While the direct physical impact on seabed biota is well understood, no studies have defined thresholds to inform an ecosystem-based approach to managing fishing impacts. We addressed this knowledge ...gap using a large-scale experiment that created a controlled gradient of fishing intensity and assessed the immediate impacts and short-term recovery. We observed a mosaic of taxon-specific responses at various thresholds. The lowest threshold of significant lasting impact occurred between 1 and 3 times fished and elicited a decrease in abundance of 39 to 70% for some sessile epifaunal organisms (cnidarians, bryozoans). This contrasted with significant increases in abundance and/or biomass of scavenging species (epifaunal echinoderms, infaunal crustaceans) by two to four-fold in areas fished twice and more. In spite of these significant specific responses, the benthic community structure, biomass and abundance at the population level appeared resilient to fishing. Overall, natural temporal variation in community metrics exceeded the effects of fishing in this highly dynamic study site, suggesting that an acute level of disturbance (fished over six times) would match the level of natural variation. We discuss the implications of our findings for natural resources management with respect to context-specific human disturbance and provide guidance for best fishing practices.
Abstract
Mini-EUSO is a telescope observing the Earth in the ultraviolet band from the International Space Station. It is a part of the JEM-EUSO program, paving the way to future larger missions, ...such as K-EUSO and POEMMA, devoted primarily to the observation of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays from space. Mini-EUSO is capable of observing extensive air showers generated by ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays with an energy above 10
21
eV and to detect artificial showers generated with lasers from the ground. Other main scientific objectives of the mission are the search for nuclearites and strange quark matter, the study of atmospheric phenomena such as transient luminous events, meteors, and meteoroids, the observation of sea bioluminescence and of artificial satellites and man-made space debris. Mini-EUSO will map the nighttime Earth in the UV range (290–430 nm), with a spatial resolution of about 6.3 km and a temporal resolution of 2.5
μ
s, through a nadir-facing UV-transparent window in the Russian Zvezda module. The instrument, launched on 2019 August 22, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, is based on an optical system employing two Fresnel lenses and a focal surface composed of 36 multianode photomultiplier tubes, 64 channels each, for a total of 2304 channels with single-photon counting sensitivity and an overall field of view of 44°. Mini-EUSO also contains two ancillary cameras to complement measurements in the near-infrared and visible ranges. In this paper, we describe the detector and present the various phenomena observed in the first months of operations.
Mini-EUSO is part of the JEM-EUSO program and operates on board the International Space Station (ISS). It is a UV-telescope with single-photon counting capability looking at nighttime downwards to ...the Earth through a nadir-facing UV-transparent window. As part of the pre-flight tests, the Mini-EUSO engineering model, a telescope with 1/9 of the original focal surface and a lens of 2.5 cm diameter, has been built and tested. Tests of the Mini-EUSO engineering model have been made in laboratory and in open-sky conditions. Laboratory tests have been performed at the TurLab facility, located at the Physics Department of the University of Turin, equipped with a rotating tank containing different types of materials and light sources. In this way, the configuration for the observation of the Earth from space was emulated, including the Mini-EUSO trigger schemes. In addition to the qualification and calibration tests, the Mini-EUSO engineering model has also been used to evaluate the possibility of using a JEM-EUSO-type detector for applications such as observation of space debris. Furthermore, observations in open-sky conditions allowed the studies of natural light sources such as stars, meteors, planets, and artificial light sources such as airplanes, satellites reflecting the sunlight, and city lights. Most of these targets could be detected also with Mini-EUSO. In this paper, the tests in laboratory and in open-sky conditions are reported, as well as the obtained results. In addition, the contribution that such tests provided to foresee and improve the performance of Mini-EUSO on board the ISS is discussed.
Abstract
The Mini-EUSO (Multi-wavelenght Imaging New Instrument - Extreme Universe Space Observatory) telescope is designed to observe the UV emission of the Earth from the vantage point of the ...International Space Station (ISS) in low Earth orbit. Mini-EUSO will map the Earth in the UV range (300 - 400 nm) offering the opportunity to study a variety of atmospheric events such as Transient Luminous Events (TLEs) and meteors, as well as searching for Strange Quark Matter (SQM) and bioluminescence. The instrument comprises a compact telescope with a large field of view (44°), based on an optical system employing two Fresnel lenses for light collection, focused onto an array of 36 multi-anode photomultiplier tubes. The resulting signal is converted into digital, processed and stored via the electronics subsystems onboard. In addition to the main UV detector, Mini-EUSO contains two ancillary cameras for complementary measurements in the near infrared (1500 - 1600 nm) and visible (400 - 780 nm) range and also a SiPM (Silicon PhotoMultiplier) array which will increase the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of this ultrafast imaging sensor.
Mini-EUSO (Multiwavelength Imaging New Instrument for the Extreme Universe Space Observatory) is a telescope observing the Earth from the International Space Station since 2019. The instrument ...employs a Fresnel-lens optical system and a focal surface composed of 36 Multi-Anode Photomultiplier tubes, 64 channels each, for a total of 2304 channels with single photon counting sensitivity. Mini-EUSO also contains two ancillary cameras to complement measurements in the near infrared and visible ranges. The scientific objectives of the mission range from the search for Extensive Air Showers (EAS) generated by Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECRs) with energies above 1021eV, the search for nuclearites and Strange Quark Matter (SQM), up to the study of atmospheric phenomena such as Transient Luminous Events (TLEs), meteors and meteoroids. Mini-EUSO can map the night-time Earth in the near UV range (predominantly between 290–430 nm) with a spatial resolution of about 6.3 km (full field of view equal to 44°) and a maximum temporal resolution of 2.5μs, observing our planet through a nadir-facing UV-transparent window in the Russian Zvezda module. The detector saves triggered transient phenomena with a sampling rate of 2.5μs and 320μs, as well as continuous acquisition at 40.96 ms scale. In this paper we discuss the detector response and the flat-fielding and calibration procedures. Using the 40.96 ms data, we present ≃6.3 km resolution night-time Earth maps in the UV band, and report on various emissions of anthropogenic and natural origin. We measure ionospheric airglow emissions of dark moonless nights over the sea and ground, studying the effect of clouds, moonlight, and artificial (towns, boats) lights. In addition to paving the way forward for the study of long-term variations of light of natural and artificial origin, we also estimate the observation live-time of future UHECR detectors.
•ISS-based telescope in UV band with 2.5 microsecond sampling and 6.3 km resolution.•25 cm Fresnel lenses, single photon counting.•Observation of night-time Earth: from atmospheric phenomena to anthropogenic lights.•Method for boot-strapped flat-fielding of the telescope.•Determination of exposure for future Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Ray detectors.
Mini-EUSO is a high sensitivity imaging telescope that observes the Earth from the ISS in the ultraviolet band (2904÷430 nm), through the UV-transparent window in the Russian Zvezda module. The ...instrument, launched in 2019 as part of the ESA mission Beyond, has a field of view of 44°, a spatial resolution on the Earth surface of 6.3 km and a temporal resolution of 2.5 microseconds. The telescope detects UV emissions of cosmic, atmospheric and terrestrial origin on different time scales, from a few microseconds upwards. Mini-EUSO main detector optics is composed of two Fresnel lenses focusing light onto an array of 36 Hamamatsu multi-anode photomultiplier tubes, for a total of 2304 pixels. The telescope also contains: two ancillary cameras to complement measurements in the near infrared and visible ranges, an array of Silicon-PhotoMultipliers and UV sensors to manage night-day transitions. In this work we will describe the in-flight operations and performances of the various instruments in the first months after launch.
More than three dozen submillisecond events of ELVES type (“elves”), which are the result of the interaction of the front of an electromagnetic pulse from a lightning discharge and the lower layer of ...the ionosphere, have been identified in the data of a UV Atmosphere orbital multichannel detector (Mini-EUSO). Each event has a characteristic annular glow pattern and occupies a significant part of the detector’s field of view, and the signal in a separate channel has an asymmetric profile with a pronounced peak. The distribution of peak times contains information about both the localization of the discharge and the altitude of the glow. In this paper, we propose a Bayesian (probabilistic) model for reconstructing ELVES events, implemented using probabilistic programming methods in PyMC-5. The capabilities of the model for determining the position of the discharge are shown using the example of several events. Methods for modifying the model to restore the discharge orientation and refine the glow height are outlined.
Mini-EUSO is a high-sensitivity imaging telescope that observes the Earth from the ISS in the near ultraviolet band (290
÷
430 nm), through the nadir-facing, UV-transparent window in the Russian ...Zvezda module. The instrument, launched in 2019, has a field of view of 44
∘
, a spatial resolution on the Earth’s surface of 6.3 km and a temporal sampling rate of 2.5 microseconds. Thanks to its triggering and on-board processing, the telescope is capable of detecting UV emissions of cosmic, atmospheric, and terrestrial origin on different time scales, from a few microseconds up to tens of milliseconds. The optics is composed of two Fresnel lenses focusing light onto an array of 36 Hamamatsu Multi-Anode PhotoMultiplier Tubes, for a total of 2304 pixels. The telescope also contains two cameras in the near-infrared and visible, an 8-by-8 array of Silicon-PhotoMultipliers and a series of UV sensors to manage night-day transitions. The scientific objectives range from the observation of atmospheric phenomena lightning, Transient Luminous Events (TLEs), ELVES, the study of meteoroids, the search of interstellar meteoroids and strange quark matter, mapping of the Earth’s nocturnal emissions in the ultraviolet range, and the search of cosmic rays with energy above 10
21
eV. The instrument has been integrated and qualified in 2019, with the final tests in Baikonur prior to its launch. Operations involve periodic installation in the Zvezda module of the station with observations during the crew night time, with periodic downlink of data samples, with the full data being sent to the ground via pouches containing the data disks. Mission planning involves the selection of the optimal orbits to maximize the scientific return of the instrument. In this work, we will describe the various phases of construction, testing, and qualification prior to the launch and the in-flight operations of the instrument on board the ISS.
The Mini-EUSO telescope, approved by ASI (Italian Space Agency) and Roscosmos (Russian Space Agency) as long-term program of space experiments to be launched on the Progress spacecraft during the ...Expedition 60/61 in 2019, will be placed on a nadir-facing, UV transparent window on the ISS Russian Zvezda module looking down on Earth. As one of the JEM-EUSO collaboration missions, its first objective is to observe UV light produced by UHECR (Ultra High Energy Cosmic Ray) events from upper atmosphere (~ 400 km altitude), moreover, from this point of view, Mini-EUSO will perform, for the first time, high-resolution mapping of night-earth UV (300 - 400 nm) emission, focusing on terrestrial background sources, TLEs (Transient Luminous Events), bioluminescence, meteoroids burning in atmosphere, search for SQM (Strange Quark Matter) signals, as well as detecting and mapping space debris. The integration of the instrument, currently underway at the University of Rome Tor Vergata, is at an advanced stage in order to be compliant with a launch opportunity in June 2019. The on ground test results will be presented.
We describe some applications of SiPMs developed for space-borne detectors to be employed in astroparticle physics research. SiPMs were first installed in space in 2005 on board of the International ...Space Station (ISS) in the Lazio-Sirad experiment. In Lazio-Sirad the SiPMs have been used as sensors of a small calorimeter to measure radiation environment in space and assess the effectiveness of shielding for astronauts. More recently, a 64 pixel array of SiPMs was used in Mini-EUSO, an UV telescope to study UV terrestrial emissions. Mini-EUSO was launched in Summer 2019 on board the ISS and is observing the Earth from a nadir facing window in the Russian section of the station. The detector technology and readout electronics developed in these contexts can also be employed in ground-based applications, both in research and in technological transfer implementations. As an example, we also discuss the application of SiPM detectors developed for EUSO detectors in the development of Lanfos, a detector to assess the amount of Cesium in food produced in the regions affected by the 2011 Fukushima power plant accident.
PDF
