Accelerator Tests of the Prototype Energetic Heavy Ion Sensor (EHIS) for GOES-R
Abstract
The Energetic Heavy Ion Sensor (EHIS) is part of the Space Environmental In-Situ Suite (SEISS) for the Geostationary Operational Environment Satellite series R (GOES-R) program. It will measure energetic protons from 10-200 MeV and ions through nickel (Z=28) with similar penetrating power. By use of an Angle Detecting Inclined Sensor (ADIS) system, EHIS achieves single element resolution with extensive on-board event processing. A prototype or "brass-board" instrument, fully functional but not intended for environmental testing, has been completed. In November of 2009, we exposed the prototype to protons at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and in March of 2010, we exposed it to Ni primary and fragment beams at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory's (NSCL) Coupled Cyclotron Facility (CCF). In both cases, the instrument was rotated over a range of angles and a moving degrader spread the energy from full beam energy to zero energy. We will present results of these tests. These show an angular resolution for the prototype which results in a one sigma charge resolution of ~0.25 e at Ni. The prototype also demonstrated the capability for calculating the charge of 2500 events per second with its internal processor, accumulating those events in on-board charge histograms, and thus providing unprecedented statistics in high flux conditions. The EHIS represents a major advance in capabilities for operational space weather instruments while also providing data quality suitable for scientific research. The EHIS instrument development project was funded by NASA under contract NNG06HX01C.
- Publication:
-
AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2010
- Bibcode:
- 2010AGUFMSH11B1630C
- Keywords:
-
- 2104 INTERPLANETARY PHYSICS / Cosmic rays;
- 2114 INTERPLANETARY PHYSICS / Energetic particles;
- 7594 SOLAR PHYSICS;
- ASTROPHYSICS;
- AND ASTRONOMY / Instruments and techniques;
- 7984 SPACE WEATHER / Space radiation environment