SKY at Boulby Mine: A study of the effect of ionisation on aerosol production in an ultra-low background radiation environment.

我们正在寻求支持，以允许申请人在一项重要的气相物理化学研究中发挥关键作用-这是在超低本底辐射环境中电离对气溶胶产生影响的第一项研究。项目工期：5个月/ 2007年9月/ 10月开始。合作者：丹麦国家空间中心（已获得资助）电离辐射和电离对空气中气溶胶产生的影响是气相物理化学研究的一个重要和活跃的领域，在气候学和公共/环境卫生等领域具有更广泛的相关性。早期的研究已经表明，电离辐射强度与空气中的气溶胶浓度之间存在正相关关系，然而，由于存在穿透性宇宙射线，没有研究能够在极低的电离辐射水平下检验这种关系。在这里，我们提出了在超低电离水平下电离/气溶胶关系的第一个研究，在博尔比矿现有的深地下科学设施中定位了一个先前验证的实验（SKY）。在~1100m深处，Boulby设施的宇宙射线通量衰减了~10^6，使其成为研究超低背景辐射条件下物质特性的理想场所。通过将受控体积的空气暴露于不同水平的电离辐射中（并通过大大降低的背景辐射设定最小电离水平），这项工作将为早期研究提供重要的验证，并将研究扩展到比以前测试的电离水平至少低3个数量级，回答有关离子作用和气溶胶成核/聚集机制的重要未解问题。如果获得资助，申请人将与来自丹麦国家空间中心的一个受人尊敬的小组就这个项目进行合作。这项研究所需的大部分资金已经到位（包括丹麦合作者的所有设备、人力和旅费）。所需要的是英国申请人在Boulby矿准备和操作实验期间（约5个月）的时间和旅行资金。申请人在Boulby矿工作的背景辐射减少技术和操作要求方面的独特经验和专业知识使申请人成为这项研究的重要合作者。这里有一些时间上的压力/特别是丹麦团队，他们要求Boulby（而不是世界上其他几个可能的地点），部分原因是（申请人）当地的专业知识，但也因为他们希望尽快取得进展。博尔比完全具备主办这项研究的条件，并且有资金支持申请人的努力，我们当然可以在所需的时间内开展这项工作。我们希望在这里说服您，对于英国来说，以相对较小的成本，这是一个极好的机会，可以在基础气相物理化学研究中发挥关键作用，为许多人提供重要的科学成果。

We are seeking support to allow the applicant to play a key role in an important gas-phase physical chemistry study - the first study of the effect of ionisation on aerosol production in an ultra-low background radiation environment.Project Cost: ~26K (FEC) Project Duration: 5 months / starting September/October 2007.Collaborators: Danish National Space Centre (already funded)The effect of ionising radiation and the presence of ionisation on the production of aerosols in air is an important and active area of research in gas-phase physical chemistry with wider relevance in fields such as climatology and public/environmental health. Earlier studies have already shown a positive correlation between ionising radiation intensity and aerosol concentration in air, however no study has been able to examine the relationship at very low ionising radiation levels because of the presence of penetrating cosmic rays. Here we propose the first study of the ionisation / aerosol relation at ultra-low ionisation levels, locating a previously validated experiment (SKY) in the existing deep underground science facility at Boulby mine. At ~1100m deep, the cosmic ray flux at the Boulby facility is attenuated by ~10^6 making it an ideal place to study the properties of matter in ultra-low background radiation conditions. By exposing a controlled volume of air to varying levels of ionising radiation (and with the minimum ionisation level being set by the vastly reduced background radiation) the work will provide both an important validation of earlier studies and extend the studies to ionisation levels at least 3 order of magnitudes lower than tested before, answering important unanswered questions about the roles of ions and the aerosol nucleation / clustering mechanism.If funded the applicant would collaborate on this project with a respected team from the Danish National Space Centre. The majority of funds required for the study are already in place (inc. all equipment, manpower and travel for the Danish collaborators). All that is needed is the funding for the time and travel of the UK applicant during the preparation and operation of the experiment at Boulby mine (~5 months). The unique experience and expertise of the applicant in the background radiation reduction techniques and operational requirements for work at Boulby mine make the applicant a vital collaborator in the study. There is some pressure on timing here / particularly for the Danish team who requested Boulby (rather than a handful of other possible sites around the world) partly for the local expertise (of the applicant) but also because of their wish to make progress on this ASAP. Boulby is perfectly set up to host this study / and with funding to support the applicant efforts we can certainly carry out this work in the time desired. We hope to convince you here that for a relatively small cost this is an excellent opportunity for the UK to play a key role in a fundamental gas-phase physical chemistry study giving an important science output of interest to many.