Low threshold particle arrays

While atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes have a small field of view and a small duty fraction, arrays of particle detectors on ground have a 1 sr field of view and a 100% duty fraction. On the other hand, particle detector arrays have a much higher energy threshold and an inferior hadron rejection as compared to Cherenkov telescopes. Low threshold particle detector arrays would have potential advantages over Cherenkov telescopes in the search for episodic or unexpected sources of gamma rays in the multi-TeV energy range. Ways to improve the threshold and hadron rejection of arrays are shown, based on existing technology for the timing method (with scintillator or water Cherenkov counters) and the tracking method (with tracking detectors). The performance that could be achieved is shown by examples for both methods. At mountain altitude (about 4000 m or above) an energy threshold close to 1 TeV could be achieved. For any significant reduction of the hadronic background by selecting muon-poor showers a muon detection area of at least 1000 m² is required, even for a compact array.     

Wide angle air Cerenkov detectors

For a number of important questions in VHE/UHE cosmic ray physics wide angle air Cerenkov detectors offer superior performance compared to scintillator arrays or air Cerenkov telescopes. On hand of the HEGRA air Cerenkov detector AIROBICC the general principle and performance will be discussed. Ideas and prospects for a detector with an energy threshold around 1 to 3 TeV will be presented.     

Gamma-hadron separation at high energies in view of recent cross section measurements

Recent measurements of the cross section for hadron photoproduction at HERA are reviewed and their importance for gamma ray astronomy is outlined. Various methods of distinguishing gamma and hadron primaries among cosmic rays in the air shower range are then discussed in view of our (insufficient) knowledge of the relevant hadron hadron cross sections. Theoretical model calculations indicate that the fraction of proton primaries mimicking gamma rays may be as high as one in a thousand.     

TeV radiation from galactic sources

The detection of the Crab Nebula as a steady source of TeV gamma rays puts the field of Very High Energy Gamma-Ray Astronomy on a firm observational basis and permits a critical re-assessment of the claims for the detection of a multitude of episodic binary sources. A new generation of detectors in the TeV and PeV energy regions is coming on-line; together with the telescopes of the Gamma-Ray Observatory these instruments will present a new perspective on one of the last frontiers of astronomy.     

ABORT-like detector to combat active deceptive jamming in a network of LFM radars

This paper studies an electronic counter-counter measures (ECCM) scheme combating against deceptive electronic counter measure (ECM) techniques.An adaptive detector exploiting generalized likelihood ratio test (GRLT) criterion is applied to detect the presence of deceptive jamming in fractional Fourier transform (FrFT) domain.First,the generating mechanism of spurious frequencies is analyzed based on the Volterra serial.The proposed nonlinear distortion model based on power amplifier behavior is robust in distortion analysis when the memory effect is considered.Second,a modified adaptive beamformer orthogonal rejection test (ABORT) like detector in closed form is built.The proposed detector can discriminate the echo and deceptive jamming adaptively by exploiting primary data and secondary data.This ECCM scheme is capable of guaranteeing the performance without the restriction of orthogonality,which is essential for the ABORT detectors.The expansion to radar network is discussed as a special case at the final part of this paper.Numerical simulations demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.     

Instrumentation for gamma-ray astronomy

There are three distinct energy ranges within the broad spectrum of gamma-ray astronomy, low energy (which in turn is subdivided), high energy, and very high and ultra-high energy. Each has its own unique type of instrumentation. Only in the very high-energy range do the telescopes bear any resemblence to optical telescopes; the rest appear more like instrumentation for high-energy physics. The low- and high-energy ranges are now primarly dependent on spaceflight, although some balloon altitude research is still being accomplished. Satellites planned to be launched in the next two years will carry telescopes with considerably more capability than those previously flown in space. In the very high and ultra-high energy realm, large ground based systems are used to detect the secondary radiation from interactions of the gamma radiation with the air. In all cases, software and data analysis are becoming increasingly important aspects of the subject as the data become ever greater and more complex. Beyond the telescopes to be flown in space or installed on the ground soon, instrumentation, taking advantage of new detector techniques which have come into being or older ones which now seem capable of being adapted to space, are being developed for the more distant future.     

Position sensitive multiwire proportional counters for X-ray astronomy

The state of the art of the existing position sensitive multiwire proportional counters (PSMWPC) will be briefly reviewed. In particular taking into account the contribution these detectors have already made to our knowledge of the X-ray sky and the expected future steps that will only be possible with new detector development.Finally a new design of multiwire proportional counter will be described. The new generation of this kind of PSMWPC detectors, when operated with a modulating mask or a single grid rotation modulation collimator or, in the future, with a combination of these two techniques will provide images of the high-energy sky with an angular resolution of l min of arc.     

Global Muon Detector Network Used for Space Weather Applications

In this work, we summarize the development and current status of the Global Muon Detector Network (GMDN). The GMDN started in 1992 with only two muon detectors. It has consisted of four detectors since the Kuwait-city muon hodoscope detector was installed in March 2006. The present network has a total of 60 directional channels with an improved coverage of the sunward Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF) orientation, making it possible to continuously monitor cosmic ray precursors of geomagnetic storms. The data analysis methods developed also permit precise calculation of the three dimensional cosmic ray anisotropy on an hourly basis free from the atmospheric temperature effect and analysis of the cosmic ray precursors free from the diurnal anisotropy of the cosmic ray intensity.     

Galileo Net Flux Radiometer experiment

The Galileo Net Flux Radiometer (NFR) is a Probe instrument designed to measure the vertical profile of upward and net radiation fluxes in five spectral bands spanning the range from solar to far infrared wavelengths. These unique measurements within Jupiter's atmosphere, from which radiative heating and cooling profiles will be derived, will contribute to our understanding of Jovian atmospheric dynamics, to the detection of cloud layers and determination of their opacities, and to the estimation of water vapor abundance. The NFR uses an array of pyroelectric detectors and individual bandpass filters in a sealed detector package. The detector package and optics rotate as a unit to provide chopping between views of upward and downward radiation fluxes. This arrangement makes possible the measurement of small net fluxes in the presence of large ambient fluxes. A microprocessor-controlled electronics package handles instrument operation.     

The comptel experiment on the NASA Gamma-Ray Observatory

The imaging Compton telescope COMPTEL will be flown on the NASA Gamma-Ray Observatory at the beginning of the next decade. The instrument with its wide field of view and improved angular resolution will provide the first sky survey at MeV energies, as well as deep studies of galactic and extragalactic gamma-ray point sources and diffuse emission. The hardware preparations are close to completion, with calibrations to be done in 1987 prior to integration of the instrument onto the observatory carrying 3 other gamma ray detectors.     

Exploring The Saturn System In The Thermal Infrared: The Composite Infrared Spectrometer

The Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) is a remote-sensing Fourier Transform Spectrometer (FTS) on the Cassini orbiter that measures thermal radiation over two decades in wavenumber, from 10 to 1400 cm^{− 1} (1 mm to 7μ m), with a spectral resolution that can be set from 0.5 to 15.5 cm^{− 1}. The far infrared portion of the spectrum (10–600 cm^{− 1}) is measured with a polarizing interferometer having thermopile detectors with a common 4-mrad field of view (FOV). The middle infrared portion is measured with a traditional Michelson interferometer having two focal planes (600–1100 cm^{− 1}, 1100–1400 cm^{− 1}). Each focal plane is composed of a 1× 10 array of HgCdTe detectors, each detector having a 0.3-mrad FOV. CIRS observations will provide three-dimensional maps of temperature, gas composition, and aerosols/condensates of the atmospheres of Titan and Saturn with good vertical and horizontal resolution, from deep in their tropospheres to high in their mesospheres. CIRS’s ability to observe atmospheres in the limb-viewing mode (in addition to nadir) offers the opportunity to provide accurate and highly resolved vertical profiles of these atmospheric variables. The ability to observe with high-spectral resolution should facilitate the identification of new constituents. CIRS will also map the thermal and compositional properties of the surfaces of Saturn’s icy satellites. It will similarly map Saturn’s rings, characterizing their dynamical and spatial structure and constraining theories of their formation and evolution. The combination of broad spectral range, programmable spectral resolution, the small detector fields of view, and an orbiting spacecraft platform will allow CIRS to observe the Saturnian system in the thermal infrared at a level of detail not previously achieved.This revised version was published online in July 2005 with a corrected cover date.     

High-energy gamma-astronomy with large underground detectors

Large underground (underwater) detectors (such as ‘Baikal’ and DUMAND) are discussed for their possible use as gamma-ray telescopes. The signal is caused by high-energy muons (E _μ ? 30–100 TeV) produced by the primary gamma-radiation in the Earth's atmosphere. The production of gamma-rays in the source through the reaction p + p → π ⁰ + X is calculated for a low density target of arbitrary thickness taking the electromagnetic cascade into account. The muon production by gamma-rays in the Earth's atmosphere is calculated using three processes: (i) photoproduction of π- and K-mesons followed by decay to muons, (ii) the direct production of μ⁺ μ^?-pairs: γ + Z → Z + μ ⁺ + μ^?, and (iii) photoproduction of charmed particles. It is shown that for thin sources with a flat spectrum (integral exponent γ = 1.1) a large (S = 0.1 km²) underground detector can detect both neutrinos and gamma-quanta generated by the source. Finally we compare the performances of underground detectors with S = 0.1 km² for the search of gamma sources at E = 100 TeV with those of the previously proposed 1 km² EAS array.     

Optimum and mismatched detection against K-distributed plusGaussian clutter

We derive the optimum radar receiver to detect fluctuating and non-fluctuating targets against a disturbance which is modeled as a mixture of coherent K-distributed and Gaussian-distributed clutter. In addition, thermal noise, which is always present in the radar receiver, is considered. We discuss the implementation of the optimum coherent detector, which derives from the likelihood ratio test under the assumption of perfectly known disturbance statistics, and evaluate its performance via a numerical procedure, when possible, and via Monte Carlo simulation otherwise. Moreover, we compare the performance of the optimum detector with those of two detectors which are optimum for totally Gaussian and totally K-distributed clutter respectively, when they are fed with such a mixed disturbance. We conclude that, though the optimum detector has a larger computational cost, it provides sensibly better detection performance than the mismatched detectors in a number of operational situations. Thus, there is a need to derive suboptimum target detectors against the mixture of disturbances which trade-off the detection performance and the implementation complexity     

A space observatory for astrophysical explorations in the REALM of gamma-ray astronomy

Conclusion The space observatory whose major systems are outlined in the present paper is being designed to ensure astrophysical explorations in the field of -ray astronomy during the course of one year. The observatory is supposed to travel along a circular orbit up to 400 km in altitude, inclined at 51.6°. Investigations to be accomplished in the observatory will enable us to make substantial progress in gaining a deeper insight into a wide variety of astrophysical phenomena.     

The nonthermal energy content and gamma ray emission of starburst galaxies and clusters of galaxies

The nonthermal particle production in contemporary starburst galaxies and in galaxy clusters is estimated from the Supernova rate, the iron content, and an evaluation of the dynamical processes which characterize these objects. The primary energy derives from SN explosions of massive stars. The nonthermal energy is transformed by various secondary processes, like acceleration of particles by Supernova Remnants as well as diffusion and/or convection in galactic winds. If convection dominates, the energy spectrum of nonthermal particles will remain hard. At greater distances from the galaxy almost the entire enthalpy of thermal gas and Cosmic Rays will be converted into wind kinetic energy, implying a fatal adiabatic energy loss for the nonthermal component. If this wind is strong enough then it will end in a strong termination shock, producing a new generation of nonthermal particles which are subsequently released without significant adiabatic losses into the external medium. In clusters of galaxies this should only be the case for early type galaxies, in agreement with observations. Clusters should also accumulate their nonthermal component over their entire history and energize it by gravitational contraction. The pion decay -ray fluxes of nearby contemporary starburst galaxies is quite small. However rich clusters should be extended sources of very high energy -rays, detectable by the next generation of systems of air Cherenkov telescopes. Such observations will provide an independent empirical method to investigate these objects and their cosmological history.     

The Relativistic Electron-Proton Telescope (REPT) Instrument on Board the Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP) Spacecraft: Characterization of Earth’s Radiation Belt High-Energy Particle Populations

Particle acceleration and loss in the million electron Volt (MeV) energy range (and above) is the least understood aspect of radiation belt science. In order to measure cleanly and separately both the energetic electron and energetic proton components, there is a need for a carefully designed detector system. The Relativistic Electron-Proton Telescope (REPT) on board the Radiation Belt Storm Probe (RBSP) pair of spacecraft consists of a stack of high-performance silicon solid-state detectors in a telescope configuration, a collimation aperture, and a thick case surrounding the detector stack to shield the sensors from penetrating radiation and bremsstrahlung. The instrument points perpendicular to the spin axis of the spacecraft and measures high-energy electrons (up to ～20 MeV) with excellent sensitivity and also measures magnetospheric and solar protons to energies well above E=100 MeV. The instrument has a large geometric factor (g=0.2 cm²?sr) to get reasonable count rates (above background) at the higher energies and yet will not saturate at the lower energy ranges. There must be fast enough electronics to avert undue dead-time limitations and chance coincidence effects. The key goal for the REPT design is to measure the directional electron intensities (in the range 10^?2–10⁶ particles/cm²?s?sr?MeV) and energy spectra (ΔE/E～25 %) throughout the slot and outer radiation belt region. Present simulations and detailed laboratory calibrations show that an excellent design has been attained for the RBSP needs. We describe the engineering design, operational approaches, science objectives, and planned data products for REPT.     

Cycle slip performance of digitally implemented phase detectors onAWGN channel

Cycle slip performance of digitally implemented phase detectors on additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel is investigated. The performance measure evaluated is the mean cycle slip time of a first-order phase-locked loop. An equivalent phase detector model with state-dependent loop noise is employed. It is shown that this working basis is vital to arrive at correct results. Numerical results for triangular and saw-tooth type phase detectors are reported and compared with those for the multiplier phase detector     

Neutron Monitor Response Functions

The neutron monitor provides continuous ground-based recording of the hadronic component in atmospheric secondary radiation which is related to primary cosmic rays. Simpson (1948) discovered that the latitude variation of the secondary hadronic component was considerably larger than the muon component suggesting the response of a neutron monitor is more sensitive to lower energies in the primary spectrum. The different methods of determining the neutron monitor response function of primary cosmic rays are reviewed and discussed including early and recent results. The authors also provide results from a new calculation (Clem, 1999) including angle dependent yield functions for different neutron monitor types which are calculated using a simulation of cosmic ray air showers combined with a detection efficiency simulation for different secondary particle species. Results are shown for IGY and NM64 configurations using the standard ¹⁰BF₃ detectors and the new ³He detectors to be used in the Spaceship Earth Project (Bieber et al., 1995). The method of calculation is described in detail and the results are compared with measurements and previous calculations. A summary of future goals is discussed. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

激波管高温空气绝对辐射功率实验测量

利用激波管加热技术,得到1000K～3000K温度范围内的高温空气,利用宽波段能量计、光电探测器以及滤波片等设备,测量出高温空气在0.3μm～9μm宽波段范围内绝对辐射功率,以及中心波长在4.26μm、5.23μm、8.32μm处、单位波长的绝对辐射功率;实验结果表明,在1000K～2000K温度范围内,高温空气宽波段的辐射功率约为60 W/cm~3·MP,且辐射主要集中在21μm～8μm波段范围内;当温度高于2000K以上,辐射功率随着温度的升高增大较快,且辐射向紫外、可见方向移动;在3000K时,高温空气在0.3μm～9μm宽波段范围内的辐射功率约为150W/(cm~3·MP).