Leveraging Afterglow in Scintillation Detectors for Multi-Frame High-Speed Radiography
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The radial distance dependence of solar wind speeds, which were measured by interplanetary scintillation method, has been studied especially for a high-speed solar wind, and large increase of the IPS speeds (300 km/s) was observed at the distance range of 0.1 - 0.3 AU. When the streams are mapped back onto the source surface, they distribute in polar coronal holes or their boundaries. Since the IPS measurement can be biased by several effects such as of line-of-sight integration, strong scattering and random velocities, we examined these biasing effects and have found difficulty to explain the large IPS speed increase with the biasing effects.
The rate of TEC index (ROTI) is a measurement that characterizes ionospheric irregularities. It can be obtained from standard GNSS dual-frequency phase data collected using a geodetic type of GNSS receiver. By processing GPS data from ground-based networks of International GNSS Service and Continuously Operating Reference Station (CORS), ROTI maps have been produced to observe global and regional scintillation activities. A major mid-latitude scintillation event in the contiguous United States is reported here that was captured in ROTI maps produced using CORS GPS data collected during a space weather storm. The analyses conducted in this work and previously by another group indicate that ROTI is a good occurrence indicator of both amplitude and phase scintillations of GPS L-band signals, even though the magnitudes of ROTI, S4, and sigma(sub phi) can be different. For example, our analysis indicates that prominent ROTI and the L1 phase scintillation (sigma(sub phi)) are well correlated temporally in the polar region while L1 amplitude scintillation rarely occurs. The differences are partially attributed to physics processes in different latitude regions, such as high-speed plasma convection in the polar region that can suppress the amplitude scintillation. An analysis of the impact of ionospheric scintillation on precise positioning, which requires use of dual-frequency phase data, is also conducted. The results indicate that significant (more than an order of magnitude) positioning errors can occur under phase scintillation conditions.
During the late declining phase of the solar cycle, the tilt of the solar magnetic dipole with respect to the Sun's rotation axis leads to large-scale organization of the solar wind, such that alternating regions of high- and low-speed solar wind are observed in the ecliptic plane. In this paper, we use Doppler scintillation measurements to investigate mass flux of these two types of solar wind in the ecliptic plane and inside 0.3 AU, where in situ measurements have not been possible. To the extent that Doppler scintillation reflects mass flux, we find that mass flux in high-speed streams: (1) is lower (by a factor of approximately 2.2) than the mass flux of the average solar wind in the heliocentric distance range of 0.3-0.5 AU; (2) is lower still (by as much as a factor of about 4) than the mass flux of the slow solar wind associated with the streamer belt; and (3) appears to grow with heliocentric distance. These Doppler scintillation results are consistent with the equator to pole decrease in mass flux observed in earlier spectral broadening measurements, and with trends and differences between high- and low-speed solar wind observed by in situ measurements in the range of 0.3-0.1 AU. The mass flux results suggest that the solar wind flow in high-speed streams is convergent towards the ecliptic near the Sun, becoming less convergent and approaching radial with increasing heliocentric distance beyond 0.3 AU. The variability of mass flux observed within equatorial and polar high-speed streams close to the Sun is strikingly low. This low variability implies that, as Ulysses currently ascends to higher latitudes and spends more time in the south polar high-speed stream after crossing the heliocentric current sheet, it can expect to observe a marked decrease in variations of both mass flux and solar wind speed, a trend that appears to have started already.
The phase scintillation index was obtained from L1 GPS data collected with the Canadian High Arctic Ionospheric Network (CHAIN) during years of extended solar minimum 2008-2010. Phase scintillation occurs predominantly on the dayside in the cusp and in the nightside auroral oval. We set forth a probabilistic forecast method of phase scintillation in the cusp based on the arrival time of either solar wind corotating interaction regions (CIRs) or interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs). CIRs on the leading edge of high-speed streams (HSS) from coronal holes are known to cause recurrent geomagnetic and ionospheric disturbances that can be forecast one or several solar rotations in advance. Superposed epoch analysis of phase scintillation occurrence showed a sharp increase in scintillation occurrence just after the arrival of high-speed solar wind and a peak associated with weak to moderate CMEs during the solar minimum. Cumulative probability distribution functions for the phase scintillation occurrence in the cusp are obtained from statistical data for days before and after CIR and ICME arrivals. The probability curves are also specified for low and high (below and above median) values of various solar wind plasma parameters. The initial results are used to demonstrate a forecasting technique on two example periods of CIRs and ICMEs.
Ultrafast scintillators are essential for next-generation radiation detection, positron emission tomography, and high-speed medical imaging. All-inorganic CsPbBr 3 perovskites are attractive candidates because of their high stopping power, and excellent optical quality, yet their long carrier lifetimes result in slow scintillation responses on the order of hundreds of nanoseconds. Here, we demonstrate that controlled over-doping with Br 2 produces CsPbBr 3.03 single crystals with sub-nanosecond scintillation at room temperature while preserving crystal quality. Single crystals grown by the Bridgman method exhibit high transparency and maintain the orthorhombic perovskite structure. Br 2 over-doping induces a slight lattice expansion (about 0.42% increase in unit-cell volume) while maintaining the orthorhombic perovskite phase and high optical transparency. Optical absorption reveals a slight redshift of the absorption edge after Br 2 introduction, indicating a modified defect landscape. Time-resolved photoluminescence and radioluminescence measurements show that Br 2 doping creates dense and efficient recombination centers that reduce the scintillation decay time from more than 100 ns in undoped crystals to 350 ps under 5.486 MeV α-particle excitation, and the scintillation decay time decreases by two orders of magnitude. The doped crystals also achieve a spatial resolution of 12 lp mm −1 in X-ray imaging. These results reveal a defect-engineering route for achieving ultrafast scintillation in halide perovskites and highlight the potential of Br 2 -modified CsPbBr 3 for fast timing applications.
Interplanetary scintillation observations of the solar wind velocity during 1973 and the first part of 1974 reveal several corotating high-speed streams. These streams, of heliographic latitudes from +40 deg to -60 deg, have been mapped back to the vicinity of the sun and have been compared with coronal holes identified in wide band XUV solar images taken during the manned portions of the Skylab mission. There is some evidence that the high-speed streams are preferentially associated with coronal holes and that they can spread out from the hole boundaries up to about 20 deg in latitude. However, this association is not one to one; streams are observed which do not map back to coronal holes, and holes are observed which do not lie at the base of streams. To the extent that a statistical interpretation is possible the association is not highly significant, but individual consideration of streams and holes suggests that the statistical result is biased somewhat against a strong correlation.
In a free-space optical communication system, the mitigation of transient outages through the incorporation of error-control methods is of particular concern, the outages being caused by scintillation fades and obscurants. The focus of this innovative technology is the development of a data relay system for a reliable high-data-rate free-spacebased optical-transport network. The data relay boards will establish the link, maintain synchronous connection, group the data into frames, and provide for automatic retransmission (ARQ) of lost or erred frames. A certain Quality of Service (QoS) can then be ensured, compatible with the required data rate. The protocol to be used by the data relay system is based on the draft CCSDS standard data-link protocol Proximity-1, selected by orbiters to multiple lander assets in the Mars network, for example. In addition to providing data-link protocol capabilities for the free-space optical link and buffering the data, the data relay system will interface directly with user applications over Gigabit Ethernet and/or with highspeed storage resources via Fibre Channel. The hardware implementation is built on a network-processor-based architecture. This technology combines the power of a hardware switch capable of data switching and packet routing at Gbps rates, with the flexibility of a software- driven processor that can host highly adaptive and reconfigurable protocols used, for example, in wireless local-area networks (LANs). The system will be implemented in a modular multi-board fashion. The main hardware elements of the data relay system are the new data relay board developed by Rockwell Scientific, a COTS Gigabit Ethernet board for user interface, and a COTS Fibre Channel board that connects to local storage. The boards reside in a cPCI back plane, and can be housed in a VME-type enclosure.
Optical sources operating in the atmospheric window of 3-5 microns are of particular interest for the development of free-space optical communication link. It is more advantageous to operate the free-space optical communication link in 3-5-microns atmospheric transmission window than at the telecom wavelength of 1.5 m due to lower optical scattering, scintillation, and background radiation. However, the realization of optical communications at the longer wavelength has encountered significant difficulties due to lack of adequate optical sources and detectors operating in the desirable wavelength regions. Interband Cascade (IC) lasers are novel semiconductor lasers that have a great potential for the realization of high-power, room-temperature optical sources in the 3-5-microns wavelength region, yet no experimental work, until this one, was done on high-speed direct modulation of IC lasers. Here, highspeed interband cascade laser, operating at wavelength 3.0 m, has been developed and the first direct measurement of the laser modulation bandwidth has been performed using a unique, highspeed quantum well infrared photodetector (QWIP). The developed laser has modulation bandwidth exceeding 3 GHz. This constitutes a significant increase of the IC laser modulation bandwidth over currently existing devices. This result has demonstrated suitability of IC lasers as a mid-IR light source for multi-GHz free-space optical communications links
The interplanetary disturbance event of August 25-29, 1978 was modeled in an attempt to reproduce the corresponding interplanetary scintillation observations and simultaneous ISEE-3 satellite data. A shock wave generated from the region of a disappearing filament on August 23 is shown to account for the observed shock wave structure, but not the broad high-speed stream behind the shock wave. A shock wave generated by the sudden activation of the coronal hole on the same day is able to account for the high-speed stream.
The NASA Lewis Research Center recently codeveloped a state-of-the-art x-ray CT facility (designated SMS SMARTSCAN model 100-112 CITA by Scientific Measurement Systems, Inc., Austin, Texas). This multipurpose, modularized, digital x-ray facility includes an imaging system for digital radiography, CT, and computed laminography. The system consists of a 160-kV microfocus x-ray source, a solid-state charge-coupled device (CCD) area detector, a five-axis object-positioning subassembly, and a Sun SPARCstation-based computer system that controls data acquisition and image processing. The x-ray source provides a beam spot size down to 3 microns. The area detector system consists of a 50- by 50- by 3-mm-thick terbium-doped glass fiber-optic scintillation screen, a right-angle mirror, and a scientific-grade, digital CCD camera with a resolution of 1000 by 1018 pixels and 10-bit digitization at ambient cooling. The digital output is recorded with a high-speed, 16-bit frame grabber that allows data to be binned. The detector can be configured to provide a small field-of-view, approximately 45 by 45 mm in cross section, or a larger field-of-view, approximately 60 by 60 mm in cross section. Whenever the highest spatial resolution is desired, the small field-of-view is used, and for larger samples with some reduction in spatial resolution, the larger field-of-view is used.
Due to X-rays’ ability to penetrate materials, flash X-ray radiography can be used for high-speed measurements where direct optical access is not possible. Choice of detector has a pronounced impact on resulting image quality. Four different detector systems were evaluated with a 450kVp flash source to quantitatively compare image quality metrics. The scintillating digital detector had less image noise than the three different storage phosphor computed radiography detectors across all transmission levels, but lacked the spatial resolution of the computed radiography detectors. For the screens tested here, the HPX-DR digital system had the highest signal to noise ratio of 68.24 and contrast to noise ratio of 35.53, but had the lowest spatial resolution, resolving 2.5 line pairs per millimeter at 1.78% contrast. At a value of 37.59, the Flex GP imaging plate had a signal to noise value above its storage phosphor counterparts under a 450kVp flash source. For radiographic setups typically used for dynamic experiments, the Flex XL Blue and Flex HR detectors had signal to noise ratios of 18.44 and 26.56 respectively. The highest resolved spatial frequencies of the Flex GP, Flex XL Blue, and Flex HR with the flash source are 3.85, 5.00, and 3.85 line pairs per millimeter, respectively. In conclusion, the Flex GP detector had the best combination of signal to noise ratio, contrast to noise ratio, and spatial resolution under a flash source.
Synoptic observations of the temporal power spectrum of interplanetary scintillations were made in the summer of 1976 on the University of Iowa's Cocoa Cross radio telescope and the University of Maryland's TPT array. Most of the observations were at large (larger than 40 deg) solar elongations. It was found that the power spectrum broadens when enhanced turbulence at the front of a high-speed solar wind stream sweeps over the earth. In the case with sufficient synoptic coverage, the broadening appeared to result from the relative closeness of the enhanced scattering region rather than from an increase in velocity. A small percentage of the spectra displayed two power law components with a plateau between them. These may result from a flattening in the spatial turbulence spectrum such as has been observed by spacecraft.
Density fluctuations with periods 10 minutes to 1 hour have been investigated in ISEE 3 plasma measurements of solar wind flows at l AU. Coronal hole, interstream, plasma sheet, coronal mass ejection, and interaction region flow types are considered. The ISEE 3 results support the interpretation of the large-scale variations in density fluctuations observed by Doppler scintillation measurement techniques inside 0.2 AU. The highest absolute and relative density fluctuations occur ahead of and within the plasma from coronal mass ejections, with the maximum values occurring between the associated interplanetary shocks and the driver gas. For the quasi-stationary solar wind, density and relative density fluctuations are highest around the heliospheric current sheet and lowest in the high-speed coronal flow. Superposed epoch analysis shows that the region of enhanced density fluctuations and its abrupt boundaries observed in the vicinity of the heliospheric current sheet near the Sun persists to l AU, providing further support for the filamentary nature of the extensions of coronal streamers. The results of this study confirm the advantages of using density fluctuations rather than density as a tracer of solar wind flows with differing origins at the Sun and as a detector of propagating interplanetary disturbances.
Earth-based observations of stellar occultations provide extremely high spatial resolution for bodies in the outer solar system, about 10,000 times better than that of traditional imaging observations. Stellar occultation data can be used to establish the structure of atmospheres and rings of solar system bodies at high spatial resolution. Airborne occultation observations are particularly effective, since the controlled mobility of the observing platform allows the observer to fly within the optimum part of the occultation shadow for most events that are visible from Earth. Airborne observations are carried out above any clouds and are nearly free of scintillation noise from the Earth's atmosphere. KAO occultation observations resulted in the first detection of gravity waves in the Martian atmosphere, discovery of the Uranian rings, the first detection of Pluto's atmosphere, the first Earth-based investigations of Triton's atmosphere, and the discovery of narrow jets from Chiron's nucleus. The first SOFIA occultation opportunity will be an investigation of Pluto's atmospheric structure in November, 2002, and will resolve a problem that has lingered since the KAO discovery observation fourteen years earlier. We plan to continue our successful airborne occultation program with the greatly enhanced capability provided by SOFIA. We propose here to replace our KAO occultation photometer with one having twice the throughput, half the noise, a somewhat wider wavelength range, four times the field of view, and ten times the frame rate to optimize its performance and to capitalize on the larger collecting area offered by SOFIA. It will also allow for simultaneous visible and IR occultation observations, greatly enriching the results that we can obtain from occultations. We call this new imaging occultation photometer HOPI (High-speed Occultation Photometer and Imager). HOPI will provide a signal-to-noise ratio two to four times that of our present photometer for a given event, will permit useful observations of the more numerous events involving fainter stars, and will allow higher time resolution observations to be made. HOPI's characteristics also make it an ideal instrument for initial and ongoing evaluations of the SOFIA telescope's performance.
Earth-based observations of stellar occultations provide extremely high spatial resolution for bodies in the outer solar system, about 10,000 times better than that of traditional imaging observations. Stellar occultation data can be used to establish the structure of atmospheres and rings of solar system bodies at high spatial resolution. Airborne occultation observations are particularly effective, since the controlled mobility of the observing platform allows the observer to fly within the optimum part of the occultation shadow for most events that are visible from Earth. Airborne observations are carried out above any clouds and are nearly free of scintillation noise from the Earth's atmosphere. KAO occultation observations resulted in the first detection of gravity waves in the Martian atmosphere, discovery of the Uranian rings, the first detection of Pluto's atmosphere, the first Earth-based investigations of Triton's atmosphere, and the discovery of narrow jets from Chiron's nucleus. The first SOFIA occultation opportunity will be an investigation of Pluto's atmospheric structure in November, 2002, and will resolve a problem that has lingered since the KAO discovery observation fourteen years earlier. We plan to continue our successful airborne occultation program with the greatly enhanced capability provided by SOFIA. We propose here to replace our KAO occultation photometer with one having twice the throughput, half the noise, a somewhat wider wavelength range, four times the field of view, and ten times the frame rate to optimize its performance and to capitalize on the larger collecting area offered by SOFIA. It will also allow for simultaneous visible and IR occultation observations, greatly enriching the results that we can obtain from occultations. We call this new imaging occultation photometer HOPI (High-speed Occultation Photometer and Imager). HOPI will provide a signal-to-noise ratio two to four times that of our present photometer for a given event, will permit useful observations of the more numerous events involving fainter stars, and will allow higher time resolution observations to be made. HOPI's characteristics also make it an ideal instrument for initial and ongoing evaluations of the SOFIA telescope's performance.
Velocity and density turbulence of solar wind were inferred from interplanetary scintillation (IPS) observations at 2.3 GHz and 8.5 GHz using a single-antenna. The observations were made during September and October in 1992 - 1994. They covered the distance range between 5 and 76 solar radii (Rs). We applied the spectrum fitting method to obtain a velocity, an axial ratio, an inner scale and a power-law spectrum index. We examined the difference of the turbulence properties near the Sun between low-speed solar wind and high-speed solar wind. Both of solar winds showed acceleration at the distance range of 10 - 30 Rs. The radial dependence of anisotropy and spectrum index did not have significant difference between low-speed and high-speed solar winds. Near the sun, the radial dependence of the inner scale showed the separation from the linear relation as reported by previous works. We found that the inner scale of high-speed solar wind is larger than that of low-speed wind.