Modelling the electromagnetic phenomena associated with atmospheric storms and simulation of the IME-HF Analyser onboard the TARANIS satellite

Abstract: The aim of this work is to study the transient electrical high frequency
phenomena related to the thunderstorms. The mathematical model describing
the trans-ionospheric pulse pairs (TIPPs) as a representant of these
phenomena has been successfully developed. This knowledge is applied as a
stimulus to the IME-HF (Instrument Mesure Electrique – voie Haute
Fréquence) module of the TARANIS (Tool for the Analysis of RAdiation from
lightNIng and Sprites) satellite. The TARANIS is a CNES (Centre National
d'Études Spatiales) mission targeted to observe the magnetosphere-
ionosphere-atmosphere coupling and the thunderstorm related phenomena from
Earth’s orbit.
The IME-HF is an onboard module specialized for measurement of the
electrical part of the electromagnetic spectra in the bandwidth from 100
kHz to 35 MHz. Both hardware and function of the IME-HF are described,
along with the hardware implementation of the detection algorithm for the
transient events like TIPPs. The VHDL (Very-high-speed integrated circuit
Hardware Description Language) is used as a tool for the hardware
implementation into the FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array) device. The
primitive sine waves and then the mathematically modeled TIPPs are used to
stimulate the IME-HF hardware and evaluate the developed algorithm.
Signals with and without the added artificial noise are used for
stimulation. Only the noisiest signals are detected with an extended delay,
otherwise the detection algorithm is working with the optimal performance.
The results show, that the IME-HF with the implemented detection algorithm
can sucessfully detect TIPPs with minimum initial pulse voltage 55 mV (the
white noise level present is 10 mV) in 22 out of 25 cases. The future work
that is discussed in the final chapter, will constist of implementation of
the additional operational modes, telemetry and telecommand to the IME-HF.