Long-Term Data and Simulations on ISOCAM Long-Wave Detector ...




In this work, the affected pixel number distribution of the

ISOCAM ong>Longong>-Wave (LW) detector onboard the Infrared Space

Observatory (ISO) in direct, cosmic ray-induced glitches is

calculated. The methods employed are Monte Carlo ray-tracing

techniques ong>andong> the taxi metric, which allows direct calculation of

the number of affected pixels based on the knowledge of entry

ong>andong> exit points of a ray. The simulation results are compared to

long-term experimental LW glitch data from November 1995 to

October 1997, obtained from ESA/Vilspa (E). Based on the

simulations combined with the CREME96 cosmic ray model for

solar quiet period, it is estimated that the detector is on average

traversed by ~0.3 cosmic ray protons per second. From the

experimental glitch data, a corresponding minimum bound of

~0.14 cosmic ray protons per second is obtained. Due to the

nature of the data, corresponding maximum on the other hong>andong>

cannot be calculated. The mean number of pixels affected in a

glitch are calculated to be ~8.4 ong>andong> ~9.0 for the theoretical ong>andong>

experimental cases, respectively. The overall agreement between

the simulated ong>andong> observed pixel number distributions is

relatively good, with some deviations. Possible reasons for these

deviations are discussed.


ESA’s Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) housed four

instruments, one of which was the CEA-Saclay coordinated

ISOCAM (Ref. 1). This consisted of two detector configurations,

denoted as Short Wave (SW) ong>andong> ong>Longong> Wave (LW). The LW

detector was a 32 x 32 element Si:Ga substrate hybridised by an

Iridium bump array, with a pixel size of 100 x 100 µm 2 ong>andong> a

thickness of 500 µm. In the space environment, this detector

suffered from occasional “glitches”. A glitch in this context is

defined as a spurious signal caused by the ever-present cosmic

rays or, during periods of high solar activity, by energetic solar

particles. Quiet-time interplanetary electrons, ong>andong> secondary

particles created within the spacecraft may also be responsible.

In this paper, we report on ray-tracing Monte Carlo

analysis performed on the ISOCAM LW detector volume using

the GEANT particle transport package. Results between

experimental glitch data, on one hong>andong>, ong>andong> simulations combined

with CREME96 cosmic ray model predictions, on the other

hong>andong>, are compared.


The orbit of ISO was highly elliptical ong>andong> geosynchronous, with

an apogee ong>andong> perigee of ~70500 ong>andong> ~1000 km, respectively,

ong>andong> a mean period of ~24 h. The time spent per orbit outside the

radiation belts, when useful observations were feasible, was

about 16 hours. The experimental ISOCAM LW glitch data,

referred to as the CGLITCH table, (Ref. 2) that we have used has

been derived by the following algorithm (Ref. 3), independently

for each pixel:



P. Nieminen

ESA/ESTEC, Space Environments ong>andong> Effects Analysis Section,

Noordwijk, The Netherlong>andong>s

1. Extract the pixel count vs. time. This yields the raw timedependent


2. Smooth the data with a median filter of width 5.

3. Calculate the difference d(t) between the raw ong>andong> smoothed


4. Calculate the stong>andong>ard deviation σ of the difference d(t).

5. Identify glitches by the criterion ⏐d(t)⏐>5σ.

This particular algorithm is by no means the only possible one.

Other, more complex approaches available for ISOCAM glitch

recognition have been reported e.g. by Claret et al (Ref. 4). There

are a number of parameters listed in the CGLITCH data table.

For the present work, the parameters of interest are the UTK

time (a special time unit, given in 1/24 seconds), the integration

time, ong>andong> the number of pixels affected during that integration.

The starting epoch of the data set is 28 November 1995, ong>andong> the

last entry was logged on 18 October 1997. The data therefore

represents nearly the whole ISO mission.

As indicated by Nieminen ong>andong> Sørensen (Ref. 5) in a

more detailed account of the present work, the space

environmental conditions during the time frame in question were

very quiet. There were no major solar proton events (the event

on 4-9 November 1997 occurred after the last CGLITCH entry)

or interplanetary magnetic field disturbances. There have been

reports, however, on correlation of ISO detector effects with

electrons of quiet-time solar origin (Ref. 6).


To determine the number distribution of ISOCAM LW detector

pixels affected by cosmic ray-induced glitches, we have used

Monte Carlo ray-tracing simulations by the GEANT3.21 particle

transport code (Ref. 7). By combining the result of a single raytracing

simulation with the pixel calculation by the so-called

“taxi metric” 1 , the total number of pixels involved can be

determined. The approach in the simulations was the following:

1) The incident particle origins were uniformly distributed

onto a sphere surrounding the detector volume. From this

sphere the individual, isotropic directional vectors were

chosen within a cone large enough to cover the set-up from

any entrance angle.

2) The rays created this way were non-interacting, i.e. all of

the physical processes treated normally in GEANT were

excluded. The rays entered the detector from a given point,

ong>andong> followed a straight track until the exit point was

reached. For cosmic rays, this is a fair first approximation,

since their energies are high enough such that the energy

deposit per unit length in the detector is not a strong

function of particle incident energy. The same method has

1 Taxi metric is a two-dimensional metric where only rectangular

transitions in the plane are allowed, ong>andong> where distance calculation (or, in

this case, pixel number calculation), does not follow Euclidean rules.

also been used for simulations on other ISO detectors, as

reported by Heras et al. (Ref. 8).

3) Knowing the entrance ong>andong> exit points, the number of pixels

n 0 lying along the track was calculated by the taxi metric




= | int( x / L)

− int( x / L)



+ | int( y



/ L)

− int( y


/ L)

| + 1

where L is the side length of the pixel (100 µm), ong>andong> (x 0,y 0)

ong>andong> (x 1,y 1) are the particle entry ong>andong> exit points,

respectively, projected onto a plane parallel to the surface of

the detector.

4) The Monte Carlo process was repeated one entry at a time,

until a statistically significant output distribution was

accumulated. We have used 10 5 incident particle entries.

Based on this procedure, we calculate the purely mathematical

mean number of pixels affected in a glitch to be ~8.4. This is the

same value as determined earlier by Agnèse et al. (Ref. 9), who

also used a Monte Carlo method. The CGLITCH experimental

data, on the other hong>andong>, yields a value of ~9.0, but this figure is

based on the number of pixels affected during a given integration

time that may contain several unresolved individual glitches,

ong>andong>/or overlaps of one or more pixels from different tracks.

The quiet-time cosmic ray proton flux was estimated

by the CREME96 model (Ref. 10, ong>andong> references therein) to be

~4 particles/cm 2 s (>30 MeV). Following the count rate equation

for a convex volume






= (2)

where Φ is the incident particle flux ong>andong> A the surface area of the

volume, the cosmic ray prediction consequently translates to an

average of ~0.3 cosmic ray protons traversing the LW detector

every second. We have used this purely geometrical result to

verify our GEANT ray-tracing simulation, which also yields the

same value.

On the other hong>andong>, using the mean integration time of

7.18 seconds calculated for the CGLITCH data set, a

corresponding minimum experimental bound of ~0.14 is

obtained. This value is simply the inverse of 7.18 seconds, ong>andong>

the rationale is as follows: it is known that, on average, a 7.18

seconds integration time corresponds to a single glitch entry.

However, that single entry may well consist of more than one

incident particles. Therefore, the value 0.14, representing the

case for a single proton, is the minimum estimate of protons

traversing the detector per second. Due to the nature of the data,

no maximum experimental bound on the other hong>andong> can be


These theoretical ong>andong> experimental results can be

compared to values reported by other authors. Cesarsky et al.

(Ref. 1) obtained 0.28 protons (>30 MeV)/s] based on data from

the KET instrument onboard Ulysses. The latest results reported

by Claret et al. (Ref. 4) ong>andong> Dzitko et al. (Ref. 11), following reanalysis

of that same data set, indicate a total of 0.36 cosmic ray

protons ong>andong> α-particles passing through the detector per second.

Given the uncertainties in the cosmic ray models, ong>andong> the use of

differing data sets, the agreement of these experimental results to

the GEANT ong>andong> CREME96-based estimates is encouraging.

There is a larger difference to the value calculated using the

CGLITCH data set, but as mentioned, this represents an absolute

minimum bound, whereas a corresponding maximum cannot be



The normalised CGLITCH ong>andong> ray-tracing-based pixel number

distributions are shown in Figure 1. The normalisation point was

chosen at 10 pixels, which is close to the means of both

distributions. (It would also be possible to choose alternatively 8

or 9 pixels, but as can be seen from the Figure, the change in the

relative amplitudes of the two distributions would be negligible).

The overall agreement between the two curves is relatively good.

There are some deviations that are next discussed.

Figure 1. ISOCAM LW affected pixel number distributions as

determined by the CGLITCH data table (solid line), ong>andong> by raytracing

simulation (dashed line).

Figure 2. ISOCAM LW track length distribution for isotropic

incident rays.

4.1. Low number of pixels affected

There is a difference in the low number (1-3 pixels affected) part

of the distribution between data ong>andong> the simulation. Possible

explanations for this difference include low-energy secondary

particles, fake counts in the specific ISOCAM LW de-glitching

algorithm used, ong>andong>/or counts of α-particles emitted from the

naturally radioactive Thorium coating in the lens system of the

instrument. In decaying, the isotope 232 Th produces α-particles

of energy ~4 MeV, which are stopped in less than 20 µm of

Silicon. Since the LW detector pixel area is 100 x 100 µm 2 , it is

conceivable that an excess of glitches with a low number of

pixels affected could be produced via this mechanism. Further

analysis on the rate of α-particles hitting the detector has been

performed by Dzitko et al. (Ref. 11).

4.2. Knee at ~40 pixels affected

The simulated distribution shows also a knee at ~40 pixels that is

not visible in the CGLITCH data. The knee results from the fact

that the track length distribution within a parallelepiped,

although being continuous, is not a monotonous but a peaked

one, as shown in Figure 2. This histogram has also been

produced by GEANT. The type of double-peaked distribution

illustrated here is typical for rectangular volumes where two

dimensions are equal, but the third is different. There is a first

peak at ≥0.5 mm, corresponding to the relatively large number of

rays penetrating the detector along the depth dimension, ong>andong> a

second, smaller peak at ≥3.2 mm, where rays are traversing the

detector sideways. It is this second peak that corresponds to the

knee seen in the pixel number distribution of Figure 2. (For

analytical considerations on track length distributions in various

volumes, see e.g. Kellerer (Ref. 12) ong>andong> references therein). It is

unclear why this feature is not visible in the data. Possible

explanations include secondary particle production, broadening

the distribution, ong>andong> non-uniformity of the local shielding around

the detector. Such non-uniformity may have an effect on the

directionality of the incoming radiation, ong>andong> hence on the

particle track length distribution.

4.3. Large number of pixels affected

Finally, the fact that the simulated curve ends at 64 pixels,

whereas the real data shows an extended tail towards the

maximum affected pixel number of 1024, is due to the

mathematical simulation model. The maximum number of pixels

traversed by a non-interacting ray, 64, corresponds to the case

where the entry ong>andong> exit points lie in diagonally opposite corners

of the detector volume. In reality, especially with heavier ions,

the charge liberated by the particle within this detector type may

in fact diffuse as far as four elements away (Ref. 9), leading to

events with a large total number of pixels affected. An energetic

incident particle may also generate an extensive shower of

secondaries, covering large portions, or the whole of the

detector. Such events are nevertheless several orders of

magnitude less frequent than the dominating ones where a few or

some tens of pixels are affected.


We have performed ray-tracing simulations of cosmic rayinduced

glitches experienced by the ISOCAM LW detector, ong>andong>

compared the results to long-term experimental glitch data. The

results on the affected pixel number distribution obtained by

simulation are encouraging. The mean number of pixels affected

in a glitch was found with this approach to be ~8.4, whereas the

CGLITCH data set, with the reservations stated above, yields

~9.0 pixels. The average number of cosmic ray protons

traversing the LW detector per second was calculated to be ~0.3

using both geometrical considerations ong>andong> the ray-tracing

method, combined with cosmic ray integral flux value of ~4

particles/cm 2 s (>30 MeV) from the CREME96 model. On the

other hong>andong>, from the CGLITCH data we inferred a corresponding

minimum bound of ~0.14, while the nature of the data did not

allow us to determine a corresponding upper bound. It was found

that there is a good qualitative agreement between the measured

ong>andong> simulated pixel number distributions, although certain

deviations remain due to secondary particle production, decay of

the radioactive Thorium in the instrument lens coating, ong>andong>/or

the specific instrumental de-glitching algorithm employed.


1. Cesarsky, C.J., et al., ISOCAM in Flight, Astronomy ong>andong>

Astrophysics, 315, 2, pp. L27-L31, 1996

2. ISOCAM CGLITCH data set was kindly provided to us by Dr.

R. Saxton in ESA-Vilspa.

3. Pollock, A., ESA-Vilspa, private communication, 1998

4. Claret, A., et al., Glitch Effects in ISOCAM Detectors, to

appear in Experimental Astronomy

5. Nieminen, P., ong>andong> Sørensen, J., ISOCAM LW Detector

Glitches: ong>Dataong> ong>andong> Ray-Tracing ong>Simulationsong>, to appear in

Experimental Astrononomy

6. Heras, A.M., et al., The ISO-SWS Detectors: Performance

Trends ong>andong> Space Radiation Effects, to appear in Experimental


7. GEANT, Detector Description ong>andong> Simulation Tool,

Application Software Group, Computing ong>andong> Networks Division,

CERN, October 1994

8. Heras, A.M., et al., The ISO Detectors ong>andong> the Space

Radiation Environment, in this volume

9. Agnèse, P., et al., Results of Radiation Tests Performed on the

ISOCAM Infrared Detector Array, IEEE Transactions on

Nuclear Science, 38, pp. 953-963, 1991

10. Tylka, A.J., et al., CREME96: A Revision of the Cosmic Ray

Effects on Micro-Electronics Code, IEEE Transactions on

Nuclear Science, 44, pp. 2150-2160, 1997

11. Dzitko, H., et al., Cosmic Ray Effects on the ISOCAM ong>Longong>

Wave Detector, to appear in Experimental Astronomy

12. Kellerer, A.M., Considerations on the Rong>andong>om Traversal of

Convex Bodies ong>andong> Solutions for General Cylinders, Radiation

Research, 47, pp. 359-376, 1971

More magazines by this user
Similar magazines