GEM: Extending the Capabilities of CubeSats for Measuring Radiation Belt Precipitation

GEM：扩展 CubeSat 测量辐射带降水的能力

• 批准号: 1602607
• 负责人: Sigrid Elschot
• 金额: $ 27万
• 依托单位: Stanford University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-09-01 至 2020-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1602607&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: GEM; Extending; Capabilities; CubeSats; Measuring

This project will increase the science return from the still operating NSF FIREBIRD-II CubeSat mission and apply lessons learned from this effort to broaden the objectives of other upcoming CubeSat missions. CubeSats are recently developed economical tools that because of their size and low cost can carry aloft only a few instruments generally built using off-the-shelf components. Because of this, observations must be designed to narrowly focus on the specific science objectives of the mission. Despite this limitation, NSF's CubeSat program has demonstrated a high scientific output from CubeSats launched since the initiation of this program in 2010. The ultimate goal of this project is to contribute to the design of multipoint networks and constellation-type campaigns that use simpler payloads but combined can be targeted to attack some of the more complex problems in the Geospace environment and related fields. The broader impacts of this project are significant. The project builds directly on previous NSF investment in the FIREBIRD-II mission, and will maximize the benefits (both scientific and in terms of student education and training) from this and future CubeSat missions supported by NSF. The project will likely contribute to a better understanding of 'space weather' by better understanding the radiation belt sources and losses and thus indirectly contribute to more robust space infrastructure. A key challenge to be addressed in this project is in integrating disparate types of measurements across platforms to address scientific problems that are beyond the original scope of the individual missions. For the FIREBIRD-II mission, this translates into the development of additional data products such as electron spectra that enable exploring science questions about the spatial scale of precipitation where coordinated measurements can get at the picture but the data needs to be transformed into forms that are comparable to other instruments. To investigate the spatial scales of precipitation regions, electron observations by FIREBIRD-II can, for example, be combined with ground-based VLF receivers capable of detecting D- and E-region ionization due to precipitating radiation belt electrons or radars that observe the associated ionospheric heating signatures from lower energy electrons. The lessons learned in this development will be applied to the upcoming AFRL DSX and VPM CubeSats scheduled for launch in the end of 2016 and early 2017, respectively. Combining these CubeSats with FIREBIRD-II and other existing space assets that measure radiation belt electron precipitation, lightning observing networks on the ground, radars, VLF receivers, and a sophisticated model of lightning whistler propagation and dissipation, a campaign will be developed to study for the first time the radiation belt - lightning interactions from the lower atmosphere to the ionosphere to space and observe the resulting precipitation.

该项目将增加仍在运行的 NSF FIREBIRD-II CubeSat 任务的科学回报，并应用从这项工作中吸取的经验教训来扩大其他即将到来的 CubeSat 任务的目标。 立方体卫星是最近开发的经济型工具，由于其尺寸和低成本，只能携带少数通常使用现成组件制造的仪器。因此，观测的设计必须集中于任务的具体科学目标。尽管存在这种限制，NSF 的 CubeSat 计划自 2010 年启动该计划以来，已经展示了发射的 CubeSat 的高科学产出。该项目的最终目标是为多点网络和星座型活动的设计做出贡献，这些活动使用更简单的有效载荷，但组合起来可以有针对性地解决Geospace环境及相关领域中一些较为复杂的问题。该项目的更广泛影响是巨大的。 该项目直接建立在 NSF 之前对 FIREBIRD-II 任务的投资的基础上，并将最大限度地提高 NSF 支持的本次和未来 CubeSat 任务的效益（科学方面以及学生教育和培训方面）。该项目可能有助于通过更好地了解辐射带源和损失来更好地了解“太空天气”，从而间接促进更强大的太空基础设施。 该项目要解决的一个关键挑战是跨平台整合不同类型的测量，以解决超出单个任务原始范围的科学问题。对于 FIREBIRD-II 任务，这意味着开发额外的数据产品，例如电子光谱，能够探索有关降水空间尺度的科学问题，通过协调测量可以获得图像，但数据需要转换成与其他仪器相比。 为了研究降水区域的空间尺度，FIREBIRD-II 的电子观测可以与地面 VLF 接收器相结合，该接收器能够检测由于降水辐射带电子而产生的 D 区和 E 区电离，或者与观测相关降水带的雷达相结合。来自较低能量电子的电离层加热特征。 此次开发中吸取的经验教训将应用于即将分别于 2016 年底和 2017 年初发射的 AFRL DSX 和 VPM CubeSats。将这些立方体卫星与 FIREBIRD-II 和其他现有的测量辐射带电子降水、地面闪电观测网络、雷达、VLF 接收器以及闪电哨声传播和消散的复杂模型的现有空间资产相结合，将开展一项活动来研究首次将辐射带-闪电相互作用从低层大气到电离层再到太空并观察由此产生的降水。