| 1. |
- Megner, Linda, et al.
(författare)
-
Large mesospheric ice particles at exceptionally high altitudes
- 2009
-
Ingår i: Annales Geophysicae. - 0992-7689 .- 1432-0576. ; 27, s. 943-951
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We here report on the characteristics of exceptionally high Noctilucent clouds (NLC) that were detected with rocket photometers during the ECOMA/MASS campaign at Andøya, Norway 2007. The results from three separate flights are shown and discussed in connection to lidar measurements. Both the lidar measurements and the large difference between various rocket passages through the NLC show that the cloud layer was inhomogeneous on large scales. Two passages showed a particularly high, bright and vertically extended cloud, reaching to approximately 88 km. Long time series of lidar measurements show that NLC this high are very rare, only one NLC measurement out of thousand reaches above 87 km. The NLC is found to consist of three distinct layers. All three were bright enough to allow for particle size retrieval by phase function analysis, even though the lowest layer proved too horizontally inhomogeneous to obtain a trustworthy result. Large particles, corresponding to an effective radius of 50 nm, were observed both in the middle and top of the NLC. The present cloud does not comply with the conventional picture that NLC ice particles nucleate near the temperature minimum and grow to larger sizes as they sediment to lower altitudes. Strong up-welling, likely caused by gravity wave activity, is required to explain its characteristics.
|
|
| 2. |
- Rapp, M., et al.
(författare)
-
First in situ measurement of the vertical distribution of ice volume in a mesospheric ice cloud during the ECOMA/MASS rocket-campaign
- 2009
-
Ingår i: Annales Geophysicae. - 0992-7689 .- 1432-0576. ; :27, s. 755-766
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present in situ observations of mesospheric ice particles with a new particle detector which combines a classical Faraday cup with the active photoionization of particles and subsequent detection of photoelectrons. Our observations of charged particles and free electrons within a decaying PMSE-layer reveal that the presence of charged particles is a necessary but not sufficient condition for the presence of PMSE. That is, additional requirements like a sufficiently large electron density – which we here estimate to be on the order of ~100 cm−3 – and the presence of small scale structures (commonly assumed to be caused by turbulence) need to be satisfied. Our photoelectron measurements reveal a very strong horizontal structuring of the investigated ice layer, i.e., a very broad layer (82–88 km) seen on the upleg is replaced by a narrow layer from 84.5–86 km only 50 km apart on the downleg of the rocket flight. Importantly, the qualitative structure of these photoelectron profiles is in remarkable qualitative agreement with photometer measurements on the same rocket thus demonstrating the reliability of this new technique. We then show that the photoelectron currents are a unique function of the ice particle volume density (and hence ice mass) within an uncertainty of only 15% and we derive corresponding altitude profiles of ice volume densities. Derived values are in the range ~2–8×10−14 cm3/cm3 (corresponding to mass densities of ~20–80 ng/m3, and water vapor mixing ratios of 3–12 ppm) and are the first such estimates with the unique spatial resolution of an in situ measurement.
|
|
| 3. |
- Rapp, Markus, et al.
(författare)
-
In situ observations of meteor smoke particles (MSP) during the Geminids 2010: contraints on MSP size, work function and composition
- 2012
-
Ingår i: Annales Geophysicae. - : Copernicus GmbH. - 0992-7689 .- 1432-0576. ; 30:12, s. 1611-1622
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present in situ observations of meteoric smoke particles (MSP) obtained during three sounding rocket flights in December 2010 in the frame of the final campaign of the Norwegian-German ECOMA project (ECOMA = Existence and Charge state Of meteoric smoke particles in the Middle Atmosphere). The flights were conducted before, at the maximum activity, and after the decline of the Geminids which is one of the major meteor showers over the year. Measurements with the ECOMA particle detector yield both profiles of naturally charged particles (Faraday cup measurement) as well as profiles of photoelectrons emitted by the MSPs due to their irradiation by photons of a xenon-flash lamp. The column density of negatively charged MSPs decreased steadily from flight to flight which is in agreement with a corresponding decrease of the sporadic meteor flux recorded during the same period. This implies that the sporadic meteors are a major source of MSPs while the additional influx due to the shower meteors apparently did not play any significant role. Surprisingly, the profiles of photoelectrons are only partly compatible with this observation: while the photoelectron current profiles obtained during the first and third flight of the campaign showed a qualitatively similar behaviour as the MSP charge density data, the profile from the second flight (i.e., at the peak of the Geminids) shows much smaller photoelectron currents. This may tentatively be interpreted as a different MSP composition (and, hence, different photoelectric properties) during this second flight, but at this stage we are not in a position to conclude that there is a cause and effect relation between the Geminids and this observation. Finally, the ECOMA particle detector used during the first and third flight employed three instead of only one xenon flash lamp where each of the three lamps used for one flight had a different window material resulting in different cut off wavelengths for these three lamp types. Taking into account these data along with simple model estimates as well as rigorous quantum chemical calculations, it is argued that constraints on MSP sizes, work function and composition can be inferred. Comparing the measured data to a simple model of the photoelectron currents, we tentatively conclude that we observed MSPs in the 0.5–3 nm size range with generally increasing particle size with decreasing altitude. Notably, this size information can be obtained because different MSP particle sizes are expected to result in different work functions which is both supported by simple classical arguments as well as quantum chemical calculations. Based on this, the MSP work function can be estimated to lie in the range from ~4–4.6 eV. Finally, electronic structure calculations indicate that the low work function of the MSP measured by ECOMA indicates that Fe and Mg hydroxide clusters, rather than metal silicates, are the major constituents of the smoke particles.
|
|
| 4. |
- Sternovsky, Z., et al.
(författare)
-
In-situ detection of noctilucent cloud particles by the Colorado Dust Detectors onboard the PHOCUS sounding rocket
- 2014
-
Ingår i: Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics. - : Elsevier BV. - 1364-6826 .- 1879-1824. ; 118, s. 145-150
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Particles, Hydrogen and Oxygen Chemistry in the Upper Summer mesosphere (PHOCUS) sounding rocket campaign is a payload that carried multiple in-situ instruments for the detection of charged icy particles of noctilucent clouds (NLCs). The PHOCUS payload was launched on July 21st, 2011 and carried 18 scientific instruments. Three of these instruments were dedicated to the detection of the charged aerosol particles. All three instruments detected a narrow ice layer at around 81.5 km altitude. The Colorado Dust Detectors (CDDs) collected the net charge from the impact of aerosol particles on two graphite surfaces mounted flush with the payload skin. A combination of a small bias potential and permanent magnets were used to suppress the collection of plasma particles. The efficiency of the magnetic shielding improves with increasing altitude where there are fewer scattering collisions with neutrals. The data analysis shows that the net collected current can be decomposed into contributions from photoelectron emission, plasma electrons and ions, and the aerosol particles. The results show that the current corresponding to the collection of aerosol particles is positive, which is due to secondary charging effects.
|
|
