CubeSat: Dynamic Ionosphere Cubesat Experiment (DICE)

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。该项目由犹他州立大学、ASTRA LLC、安柏瑞德大学和克莱姆森大学的空间科学家和工程师合作完成。这个为期三年的跨学科团队努力的目标是建造和操作一套小型的，所谓的立方体卫星航天器。每颗卫星将携带一个直流探测器（DCP）来测量现场电离层等离子体密度，以及一个电场探测器（EFP）来测量直流和交流电场。这些测量将允许准确识别电离层等离子体分布中的风暴时间特征，例如风暴增强密度（SED）凸起和羽流，以及同时进行的共同定位的电场测量，这是以前缺失的。动态电离层立方体卫星实验（DICE）任务的主要科学目标是了解美国南部（SED凸起）的大幅增强等离子体是如何形成的，以及等离子体的来源是什么；SED羽流的形成和演化涉及哪些物理驱动因素，它们的相对重要性是什么；最后，穿透电场的发生、阿普尔顿异常波峰的后续扩展和SED的发展之间的确切关系是什么，特别是在为什么明显倾向于美国地理部门方面。空间天气是指能够影响天基和地基技术系统的性能和可靠性的空间条件。赤道、极光和中纬度的电离层梯度和不规则性对导航、通信和监视系统产生重大的空间天气影响。为了提高我们预测这些空间天气事件及其影响的能力，我们需要更好地描述和理解这些电离层的特征。DICE将为SED特性提供重要的新度量，并深入了解是什么导致它们朝着这些目标发展。该项目将追求科学发现，同时提供独特和鼓舞人心的教育机会。它依赖于广泛的本科生和研究生参与任务的各个方面。学生参与拟议工作的每一个领域，将为所有参与机构以及为少数族裔服务的德克萨斯大学圣安东尼奥分校（UTSA）提供教育效益。除了实际操作外，该任务还将为课堂提供材料，以激发学生对科学的兴趣。立方体卫星任务中涉及的新技术在很大程度上未经证实，这使得该项目本身就存在重大风险。然而，另一方面，该项目不仅在其本身的研究领域，而且在空间科学和大气研究以及航空航天工程和教育等更大领域具有巨大的变革潜力。此外，该项目将是首批执行多航天器立方体卫星任务的两个项目之一，从而推动了这一新兴技术的极限。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). This project is a collaboration between space scientists and engineers at Utah State University, ASTRA LLC, Embry-Riddle University, and Clemson University. The objective of this three-year cross-disciplinary team effort is to build and operate a set of tiny, so-called CubeSat, spacecraft. Each satellite will carry a DC Probe (DCP) to measure in-situ ionospheric plasma densities, and an Electric Field Probe (EFP) to measure DC and AC electric fields. These measurements will permit accurate identification of storm-time features in the distribution of ionospheric plasma, such as the Storm Enhanced Density (SED) bulge and plume, together with simultaneous co-located electric field measurements which have previously been missing. The primary scientific objective of the Dynamic Ionosphere Cubesat Experiment (DICE) mission is to understand how exactly the greatly enhanced plasma is formed over the southern USA (the SED bulge) and what is the source of the plasma; what physical drivers are involved in the formation and evolution of the SED plume, and what is their relative importance; and, finally, what is the precise relationship between the occurrence of penetration electric fields, the subsequent expansion of the Appleton anomaly crests, and the development of SED, particularly in terms of why there is an apparent preference for the USA geographic sector. Space weather refers to conditions in space that can influence the performance and reliability of space-borne and ground-based technological systems. Ionospheric gradients and irregularities at equatorial, auroral, and mid latitudes produce major space weather effects on navigation, communications and surveillance systems. To advance our abilities to predict these space weather events and their effects these ionospheric features need to be better characterized and understood. DICE will provide important new measurements of SED features and insight into what causes them towards meeting these goals. The project will pursue scientific discovery while providing unique and inspiring educational opportunities. It relies on extensive undergraduate and graduate student involvement through all aspects of the mission. The involvement of students in every area of the proposed work will provide educational benefits at all of the participating institutions as well as at University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), a minority-serving institution. In addition to the hands-on work, the mission will provide material for classes that will serve to motivate students with regard to science. The new, largely unproven technology involved in cubesat missions, inherently makes the project associated with significant risks. On the other hand, however, the project has tremendous potential to be transformational not only within its own research area but also for the larger field of space science and atmospheric research as well as within aerospace engineering and education. In addition, the project will be one of the first two to carry out a multi-spacecraft CubeSat mission, thus pushing the limit of this emerging technology.