DYASTIMA: Simulating Air Showers in the Atmosphere of a Planet
| dc.contributor.author | Tezari, A. | |
| dc.contributor.author | Paschalis, P. | |
| dc.contributor.author | Mavromichalaki, H. | |
| dc.contributor.author | Karaiskos, P. | |
| dc.contributor.author | Crosby, N. | |
| dc.contributor.author | Dierckxsens, M. | |
| dc.date | 2019 | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2020-05-31T09:40:57Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2020-05-31T09:40:57Z | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://orfeo.belnet.be/handle/internal/7530 | |
| dc.description | As primary cosmic rays interact with the upper layers of the atmosphere of a planet, air showers of secondary cosmic ray particles are created. The modelling of these secondary cascades is of great importance for Space Weather studies. DYnamic Atmospheric Shower Tracking Interactive Model Application-DYASTIMA is a Monte Carlo simulation of the cascades produced in the atmosphere of a planet due to cosmic ray propagation. It is a standalone software application, based on a very friendly graphical user interface (GUI) and is implemented in Geant4 by the Athens Cosmic Ray Group. In order to perform a simulation, the primary cosmic ray spectra, the solar activity, the characteristics of the planet, the composition of the planet's atmosphere as well as the atmospheric profile are taken into account. As a result, DYASTIMA output provides all the necessary information about the secondary particles. DYASTIMA simulations have been used successfully for the atmospheres of Earth and Venus. Moreover, DYASTIMA-R, which is an additional simulation integrated into DYASTIMA software, performs radiation dosimetry calculations in the different atmospheric layers. More specifically, DYASTIMA-R provides the dose rate and the equivalent dose rate for various flight scenarios during different solar activity conditions and Space Weather phenomena. The simulations are being validated according to the recommendations set forth in ICRP 137 and ICRU 84 documents. These results are very useful for the aviation community for the determination of the biological effects of the ionizing space radiation on aircrews and passengers. The application of DYASTIMA and DYASTIMA-R on other planets can provide useful insights for the radiation accumulation of space crews during missions. It is foreseen that DYASTIMA will be provided through the European Space Agency Space Situational Awareness (ESA SSA) Space Radiation Expert Service Centre (http://swe.ssa.esa.int/space-radiation) as a federated product. The Athens Cosmic Ray Group and the Athens Neutron Monitor Station (A.Ne.Mo.S.) (http://cosray.phys.uoa.gr/) participates as an expert group in the ESA SSA SWE Programme providing federated products and tools for the research of Space Weather effects.We investigate the effects of aerosol peak height (APH) and various parameters on the air mass factor (AMF) for SO2 retrieval. Increasing aerosol optical depth (AOD) leads to multiple scattering within the planetary boundary layer (PBL) and an increase in PBL SO2 AMF. However, under high AOD conditions, aerosol shielding effects dominate, which causes the PBL SO2 AMF to decrease with increasing AOD. The height of the SO2 layer and the APH are found to significantly influence the PBL SO2 AMF under high AOD conditions. When the SO2 and aerosol layers are of the same height, aerosol multiple scattering occurs dominantly within the PBL, which leads to an increase in the PBL SO2 AMF. When the APH is greater than the SO2 layer height, aerosol shielding effects dominate, which decreases the PBL SO2 AMF. When the SO2 and aerosol layers are of the same height under low AOD and solar zenith angle (SZA) conditions, increased surface reflectance is found to significantly increase the PBL SO2 AMF. However, high AOD dominates the surface reflectance contribution to PBL SO2 AMF. Under high SZA conditions, Rayleigh scattering contributes to a reduction in the light path length and PBL SO2 AMF. For volcanic SO2 AMF, high SZA enhances the light path length within the volcanic SO2 layer, as well as the volcanic SO2 AMF, because of the negligible photon loss by Rayleigh scattering at high altitudes. High aerosol loading and an APH that is greater than the SO2 peak height lead to aerosol shielding effects, which reduce the volcanic SO2 AMF. The SO2 AMF errors are also quantified as a function of uncertainty in the input data of AOD, APH, and surface reflectance. The SO2 AMF sensitivities and error analysis provided here can be used to develop effective error reduction strategies for satellite-based SO2 retrievals. | |
| dc.language | eng | |
| dc.title | DYASTIMA: Simulating Air Showers in the Atmosphere of a Planet | |
| dc.type | Conference | |
| dc.subject.frascati | Physical sciences | |
| dc.audience | Scientific | |
| dc.subject.free | Space Weather | |
| dc.subject.free | Radiation Dosimetry | |
| dc.subject.free | Aviation | |
| dc.source.title | 70th International Astronautical Congress (IAC), Washington D.C., United States, 21-25 October 2019 | |
| dc.source.page | Paper ID 51136 | |
| Orfeo.peerreviewed | No |
