Gamma Ray and Very Low Frequency Radio Observations from a Balloon-Borne Platform

Abstract:

The University of Calgary's Student Organization for Aerospace Research (SOAR) built an instrument to participate in the High Altitude Student Platform (HASP) initiative organized by Louisiana State University and supported by the NASA Balloon Program Office (BPO) and the Louisiana Space Consortium (LaSPACE). The HASP platform will be launched in early September 2015 from Fort Sumner, New Mexico and will reach heights of 36 kilometers with a flight duration of 15 to 20 hours. The instrument, Atmospheric Phenomenon Observer Gamma/VLF Emissions Experiment (APOGEE), measures Terrestrial Gamma-Ray Flashes (TGF) and sferics from lightning strikes with the use of Geiger tubes and a VLF detector. TGFs, which are quick bursts of high energy radiation that can occur alongside lightning, are believed to be the result of Relativistic Runaway Electron Avalanche (RREA). RREA occurs when a large number of relativistic electrons overcome atmospheric frictional forces and accelerate to relativistic velocities which excite secondary electrons that collide with the atmosphere causing bremsstrahlung radiation. Lightning strikes also produce sferics within the Extremely Low Frequency (ELF) and Very Low Frequency (VLF) bands which can be detected and used to locate the strikes. The goal of APOGEE is to further investigate the link between TGFs and RREA.

These phenomena are very difficult to measure together as Bremsstrahlung radiation is easily detected from space but ionospheric reflection facilitates surface detection of sferics. A high altitude balloon provides a unique opportunity to study both phenomena using one instrument because both phenomena can easily be detected from its altitude. APOGEE has been designed and built by undergraduate students at the University of Calgary with faculty assistance and funding, and is equipped with three devices for data collection: a camera to have visual conformation of events, a series of Geiger Tubes to obtain directional gamma readings, and a VLF antenna system.