A Proton Sensor for Energies From 2 to 20 MeV

Abstract

CNES and ONERA have developed a radiation monitor ICARE-NG (Influence sur les Composants Avancés des Radiations de l'Espace-Nouvelle Génération) to measure protons and electrons in radiation belts. This instrument is able to measure a wide range of energy for protons and electrons, but no measurements of few MeV protons are performed. The objective of this study is to extend capabilities of this radiation monitor by adding a low-energy proton sensor. In this article the design of a sensor for low-energy protons compatible with the ICARE-NG instrument is presented. Response functions for protons and electrons of the low-energy proton sensor are calculated using Monte-Carlo simulations. The calculation of predicted count rates of particles are performed. The manufacturing of the instrument as well as tests are discussed.

Estimation of Geometric Factors for the Particle Detecting Instruments of the Geostationary Satellite GK2A at 128.2°E Longitude Based on Observations of the Outer Radiation Belt During Geomagnetically Quiet Periods

“…Second, the numerical simulation presents a highly idealized response of the instrument and does not consider the actual configuration of the instrument. Because the Monte Carlo simulation used to estimate the detector response is CPU‐intensive, the simulation is often undertaken for a simplified instrument residing isolated within a hypothetical domain (Baker et al., 2014; Khoo et al., 2022; Park et al., 2021; Rodríguez‐Pacheco et al., 2020; Ruffenach et al., 2020; Seon et al., 2020; Siegl et al., 2009; Spence et al., 2010; Yando et al., 2011). This simplification of instrument configuration may lead to inaccurate estimation of geometric factors, especially when there are heavy shadowing effects of charged particle fluxes owing to the presence of a spacecraft platform.…”

Effect of 150 MeV protons on carbon nanotubes for fabrication of a radiation detector

“…The impact of ionizing radiation on space electronics, satellites and solar cells has long been a concern, and protons are a major constituent in galactic cosmic rays, trapped particles in the van Allen belts and solar particle events [6][7][8][9][10]. A variety of radiation detectors have been introduced over the years [4,5,11,12], which can be mainly categorized into active and passive devices. Active radiation detectors provide real time results whereas the passive detectors must be processed and analyzed later to obtain the results, but they are easy to handle, cheaper and lighter.…”