Poster Presentation

Personal Neutron Dosimeter Analysis of Cosmic Rays from Stratospheric Ballooning Missions

---

Abstract

Helium-filled High Altitude Balloons (HABs) have been used by St. Catherine University's all-women research team to investigate the near-space environment. Cosmic ray showers colliding with atmospheric particles are significant in the lower stratosphere, where the neutrons form as part of a collision cascade. A personal neutron dosimeter (PND) can be used to quantify neutrons through the appearance of bubbles as a result of neutron interaction with a liquid substrate Freon-12. Over the years, flights have been flown consisting of a PND, heater circuit, Geiger – Müller (GM) tubes, GPS, and a GoPro® camera. By overlaying the GoPro® time with real-time, the team determined the altitude at which the bubbles occur. Data analysis shows a correlation between the neutron events' altitude and other shower-generated particles measured by the GM detector. The particle peak occurs between 15-25 km – correlating to the charged particle maximum known as the Regener-Pfotzer (R-P max) maximum.

Keywords: Radiation

How to Cite:

Sternberg, Z., Blair, K., Holte, H. & Tapper, A., (2022) “Personal Neutron Dosimeter Analysis of Cosmic Rays from Stratospheric Ballooning Missions”, Academic High Altitude Conference 2022(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.31274/ahac.15619