A very close high‐speed video observation of lightning attachment to a building revealed novel details regarding the leader streamer zone dynamics. Upward leaders propagate in a steady and unbranched manner, displaying a uniformly luminous corona brush. The exception being the upward connecting leader (UCL) just before connection, when its streamer zone increases in size and develops a more filamentary pattern. Downward negative leaders have 3‐m long multiple streamers emanating from each negative leader tip. On some occasions, plasma formations known as space stems are seen to form in the location previously occupied by negative streamers. Space stems have luminosities comparable to the main leader channel, but are detached from it by 4 m. Some space stems display streamers of their own, including cases where streamers are emanating from both ends. The space stem formation hampered the propagation of the negative leader that was closest to the UCL.
Runaway electron acceleration is the keystone process responsible for the production of energetic radiation by lightning and thunderstorms. In the laboratory, it remains undetermined if runaway electrons are merely a consequence of high electric fields produced at the ionization fronts of electrical discharges, or if they impact the discharge formation and propagation. In this work, we simulate photon pileup in a detector next to a spark gap. We compare laboratory measurements to ensembles of monoenergetic electron beam simulations performed with Geant4 (using the Monte Carlo method). First, we describe the x-ray emission properties of monoenergetic beams with initial energies in the 20 to 75 keV range. Second, we introduce a series of techniques to combine monoenergetic beams to produce general-shape electron energy spectra. Third, we proceed to attempt to fit the experimental data collected in the laboratory, and to discuss the ambiguities created by photon pileup and how it constrains the amount of information that can be inferred from the measurements. We show that pileup ambiguities arise from the fact that every single monoenergetic electron beam produces photon deposited energy spectra of similar qualitative shape and that increasing the electron count in any beam has the same qualitative effect of shifting the peak of the deposited energy spectrum toward higher energies. The best agreement between simulations and measurements yields a mean average error of 8.6% and a R-squared value of 0.74.
This report summarizes the results of a series of calibration experiments performed on the Furnace Characterization Unit (FCU). The FCU (pictured above) was developed for the Coast Guard by Hughes & Associates and Ktech Corp. This device will be used to characterize furnaces used to determine the thermal response of marine bulkheads in fires. Hughes/Ktech contracted with Sandia National Laboratories to provide the thermal environment required to simulate afire. A series of eight (8) experiments (3 "check tests and 5 calibration tests) using two different temperature environments-a "stair step" profile and a logarithmic profile were pecformed, Results of the Sandia installed instrumentation is presented. Data from the FCU instrumentation installed by Ktech is presented in a separate report due to its large volume. An uncertainty analysis of the Sandia thermocouple measurements is provided.
Particle Beam Fusion Accelerator II is a light-ion fusion accelerator that is presently capable of irradiating a 6-mm-diam sphere with ∼50 kJ of 5.5-MeV protons in ∼15 ns. An array of particle and x-ray diagnostics fielded on proton Inertial Confinement Fusion target experiments quantifies the incident particle beam and the subsequent target response. An overview of the ion and target diagnostic setup and capabilities will be given in the context of recent proton beam experiments aimed at studying soft x-ray emission from foam-filled targets and the hydrodynamic response of exploding-pusher targets. Ion beam diagnostics indicate ∼100 kJ of proton beam energy incident within a 1.2-cm radius of the center of the diode with an azimuthal uniformity which varied between 6% and 29%. Foam-filled target temperatures of 35 eV and closure velocities of 4 cm/μs were measured.
A time-, position-and energy-resolved soft x-ray (100-500 eV) diagnostic is being developed for PBFA II target experiments. The diagnostic provides measurements of hydrodynamic motion and thermal gradients in light-ion fusion targets. A slit-image of the source is imprinted onto thin sheets (20l.tm) of organic scintillator to create a one-dimensional image. The scintillator light is then proximity-coupled to a linear array of fiber-optics that transports the light to a streak camera that is operated without an intensifier. The streak camera output is recorded on a charge-coupled-device (CCD) camera. We are characterizing the spatial and temporal resolutions of the systems. This is done by collecting data from as many as 90 individual fibers and correcting for variations in throughput and the effects of spatial resolution to roughly 5% standard deviation in their relative throughput. Spatial resolution of these systems at the source is approximately 0.4 mm. Timing resolution is nominally 2 ns and it is limited primarily by the scintillator response and dispersion in the 50-m-long fiber array. We describe the measurement techniques and the results of the characterization.
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