System of operative monitoring of cosmic radiation for the aircraft flights based on the measurements on multiple CubeSats
Abstract
Moscow State University within the framework of Universat-SOCRAT project is developing a system of operative near real-time monitoring of the cosmic radiation for the aircraft flights. The system will include several CubeSats launched to low near-polar orbits. The CubeSats will measure the fluxes of solar and galactic protons with energies 50-500 MeV by several instruments using semiconductor and Cherenkov detectors, and operatively transmit these data to the ground using the network of ground-based receiving stations. The distribution of the energetic particle spectra and associated dose rate inside the aircraft on the mainline aviation altitudes will be calculated in the MSU data center. These calculations will use the model of the geomagnetic cutoff of particle flux on the upper boundary of the atmosphere (altitude $\approx$100 km), which takes into account the magnetosphere dynamics. Particle propagation through the atmosphere will be computed using the "response function", which will be constructed using the Monte-Carlo simulations. It will be describing the energy spectra of the primary and secondary energetic particles at the aviation altitudes (the main population there is the secondary neutrons) for the monoenergetic fluxes of the incoming particles at the upper boundary of the atmosphere. In the current stage, the conceptual design of the system and the satellite instruments is being carried out, and the atmosphere response function is being developed. For the last purpose a consecutive set of GEANT4 simulations with increasing complexity is being made, in order to estimate the optimal partitioning of the atmosphere into layers, the limits of energy range for the primary and secondary particles, study the influence of the Earth's magnetic field, the angle at which particles enter the atmosphere, etc., and compare the obtained results to the similar systems like CARI7A, NAIRAS, PANDOCA, etc. This work is supported by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation. The research is carried out using the equipment of the shared research facilities of HPC computing resources at Lomonosov Moscow State University.
- Publication:
-
43rd COSPAR Scientific Assembly. Held 28 January - 4 February
- Pub Date:
- January 2021
- Bibcode:
- 2021cosp...43E2364P