Supercell’s storms are known for their devastating tornados of gnarly, but exactly how twisties are formed is poorly understood. A new study suggests that scientists could collect suggestions with a little help from the cosmos.
Muons, subatomic particles that are like severe versions of electrons, can detect atmospheric pressure within a storm and the resulting tornado, researchers report in an accepted work Physical review d. The particles are produced by cosmic rays, which are a variety of high -energy particles from space, including protons. When cosmic rays take care of the atmosphere, they produce muona that fall down to the ground – included through tornadoes.
Supercell storm computer simulations suggest that a low -pressure region within a storm contributes to the formation of tornados. But scientists have struggled understandably to get measurements within destructive temptations. Muonians can investigate the pressure from a distance, solving that problem.
“You can actually use this technique to make pressure measurements from a distance,” says physicist William Luszczak of Ohio State University. “So instead of putting a pressure sensor inside a tornado, you can measure the pressure from five kilometers away.”
Muons are sensitive to the density of the air where they pass. Low air pressure, which corresponds to a lower density, means that more muona make it up to the ground. This surplus of muon can be identified with a detector on Earth.
Based on the computer simulations of tornadoes and cosmic rays, researchers propose the use of a large detector spread over an area of 1,000 square meters. This may sound like many, but cosmic rays physicists are accustomed to building large detectors. The grape-3 experiment in Ooty, India, which discovers Muons over an area of 25,000 square meters, previously used particles to detect large tensions within a storm.
This large -scale approach will mean waiting and hope that a storm will pass enough to observe. Otherwise, a smaller, removable detector, with about 100 square meters, can be transported to the location of heavy weather.
Muons have previously been used to study cyclones. But, says physicist Hiroyuki Tanaka of Tokyo University, “Supercells are much smaller than cyclones. … For this reason, we need a much larger discovery area.” He questions whether the necessary detectors can become truly removable, and if the measurement will be successful in a realistic environment.
He may not need to wait long. Luszczak and colleagues are planning a first test of the concept this summer.
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