Collaborative Research: ANSWERS: Solar Energetic Particles, Solar Neutrons, and a New Space Weather Facility in Hawaii

该项目将测量太阳发射的最强大的粒子，即太阳高能粒子（sep）和太阳中子粒子（SNPs）。这些粒子对宇航员构成威胁，并可能导致太空中电子设备的严重退化或故障。监测粒子和建立警报系统对于提高抵御此类空间天气灾害的能力非常重要。因为snp比sep更早到达，它们的检测为采取行动提供了几分钟的额外警告。来自夏威夷大学、新罕布什尔大学和亚利桑那大学的项目组将在夏威夷建立一个新的太空天气（SW）中心，并在哈雷阿卡拉火山山顶部署一个中子监测仪（NM）。他们将分析来自国际空间站和地面NMs的阿尔法磁谱仪（AMS）的高能粒子数据。将向全球和国内用户实时提供关于这些观察结果的报告。SW中心还将提供广泛的推广项目，促进科学、技术、工程和数学专业知识的发展，特别是在年轻女性和代表性不足的群体中。这项工作从SEP事件中解决了地面事件的原因，特别是在传播和事件特征的背景下。该团队将分析AMS检测到的SEP事件，采用模型跟踪粒子在日球层、地球磁层和大气的各个区域的传播，并将NM网络的覆盖范围扩展到一个特别适合检测SNPs和银河宇宙射线的站点，刚性截止高于13 GV。将AMS在太空中的直接测量结果与NMs在地面上的直接测量结果进行比较，将揭示导致二次粒子产生的大气雨级，并探索涉及铁和轻元素直至氧的低能范围（数百MeV至几GeV）核相互作用的不同模型的有效性。SW中心将提供实时监测数据、行星际和地磁环境相关参数以及空间天气警报。高中学生将通过科学节、参观纳米探测器、在SW中心参与纳米和AMS研究等方式参与科学活动。ANSWERS项目通过填补有关太阳-地球耦合系统的关键知识空白，提高了美国的STEM专业知识和社会对空间天气灾害的适应能力。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project will measure the most powerful particles emitted by the Sun, i.e., Solar Energetic Particles (SEPs) and Solar Neutron Particles (SNPs). These particles pose risks to astronauts and can lead to significant degradation or failure of electronics in space. Monitoring the particles and developing alert systems are important to advance resilience against such space weather hazards. Because SNPs arrive earlier than SEPs, their detection provides several extra minutes of warning for taking action. The project team from the University of Hawaii, University of New Hampshire, and University of Arizona will set up a new space weather (SW) center in Hawaii and deploy a neutron monitor (NM) on the summit of the Haleakala volcano. They will analyze energetic particle data from the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) on the International Space Station and ground-based NMs. A report on these observations will be made available in real time to global and domestic users. The SW center will also provide extensive outreach programs advancing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics expertise, especially among young women and underrepresented groups.This work addresses the causes of ground-level events from SEP events, specifically in the context of propagation and event characteristics. The team will analyze SEP events detected by AMS, employ models for tracking particle propagation in various regions of the heliosphere and Earth's magnetosphere and atmosphere, and extend the coverage of the NM network to a station particularly suitable for detecting SNPs and galactic cosmic rays with rigidity cutoff above 13 GV. Comparing direct measurements in space by AMS with those on the ground by NMs will shed light on the atmospheric shower cascades that lead to secondary particle production and probe the validity of different models for nuclear interactions in the low energy range (hundreds of MeV to few GeV) involving iron and light elements up to oxygen. Real-time monitoring data, parameters related to the interplanetary and geomagnetic environment, and space weather alerts will be provided by the SW center. High school students will be engaged in the science through science festivals, visits to the NM detector and working with NM and AMS studies at the SW center. ANSWERS projects advance the nation’s STEM expertise and societal resilience to space weather hazards by filling key knowledge gaps regarding the coupled Sun-Earth system.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.