Characterizing the Signals and Backgrounds in a Low Earth Orbiting Cherenkov Detector, and Background Mitigation Strategies

Cherenkov detectors have been used in space for decades to measure Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCRs), Solar Energetic Particles (SEPs) and trapped particles. We present proof‐of‐concept GRAS/Geant4 simulations to both show that a cubic fused silica Cherenkov detector with SiPM in LEO has a good sensitivity to SEP and GCR protons as a function of cut‐off rigidity and trapped protons in the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA), and to characterize/mitigate the background that this detector would experience. We find that Cherenkov count rates due to most particle components vary significantly depending on many different factors, including the location in the orbit and solar particle event characteristics. We also investigate the use of coincidence as a method to remove background due to trapped electrons and delta electrons, finding this method is very effective for resolving count rates due to GLEs amongst intense trapped particle environments, but some Cherenkov count rates due to trapped particles are still observed in the simulated SAA region.