Eyes in Space—Sensors for Treaty Verification and Basic Research
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Eyes in Space Sensors for treaty verification and basic research William C. Priedhorsky and contributors pace-based nuclear threat Laboratories were entrusted with pro- Similar to what is being done today reduction began with the sign- viding the all-important sensors. to carry out the Laboratory’s missions, Sing of the Limited Test Ban Los Alamos was a natural choice to the scientists then applied their Treaty (LTBT) in 1963. The treaty supply these sensitive “eyes” in space. expertise to building a detection sys- prohibited nuclear tests in the atmos- Since the late 1950s, researchers at tem that would behave as planned. phere, outer space, and under water, Los Alamos had used sounding rock- They also initiated new research pro- and was a significant first step toward ets to hoist neutron, gamma-ray, and grams specifically designed to further both slowing the nuclear arms race other detectors into the upper atmos- an understanding of background and curbing the environmental con- phere in order to gather data from sources and create sensors that could tamination associated with above- high-altitude nuclear tests. Those better discriminate nuclear explosions ground tests. But in the tense atmos- same instruments would be adapted from natural signals. Furthermore, phere of the Cold War, neither the for the orbital environment and the they realized from the onset that a United States nor the Soviet Union nuclear detonation (NUDET) detec- system that was sensitive to, say, would trust that the other had com- tion mission. But numerous technical lightning could be used to study light- plied with the treaty without a fool- difficulties surrounded this new mis- ning. Soon, scientists were using proof method of verification. sion, as the sensors would be subject NUDET sensors to conduct world- That method turned out to rely to a host of natural backgrounds and class research in atmospheric science, heavily on earth-orbiting satellites, obfuscating signals. Would something space-plasma science, and even astro- each of which carried a bevy of sen- as common as a lightning flash be physics. sors that would monitor the skies and confused with a nuclear event, or unambiguously detect aboveground would something as exotic as gamma nuclear detonations. The Defense rays from a supernova1 trigger the Advanced Research Projects Agency system? and TRW, Inc., were tasked with designing, building, and fielding these 1This latter question was originally posed satellites called Vela for the Spanish by Stirling Colgate, now a senior fellow at Los Alamos, in a 1959 test ban summit word “velar,” meaning to watch. Los meeting. Colgate perceptively recognized Alamos and Sandia National the connection between mission and basic research. 152 Los Alamos Science Number 28 2003 Eyes in Space Los Alamos detectors have since nuclear states long before any bomb from the nuclear debris. Both the journeyed over the poles of the sun, was detonated and to address prob- prompt and delayed radiations can be probed two comets, and flown to sev- lems of nuclear materials control and detected by satellite-borne sensors: eral planets to gather data for basic international terrorism. This broader bhangmeters2 for detection of optical research. In turn, these highly visible concept of nuclear threat reduction signals, very high frequency (VHF) space missions aid our nation’s threat required new sensing capabilities: new radio receivers for measurement of the reduction efforts. Consider, for exam- small satellites for space observations, EMP, plus neutron, gamma-ray, and ple, the recent discovery of water on new sensors to monitor effluent x-ray detectors. Mars, discussed in more detail in the streams from factories and power These sensors studded the surface sidebar “Geochemical Studies of the plants, portable sensors for materials and filled the insides of the Vela Moon and Planets” on page 166. trafficking, and sensors that could satellites, which were the first used to Scientists announced this find after operate in cyberspace to detect subtle verify the LTBT. The Velas operated analyzing the neutrons coming from patterns and connections in large in pairs, with satellites occupying the Red Planet. Because they are gen- masses of data. Like the NUDET sys- opposite sides of a nearly circular erated by cosmic rays bombarding the tems, these advanced technologies orbit that lay about one-third of the Martian surface, the neutrons have a double as research tools and have led way between the earth and moon. known energy spectrum, which to more discoveries of our planet, the Their sensitive instruments could see becomes slightly distorted if they col- solar system, and the cosmos. the entire surface of the earth, as well lide with water molecules. Those as a large region of space surrounding spectral distortions were “seen” by the the planet. highly advanced neutron spectrometer Space-Based Nuclear Event on the orbiting Mars Odyssey satel- Detection 2The name “bhangmeter” possibly lite. While the discovery of water on derives from bhang, the Indian name for Mars justly fuels the public’s imagina- Remote detection of nuclear explo- a type of marijuana. Apparently, some tion and promotes basic research, it sions is accomplished with sensors believed that anyone who thought satel- lite-based optical detection would work also reminds other nations of the that measure the different forms of must have been smoking something. United States’ remarkable capabilities energy coming from the weapon. Equally likely, “b-hang” derives from a in neutron detection, in case any Neutrons, gamma rays, and x-rays are two-syllabic way of pronouncing “bang.” This pronunciation mirrors the detection nation needs reminding. emitted promptly within about 2 mil- of the two distinct optical peaks (one NUDET detection for treaty verifi- liseconds of the detonation. Those short and one long) characteristic of an cation and situational awareness radiations then interact with their sur- atmospheric nuclear explosion. remains a Los Alamos mission. The roundings to produce secondary radia- radiation detection system on the Air tions, including visible light and elec- Force’s Defense Support Program tromagnetic pulses (EMPs), in the part (DSP) satellites and the Global of the radio-frequency (rf) band below Positioning System (GPS) satellites a few hundred megahertz. Delayed —the same satellites that give us gamma rays and neutrons also come hand-held navigation—are being used for NUDET detection. The last DSP satellite will be launched in 2003 or 2004, after which the next generation of GPS satellites, and perhaps another system, will carry on the mission. The end of the Cold War, however, changed the world. We needed to assess the capabilities of aspiring Number 28 2003 Los Alamos Science 153 Eyes in Space (a) (b) Optical signal from bhangmeter Log signal intensity Log time (s) (c) Gamma Gamma burst Radioactive decay Log energy rate Background level Figure 1. Nuclear Event Detection Log time (s) (a) No single sensing technology can provide unambiguous detection of a nuclear (d) Neutron event under all circumstances, so a NUDET system employs a host of different Fission types of sensors. For events that take place in the troposphere or the lower strato- Fission sphere (within about 30 km of the earth’s surface), only the optical bhangmeters Thermal and VHF sensors yield information because the gamma rays and neutrons are absorbed in this region. The bhangmeter records an unambiguous double-humped optical signal, shown in (b), which is the result of the atmosphere becoming trans- Log counting rate parent, then opaque, and transparent again as the blast’s shock wave travels Background level through it. Unfortunately, clouds can obscure that signal from the satellite’s view. The electromagnetic pulse (EMP) is produced primarily when gamma rays “collide” Log time (s) with atoms in the atmosphere, freeing electrons. These become accelerated in the (e) X-ray earth’s magnetic field and produce a broad spectrum of radio waves. The VHF por- tion of the spectrum can penetrate clouds and the earth’s upper atmosphere and then reach satellite-based sensors. This mechanism for producing the EMP becomes ineffective above 30 km because the atmosphere becomes transparent to the gamma rays. But in this intermediate region, the neutron and gamma-ray sen- sors become useful. Schematic data from these sensors are shown in (c) and (d). For events in the ionosphere (above 60 or 70 km), NUDET detection is augmented Signal intensity by data from particle detectors and (e) x-ray data. Log time (s) All told, six pairs of Vela satellites much for system shakedown as for known about that plasma region or were launched between 1963 and treaty verification. Far from being about the effects of that region on sen- 1969. The initial pair (Vela 1 and 2) empty, the space between the sun and sitive instruments. (The Velas were carried only x-ray, neutron, and the earth is filled with charged parti- also subject to hostile cosmic radia- gamma-ray detectors. These would cles that boil from the sun’s surface tion, which comes from outside the see any events that occurred high in and stream through the solar system at solar system. Thus, many skeptics the atmosphere (above about 30 kilo- supersonic speeds (the solar wind). gave the instruments no more than meters) and also in space (see Interactions between the solar wind two weeks to live. But most instru- Figure 1). Even a detonation on the and the earth’s magnetic field create a ments lasted well beyond their design far side of the moon would be detect- tenuous and highly variable plasma, lifetime of six months; some, for as ed because the nuclear blast would known as the magnetosphere, which long as a decade.) expel a gamma-ray-emitting cloud of surrounds the earth. The Velas’ orbit Adopting a bootstrap approach, debris that would quickly be seen.