Collaborative Research: CubeSat--Lower Atmosphere/Ionosphere Coupling Experiment (LAICE)

该项目旨在设计、开发、运行和分析名为低层大气/电离层耦合实验（LAICE）的6U立方体卫星任务的结果。研究地面大气与低层热层/电离层之间重力波驱动耦合的总体目标。现场仪器将测量波浪在f区高度产生的中性和离子密度的扰动，而机载光度计将同时测量上层中间层波场的波长和振幅。随后的模拟加上气象数据将利用包括波耗散影响在内的最先进的射线追踪技术揭示对流层风暴与MLTI系统之间的联系。电离层离子密度和温度将通过延迟电位分析（RPA）技术进行现场测量。RPA的电子设备将在弗吉尼亚理工大学建造，但只会对达拉斯理工大学的飞行验证设计进行微小的修改。现场高层大气中性气体密度将由两种不同的传感器测量：一种是由航空航天公司提供的传统Bayard-Alpert （BA）离子计，另一种是基于新型类金刚石碳（DLC）微尖端的计，该计设计更适合CubeSat任务的功率限制。伊利诺伊大学将提供一套最低点观测光度计，用于测量轨道夜间90-100公里范围内O2（0-0）大气(a)和O2赫茨伯格I （HI）波段气辉辐射的扰动。这是第一次这样的任务；以前没有卫星实验致力于确定低层大气和电离层之间的因果重力波联系，以前也没有实验通过直接观察电离层效应系统地绘制低纬度和中纬度的活跃重力波区域。这些波是大气物理学中至关重要但尚未被充分探索的一个方面。它们通过改变远高于其源区域的高度的大气结构，强烈地影响了它们所经过的介质的动力学，并且它们可能导致等离子体不稳定的发展，这种不稳定会闪烁并破坏无线电传播。实验的基本科学目标是：1)在较低f区高度系统地观测具有大垂直波长的重力波，并在全球尺度上将中高层气辉扰动与高海拔地区离子和中性密度波动的原位测量相关联；2)在多个季节、所有当地时间绘制中低纬度电离层活跃重力波区域的全球地图。因此，全球模式和气候变化可以通过建模与陆地天气系统进行定量比较和关联。具有挑战性的立方体卫星任务是一项高风险的工作，但在提供一个独特的观测数据集，包括基本的热层和电离层参数以及相关的前沿科学发现方面，具有极高的潜在回报。弗吉尼亚理工大学和伊利诺伊大学的工程专业学生将在LAICE有效载荷和航天器的设计、制造、集成和环境测试期间建立积极的合作关系；至少60名本科生将参与开发工作的一个或多个阶段，以及随后的数据分析活动。两校将在仪器系统、卫星通信和数据分析方面开展强有力的合作。这两个机构的设施将用于测试、集成和校准航天硬件，结果将在年度小型航天器会议上发表。所有来自实验的数据和科学发现将通过为此目的建立的网络界面公开提供。

This project is to design, develop, operate, and analyse the results of a 6U CubeSat mission named the Lower Atmosphere/Ionosphere Coupling Experiment (LAICE). The overarching objective to investigate the gravity wave-driven coupling between the terrestrial atmosphere and the lower thermosphere/ ionosphere. In-situ instrumentation will measure the perturbations the waves produce in both neutral and ion densities at F-region heights, while on-board photometers will simultaneously measure the wavelengths and amplitudes of the wave fields in the upper mesosphere. Subsequent modeling coupled with meteorological data will reveal the connections between tropospheric storms and the MLTI system using state-of-the-art ray tracing techniques that include the effects of wave dissipation. The ionospheric ion density and temperature will be measured in-situ via the retarding potential analysis (RPA) technique. The electronics for the RPA will be built at Virginia Tech, but will involve only minor modifications to the flight proven UT Dallas design. The in-situ upper atmospheric neutral gas density will be measured by two distinct sensors: a traditional Bayard-Alpert (BA) ion gauge provided by the Aerospace Corporation, and new, diamond-like carbon (DLC) microtip-based gauge design that is better adapted to the power constraints of a CubeSat mission. The University of Illinois will provide a suite of nadir-viewing photometers to measure perturbations in the O2 (0-0) Atmospheric (A) and O2 Herzberg I (HI) band airglow emissions in the 90-100 km region during the nighttime portion of the orbit.This mission is the first of its kind; no previous satellite experiment has ever been devoted to identifying causal gravity wave links between the lower atmosphere and the ionosphere, and no previous experiment has systematically mapped active gravity wave regions at low and middle latitudes through direct observation of their ionospheric effects. These waves are a vitally important but under-explored facet of atmospheric physics. They strongly influence the dynamics of the media through which they travel by modifying the structure of the atmosphere at altitudes well above their source regions, and they may seed the development of plasma instabilities that scintillate and disrupt radio propagation. The fundamental science goals of the experiment are to: 1) systematically observe gravity waves with large vertical wavelengths at lower F-region heights, and correlate on a global scale remotely-sensed wave-induced airglow perturbations in the upper mesosphere with in-situ measurements of ion and neutral density fluctuations at higher altitudes, and 2) produce global maps of active gravity wave regions in the mid- and low-latitude ionosphere over multiple seasons at all local times, so that global patterns and climatological variations can be quantitatively compared to and correlated with terrestrial weather systems via modeling. The challenging cubesat mission is a high-risk effort but one with immensely high potential pay-off in providing a unique observational dataset of fundamental thermosphere and ionosphere parameters and related cutting-edge scientific findings. Active collaborations between engineering students at Virginia Tech and the University of Illinois will be established during the design, fabrication, integration, and environmental testing of the LAICE payloads and spacecraft; at least 60 undergraduates will participate in one or more phases of the development work, and in subsequent data analysis activities. Strong collaboration will occur between the schools in instrumentation systems, satellite communications, and data analysis. Facilities at both institutions will be used to test, integrate, and calibrate spaceflight hardware, and results will be presented at annual small-spacecraft conferences. All data and scientific findings that flow from the experiment will be made publicly available via a web interface established for this purpose.