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

这是一个观察雷暴发出的x射线和伽马射线的程序。两种已知的现象将被观察到：令人难以置信的明亮，快速的陆地伽马射线闪光（TGFs）和发光？伽马射线从活跃的雷暴细胞的顶部发出。高能闪电发射机载探测器（ADELE）是一套伽马射线探测器和配套电子设备。在之前的飞行中，我们发现从飞机上看到的第一个TGF设置了很强的上限，表明TGF与1%的闪电有关，并确定了发光相当普遍，并延伸到5 MeV的能量。作为NASA的一部分，阿黛尔将被改造成在全球鹰无人机上飞行18公里。“飓风和强风暴哨兵”（HS3）任务将提供300小时的大西洋热带风暴和飓风上空飞行时间。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实时监控我们的仪器参与活动。分析数据，并发布和传播结果。杜克大学的科学家们将同时提供宽带无线电频率数据，以解释与tgf相对应的闪电行为和观察到发光的周期。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和发光相关的高能过程。NASA的合作者Richard Blakeslee和他的同事将提供详细的风暴电测量，包括闪电、电场、空气导电性和风暴电流，这些数据将来自闪电仪器包，该仪器包将在HS3期间同时在全球鹰上飞行。科学目标包括理解tgf和发光背后的物理机制，以及寻找与其他两种现象相关的高能辐射：巨大的喷流和精灵。对辉光强度和光谱的测量，以及将伽马射线数据与同一场风暴的闪电数据和现场电场和电导率数据（由HS3上的其他仪器提供）进行比较，将确定辉光是否代表由反馈的相对论性击穿引起的显著电流。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。阿黛尔的飞行将极大地改善最近发现的现象，这些现象可能在雷云放电和闪电形成的物理过程中发挥作用。从巨大的喷流和精灵中发现高能辐射是有可能的，这两者都应该涉及高电场，因为这将是第一次将一个敏感的高能探测器带到这些现象的附近。更广泛的影响该项目将培训一些研究生和本科生，其中一些已经参与了ADELE，一些是新的，在仪器开发、编程、实地工作、数据分析和出版方面的技能。TGF的测量（包括检测到的和未检测到的）也将帮助我们解决公共健康问题，即飞机乘客暴露于TGF辐射剂量的频率（如果有的话）。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。

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.