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

布尔比矿的 SKY：研究超低背景辐射环境中电离对气溶胶产生的影响。

• 批准号: EP/F03184X/1
• 负责人: Sean Paling
• 金额: $ 2.71万
• 依托单位: University of Sheffield
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2008
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2008 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=EP%2FF03184X%2F1
• 关键词: SKY; Boulby; Mine; study; effect

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.

我们正在寻求支持，以使申请人能够在一项重要的气相物理化学研究中发挥关键作用-这是第一项关于电离对超低本底辐射环境中气溶胶产生的影响的研究。项目成本：~ 26 K（FEC）项目期限：5个月/从2007年9月/10月开始。丹麦国家航天中心电离辐射的影响和电离对空气中气溶胶产生的影响是气体研究的一个重要和活跃的领域，相物理化学在气候学和公共/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和空气中的气溶胶浓度之间存在正相关关系，但由于存在穿透宇宙射线，因此没有研究能够在非常低的电离辐射水平下研究这种关系。在这里，我们提出了对超低电离水平下电离/气溶胶关系的首次研究，并在博尔比矿现有的深层地下科学设施中进行了先前验证的实验（SKY）。在约1100米深的地方，博尔比设施的宇宙射线通量衰减了约10^6，使其成为研究超低背景辐射条件下物质性质的理想场所。通过将一定量的空气暴露在不同程度的电离辐射下（并且最低电离水平由大大减少的背景辐射设定）这项工作将提供对早期研究的重要验证，并将研究扩展到比以前测试的电离水平低至少3个数量级，回答关于离子的作用和气溶胶成核/成簇机制的重要的未回答的问题。如果得到资助，申请人将与丹麦国家空间中心的一个受人尊敬的小组合作开展这一项目。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）。所需要的只是英国申请人在博尔比矿准备和操作实验期间的时间和旅行的资金（约5个月）。申请人在本底辐射减少技术和博尔比矿工作的操作要求方面的独特经验和专门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/特别是对于丹麦团队来说，他们要求Boulby（而不是世界各地的其他少数可能的地点），部分原因是（申请人的）当地专业知识，但也因为他们希望尽快在这方面取得进展。博尔比是完美的设置来主持这项研究/和资金，以支持申请人的努力，我们当然可以在所需的时间进行这项工作。我们希望在这里说服你，对于一个相对较小的成本，这是一个很好的机会，英国发挥关键作用的基础气相物理化学研究，使许多人感兴趣的重要科学产出。