On-ground calibration of the X-ray, gamma-ray, and relativistic electron detector onboard TARANIS

Wada Yuuki, Laurent Philippe, Pailot Damien, et al. On-ground calibration of the X-ray, gamma-ray, and relativistic electron detector onboard TARANIS. Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems 10(2), 7 May 2024 ; https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JATIS.10.2.026005.We developed the X-ray, gamma-ray, and relativistic electron detector (XGRE) onboard the Tool for the Analysis of RAdiation from lightNIngs and Sprites (TARANIS) satellite, to investigate high-energy phenomena associated with lightning discharges such as terrestrial gamma-ray flashes and terrestrial electron beams. XGRE consisted of three sensors. Each sensor has one layer of LaBr3 crystals for X-ray/gamma-ray detections and two layers of plastic scintillators for electron and charged-particle discrimination. Since 2018, the flight model of XGRE was developed, and validation and calibration tests, such as a thermal cycle test and a calibration test with the sensors onboard the satellite, were performed before the launch of TARANIS on 17 November 2020. The energy range of the LaBr3 crystals sensitive to X-rays and gamma rays was determined to be 0.04 to 11.6 MeV, 0.08 to 11.0 MeV, and 0.08 to 11.3 MeV for XGRE1, 2, and 3, respectively. The energy resolution at 0.662 MeV (full width at half maximum) was 20.5%, 25.9%, and 28.6%, respectively. The results from the calibration test were then used to validate a simulation model of XGRE and TARANIS. By performing Monte Carlo simulations with the verified model, we calculated effective areas of XGRE to X-rays, gamma rays, electrons, and detector responses to incident photons and electrons coming from various elevation and azimuth angles

The Gamma Cube: a new way to explore the gamma-ray sky

International audienceWe propose a new concept to allow the tracking of electrons in a gamma-ray telescope operating in the 5–100 MeV band. The idea of this experiment is to image the ionizing tracks that charged particles produce in a scintillator. It is a pair creation telescope at high energy and a Compton telescope with electron tracking at low energy. The telescope features a large scintillator transparent to the scintillation light, an ad-hoc optical system and a high resolution and highly sensitive imager. The performance perspectives and the advantages of such a system are outstanding but the technical difficulties are serious. A few years of research and development within the scientific community are required to reach the TRL level appropriate to propose the Gamma Cube in response to a flight opportunity

Scintillating anticoincidence detection elements design and tests with muons and protons

International audienceDesign, construction and tests of anticoincidence detection elements are presented. Initially planned to be used as active shielding parts of the anticoincidence detector of the Simbol-X mission, they are aimed to detect cosmic protons and provide veto signal against charged-particle background induced on imaging detectors. The sample is made of a scintillator plate into which grooves are machined and waveshifting fibers glued. The fibers are connected to multianode photomultiplier (PM) tubes. The tubes characteristics have been evaluated for this application. The device has been tested with atmospheric muons that deposit similar energy to that of cosmic protons thanks to a specially designed muon telescope also described in this paper. Tests have also been performed with protons of a tandem accelerator beam line. The response is on average above 10 photoelectrons, which is not complicated to detect, which allows very good detection efficiency as well as very good ability to reject noise. In addition many evolution and performance improvements appear possible

TARANIS XGRE and IDEE detection capability of terrestrial gamma-ray flashes and associated electron beams

International audienceWith a launch expected in 2018, the TARANIS microsatellite is dedicated to the study of transient phenomena observed in association with thunderstorms. On board the spacecraft, XGRE and IDEE are two instruments dedicated to studying terrestrial gamma-ray flashes (TGFs) and associated terrestrial electron beams (TEBs). XGRE can detect electrons (energy range: 1 to 10 MeV) and X- and gamma-rays (energy range: 20 keV to 10 MeV) with a very high counting capability (about 10 million counts per second) and the ability to discriminate one type of particle from another. The IDEE instrument is focused on electrons in the 80 keV to 4 MeV energy range, with the ability to estimate their pitch angles. Monte Carlo simulations of the TARANIS instruments, using a preliminary model of the spacecraft, allow sensitive area estimates for both instruments. This leads to an averaged effective area of 425 cm2 for XGRE, used to detect X- and gamma-rays from TGFs, and the combination of XGRE and IDEE gives an average effective area of 255 cm2 which can be used to detect electrons/positrons from TEBs. We then compare these performances to RHESSI, AGILE and Fermi GBM, using data extracted from literature for the TGF case and with the help of Monte Carlo simulations of their mass models for the TEB case. Combining this data with the help of the MC-PEPTITA Monte Carlo simulations of TGF propagation in the atmosphere, we build a self-consistent model of the TGF and TEB detection rates of RHESSI, AGILE and Fermi. It can then be used to estimate that TARANIS should detect about 200 TGFs yr-1 and 25 TEBs yr-1

TARANIS XGRE and IDEE Detection Capability of Terrestrial Gamma-Ray Flashes and Associated Electron Beams

Abstract. With a launch expected in 2018, the TARANIS microsatellite is dedicated to the study of transient phenomena observed in association with thunderstorms. On board the spacecraft, XGRE and IDEE are two instruments dedicated to studying terrestrial gamma-ray flashes (TGFs) and associated terrestrial electron beams (TEBs). XGRE can detect electrons (energy range: 1 to 10 MeV) and X- and gamma-rays (energy range: 20 keV to 10 MeV) with a very high counting capability (about 10 million counts per second) and the ability to discriminate one type of particle from another. The IDEE instrument is focused on electrons in the 80 keV to 4 MeV energy range, with the ability to estimate their pitch angles. Monte Carlo simulations of the TARANIS instruments, using a preliminary model of the spacecraft, allow sensitive area estimates for both instruments. This leads to an averaged effective area of 425 cm2 for XGRE, used to detect X- and gamma-rays from TGFs, and the combination of XGRE and IDEE gives an average effective area of 255 cm2 which can be used to detect electrons/positrons from TEBs. We then compare these performances to RHESSI, AGILE and Fermi GBM, using data extracted from literature for the TGF case and with the help of Monte Carlo simulations of their mass models for the TEB case. Combining this data with the help of the MC-PEPTITA Monte Carlo simulations of TGF propagation in the atmosphere, we build a self-consistent model of the TGF and TEB detection rates of RHESSI, AGILE and Fermi. It can then be used to estimate that TARANIS should detect about 200 TGFs yr−1 and 25 TEBs yr−1. </jats:p

On-ground calibrations of XGRE: An ultrafast gamma-ray spectrometer onboard the TARANIS mission for TGF studies

International audienceXGRE (X-ray, Gamma-ray and Relativistic Electrons detector) was one of the main instruments onboard the TARANIS satellite. It is an ultra-fast gamma-ray and electron detector, with a 350 ns dead time, built for measuring Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flashes (TGF). In this paper, we will shortly present the TARANIS mission, the design of the XGRE instrument and the measured performances during the instrument calibration at APC, LESIA and payload calibrations done onboard the satellite at CNES

On-ground calibration of the X-ray, gamma-ray, and relativistic electron detector onboard TARANIS

International audienceWe developed the X-ray, Gamma-ray and Relativistic Electron detector (XGRE) onboard the TARANIS satellite, to investigate high-energy phenomena associated with lightning discharges such as terrestrial gamma-ray flashes and terrestrial electron beams. XGRE consisted of three sensors. Each sensor has one layer of LaBr$_{3}$ crystals for X-ray/gamma-ray detections, and two layers of plastic scintillators for electron and charged-particle discrimination. Since 2018, the flight model of XGRE was developed, and validation and calibration tests, such as a thermal cycle test and a calibration test with the sensors onboard the satellite were performed before the launch of TARANIS on 17 November 2020. The energy range of the LaBr$_{3}$ crystals sensitive to X-rays and gamma rays was determined to be 0.04-11.6 MeV, 0.08-11.0 MeV, and 0.08-11.3 MeV for XGRE1, 2, and 3, respectively. The energy resolution at 0.662 MeV (full width at half maximum) was to be 20.5%, 25.9%, and 28.6%, respectively. Results from the calibration test were then used to validate a simulation model of XGRE and TARANIS. By performing Monte Carlo simulations with the verified model, we calculated effective areas of XGRE to X-rays, gamma rays, electrons, and detector responses to incident photons and electrons coming from various elevation and azimuth angles

LISA AIVT Optical Ground Support Equipement technology developments

International audienceThe LISA space interferometer aims at GW detection with »3x10-20/√Hz strain sensitivity, resulting in a displacement sensitivity of 11pm/√Hz over a path length of 2.5x109 m in the frequency range from 3x10-5 to 1 Hz.The LISA France Collaboration is in charge of the ground optical tests of the MOSA (Moving Optical Sub-Assembly), including the Optical Bench, Telescope and Gravitational Reference Sensor. Special check-out equipment is required, such as the Far-Field Optical Ground Support Equipment aiming at measuring the Tilt-To-Length coupling coefficient between angular residual beam jitter and longitudinal path length. The FF-OGSE simulates the incoming jittering beam and measures the associated longitudinal path length change.We present two prototypes – the Zerodur InterFerOmeter and the TTL-OB - that will demonstrate the optical performance, the functional tests, the limits on sensitivity and the precision of the path length measurements achievable on-ground. These two benches are the first part of the design and specification for the FF-OGSE.The Stray Light OGSE aims at stray light characterization in the integrated MOSA. It measures and identifies, separately, the different sources of stray light through the measurement of the corresponding fringe patterns while scanning the laser’s optical frequency

LISA AIVT Optical Ground Support Equipement technology developments

International audienceThe LISA space interferometer aims at GW detection with »3x10-20/√Hz strain sensitivity, resulting in a displacement sensitivity of 11pm/√Hz over a path length of 2.5x109 m in the frequency range from 3x10-5 to 1 Hz.The LISA France Collaboration is in charge of the ground optical tests of the MOSA (Moving Optical Sub-Assembly), including the Optical Bench, Telescope and Gravitational Reference Sensor. Special check-out equipment is required, such as the Far-Field Optical Ground Support Equipment aiming at measuring the Tilt-To-Length coupling coefficient between angular residual beam jitter and longitudinal path length. The FF-OGSE simulates the incoming jittering beam and measures the associated longitudinal path length change.We present two prototypes – the Zerodur InterFerOmeter and the TTL-OB - that will demonstrate the optical performance, the functional tests, the limits on sensitivity and the precision of the path length measurements achievable on-ground. These two benches are the first part of the design and specification for the FF-OGSE.The Stray Light OGSE aims at stray light characterization in the integrated MOSA. It measures and identifies, separately, the different sources of stray light through the measurement of the corresponding fringe patterns while scanning the laser’s optical frequency

LISA AIVT Optical Ground Support Equipement technology developments

International audienceThe LISA space interferometer aims at GW detection with »3x10-20/√Hz strain sensitivity, resulting in a displacement sensitivity of 11pm/√Hz over a path length of 2.5x109 m in the frequency range from 3x10-5 to 1 Hz.The LISA France Collaboration is in charge of the ground optical tests of the MOSA (Moving Optical Sub-Assembly), including the Optical Bench, Telescope and Gravitational Reference Sensor. Special check-out equipment is required, such as the Far-Field Optical Ground Support Equipment aiming at measuring the Tilt-To-Length coupling coefficient between angular residual beam jitter and longitudinal path length. The FF-OGSE simulates the incoming jittering beam and measures the associated longitudinal path length change.We present two prototypes – the Zerodur InterFerOmeter and the TTL-OB - that will demonstrate the optical performance, the functional tests, the limits on sensitivity and the precision of the path length measurements achievable on-ground. These two benches are the first part of the design and specification for the FF-OGSE.The Stray Light OGSE aims at stray light characterization in the integrated MOSA. It measures and identifies, separately, the different sources of stray light through the measurement of the corresponding fringe patterns while scanning the laser’s optical frequency