Collaborative Research: Airborne Detector for Energetic Lightning Emissions (ADELE) Operations on the Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel

合作研究：机载高能闪电发射探测器 (ADELE) 在飓风和强风暴哨兵上的运行

• 批准号: 1160226
• 负责人: David Smith
• 金额: $ 47.99万
• 依托单位: University of California-Santa Cruz
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-06-15 至 2017-10-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1160226&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Airborne; Detector; Energetic

This is a program to observe x-rays and gamma-rays emitted by thunderstorms. Two known phenomena will be observed: the incredibly bright, fast terrestrial gamma-ray flashes (TGFs) and ?glows? of gamma-rays emanating from the tops of active thunderstorm cells. The Airborne Detector for Energetic Lightning Emissions (ADELE) is a set of gamma-ray detectors and supporting electronics. In previous flights, it was found that the first TGF seen from an aircraft, set strong upper limits showing that TGFs are associated with 1% of lightning flashes, and established that glows are quite common and extend to energies 5 MeV.ADELE will be adapted to fly on a Global Hawk drone at 18 km as part of NASA?s Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel (HS3) mission, which will provide 300 hours of flight time over tropical storms and hurricanes in the Atlantic. The activities to be performed include adapting the instrument for the new aircraft, integrating it onboard, participating in the campaigns by monitoring our instrument in real time from NASA?s Dryden flight facility, analyzing the data, and publishing and disseminating the results. Scientists from Duke University will provide simultaneous broad-band radio-frequency data to interpret the behavior of lightning corresponding to TGFs and the periods in which glows are observed. Scientists from Florida Tech will provide meteorological support and interpretation and will model the high-energy processes associated with TGFs and glows. NASA Collaborator Richard Blakeslee and colleagues will provide detailed storm electrical measurements, including lightning, electric fields, air conductivity, and storm currents, from the Lightning Instrument Package which will be simultaneously flown on the Global Hawk during HS3.INTELLECTUAL MERIT The scientific goals embrace understanding the physical mechanism behind TGFs and glows and searching for high-energy emission associated with two other phenomena: gigantic jets and elves. The measurements of the intensity and spectrum of glows and the comparison of the gamma-ray data with lightning data from the same storm and in-situ electric field and conductivity data (provided by other instruments on HS3) will determine whether the glows represent a significant current caused by relativistic breakdown with feedback. A new tool for estimating the magnitude and extent of the electric field in the upper layers of storms via the spectrum, intensity, and shape of the gamma-ray emission will be developed. The ADELE flights will give dramatically improved views of recently-discovered phenomena that may play a role in thundercloud discharging and the physics of lightning initiation. The discovery of high-energy radiation from gigantic jets and elves, both of which should involve high electric fields, is a possibility, since this would represent the first time a sensitive high-energy detector was taken into the vicinity of these phenomena.BROADER IMPACTS The program will train several graduate and undergraduate students, some already involved with ADELE and some new, in the skills of instrument development, programming, field work, data analysis, and publication. The TGF measurements (both detections and non-detections) will also help us address the public health question of how often (if ever) aircraft passengers are exposed to the radiation dose of a TGF. Directly within the region where TGFs are formed (probably less than a square kilometer), the dose could be up to 100 times the annual limit for non-radiation-workers.

这是一个观测雷暴发出的x射线和伽马射线的程序。 两个已知的现象将被观察到：令人难以置信的明亮，快速的地面伽马射线闪光（TGFs）和？发光？活跃的雷暴云顶部放射出的伽马射线。 机载高能闪电发射探测器（ADELE）是一套伽马射线探测器和支持电子设备。 在以前的飞行中，人们发现，从飞机上看到的第一个TGF，设置了强大的上限，表明TGF与1%的闪电有关，并确定了辉光是相当常见的，并扩展到能量5兆电子伏。的飓风和强风暴哨兵（HS3）的使命，这将提供300小时的飞行时间超过热带风暴和飓风在大西洋。 要执行的活动包括为新飞机调整仪器，将其集成到飞机上，通过从NASA真实的监控我们的仪器来参与活动？的德莱登飞行设施，分析数据，出版和传播的结果。 来自杜克大学的科学家们将提供同步宽带射频数据，以解释与TGFs相对应的闪电行为以及观察到发光的时期。 来自佛罗里达理工学院的科学家将提供气象支持和解释，并将模拟与TGF和辉光相关的高能过程。 NASA合作者Richard Blakeslee及其同事将提供详细的风暴电测量，包括闪电，电场，空气传导率和风暴电流，闪电仪器包将在HS3期间同时在全球鹰上飞行。巨型喷气机和精灵测量辉光的强度和光谱，并将伽马射线数据与来自同一风暴的闪电数据以及现场电场和电导率数据（由HS 3上的其他仪器提供）进行比较，将确定辉光是否代表有反馈的相对论击穿造成的重要电流。 将开发一种新的工具，通过伽马射线发射的光谱、强度和形状来估计风暴上层电场的大小和范围。 ADELE的飞行将极大地改善最近发现的现象，这些现象可能在雷暴云放电和闪电引发的物理学中发挥作用。 从巨大的喷流和精灵中发现高能辐射，这两者都应该涉及高电场，这是一种可能性，因为这将是第一次将灵敏的高能探测器带到这些现象的附近。更广泛的IMPLENT该计划将培训几名研究生和本科生，其中一些已经参与了ADELE和一些新的，在仪器开发，编程，实地工作、数据分析和出版。TGF测量（检测和未检测）也将帮助我们解决飞机乘客暴露于TGF辐射剂量的频率（如果有的话）的公共卫生问题。直接在TGF形成的区域内（可能不到一平方公里），剂量可能高达非辐射工作人员年限值的100倍。