Design and performance of the Low-Energy Module for the Ziré instrument on the NUSES mission: A compact spectrometer for low-energy particles in space high-radiation environments

作者：Muhammd Abdullahi, Roberto Aloisio, F. Arneodo, Sindorjon Ashurov, Uygar Atalay, F. C. T. Barbato, R. Battiston, М. Бертаина, E. Bissaldi, Denise Boncioli, L. Burmistrov, Franck Cadoux, Irene Cagnoli, Elisabetta Casilli, Daniele Cortis, Austin Cummings, Martina D’Arco, Shideh Davarpanah, I. De Mitri, G. De Robertis, A. Di Giovanni, Andrea Di Salvo, L. Di Venere, Johannes Eser, Yannick Favre, Sara Fogliacco, Giulio Fontanella, Piergiorgio Fusco, S. Garbolino, Fabio Gargano, M. Giliberti, F. Guarino, Mathieu Heller, Tengiz Ibrayev, R. Iuppa, Artem Knyazev, John Krizmanic, Dimitrios Kyratzis, F. Licciulli, Antonio Liguori, Francesco Loparco, L. Lorusso, M. Mariotti, Mario Nicola Mazziotta, Marco Mese, M. Mignone, T. Montaruli, Riccardo Nicolaidis, F. Nozzoli, Angela V. Olinto, D. Orlandi, Giuseppe Osteria, Pietro Antonio Palmieri, B. Panico, G. Panzarini, D. Pattanaik, Lorenzo Perrone, H.P. Lima, R. Pillera, R. Rando, Angelo Rivetti, V. Rizi, Abhijit Roy, F. Salamida, Ritabrata Sarkar, Pierpaolo Savina, Viviana Scherini, Valentina Scotti, D. Serini, David Schledewitz, Iqra Siddique, Leandro Silveri, Aleksei Smirnov, Rodrigo Alberto Torres Saavedra, Caterina Trimarelli, P. Zuccon, Stefan Cristi Zugravel · 发表于：Advances in Space Research · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1016/j.asr.2025.11.046 · 研究领域：Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics、Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena、Earthquake Detection and Analysis

NUSES is a space mission scheduled for launch in late 2026 into a Sun-synchronous Low Earth Orbit at 550 km altitude. During its three-year nominal lifetime the satellite will test innovative methods for observing low-energy cosmic and gamma rays, astrophysical neutrinos, and for monitoring space-weather phenomena and lithosphere–atmosphere–ionosphere–magnetosphere couplings. Two complementary payloads are on board: Terzina, an optical Cherenkov telescope for extensive air showers, and Ziré, a particle detector covering an energy range from a few MeV up to hundreds. To extend Ziré’s sensitivity to lower energies, the Low-Energy Module (LEM) has been developed. The LEM is a compact (10 × 10 × 10 cm 3 ) particle spectrometer capable of measuring electrons from 0.1 to 7 MeV and protons from 3 to 50 MeV along the satellite orbit. A drilled plastic scintillator acts as an active collimator, vetoing off-axis tracks, while five silicon spectrometers, completed by a plastic calorimeter and lateral veto, provide event-by-event identification. This layout yields an angular resolution of about 7 ° for protons and an electron threshold below 30 keV, enabling operations in high-radiation regions such as the South Atlantic Anomaly and the inner Van Allen belt. By tracking variations in trapped-particle fluxes the LEM will investigate precipitation episodes linked to geomagnetic storms, solar flares, thunderstorms, and possible seismic precursors, thus contributing both to space-weather for...