Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions
www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net
1680-7367
1680-7375
7
1
2007
10.5194/acpd-7-1183-2007
http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/7/1183/2007/
http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/7/1183/2007/acpd-7-1183-2007.html
http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/7/1183/2007/acpd-7-1183-2007.pdf
1183
1214
2007-01-25
On the efficiency of rocket-borne particle detection in the mesosphere
J. Hedin
jonash@misu.su.se
J. Gumbel
M. Rapp
Department of Meteorology, Stockholm University, 10691 Stockholm, Sweden
Leibniz Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Schloss-Str. 6, 18225 Kühlungsborn, Germany
Meteoric smoke particles have been proposed as a key player in the formation
and evolution of mesospheric phenomena. Despite their apparent importance
still very little are known about these particles. Sounding rockets are used
to measure smoke in situ, but aerodynamics has remained a major challenge.
Basically, smoke particles are so small that they tend to follow the gas
flow around the payload rather than reaching the detector if aerodynamics is
not considered carefully in the detector design. So far only indirect
evidence for the existence of these smoke particles has been available in
the form of measurements of heavy charge carriers. Important questions
concern the smoke number density and size distribution as a function of
altitude as well as the fraction of charged particles. Therefore,
quantitative ways are needed that relate the measured particle population to
the atmospheric particle population. In particular, we need to determine the
size-dependent, altitude-dependent and charge-dependent detection efficiency
for a given instrument design.
<br><br>
In this paper, we investigate the aerodynamics for a typical electrostatic
detector design. We first quantify the flow field of the background gas,
then introduce particles in the flow field and determine their trajectories
around the payload structure. We use two different models to trace particles
in the flow field, a Continuous motion model and a Brownian motion model.
Brownian motion is shown to be of basic importance for the smallest
particles. By defining an effective relative cross section we compare
different model runs and quantitatively investigate the difference between
the two particle motion models. Detection efficiencies are determined for
three detector designs, two with ventilation holes to allow airflow through
the detector, and one without such ventilation holes. Results from this
investigation show that rocket-borne smoke detection with conventional
detectors is largely limited to altitudes above 75 km. The flow through a
ventilated detector has to be relatively large for there to be an increase
in the detection efficiency.
Bird, G. A.: Aerodynamic effects on atmospheric composition measurements from rocket vehicles in the thermosphere, Planet. Space Sci., 36, 9, 921–926, 1988.
Bird, G. A.: Molecular Gas Dynamics and the Direct Simulation of Gas Flows, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1994.
Ceplecha, Z., Borovicka, J., Elford, W. G., ReVelle, D. O., Hawkes, R. L., Porubcan, V., and Simek, M.: Meteor phenomena and bodies, Space Sci. Rev., 84, 327–471, 1998.
Croskey, C., Mitcell, J., Friedrich, M., Torkar, K., Hoppe, U.-P., and Goldberg, R.: Electrical structure of PMSE and NLC regions during the DROPPS program, Geophys. Res. Lett., 28, 1427–1430, 2001.
Dahl, D. A.: SIMION 3D: version 6.0, Ion Source Software, KLACK Inc., Idaho Falls, 1995.
Gabrielli, P., Barbante, C., Plane, J. M. C., Varga, A., Hong, S., Cozzi, G., Gaspari, V., Planchon, F. A. M., Cairns, W., Ferrari, C., Crutzen, P., Cescon, P., and Boutron, C. F.: Meteoric smoke fallout over the Holocence epoch revealed by iridium and platinum in Greenland ice, Nature, doi:10.1038/nature03137, 2004.
Gelinas, L. J., Lynch, K. A., Kelley, M. C., Collins, R. L., Baker, S., Zhou, Q., and Friedman, J. S.: First observation of meteoritic charged dust in the tropical mesosphere, Geophys. Res. Lett., 25, 4047–4050, 1998.
Gumbel, J.: Aerodynamic influences on atmospheric in situ measurements from sounding rockets, J. Geophys. Res., 106, 10 553–10 563, 2001a.
Gumbel, J.: Rarefied gas flows through meshes and implications for atmospheric measurements, Ann. Geophys. 19, 563–569, 2001b.
Gumbel, J., Waldemarsson, T., Giovane F., Khaplanov, M., Hedin J., Karlsson B., Lossow, S., Megner L., Stegman J., Fricke, K. H., Blum, U., Voelger P., Kirkwood, S., Dalin. P. Sternovsky, Z., Robertson S., Horányi, M., Stroud, R., Siskind, D. E., Meier, R. R., Blum, J., Summers, M., Plane, J. M. C., Mitchell, N. J., and Rapp, M.: The MAGIC rocket campaign – an overview, Proc. 17 ESA Symposium on European Rocket and Balloon Programmes and Related Research (ESA SP-590), 141–144, 2005.
Havnes, O., Troim, J., Blix, T., Mortensen, W., Naesheim, L. I., Thrane, E., and Tönnesen, T.: First detection of charged dust particles in the Earth's mesosphere, J. Geophys. Res., 101, 10 839–10 847, 1996.
Hedin, A. E.: Extension of the MSIS Thermospheric Model into the Middle and Lower Atmosphere, J. Geophys. Res. 96, 1159, 1991.
Hedin, J., Gumbel, J., and Rapp, M.: The aerodynamics of smoke particle sampling, Proc. 17$^th$ ESA Symposium on European Rocket and Balloon Programmes and Related Research (ESA SP-590), 2005.
Horányi, M., Gumbel, J., Witt, G., and Robertson, S.: Simulation of rocket-borne particle measurements in the mesosphere, Geophys. Res. Lett., 26, 1537–1540, 1999.
Hunten, D. M., Turco, R. P., and Toon, O. B.: Smoke and dust particles of meteoric origin in the mesosphere and thermosphere, J. Atmos. Sci., 37, 1342–1357, 1980.
Lanci, L. and Kent, D. V.: Meteoric smoke fallout revealed by superparamagnetism in Greenland ice, Geophys. Res. Lett., 33, L13308, doi:10.1029/2006GL026480, 2006.
Love, S. G. and Brownlee, D. E.: A direct measurement of the terrestrial mass accretion rate of cosmic dust, Science, 262, 550–553, 1993.
Lynch, K. A., Gelinas, L. J., Kelley, M. C., Collins, R. L., Widholm, M., Rau, D., MacDonald, E., Liu, Y., Ulwick, J., and Mace, P.: Multiple sounding rocket observations of charged dust in the polar winter mesosphere, J. Geophys. Res., 110, A03302, doi:10.1029/2004JA010502, 2005.
Mathews, J. D., Janches, D., Meisel, D. D., and Zhou, Q. H.: The micrometeroid mass flux into the upper atmosphere: Arecibo results and a comparison with prior estimates, Geophys. Res. Lett., 28, 1929–1932, 2001.
Megner, L., Rapp, M., and Gumbel, J.: Distribution of meteoric smoke – sensitivity to microphysical properties and atmospheric conditions, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 6, 4415–4426, 2006.
Plane, J. M. C.: Atmospheric chemistry of meteoric metals, Chem. Rev., 103, 4963–4984, doi:10.1021/cr0205309, 2003.
Plane, J. M. C.: A time-resolved model of the mesospheric Na layer: constraints on the meteor input function, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 4, 627–638, 2004.
Probstein, R. F.: Problems of Hydrodynamics and Continuum Mechanics, \textitSIAM, 568–580, 1968.
Rapp, M. and Lübken, F.-J.: Modelling of particle charging in the polar summer mesosphere: part 1 - general results, J. Atmos. Sol. Terr. Phys., 63, 759-770, 2001.
Rapp, M., Gumbel, J., and Lübken F.-J.: Absolute density measurements in the middle atmosphere, \textitAnn. Geophys., 19, 571–580, 2001.
Rapp, M., Hedin, J., Strelnikova, I., Friedrich, M., Gumbel, J., and Lübken, F.-J.: Observations of positively charged nanoparticles in the nighttime polar mesosphere, Geophys. Res. Lett., 32, L23821, doi:10.1029/2005GL024676, 2005.
Rapp, M. and Thomas, G. E.: Modeling the microphysics of mesospheric ice particles – Assessment of current capabilities and basic sensitivities., J. Atmos. Sol. Terr. Phys., 68, 715–744, 2006.
Rapp, M., Strelnikova, I., and Gumbel, J.: Meteoric smoke particles: evidence from rocket and radar techniques, submitted to Adv. Space Res., 2006.
Rosinski, J. and Snow, R. H.: Secondary particulate matter from meteor vapors, J. Meteorol., 18, 736–745, 1961.
Schulte, P. and Arnold, F.: Detection of upper atmospheric negatively charged microclusters by a rocket borne mass spectrometer, Geophys. Res. Lett., 19, 2297–2300, 1992.
Sternovsky, Z., Holzworth, R. H., Horányi, M., and Robertson, S.: Potential distribution around sounding rockets in mesospheric layers with charged aerosol particles, Geophys. Res. Lett., 31, L22101, doi:10.1029/2004GL020949, 2004.
Summers, M. E. and Siskind, D. E.: Surface recombination of O and H<sub>2</sub> on meteoric dust as a source of mesospheric water vapor, Geophys. Res. Lett., 26, 1837–1840, 1999.
Voigt, C., Schlager, H., Luo, B. P., Dörnbrack, A., Roiger, A., Stock, P., Curtius, J., Vössing, H., Borrmann, S., Davies, S., Konopka, P., Schiller, C., Shur, G., and Peter, T.: Nitric acid trihydrate (NAT) formation at low NAT supersaturation in polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs), Atmos. Chem. Phys, 5, 1371–1380, 2005.
von Zahn, U.: The total mass flux of meteoroids into the Earth's upper atmosphere, Proc. 17th ESA Symposium on European Rocket and Balloon Programmes and Related Research (ESA SP-590), 33–39, 2005.