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

合作研究：CubeSat——低层大气/电离层耦合实验（LAICE）

• 批准号: 1242895
• 负责人: Gary Swenson
• 金额: $ 41.72万
• 依托单位: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2013-06-01 至 2017-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1242895&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; CubeSat; Lower; Atmosphere

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.

该项目是设计、开发、运行和分析名为低大气/电离层耦合实验(LAICE)的6U立方体卫星任务的结果。首要目标是研究地球大气层和低热层/电离层之间的重力波驱动的耦合。现场仪器将在F区高度测量波在中性密度和离子密度下产生的扰动，而机载光度计将同时测量中间层上部波场的波长和幅度。随后的模拟结合气象数据，将使用最先进的射线追踪技术揭示对流层风暴和MLTI系统之间的联系，其中包括波浪消散的影响。电离层离子密度和温度将通过延迟电势分析(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制造，但只会对经过飞行验证的德克萨斯大学达拉斯分校的设计进行微小的修改。现场大气层上层中性气体密度将由两个不同的传感器测量：一个是由航空航天公司提供的传统的Bayard-Alpert(BA)离子计，另一个是基于类金刚石(DLC)微尖的新型规设计，它更好地适应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，以测量轨道夜间90-100公里区域O2(0-0)大气(A)和O2 Herzberg I(HI)波段气辉发射的扰动。这是此类任务的第一次；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，也没有以前的实验通过直接观测电离层效应来系统地绘制出中低纬度活跃的重力波区图。这些波是大气物理学中一个极其重要但未被充分发掘的方面。它们通过改变远高于其震源区域高度的大气结构，极大地影响了它们通过的介质的动力学，它们可能会导致等离子体不稳定的发展，从而闪烁并扰乱电波传播。实验的基本科学目标是：1)系统观测低F区高度的大垂直波长重力波，并在全球范围内将中间层上部遥感波引起的气辉扰动与高海拔离子和中性密度波动的现场测量相关联；2)制作当地时间多个季节中和低纬度电离层活跃重力波区的全球地图，以便能够通过模拟对全球格局和气候变化与地面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努力，但在提供基本热层和电离层参数及相关尖端科学发现的独特观测数据集方面具有极高的潜在回报。在LAICE有效载荷和航天器的设计、制造、集成和环境测试期间，弗吉尼亚理工大学和伊利诺伊大学的工程专业学生之间将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，以及后续的数据分析活动。学校之间将在仪器系统、卫星通信和数据分析方面进行强有力的合作。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公布。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。