CAREER: Theory, Techniques and Simulations of RF Impedance Probes for Plasma Characterization

这项研究将是第一次努力使用射频阻抗探针测量和表征广泛的周围等离子体环境。使用RF阻抗探针技术测量等离子体参数，如温度和碰撞频率的潜力，尚未得到证明，由于缺乏一个足够严格的科学模型的探针等离子体相互作用。探针等离子体相互作用的非线性特性知之甚少，这些属性还没有被利用。本研究的第一个组成部分是发展新的射频阻抗探针技术，以获得探针在空间等离子体中的等离子体频率响应。研究生和本科生将使用通用软件无线电（USRP）硬件架构与开源软件一起作为仪器相关研究的平台。该项目的第二个组成部分是开发一种名为RFPIC-PROBE的理论和计算工具，该工具精确模拟RF阻抗探头与周围等离子体环境的相互作用，以分析频率响应数据。用于空间等离子体特性测量的电子电路的设计需要创造性的技术来补偿快速变化的周围等离子体环境，并减轻等离子体与航天器相互作用的影响。该研究还开发了数学和计算技术，以解释电离层等离子体中从碰撞到完全无碰撞相互作用的逐渐过渡。这项研究的应用范围从空间等离子体诊断到实验室等离子体测量和工业等离子体过程的控制。射频阻抗探头将提供一个强大的手段来测量这些等离子体的属性。RFPIC-PROBE软件将根据通用公共许可证在公共领域提供，供血浆诊断不同领域的研究人员使用。研究生和本科生将使用现成的开源游戏引擎开发一个真实的时空探索战略游戏，玩家选择任务的仪器，探索和探测不同星球的环境。作为推广活动的一部分，将通过亚拉巴马科学运动项目举办一个研讨会，让高中学生和教师尝试计算机实验来测量假设的等离子体介质的特性。该研究项目的所有结果和数据将在万维网上托管，并免费提供给公众或工业使用和合作。

This research will be the first effort to use Radio Frequency Impedance Probes to measure and characterize a wide range of ambient plasma environments. The potential to use RF impedance probe techniques for measuring plasma parameters, such as temperatures and collision frequencies, has not yet been demonstrated due to lack of a sufficiently rigorous scientific model of the probe plasma interaction. Nonlinear properties of the probe plasma interaction are poorly understood and these properties have not been exploited. The first component of this research is to develop novel RF Impedance Probe techniques to obtain the probe-plasma frequency response in space plasmas. Graduate and undergraduate students will use the Universal Software Radio (USRP) hardware architecture together with open source software as a platform for the instrument related research. The second component of the project is the development of a theoretical and computational tool called RFPIC-PROBE that accurately simulates the interaction of the RF Impedance Probe with the surrounding plasma environment in order to analyze the frequency response data. The design of electronic circuits for space based measurements of plasma properties requires creative techniques to compensate for the quickly changing ambient plasma environment and to mitigate the effects of plasma interaction with a spacecraft. The research also develops mathematical and computational techniques to account for the gradual transition from collisional to fully collisionless interactions in ionospheric plasmas. The applications of this research range from space plasma diagnostics to laboratory plasma measurements and control of industrial plasma processes. The RF Impedance probe will provide a powerful means to measuring the properties of these plasmas. The RFPIC-PROBE software will be made available in the public domain under General Public License for use by researchers in different areas of plasma diagnostics. Graduate and undergraduate students will use readily available open source game engines to develop a real time space exploration strategy game where players choose instruments for missions to explore and probe the environments of different planets. As part of outreach, a workshop session will be introduced through the Alabama Science in Motion program to allow high school students and teachers to try out computer experiments to measure the properties of a hypothetical plasma medium. All results and data from this research project will be hosted on the world wide web, and made freely available for public or industrial use and collaboration.