Main Auditorium, Monday 10th July 2023
Chaired by Dr. Alex Bush To see the abstract for the talk, click the small ‘+’ button to the right.
10:15
Development of a new ground level cosmic ray neutron monitor
Dr Michael Aspinall
Lancaster University
CDE Expert Network member
webAspinall, M.D. (1), Alton, T.L. (1), Binnersley, C.L. (3), Bradnam, S. (4), Croft, S. (1), Joyce, M.J. (1), Packer, L. (4), Turner, T. (4), Wild, J., (2)
1 – School of Engineering, Lancaster University, Lancaster, LA1 4YW, UK
2 – Physics Department, Lancaster University, Lancaster, LA1 4YW, UK
3 – Mirion Technologies (Canberra UK) Limited, 207A Cavendish Place, Birchwood Park, Warrington, WA3 6WU, UK
4 – United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, Abingdon, OX14 3EB, UK
Understanding space weather and its impact on Earth is a challenging scientific endeavour engaging multidisciplinary teams around the world [Lilensten et al., 2008]. As part of this effort ground-based neutron monitors have long-been used to provide continuous monitoring of the variation in the high-energy nucleon component of cosmic rays reaching the Earth’s atmosphere. They do this by responding mainly to the secondary neutron signature generated. This informs us about extreme solar events because such events influence the magnetic field that surrounds the Earth and which in turn influences the intensity of the primary cosmic ray flux reaching the upper atmosphere. A worldwide network of ground level neutron monitors was already in operation by the middle of the last century and today the majority of stations still deploy neutron detection systems based on a standard design developed in the early 1960’s and designated NM-64 [Hatton, 1971]. Our Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) Space SWIMMR (Space Weather Innovation, Modelling, Measurement and Risk) S5 project is tasked with developing GLEEM – a Ground Level Enhancement (GLE) Event Monitor – for use by the UK Meteorological Office and the wider scientific community to help predict and potentially alert infrastructure managers and other stakeholders to extreme space weather events. This is an important project because, despite the UK’s strong historical contribution, of the several dozen neutron monitoring stations that routinely send data to the neutron monitor data base [NMBD] none are in the UK. Good geographical coverage is needed so the sky is always visible across a wide range of vertical geomagnetic rigidity cut-off (sensitivity to different cosmic ray momenta) including when some stations may have problems or be out of service. The SWIMMR project was in part a response to the realisation that extreme space weather events pose a national risk to engineered systems and infrastructure [Cannon et al., 2013; UK Government, 2020] and therefore warrants a vibrant national capability. The goal of GLEEM was to create a new design taking advantage of modern, commercially available, technology which would be both reliable and supported for decades. A cost-effective modular design was needed which was more compact and lighter than the conventional NM-64 design but delivered a count rate similar to a 6-NM-64 configuration which makes use of six large-volume BP28 BF3-filled proportional counters. After evaluating various options, based on our operational experience, experiments and simulations, a new design was conceived which has the additional advantage of leveraging the established supply chain of neutron instrumentation to the international nuclear safeguards community where reliability and data integrity is also of central importance.
10:35
Coastal wave overtopping: New nowcast and monitoring technologies
Dr Lou Darroch
National Oceanography Centre
CDE Expert Network member
webBrown, J., (1) Yelland, M., (1) Darroch, L., (2) Masselink, G., (3) Poate, T., (3) Stokes, C., (3) Pascal, R., (4) Jones, D., (5) Cardwell, C., (4) Walk, J., (4) Martin, B., (5) Ganderton, P., (3) Gardner, T., (2)
1 – Marine Physics and Ocean Climate, National Oceanography Centre, European Way, Southampton, SO14 3ZH, UK
2 – British Oceanographic Data Centre, National Oceanography Centre, 6 Brownlow Street, Liverpool, L3 5DA, UK
3 – School of Biological and Marine Sciences, University of Plymouth, Portland Square, Drake Circus, Plymouth, PL4 8ER, UK
4 – Ocean Technology and Engineering, National Oceanography Centre, European Way, Southampton, SO14 3ZH, UK
5 – Marine Physics and Ocean Climate, National Oceanography Centre, 6 Brownlow Street, Liverpool, L3 5DA, UK
Numerical studies project rising sea levels will cause large increases in the future frequency and duration of coastal wave overtopping hazard. However, many coastal location with an aging vertical sea wall structure already experience hazardous wave overtopping on windy spring tides. Building coastal climate resilience requires accurate wave overtopping prediction tools and near real-time information to prepare for and respond to coastal hazards. In Dawlish, SW England, a new monitoring system to measure concurrent wave overtopping, wind and beach level conditions over a 1-year period was installed and demonstrated by the National Oceanography Centre and the University of Plymouth. The system obtains in-situ measurements of the inland wave overtopping distribution across a public walkway and railway line using Internet of Things (IoT) technology, and issues near real-time overtopping data, making it accessible through an online public web service within 10 minutes of detection. This public web service also ingests operational wave and water level data from existing national coastal monitoring networks, providing a full dataset to explore the distribution of overtopping impact relative to the nearshore driving conditions..
Refreshment Break 10:55 – 11:20
11:20
High-Resolution Distributed Acoustic Sensing: Principle and Applications
Dr Ali Masoudi
University of Southampton
webMasoudi, A., (1) Brambilla, G. (1)
1 The Optoelectronic Research Centre (ORC), University of Southampton, Southampton, UK, SO17 1BJ
Distributed acoustic sensor (DAS) technology has witnessed rapid adoption in various fields over the past decade, ranging from subsea power cable monitoring to geophysical sciences. However, most of the research and development efforts in DAS have been focused on meeting the requirements of the oil and gas industry, which dominates the DAS market. Since a 1-meter gauge length provides sufficient spatial resolution for the primary target market of DAS, there has been limited motivation to improve the spatial resolution, thus hindering its adoption in mechanical and civil engineering applications.
The common method for achieving high-resolution strain mapping is through a fibre Bragg grating (FBG) array, which utilizes multiple FBGs with different Bragg wavelengths to measure strain levels at various points along the fibre. However, the number of sensing points in this array is limited to around a hundred nodes per fibre, making it suitable only for small-scale deployments.To address this limitation, we have developed a new type of optical fibre called ultra-low loss enhanced backscattering (ULEB). ULEB fibre can amplify the backscattered signal by over 20 dB compared to the naturally occurring Rayleigh backscattered signal. This substantial enhancement enables the use of shorter probe pulses to achieve higher spatial resolution without compromising the signal level. In a recent study, a ULEB fibre with 50 reflectors spaced 10 cm apart was employed to demonstrate a high-resolution DAS system using the phase-sensitive optical time-domain reflectometry (φ-OTDR) interrogation technique.
By leveraging ULEB fibre and φ-OTDR, it is possible to achieve a DAS with an improved spatial resolution that can be a potential game changer for high-resolution near-surface imaging and characterization. Furthermore, this sensing system showcases the potential for further enhancements and innovations in DAS technology beyond its primary use in the oil and gas industry.
11:40
The UK National Centre for Coastal Autonomy (NCCA) – A centre of excellence for coastal marine autonomy
Prof Matthew Palmer
Plymouth Marine Laboratory
CDE Expert Network member
webThe recently launched NCCA aims to deliver world-leading capability in the pursuit of coastal oceanography using marine autonomy and digital technologies. It will combine state-of-the-art vehicles and platforms, sophisticated scientific buoys, a unique high-speed marine communications network and AI capability to deliver the next generation coastal ocean observing system. The NCCA partnership will deliver high resolution and trustworthy data to enable policy relevant science that enables good stewardship of our coastal ocean environment. It also provides a testbed for emerging technologies and applications, and a platform for training and development of future generations of specialist scientists and technologists, thus enabling a much-needed focal point for coastal oceanography in the age of digital and autonomous technologies. Various components of the NCCA will be presented including efforts towards fully autonomous, adaptive sampling of coastal waters; autonomous plankton image classification; and the potential for high-speed connectivity in autonomous marine observing systems.
