Displacement Damage dose and DLTS Analyses on Triple and Single Junction solar cells irradiated with electrons and protons

Space solar cells radiation hardness is of fundamental importance in view of the future missions towards harsh radiation environment (like e.g. missions to Jupiter) and for the new spacecraft using electrical propulsion. In this paper we report the radiation data for triple junction (TJ) solar cells and related component cells. Triple junction solar cells, InGaP top cells and GaAs middle cells degrade after electron radiation as expected. With proton irradiation, a high spread in the remaining factors was observed, especially for the TJ and bottom cells. Very surprising was the germanium bottom junction that showed very high degradation after protons whereas it is quite stable against electrons. Radiation results have been analyzed by means of the Displacement Damage Dose method and DLTS spectroscopy.Comment: Abstract accepted for poster session at 2017 IEEE Nuclear and Space Radiation Effects Conference, July 17-21, New Orlean

Phenomenological model of multiphoto-production of charged pion pairs on the proton

The production of charged pion pairs via multiphoton absorption from an intense X-ray laser wave colliding with an ultrarelativistic proton beam is studied. Our calculations include the contributions from both the electromagnetic and hadronic interactions where the latter are described approximately by a phenomenological Yukawa potential. Order-of-magnitude estimates for $\pi^+\pi^-$ production on the proton by two- and three-photon absorption from the high-frequency laser field are obtained and compared with the corresponding rates for $\mu^+\mu^-$ pair creation.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure

Outcomes from the JRC-ESA joint workshop on advanced PV measurements and reliability

This report summarises the topics and the discussions held at the workshop on “Advanced PV Measurements and Reliability”, which was organised jointly by the European Solar Test Installation (ESTI) of the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) and by the European Space Technology and Research Centre (ESTEC) of the European Space Agency (ESA). This workshop was one of the collaborative initiatives falling under the administrative agreement signed in 2013 between JRC and ESA. The workshop on “Advanced PV Measurements and Reliability” was held online on 11th and 12th November 2020, with more than 50 participants from both space and terrestrial PV communities and a balanced representation between them. Participants were from PV calibration and testing laboratories, national metrological institutes, university, public and private research centres, as well as manufacturing companies of PV cells, instrumentation and services. The areas covered by the workshop were the reliability of PV cells and ensembles, the standardisation for PV and the state-of-the-art best practices in the characterisation and calibration of PV cells, assemblies and modules. Good practices as well as present and foreseeable future challenges were reported and discussed. Some conclusions and recommendations on future collaborations and activities were drawn, too, and are presented here.JRC.C.2 - Energy Efficiency and Renewable

Iron mineral dissolution releases iron and associated organic carbon during permafrost thaw

It has been shown that reactive soil minerals, specifically iron(III) (oxyhydr)oxides, can trap organic carbon in soils overlying intact permafrost, and may limit carbon mobilization and degradation as it is observed in other environments. However, the use of iron(III)-bearing minerals as terminal electron acceptors in permafrost environments and thus their stability and capacity to prevent carbon mobilization during permafrost thaw is poorly understood. We have followed the dynamic interactions between iron and carbon, using a space for time-approach, across a thaw gradient in Abisko (Sweden), where wetlands are expanding rapidly due to permafrost thaw. We show through bulk (selective extractions, EXAFS) and nanoscale analysis (correlative SEM and nanoSIMS) that organic carbon is bound to reactive Fe primarily in the transition between organic and mineral horizons in palsa underlain by intact permafrost (41.8 ± 10.8 mg carbon per g soil, 9.9 to 14.8% of total soil organic carbon). During permafrost thaw, water-logging and O2 limitation lead to reducing conditions and an increase in abundance of Fe(III)-reducing bacteria which favor mineral dissolution and drive mobilization of both iron and carbon along the thaw gradient. By providing a terminal electron acceptor, this rusty carbon sink is effectively destroyed along the thaw gradient and cannot prevent carbon release with thaw

Measurements of the pp → ZZ production cross section and the Z → 4ℓ branching fraction, and constraints on anomalous triple gauge couplings at √s = 13 TeV

Four-lepton production in proton-proton collisions, pp -> (Z/gamma*)(Z/gamma*) -> 4l, where l = e or mu, is studied at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV with the CMS detector at the LHC. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb(-1). The ZZ production cross section, sigma(pp -> ZZ) = 17.2 +/- 0.5 (stat) +/- 0.7 (syst) +/- 0.4 (theo) +/- 0.4 (lumi) pb, measured using events with two opposite-sign, same-flavor lepton pairs produced in the mass region 60 4l) = 4.83(-0.22)(+0.23) (stat)(-0.29)(+0.32) (syst) +/- 0.08 (theo) +/- 0.12(lumi) x 10(-6) for events with a four-lepton invariant mass in the range 80 4GeV for all opposite-sign, same-flavor lepton pairs. The results agree with standard model predictions. The invariant mass distribution of the four-lepton system is used to set limits on anomalous ZZZ and ZZ. couplings at 95% confidence level: -0.0012 < f(4)(Z) < 0.0010, -0.0010 < f(5)(Z) < 0.0013, -0.0012 < f(4)(gamma) < 0.0013, -0.0012 < f(5)(gamma) < 0.0013

Assessing evapotranspiration dynamics across central Europe in the context of land-atmosphere drivers

Evapotranspiration (ET) is an important variable for analysing ecosystems, biophysical processes, and drought-related changes in the soil-plant-atmosphere system. In this study, we evaluated freely available ET products from satellite remote sensing (i.e., MODIS, SEVIRI, and GLEAM) as well as modelling and reanalysis (i.e., ERA5-land and GLDAS-2) together with in-situ observations at eight Integrated Carbon Observation System (ICOS) stations across central Europe between 2017 and 2020. The land cover at the selected ICOS stations ranged from deciduous broad-leaved, evergreen needle-leaved, and mixed forests to agriculture. Trends in ET were analysed together with soil moisture (SM) and water vapor pressure deficit (VPD) during four years including a severe summer drought in 2018, but contrasting wet conditions in 2017. The analyses revealed the increased atmospheric aridity and decreased water supply for plant transpiration under drought conditions, showing that ET was generally lower and VPD higher in 2018 compared to 2017. Across the study period, results indicate that during moisture limited drought years, ET is strongly decreasing due to decreasing SM and increasing VPD. However, during normal or rather wet years, when SM is not limited, ET is mainly controlled by VPD, and hence, the atmospheric demand. The comparison of the different ET products based on time series, statistics, and extended triple collocation (ETC) shows in general a good agreement with ETC correlations between 0.39 and 0.99 as well as root-mean-square errors lower than 1.07 mm/day. The greatest deviations are found at the agricultural-managed sites Selhausen (Germany) and Bilos (France), with the former also showing the highest potential dependencies (error cross-correlation) between the ET products. Our results indicate that ET products differ most at stations with spatio-temporal varying land cover conditions (varying crops over growing periods and between seasons). This complex heterogeneity complicates the estimation of ET, while ET products agree at evergreen needle-leaved stations with less temporal changes throughout the year and between years. The ET products from SEVIRI, ERA5-land, and GLEAM performed best when compared to ICOS observations with either lowest errors or highest correlations