Terrestrial Gamma Flashes at Ground Level - a Research and Education Program

历史上的黑人学院和大学-本科项目为解决工程，地球科学和物理学本科阶段非洲裔美国学生严重不足的问题提供了支持。泽维尔大学（Xavier University）的这个项目将让一群物理学专业的本科生参与实验，通过建造一组探测器来观察来自闪电的伽马射线，这些探测器可以从地面观察地面的伽马射线闪光。这项工作将与路易斯安那州立大学（LSU）合作完成。透过这项研究计划，一群主修物理的本科生可获得研究经验，从而提高他们修读物理或相关科学、技术、工程及数学学科学位的兴趣，从而有助扩大弱势群体对该学科的参与。该项目将更新路易斯安那州立大学现有的TGF和高能雷暴屋顶阵列（TETRA）中的闪烁体，从而提高对地面伽马闪光的灵敏度，并将能量范围扩展到10 MeV；将在波多黎各安装一个由10个探测器组成的TETRA阵列，该阵列的闪电密度高于巴吞鲁日，并且有卫星覆盖，可以同时观测地面伽马闪光；并将增加电场磨、闪电探测器和气象测量，以补充伽马射线测量，并了解雷暴环境和带电粒子加速过程之间的联系。与路易斯安那州立大学的合作将使泽维尔大学的教职员工和学生获得实验天体物理学方面的专业知识，这是泽维尔大学物理系的一个新研究方向。

The Historically Black Colleges and Universities - Undergraduate Program provides support for projects that offer solutions to the severe underrepresentation of African American students in engineering, the geosciences and physics at the undergraduate level. The project at Xavier University will involve a group of undergraduate physics majors in experiments to observe gamma rays from lightning by constructing an array of detectors that can observe terrestrial gamma flashes from the ground. This work will be done in collaboration with Louisiana State University (LSU). Through this project, a group of undergraduate physics majors will gain research experiences that may further their interest in pursuing a degree in physics or in a related science, technology, engineering and mathematics discipline, thereby contributing to broadening the participation of underrepresented groups in the discipline. The project will update the scintillators in the current TGF and Energetic Thunderstorm Rooftop Array (TETRA) at Louisiana State University so that the sensitivity to terrestrial gamma flashes is increased and the energy range is extended to 10 MeV; will install a TETRA array of ten detectors in Puerto Rico in a location where the lightning density is higher than in Baton Rouge and where there is satellite coverage that will enable the simultaneous observation of terrestrial gamma flashes; and will add electric field mills, lightning detectors, and meteorological measurements to complement the gamma ray measurements and to understand the connection between the thunderstorm environment and charged particle acceleration processes. The collaboration with LSU will allow faculty and students at Xavier University to gain expertise in experimental astrophysics, a research concentration new to the Physics Department at Xavier University.