Experimental investigations for the development of a 2pi fission fragment detector

In der vorliegenden Arbeit wurde die Möglichkeit der Realisierung eines 2-Pi-Spaltfragmentdetektors untersucht. Damit soll es möglich sein eine Information über die Kernladungszahl eines Fragments aus spontaner oder teilcheninduzierter Spaltung zu erhalten. Die Meßmethode ist daraufhin ausgelegt, daß der korrespondierende Partner eines im Detektor nachgewiesenen Spaltfragments in einer dicken Quelle oder einem dicken Target gestoppt wird und der Gamma-Zerfall dieses neutronenreichen, meist hoch angeregten Kerns in Ruhe erfolgt . Die emittierte Gamma-Strahlung ist somit weder Dopplerverschoben noch -verbreitert und kann von Germanium-Detektorarrays spektroskopiert werden. Durch die hohe Selektivität der Spaltfragmentdetektion läßt sich damit die Struktur seltener, besonders neutronenreicher Kerne untersuchen. Die Methode basiert auf der Messung des spezifischen Energieverlusts eines Spaltfragments mit Hilfe einer Gasionisationskammer und der anschließenden Messung der Restenergie des Spaltfragments mit Hilfe eines Silizium-Halbleiterdetektors. Hierzu wurden Messungen von Spaltfragmenten aus spontaner Spaltung von 252-Cf mit Hilfe eines Detektorteleskops [Goh94] in Koinzidenz mit einem hochreinen Germanium Detektor durchgeführt. Das Teleskop bestand aus einer Ionisationskammer, die mit einem elektrischen Feld arbeitete, das senkrecht zur mittleren Spaltfragmenttrajektorie verlief, sowie einem ionenimplantierten Si-Detektor. Damit wurde ein Auflösungsvermögen von Z/Delta-Z ~ ll für Molybdän (Z=42) und Z/Delta-Z ~ 10 für Ruthenium (Z=44) gemessen. Um den ionenimplantierten Si-Detektor durch einen kostengünstigeren Detektortyp ersetzen zu können, wurden PIN-Dioden als Detektoren für die Energie der Spaltfragmente getestet. Hierbei wurden die Testkriterien von Schmitt und Pleasonton [SP 66] zugrunde gelegt. Die PIN-Diode der Serienproduktion erreichte näherungsweise alle von Schmitt und Pleasonton angegebenen Kriterien und übertraf das Kriterium für Energieauflösung deutlich. Der Ansatz zur Entwicklung eines Detektors mit großem Raumwinkel ist eine Ionisationskammer, die ein elektrisches Feld besitzt, das parallel zur mittleren Spaltfragmenttrajektorie gerichtet ist. Eine solche Feldgeometrie läßt sich leichter auf einen großen Raumwinkel erweitern. Dies macht die ausschließliche Verwendung von Gitterelektroden notwendig, damit die Spaltfragmente die Elektroden ohne nennenswerten Energieverlust passieren können. Mit Hilfe der Methode der Finiten Elemente wurden Potentialverläufe in einer solchen Ionisationskammer simuliert und auf dieser Basis ein Prototyp konstruiert und gebaut, der mit einer Feldrichtung parallel zur mittleren Spaltfragmenttrajektorie arbeitet. Zum Test dieses Detektors wurde ein Experiment mit protoninduzierter Spaltung von 238-U am Van-de-Graaf-Beschleuniger des Instituts für Kernphysik der Universität Frankfurt am Main durchgeführt. Unter Hinzunahme eines hochreinen Ge-Detektors wurden Spaltfragment-Gamma-Koinzidenzen aufgenommen. Das Ansprechverhalten des Spaltfragmentdetektors wurde mit Hilfe der Energieverlustdaten von Northcliffe und Schilling [NS70] numerisch berechnet. Damit konnte ein Auflösungsvermögen von Z/Delta-Z ~ 29 für Yttrium (Z=39) erreicht werden. Dieses Auflösungsvermögen stimmt ungefähr mit dem von Sistemich et al. [SAB+76] mit Hilfe von massen- und energieseparierten Spaltfragmenten gemessenen Auflösungsvermögen eines DeltaE-E-Detektors mit einem senkrecht zur mittleren Spaltfragmenttrajektorie ausgerichteten elektrischen Feld überein. Eine Auflösung von Nukliden der schweren Spaltfragmentgruppe war in beiden Experimenten nicht möglich. Abschließend wurde auf der Basis der Geometrie des EUROSiB-Detektors [dAP+96] die Realisierbarkeit eines 2-Pi-Spaltfragmentdetektors studiert. Dabei zeigte sich, daß es möglich sein sollte, einen solchen Detektor zu konstruieren, obwohl dieser aufgrund des näherungsweise radialsymmetrischen elektrischen Feldes an den Grenzen des Ionisationskammerbereiches arbeiten wird. Mit Hilfe einer möglichst punktförmigen Quelle sowie einer Segmentierung der PIN-Dioden um eine bessere Ortsauflösung zu erreichen, sollte es möglich sein, ein Auflösungsvermögen zu erhalten, das der Größenordnung des Auflösungsvermögens des Prototypen entspricht. Mit dem vorgeschlagenen Detektor ließe sich eine absolute Effizienz von rund 74% in 2-Pi erreichen.In the present thesis the possibility of realizing a 2pi fission fragment detector has been investigated. The aim of this is to obtain an information about the atomic number of a fragment of spontaneous or particle-induced fission. The method is based on the principle that the corresponding partner of a fragment in the detector is stopped in a thick source or a thick target. Then the gamma-decay of this neutron-rich, often highly excited nucleus occurs at rest. Therefore the emitted gamma-radiation, which can be spectroscopied by gamma-detector arrays, is neither Doppler-shifted nor Doppler-broadened. Due to the high selectivity of the fission fragment detection it is possible to study the structure of rare, particularly neutron-rich nuclei. The method is based on the measurement of a fragment's energy loss with a gas ionization chamber, succeeded by a measurement of the fragment's residual energy using a silicon semiconductor detector. Measurements of fragments from the spontaneous fission of 252Cf using a detector telescope [1] in coincidence with a high-purity germanium detector were performed. The telescope consisted of an ionization chamber with an electrical field the direction of which was perpendicular orientated to the fission fragments' trajectory as well as an ion-implanted Si-detector. The measured resolving power was Z/Delta Z = 11 for Molybdenum (Z=42) and Z/Delta Z = 10 for Ruthenium (Z=44). PIN-diodes were tested for measuring the fission fragments' energies to replace the ion-implanted Si-detector by a less expensive type of detector. For these tests the criteria of Schmitt and Pleasonton [2] were applied. The PIN-diode of the series production reached approximately all criteria given by Schmitt and Pleasonton. It even surpassed the criterion for energy resolution clearly. The base to develop a detector with a large solid angle is an ionization chamber with an electrical field the direction of which is parallel to the average trajectory of the fission fragments. This kind of field geometry can be more easily expanded to cover a large solid angle. It requires the exclusive application of grid electrodes to allow the fission fragments to pass the electrodes with negligible energy loss. The potential distribution inside such an ionization chamber was simulated applying the finite element method. Based on these simulations a prototype detector that works with an electrical field the direction of which is parallel to the fission fragments' average trajectory has been constructed and built. An experiment with proton-induced fission of 238U was performed at the Van de Graaf accelerator of the Institute for Nuclear Physics of the University of Frankfurt / Main to test the new detector. By adding a high-purity germanium detector fission fragment-gamma coincidences were recorded. The response of the fission fragment detector was calculated numerically by using the energy loss data by Northcliffe and Schilling [3]. A resolving power of Z/Delta Z = 29 for Yttrium (Z=39) could be achieved with that. This resolving power agrees roughly with the value measured by Sistemich et al. [4] which was obtained with mass and energy separated fission fragments using a Delta E-E detector with an electrical field the direction of which was perpendicular to the fission fragments' average trajectory. It was not possible to resolve nuclei of the heavy fission fragments' group. Finally the feasibility of a 2pi fission fragment detector was studied on the geometrical basis of the EUROSiB-detector [5]. A detector of this kind should be feasible though it will operate at the limit of the ionization chamber region due to the electrical field which has approximately a radial symmetry. A segmentation of the PIN-diodes would increase the spatial resolution. With that and by using a point source, preferably, it should be possible to reach a resolving power of the order of magnitude of the prototype's resolving power. An absolute efficiency of 74% in 2pi should be achieved with the suggested detector

Infrared measurements of atmospheric CH_3CN

For the first time CH_3CN has been measured in the Earth's atmosphere by means of infrared remote sensing. Vertical profiles of volume mixing ratio were retrieved from 12 solar occultation measurements by the balloon-borne JPL MkIV interferometer between 1993 and 2004. Profile retrieval is possible in an altitude range between 12 and 30 km with a precision of ∼20 ppt in the Arctic and ∼30 ppt at mid-latitudes. The retrieved CH_3CN profiles show mixing ratios of 100–150 ppt a few kilometers above the tropopause that decrease to values below 40 ppt at altitudes between 22 and 30 km. The CH_3CN mixing ratios show a reasonably compact correlation with the stratospheric tracers CH_3Cl and CH_4. The CH_3CN altitude profiles and tracer correlations are well reproduced by a 2-dimensional model, suggesting that CH_3CN is long-lived in the lower stratosphere and that previously-proposed ion-molecule reactions do not play a major role as loss processes of CH_3CN

On the stratospheric chemistry of hydrogen cyanide

HCN profiles measured by solar occultation spectrometry during 10 balloon flights of the JPL MkIV instrument are presented. The HCN profiles reveal a compact correlation with stratospheric tracers. Calculations with a 2D-model using established rate coefficients for the reactions of HCN with OH and O(^1D) severely underestimate the measured HCN in the middle and upper stratosphere. The use of newly available rate coefficients for these reactions gives reasonable agreement of measured and modeled HCN. An HCN yield of ∼30% from the reaction of CH_3CN with OH is consistent with the measurements

Mars analysis correction data assimilation: a multi-annual reanalysis of atmospheric observations for the red planet

Ever-increasing numbers of atmospheric observations from orbiting spacecraft, and increasingly sophisticated numerical atmospheric models, have recently permitted data assimilation techniques to be applied to planets beyond the Earth. Mars is the first extra-terrestrial planet for which reanalyses of the atmospheric state are now available. The Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES) on board NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) has produced an extensive atmospheric data set during its scientific mapping phase between 1999 and 2004. Nadir thermal profiles for the atmosphere below about 40 km altitude, and total dust and water ice opacities, have been retrieved from TES spectra, covering almost three complete Martian seasonal cycles (each seasonal cycle on Mars corresponds to 668.6 mean solar days, and the Martian mean solar day is about 24 hours and 40 minutes). Note that dust on Mars plays a key role in the weather and climate, mainly through its strong absorption of short wave radiation with a short radiative relaxation timescale of 1-2 days. Assimilating dust opacities correctly is, therefore, particularly important for atmospheric data assimilation on the Red Planet. TES retrieved observations have been analysed by assimilation into a Mars general circulation model (MGCM), making use of a sequential procedure known as the Analysis Correction scheme, a form of successive corrections method which has proved simple and robust under Martian conditions, even during the less-than-ideal MGS aerobraking period. The MGCM used at the University of Oxford and at The Open University consists of a spectral dynamical solver and a tracer transport scheme developed in the UK. Its package of state-of-the-art physical parameterization routines is shared with the LMD-MarsGCM, developed by the Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique in Paris (France). One limitation of TES is that relatively few limb profiles are available, compared to nadir soundings. Our MGS/TES reanalysis, therefore, does not include observations of temperature above about 40 km altitude, nor 3D information on dust opacity (the vertical distribution of dust opacity is prescribed assuming a well mixed dust layer with a rapid transition to a clear upper atmosphere at a height which depends on latitude and season. In September 2006 NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) started its mapping phase. The Mars Climate Sounder (MCS) on board MRO is a radiometer with eight mid- and far-infrared channels and one visible channel, which takes measurements in limb and off-nadir geometries. Retrieved vertical profiles of temperature, dust and water ice opacities from MCS observations can now be assimilated using the same scheme we used for TES, with the advantage of the extension in altitude (thermal profiles can extend to above 80 km altitude, although errors become larger at greater altitudes), the increased vertical resolution (~ 5km compared to > 10km for TES nadir retrievals), and the direct information on the vertical distribution of dust and water ice. Overall, the application of our data assimilation scheme to retrieved observations from TES and MCS spans almost six complete Martian seasonal cycles. This represents a multi-annual climatology for Mars, which has the advantage of being a complete, dynamically-balanced, four-dimensional best-fit to observations for all the atmospheric variables, including those for which no direct measurements are available (e.g. wind and surface pressure) and with regions of no observations filled-in in a physically-consistent way. The reanalysis represents, therefore, a unique opportunity to study the inter-annual variability of the Martian weather and climate with respect to all its components, such as the dust cycle, the water cycle, the CO2 cycle, the atmospheric tides and other prominent waves, such as high latitude baroclinic waves. In this contribution we present the first results of a complete assimilation of both datasets, using a consistent model and data assimilation scheme, and highlight the challenges of combining TES and MCS data assimilation to produce a multi-annual climatology. Particular attention will be devoted to the inter-annual variability of the atmospheric thermal field in response to dust storm activity. We will also provide an insight into the dynamics, looking in particular at the high latitude winds, waves and polar vortices. Our data assimilation products are freely available to the community for both science- and engineering-oriented purposes. The British Atmospheric Data Centre (BADC, http://badc.nerc.ac.uk) hosts our datasets, which, for the time being, are limited to the MGS/TES reanalysis. People may contact the corresponding author in order to register their interest and be updated about the status of the project. New versions of the MGS/TES reanalysis as well as the MRO/MCS reanalysis will be made available through the BADC in future. Interested people can download the current TES reanalysis dataset by registering at the BADC and searching for the MACDA (“Mars Analysis Correction Data Assimilation”) project. The direct link to the project is provided by the following URL: http://badc.nerc.ac.uk/view/badc.nerc.ac.uk__ATOM__DE_095e8da2-cf02-11e0-8b7a-00e08147026

Asymmetric impacts on Mars’ polar vortices from an equinoctial Global Dust Storm

Mars possesses dynamical features called polar vortices: regions of cold, isolated air over the poles circumscribed by powerful westerly jets which can act as barriers to transport to dust, water, and chemical species. The 2018 Global Dust Storm was observed by multiple orbiters and offers a valuable opportunity to study the effects of such a storm on polar dynamics. To this end, we assimilate data from the Mars Climate Sounder and Atmospheric Chemistry Suite into a Mars Global Climate Model. We find that the storm had asymmetrical hemispherical impacts, with the northern vortex remaining relatively robust while the southern vortex was substantially diminished in its intensity. We propose that this asymmetry was due both to the storm’s latitudinal extent, as it extended further south than north, and to its equinoctial timing, occurring as the southern vortex was already decaying. We show that both polar vortices, in particular the northern, were reduced in ellipticity by the storm. There was a well‐correlated reduction in stationary topographic wave activity at high latitudes in both hemispheres. We demonstrate that the characteristic elliptical martian polar vortex shape is the pattern of the stationary waves, which was suppressed by the shifting of the polar jet away from regions of high mechanical forcing (north) or reduction of polar jet intensity by a reduced meridional temperature gradient (south). These asymmetric effects suggest increased transport into the southern (but not northern) polar region during Global Dust Storms at northern autumn equinox, and more longitudinally symmetric transport around both poles

The Holy Grail: A road map for unlocking the climate record stored within Mars' polar layered deposits

In its polar layered deposits (PLD), Mars possesses a record of its recent climate, analogous to terrestrial ice sheets containing climate records on Earth. Each PLD is greater than 2 ​km thick and contains thousands of layers, each containing information on the climatic and atmospheric state during its deposition, creating a climate archive. With detailed measurements of layer composition, it may be possible to extract age, accumulation rates, atmospheric conditions, and surface activity at the time of deposition, among other important parameters; gaining the information would allow us to “read” the climate record. Because Mars has fewer complicating factors than Earth (e.g. oceans, biology, and human-modified climate), the planet offers a unique opportunity to study the history of a terrestrial planet’s climate, which in turn can teach us about our own planet and the thousands of terrestrial exoplanets waiting to be discovered. During a two-part workshop, the Keck Institute for Space Studies (KISS) hosted 38 Mars scientists and engineers who focused on determining the measurements needed to extract the climate record contained in the PLD. The group converged on four fundamental questions that must be answered with the goal of interpreting the climate record and finding its history based on the climate drivers. The group then proposed numerous measurements in order to answer these questions and detailed a sequence of missions and architecture to complete the measurements. In all, several missions are required, including an orbiter that can characterize the present climate and volatile reservoirs; a static reconnaissance lander capable of characterizing near surface atmospheric processes, annual accumulation, surface properties, and layer formation mechanism in the upper 50 ​cm of the PLD; a network of SmallSat landers focused on meteorology for ground truth of the low-altitude orbiter data; and finally, a second landed platform to access ~500 ​m of layers to measure layer variability through time. This mission architecture, with two landers, would meet the science goals and is designed to save costs compared to a single very capable landed mission. The rationale for this plan is presented below. In this paper we discuss numerous aspects, including our motivation, background of polar science, the climate science that drives polar layer formation, modeling of the atmosphere and climate to create hypotheses for what the layers mean, and terrestrial analogs to climatological studies. Finally, we present a list of measurements and missions required to answer the four major questions and read the climate record. 1. What are present and past fluxes of volatiles, dust, and other materials into and out of the polar regions? 2. How do orbital forcing and exchange with other reservoirs affect those fluxes? 3. What chemical and physical processes form and modify layers? 4. What is the timespan, completeness, and temporal resolution of the climate history recorded in the PLD

Pre- and Post-entry, Descent and Landing Assessment of the Martian Atmosphere for the Mars 2020 Rover

This review provides an analysis of activities undertaken by the Mars 2020 Council of Atmospheres (CoA) in support of the entry, descent, and landing (EDL) of the Mars 2020 rover Perseverance in Jezero crater, Mars. The activities of the CoA were designed to evaluate the safety of early-stage landing site candidates and, later, to constrain the range of plausible conditions expected at Jezero crater during the early northern spring season of EDL, following the successful blueprint of similar councils for prior landed Mars missions. The multiyear effort of the CoA involved using a combination of numerical modeling of the local Martian atmosphere with limited-domain mesoscale models and atmospheric reanalysis using data assimilation techniques, along with atmospheric observations from multiple orbiting assets, to generate an atmospheric “forecast” for the day of landing. Here we present an overview of these activities, focusing in greater detail on those elements that depart from prior CoA activities as performed for Mars Phoenix, Mars Science Laboratory, and the InSight lander. Following the successful landing of Perseverance on 2021 February 18, reconstruction and reassessment activities were performed and are presented here, comparing prelanding predictions with actual, as-flown conditions

N2_2O Temporal Variability from the Middle Troposphere to the Middle Stratosphere Based on Airborne and Balloon-Borne Observations during the Period 1987–2018

Nitrous oxide (N$_2$O) is the fourth most important greenhouse gas in the atmosphere and is considered the most important current source gas emission for global stratospheric ozone depletion (O$_3$). It has natural and anthropogenic sources, mainly as an unintended by-product of food production activities. This work examines the identification and quantification of trends in the N$_2$O concentration from the middle troposphere to the middle stratosphere (MTMS) by in situ and remote sensing observations. The temporal variability of N$_2$O is addressed using a comprehensive dataset of in situ and remote sensing N$_2$O concentrations based on aircraft and balloon measurements in the MTMS from 1987 to 2018. We determine N$_2$O trends in the MTMS, based on observations. This consistent dataset was also used to study the N$_2$O seasonal cycle to investigate the relationship between abundances and its emission sources through zonal means. The results show a long-term increase in global N$_2$O concentration in the MTMS with an average of 0.89 ± 0.07 ppb/yr in the troposphere and 0.96 ± 0.15 ppb/yr in the stratosphere, consistent with 0.80 ppb/yr derived from ground-based measurements and 0.799 ± 0.024 ppb/yr ACE-FTS (Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment Fourier Transform Spectrometer) satellite measurements