PackMan: A portable instrument to study space weather

T. Mathanlal; A.V. Ramachandran; M.-P. Zorzano; J. Martin-Torres

PackMan: A portable instrument to study space weather

T. Mathanlal^*, A.V. Ramachandran, M.-P. Zorzano, J. Martin-Torres

^*Corresponding author for this work

Geology and Geophysics

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Published conference contribution

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

The Earth's atmosphere is continuously bombarded by energetic charged particles and high energy photons from space. To date, there is a missing gap of information regarding the amount, energy, time variability, and type of space radiation that reaches the lower layers of the atmosphere, as well as on its geographic and altitude distribution and the implications on infrastructures and climate. To generate a long-time, multiple-site, open-access record of space radiation on Earth we have designed PACKMAN (PArticle Counter k-index Magnetic ANomaly): an open source, autonomous instrument, with Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) components. PACKMAN is a robust and light instrument that monitors gamma, beta, alpha radiation and muons and includes environmental sensors to monitor pressure, temperature, relative humidity, and magnetic perturbations. PACKMAN has operated at different latitudes: 1) Space campus LTU, Kiruna, Sweden (67.84Â°N, 20.41Â°E, 390 m); 2) LTU Main campus, LuleÃ¥, Sweden (65.62Â°N, 22.14Â°E, 15 m); 3) University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom (55.94Â°N, 3.19Â°W, 98 m); 4) Boulby Mine, United Kingdom (54.56Â°N, 0.82Â°W, 93 m and -1.1 km), 5) University of Akureyri, Iceland (65.68Â°N,18.12Â°W, 23m); and two PACKMAN units have been flown in balloons to the stratosphere: 6) Cordoba airport, Spain (37.84Â°N, 4.84Â°W, 90 m to 27 km); and 7) Esrange Space Center, Sweden (67.88Â°N, 21.12Â°E, 328 m to 27 km). In this work, we describe the design and operation of these instruments, and show examples of scientific observations. The data are compared to various ground based and orbiter instruments such as the magnetic field observations from Hartland station magnetometers, the Kp global index from GFZ-Potsdam and the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-15 Magnetometer. During the flight in two stratospheric balloon campaigns, PACKMAN captured the Pfotzer maximum and its variation in height depending on latitude, time and season and reaching altitudes of 10 km. While operating down at 1.1km below the surface, in the Boulby Mine (U.K), PACKMAN has recorded the magnetic anomaly occurring due to geomagnetic storm activity and the results are presented quantitatively,

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Proceedings of the International Astronautical Congress, IAC
Publisher	International Astronautical Federation, IAF
Volume	2018
Publication status	Published - Oct 2018
Event	69th International Astronautical Congress: #InvolvingEveryone - Bremen, Germany Duration: 1 Oct 2018 → 5 Oct 2018 http://www.iafastro.org/events/iac/iac-2018/

Publication series

Name
ISSN (Electronic)	0074-1795

Conference

Conference	69th International Astronautical Congress
Abbreviated title	IAC
Country/Territory	Germany
City	Bremen
Period	1/10/18 → 5/10/18
Internet address	http://www.iafastro.org/events/iac/iac-2018/

Keywords

Earth observation
Magnetic anomaly
Radiation
Space weather
Stratosphere

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Cite this

@inproceedings{20ca512a597b4e5f94797487a972deff,

title = "PackMan: A portable instrument to study space weather",

abstract = "The Earth's atmosphere is continuously bombarded by energetic charged particles and high energy photons from space. To date, there is a missing gap of information regarding the amount, energy, time variability, and type of space radiation that reaches the lower layers of the atmosphere, as well as on its geographic and altitude distribution and the implications on infrastructures and climate. To generate a long-time, multiple-site, open-access record of space radiation on Earth we have designed PACKMAN (PArticle Counter k-index Magnetic ANomaly): an open source, autonomous instrument, with Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) components. PACKMAN is a robust and light instrument that monitors gamma, beta, alpha radiation and muons and includes environmental sensors to monitor pressure, temperature, relative humidity, and magnetic perturbations. PACKMAN has operated at different latitudes: 1) Space campus LTU, Kiruna, Sweden (67.84{\^A}°N, 20.41{\^A}°E, 390 m); 2) LTU Main campus, Lule{\~A}¥, Sweden (65.62{\^A}°N, 22.14{\^A}°E, 15 m); 3) University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom (55.94{\^A}°N, 3.19{\^A}°W, 98 m); 4) Boulby Mine, United Kingdom (54.56{\^A}°N, 0.82{\^A}°W, 93 m and -1.1 km), 5) University of Akureyri, Iceland (65.68{\^A}°N,18.12{\^A}°W, 23m); and two PACKMAN units have been flown in balloons to the stratosphere: 6) Cordoba airport, Spain (37.84{\^A}°N, 4.84{\^A}°W, 90 m to 27 km); and 7) Esrange Space Center, Sweden (67.88{\^A}°N, 21.12{\^A}°E, 328 m to 27 km). In this work, we describe the design and operation of these instruments, and show examples of scientific observations. The data are compared to various ground based and orbiter instruments such as the magnetic field observations from Hartland station magnetometers, the Kp global index from GFZ-Potsdam and the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-15 Magnetometer. During the flight in two stratospheric balloon campaigns, PACKMAN captured the Pfotzer maximum and its variation in height depending on latitude, time and season and reaching altitudes of 10 km. While operating down at 1.1km below the surface, in the Boulby Mine (U.K), PACKMAN has recorded the magnetic anomaly occurring due to geomagnetic storm activity and the results are presented quantitatively,",

keywords = "Earth observation, Magnetic anomaly, Radiation, Space weather, Stratosphere",

author = "T. Mathanlal and A.V. Ramachandran and M.-P. Zorzano and J. Martin-Torres",

year = "2018",

month = oct,

language = "English",

volume = "2018",

publisher = "International Astronautical Federation, IAF",

booktitle = "Proceedings of the International Astronautical Congress, IAC",

address = "France",

note = "69th International Astronautical Congress : #InvolvingEveryone, IAC ; Conference date: 01-10-2018 Through 05-10-2018",

url = "http://www.iafastro.org/events/iac/iac-2018/",

}

TY - GEN

T1 - PackMan

T2 - 69th International Astronautical Congress

AU - Mathanlal, T.

AU - Ramachandran, A.V.

AU - Zorzano, M.-P.

AU - Martin-Torres, J.

PY - 2018/10

Y1 - 2018/10

N2 - The Earth's atmosphere is continuously bombarded by energetic charged particles and high energy photons from space. To date, there is a missing gap of information regarding the amount, energy, time variability, and type of space radiation that reaches the lower layers of the atmosphere, as well as on its geographic and altitude distribution and the implications on infrastructures and climate. To generate a long-time, multiple-site, open-access record of space radiation on Earth we have designed PACKMAN (PArticle Counter k-index Magnetic ANomaly): an open source, autonomous instrument, with Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) components. PACKMAN is a robust and light instrument that monitors gamma, beta, alpha radiation and muons and includes environmental sensors to monitor pressure, temperature, relative humidity, and magnetic perturbations. PACKMAN has operated at different latitudes: 1) Space campus LTU, Kiruna, Sweden (67.84Â°N, 20.41Â°E, 390 m); 2) LTU Main campus, LuleÃ¥, Sweden (65.62Â°N, 22.14Â°E, 15 m); 3) University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom (55.94Â°N, 3.19Â°W, 98 m); 4) Boulby Mine, United Kingdom (54.56Â°N, 0.82Â°W, 93 m and -1.1 km), 5) University of Akureyri, Iceland (65.68Â°N,18.12Â°W, 23m); and two PACKMAN units have been flown in balloons to the stratosphere: 6) Cordoba airport, Spain (37.84Â°N, 4.84Â°W, 90 m to 27 km); and 7) Esrange Space Center, Sweden (67.88Â°N, 21.12Â°E, 328 m to 27 km). In this work, we describe the design and operation of these instruments, and show examples of scientific observations. The data are compared to various ground based and orbiter instruments such as the magnetic field observations from Hartland station magnetometers, the Kp global index from GFZ-Potsdam and the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-15 Magnetometer. During the flight in two stratospheric balloon campaigns, PACKMAN captured the Pfotzer maximum and its variation in height depending on latitude, time and season and reaching altitudes of 10 km. While operating down at 1.1km below the surface, in the Boulby Mine (U.K), PACKMAN has recorded the magnetic anomaly occurring due to geomagnetic storm activity and the results are presented quantitatively,

AB - The Earth's atmosphere is continuously bombarded by energetic charged particles and high energy photons from space. To date, there is a missing gap of information regarding the amount, energy, time variability, and type of space radiation that reaches the lower layers of the atmosphere, as well as on its geographic and altitude distribution and the implications on infrastructures and climate. To generate a long-time, multiple-site, open-access record of space radiation on Earth we have designed PACKMAN (PArticle Counter k-index Magnetic ANomaly): an open source, autonomous instrument, with Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) components. PACKMAN is a robust and light instrument that monitors gamma, beta, alpha radiation and muons and includes environmental sensors to monitor pressure, temperature, relative humidity, and magnetic perturbations. PACKMAN has operated at different latitudes: 1) Space campus LTU, Kiruna, Sweden (67.84Â°N, 20.41Â°E, 390 m); 2) LTU Main campus, LuleÃ¥, Sweden (65.62Â°N, 22.14Â°E, 15 m); 3) University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom (55.94Â°N, 3.19Â°W, 98 m); 4) Boulby Mine, United Kingdom (54.56Â°N, 0.82Â°W, 93 m and -1.1 km), 5) University of Akureyri, Iceland (65.68Â°N,18.12Â°W, 23m); and two PACKMAN units have been flown in balloons to the stratosphere: 6) Cordoba airport, Spain (37.84Â°N, 4.84Â°W, 90 m to 27 km); and 7) Esrange Space Center, Sweden (67.88Â°N, 21.12Â°E, 328 m to 27 km). In this work, we describe the design and operation of these instruments, and show examples of scientific observations. The data are compared to various ground based and orbiter instruments such as the magnetic field observations from Hartland station magnetometers, the Kp global index from GFZ-Potsdam and the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-15 Magnetometer. During the flight in two stratospheric balloon campaigns, PACKMAN captured the Pfotzer maximum and its variation in height depending on latitude, time and season and reaching altitudes of 10 km. While operating down at 1.1km below the surface, in the Boulby Mine (U.K), PACKMAN has recorded the magnetic anomaly occurring due to geomagnetic storm activity and the results are presented quantitatively,

KW - Earth observation

KW - Magnetic anomaly

KW - Radiation

KW - Space weather

KW - Stratosphere

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85065328560&partnerID=MN8TOARS

M3 - Published conference contribution

VL - 2018

BT - Proceedings of the International Astronautical Congress, IAC

PB - International Astronautical Federation, IAF

Y2 - 1 October 2018 through 5 October 2018

ER -

PackMan: A portable instrument to study space weather

Abstract

Publication series

Conference

Keywords

UN SDGs

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