews. Lab researchers found that most residents (60-70%) are not comfortable in their homes in hot or cold weather very often. This is an area to improve equity and provide better indoor comfort and safety during the summer and winter without increasing energy bills. Residents that lack air conditioning units (about 15% of homes) are especially vulnerable to extreme heat.

Among passive cooling measures, window films, roof/ceiling insulation, and cool walls are the among the most effective passive measures overall. Natural ventilation on top floors is very helpful as well (opening windows at night to admit cooler air) but may be limited if outdoor air quality is poor. For active cooling measures, fans improve comfort and can reduce electricity bills; while homes with evaporative coolers only (aka swamp coolers) greatly benefit from getting air conditioners.

Rebuilding with Resilience

Combatting Climate Change by Transforming CO2 (SLAC)

SLAC scientists and their collaborators at Stanford and around the world are developing ways to transform carbon dioxide into something more useful. In one project, scientists at SLAC and Stanford made a new catalyst that works with either heat or electricity. Their work aims to bridge these two approaches to spur chemical reactions with the goal of discovering more efficient and sustainable ways to convert carbon dioxide into useful products. Meanwhile, an international team of scientists used advanced X-ray sources at SLAC and Argonne National Laboratory to discover how a soil microbe could rev up artificial photosynthesis. Their results, which showed a bacterial enzyme converts carbon dioxide into other compounds 20 times faster than plant counterparts, could further efforts to turn carbon dioxide into fuels, fertilizers, antibiotics and more.

E-Nose (NASA Ames)

A rapid and non-invasive screening tool could “sniff out” COVID-19 in patients’ breath with a spaceflight-proven, re-usable electronic nose (E-Nose) technology from NASA Ames. Originally developed for trace chemical detection in space, its sensors are being tuned to detect COVID-19 through breath analysis. Using an instrument attached to a smartphone – and NASA expertise in advanced machine-learning methods – the results from the E-Nose will combine with body temperature and other non-invasive symptom screening to provide more accurate on-the-spot answers. The screening results can then be transmitted via cellphone or WiFi networks.

Earthquake Recovery (Berkeley Lab)

Major earthquakes in California can destroy or damage thousands of buildings and critical energy and water infrastructure. To prepare for future large earthquakes, Berkeley Lab is using its advanced supercomputers to run regional-scale, fault-to-structure simulations of earthquakes and associated infrastructure response to assess the earthquake risk to buildings and energy system infrastructure across the entire Bay Area. The Lab is a partner in the Large-Scale Laminar Soil Box System, the largest facility in the U.S. for assessing how soil around a structure will influence its performance during an earthquake. After a major earthquake, safety assessments and repairs can take many months, disrupting critical operations and delaying economic recovery. To speed up recovery, Berkeley Lab has developed, extensively tested and deployed an optical sensor system that building managers can use to quickly pinpoint the location and extent of damage in critical infrastructure systems.

COVID-19 Assessment Tools (NASA Ames)

A simple-to-use COVID-19 exposure assessment tool (CEAT) was developed by members of the COVID-19 International Research Team, including researchers at NASA Ames. People tasked with making safety recommendations for their organizations, such as businesses, schools, and civic groups, can use the tool to inform their approaches to reducing viral exposure. The tool applies to groups of up to 250 people, both indoors and out, and relies on information users would have available or could reasonably estimate. CEAT addresses mechanisms that are within the organization’s control and communicates a clear and easily interpretable result. Demonstration of the tool, from published studies of COVID-19 transmission events, shows it accurately predicts transmission, outperforming older and more established models. CEAT has been implemented by multiple institutions to improve their safety decision making, including NASA Ames.

A drone flies above a wildfire landscape with the drone operator visible in the foreground.

NASA Ames – Fighting Fire with Drones

The Scalable Traffic Management for Emergency Response Operations, or STEReO, team at NASA Ames, led by principal investigator Joey Mercer, is designing software and communication tools to help disaster responders work more safely and efficiently. Part of their approach is to scale up the use of unmanned aircraft systems, or UAS, also called drones.

Drones are good for capturing thermal images of the landscape below. The heat signatures obtained can help determine where firefighters should establish fire-containment lines dug either by bulldozer or by hand. “The smarter we are about their operations, the smarter capabilities we can create,” said Mercer. “They’re running operations at night. They don’t know what terrain they’ll encounter, or where they can launch their aircraft from. There are so many details about their working environment that are hard to capture in conversation or get lost in translation.”

To help make their tools as useful as possible, Mercer and members of his team join wildland firefighters in the real-world setting of active wildfires. Between the Dixie, Caldor, McCash, and Windy fires, scattered across the state, but concentrated in Northern California, they shadowed drone pilots and incident personnel from three different agencies: CAL FIRE, the U.S. Forest Service, and the National Park Service.

On the frontlines of the Dixie fire, a drone was sent to look for any traces of fire down a steep gully. The thermal data it collected helped decide whether crews could safely attempt to hold the fire there, or if they should work from the next ridgeline, even if it meant losing more acres to the flames.

The location of nearby piloted aircraft is one example of essential information the STEReO team is working to provide to drone pilots. The challenge of tracking those aircraft is the focus of STEReO’s prototype tool kit for drone pilots.

At the McCash fire, the team deployed the pilot kit for the first time during an active incident. This was an important opportunity, both for the team to test their technology in a true operational setting, and for the firefighters to see it at work. That context easily and efficiently revealed how the tools could be improved in the next round with certain tweaks.

Drone pilots remain fairly rare at wildfire response operations, while the fire community works with partners like STEReO to find the safest, most efficient ways to take advantage of their unique contributions. As California’s fire season burns on, the NASA team will continue its observations in the field, learning from the firefighting experts how STEReO’s tools could help them most.

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