Solar radiation shadow detector
Portable shadow-surveying instrument is quickly and easily assembled at proposed collector site and requires relatively unskilled operator. Technique determines amount of annual shadow at location.
SEARCH · Search NASA
Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.
Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.
Portable shadow-surveying instrument is quickly and easily assembled at proposed collector site and requires relatively unskilled operator. Technique determines amount of annual shadow at location.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
A detector of ultraviolet radiation for operation in a space vehicle which orbits through high intensity radiation areas is described. Two identical ultraviolet sensor tubes are mounted within a shield which limits to acceptable levels the amount of proton radiation reaching the sensor tubes. The shield has an opening which permits ultraviolet radiation to reach one of the sensing tubes. The shield keeps ultraviolet radiation from reaching the other sensor tube, designated the reference tube. The circuitry of the detector subtracts the output of the reference tube from the output of the sensing tube, and any portion of the output of the sensing tube which is due to proton radiation is offset by the output of the reference tube. A delay circuit in the detector prevents false alarms by keeping statistical variations in the proton radiation sensed by the two sensor tubes from developing an output signal.
Quantasyn provides absolute measurement of radiation flux in the range 1000 A to 4500 A and into the vacuum ultraviolet. This radiation detector cimbines the high quantum efficiency and inherent linearity of the silicon solar cell with the constant quantum response of the fluorescent organic compound liumogen.
Theory, fabrication, and electric properties of lithium drifted silicon radiation detector with large sensitive volume
Research on lithium drifted silicon detectors, Compton effect using superconducting magnet beta ray spectrometer, and high Z semiconductors for radiation detectors
Lithium drifted silicon semiconductor radiation detectors, proton absorption in metal, plastics, and tissue, and detector behavior
Trapped radiation detector on Mariner IV space probe measurement of outer Van Allen belt - feasibility of detecting trapped radiation at Mars
Instrument design and data analysis expertise was provided in support of several space radiation monitoring programs. The Verification of Flight Instrumentation (VFI) program at NASA included both the Active Radiation Detector (ARD) and the Nuclear Radiation Monitor (NRM). Design, partial fabrication, calibration and partial data analysis capability to the ARD program was provided, as well as detector head design and fabrication, software development and partial data analysis capability to the NRM program. The ARD flew on Spacelab-1 in 1983, performed flawlessly and was returned to MSFC after flight with unchanged calibration factors. The NRM, flown on Spacelab-2 in 1985, also performed without fault, not only recording the ambient gamma ray background on the Spacelab, but also recording radiation events of astrophysical significance.
The properties of single crystals of cadmium sulfide as radiation detectors are described. It has been found possible to select crystals such that: (a) The ratio of increase of conductivity under irradiation to the rate of absorption of energy in the crystal is substantially independent of particle energy (over the examined ranges of 500 ev to 80 kev for electrons and 5 kev to 180 kev for protons) and of the magnitude of energy flux (over the range from.005 to 10 ergs/cm(sup 2 -sec); and (b) The above ration is substantially the same for protons, electrons, alpha particles, x-rays, and gamma-rays. For a driving voltage of 100 volts, typical crystal yield currents of 10(sup -7) to 10(sup- 6) amperes for each erg/cm(sup 2-sec) of energy absorbed by the crystal. The threshold of such crystal detectors (resulting from dark currents of the order of 10(sup 10 amp) is typically 10(sup -3) ergs/cm(sup 2- sec). For the selected crystals a response-temperature coefficient of -0.25% per degree centigrade is found for the temperature range -50 deg C to + 50 deg C. A description is given of a complete CdS total corpuscular energy detector for the study of geomagnetically trapped radiation by means of a satellite. The detector described has a dynamic range great than 10(sup 4), a solid angle of 10(exp -3) steradian, and a detection threshold of approximately 1 erg/cm(sup 2-sec-sterad). A similar detector employing a small magnet for the selective exclusion of electrons is also described. Noteworthy practical features of these detectors for satellite and space probe experiments are: (a) Use of bare crystals, without covering foils, in order to detect charged particles having energies as low as hundreds of electron volts. (b) Simplicity of electronic auxiliaries. (c) Compactness, lightweight and nechanical ruggedness. (d) Low electrical power requirements; and (e) Conversion of conduction current to the rate of a twostate relaxation oscillator in order to facilitate telemetric transmission of data. A pair of such detectors was flown as part of the s-46 satellite payload on March 23, 1960, but due to vehicular failure an orbit was not achieved and the operation of the CdS detectors was observed for only, six minutes of flight.
A method and apparatus for measuring the absorptivity of a radiation detector by making the detector an integral part of a cavity radiometer are described. By substituting the detector for the surface of the cavity upon which the radiation first impinges a comparison is made between the quantity of radiation incident upon the detector and the quantity reflected from the detector. The difference between the two is a measurement of the amount of radiation absorbed by the detector.
Radiation monitoring devices and associated methods are described. According to one aspect, a radiation monitoring device includes a housing configured to pass radiation emitted from a radiological source located in proximity to the radiation monitoring device, a radiation detector configured to receive the radiation emitted from the radiological source and to generate information regarding the radiation, and communications circuitry configured to communicate the information regarding the radiation in a plurality of communications at a plurality of different moments in time externally of the radiation monitoring device.
Solar electron and proton events measured by trapped radiation detector aboard Mariner IV SPACE probe
X-ray and gamma ray astronomical experiments using balloons, radiation detectors and Orbiting Solar Observatory /OGO/
In an advancement over the state-of-the art, NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) has developed a large area silicon carbide (SiC)-based charged particle telescope through an Independent Research and Development (IRAD) project. The telescope has been demonstrated to have improved noise characteristics and resolution than previous SiC detectors. This improvement will meet the challenges of compact multidirectional robust radiation detector systems to study a wide range of elementary particle mass and energies. In order to provide a complete understanding of how energetic processes internal and external to the solar system shape magnetospheres, atmospheres, and surfaces, in situ particle observations should include measurements of Solar Energetic Particles (SEP) and Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCR), along with solar wind and plasma. The potential temperature stability, tolerance to high radiation environments, and low noise characteristics expected in SiC-based detectors can have advantages over the state-of-the-art silicon detectors. These advantages will allow the detectors to be deployed in small compact systems on a variety of platforms, enabling compact structures for small satellite platforms with improved data quality.
Low level beta, X and gamma radiation detector incorporating Geiger, proportional and scintillation counting features in various modes suiting radionuclide decay scheme
Straggling functions for protons in thick silicon radiation detectors are computed by Monte Carlo simulation. Mean energy loss is constrained by the silicon stopping power, providing higher straggling at low energy and probabilities for stopping within the detector volume. By matching the first four moments of simulated energy-loss distributions, straggling functions are approximated by a log-normal distribution that is accurate for Vavilov k is greater than or equal to 0:3. They are verified by comparison to experimental proton data from a charged particle telescope.