BDD-I: An electron and proton dosimeter on the global positioning system
- Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States)
- Oregon Univ., Eugene, OR (United States). Dept. of Physics
The Burst Detection Dosimeter (Block) I is a multipurpose silicon detector system that has flown on two spacecraft of the Global Positioning System (GPS) series. This instrument measures the radiation dose received by the GPS spacecraft, primarily from energetic electrons trapped in the Earth's radiation belt, but also from solar energetic particles and galactic cosmic rays outside the trapped radiation zone (when the spacecraft in near the Earth's magnetic poles), because the BDD-I instrument is a sensitive monitor of the proton flux >50 MeV. Absorbers, located in front of four separate silicon sensors, determine energy thresholds for measuring incident particle fluxes, and the magnitude of energy loss in each sensor provides an imperfect but useful separation between ions and electrons over a wide range of energies. This report describes the important mechanical and electronic features of this detector and includes relations for converting the observed counting rate in the detector to parameters representing the incident flux of charged particles. Combining the system geometry with measured calibrations provides a means of numerically evaluating these parameters. The report presents some sample data measured with BDD-I. 11 refs.
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-36
- OSTI ID:
- 5194048
- Report Number(s):
- LA-12275; ON: DE92014197
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
GENERAL PHYSICS
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
DOSEMETERS
DESIGN
SI SEMICONDUCTOR DETECTORS
CALIBRATION
EARTH MAGNETOSPHERE
ELECTRON DETECTION
ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS
ELECTRONS
PERFORMANCE
PROGRESS REPORT
PROTON DETECTION
PROTONS
RADIATION BELTS
BARYONS
CHARGED PARTICLE DETECTION
DETECTION
DOCUMENT TYPES
EARTH ATMOSPHERE
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
FERMIONS
HADRONS
LEPTONS
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
NUCLEONS
RADIATION DETECTION
RADIATION DETECTORS
SEMICONDUCTOR DETECTORS
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