On the secondary charging effects and structure of mesospheric dust particles impacting on rocket probes

Abstract. The dust probe DUSTY, first launched during the summer of 1994 (flights ECT–02 and ECT–07) from Andøya Rocket Range, northern Norway, was the first probe to unambiguously detect heavy charged mesospheric aerosols, from hereon referred to as dust. In ECT–02 the probe detected negatively charged dust particles in the height interval of 83 to 88.5 km. In this flight, the lower grid in the detector (Grid 2) measures both positive and negative currents in various regions, and we find that the relationship between the current measurements of Grid 2 and the bottom plate can only be explained by influence from secondary charge production on Grid 2. In ECT–07, which had a large coning, positive currents reaching the top grid of the probe were interpreted as due to the impact of positively charged dust particles. We have now reanalyzed the data from ECT–07 and arrived at the conclusion that the measured positive currents to this grid must have been mainly due to secondary charging effects from the impacting dust particles. The grid consists of a set of parallel wires crossed with an identical set of wires on top of it, and we find that if the observed currents were created from the direct impact of charged dust particles, then they should be very weakly modulated at four times the rocket spin rate ωR. Observations show, however, that the observed currents are strongly modulated at 2ωR. We cannot reproduce the observed large modulations of the impact currents in the dust layer if the currents are due only to the transfer of the charges on the impacted dust particles. Based on the results of recent ice cluster impact secondary charging experiments by Tomsic (2003), which found that a small fraction of the ice clusters, when impacting with nearly grazing incidence, carried away one negative charge −1e, we have arrived at the conclusion that similar, but significantly more effective, charging effects must be predominantly responsible for the positive currents measured by the top grid in ECT–07 and their large rotational modulation at 2ωR. Since the secondary effect is dependent on the size of the impacting dust, this opens up for the possibility of mapping the relative dust sizes throughout a dust layer by comparing the observed direct and secondary currents.

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A new method of inferring the size, number density, and charge of mesospheric dust from its in situ collection by the DUSTY probe

Atmospheric Measurement Techniques ◽

10.5194/amt-12-1673-2019 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 12 (3) ◽

pp. 1673-1683 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Ove Havnes ◽

Tarjei Antonsen ◽

Gerd Baumgarten ◽

Thomas W. Hartquist ◽

Alexander Biebricher ◽

...

Keyword(s):

New Method ◽

Production Model ◽

Dust Particles ◽

Bottom Plate ◽

Charged Dust ◽

Fundamental Parameters ◽

Dust Charge ◽

Analysis Technique ◽

June July ◽

The Impact

Abstract. We present a new method of analyzing measurements of mesospheric dust made with DUSTY rocket-borne Faraday cup probes. It can yield the variation in fundamental dust parameters through a mesospheric cloud with an altitude resolution down to 10 cm or less if plasma probes give the plasma density variations with similar height resolution. A DUSTY probe was the first probe that unambiguously detected charged dust and aerosol particles in the Earth's mesosphere. DUSTY excluded the ambient plasma by various biased grids, which however allowed dust particles with radii above a few nanometers to enter, and it measured the flux of charged dust particles. The flux measurements directly yielded the total ambient dust charge density. We extend the analysis of DUSTY data by using the impact currents on its main grid and the bottom plate as before, together with a dust charging model and a secondary charge production model, to allow the determination of fundamental parameters, such as dust radius, charge number, and total dust density. We demonstrate the utility of the new analysis technique by considering observations made with the DUSTY probes during the MAXIDUSTY rocket campaign in June–July 2016 and comparing the results with those of other instruments (lidar and photometer) also used in the campaign. In the present version we have used monodisperse dust size distributions.

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A new method to infer the size, number density, and charge of mesospheric dust from its in situ collection by the DUSTY probe

10.5194/amt-2018-222 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Ove Havnes ◽

Tarjei Antonsen ◽

Gerd Baumgarten ◽

Thomas W. Hartquist ◽

Alexander Biebricher ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Production Model ◽

Dust Particles ◽

Bottom Plate ◽

Charged Dust ◽

Fundamental Parameters ◽

Dust Charge ◽

Analysis Technique ◽

June July ◽

In Situ Collection ◽

The Impact

Abstract. We present a new extended method of analyzing measurements of mesospheric dust made with DUSTY rocket-borne Faraday cup probes. It yields the variation of fundamental dust parameters through a mesospheric cloud with an unrivalled altitude resolution down to 10 cm or less. A DUSTY probe was the first probe which unambiguously detected charged dust/aerosol particles in the Earth's mesosphere. DUSTY excluded the ambient plasma by various biased grids, which however allowed dust particles with radii above a few nanometer to enter, and it measured the flux of charged dust particles. The flux measurements directly yielded the total ambient dust charge density. We extend the analysis of DUSTY data by using the impact currents on its main grid and the bottom plate as before, together with a dust charging model and a secondary charge production model, to allow the determination of fundamental parameters, such as dust radius, charge number and total dust density. We demonstrate the utility of the new analysis technique by considering observations made with the DUSTY probes during the MAXIDUSTY rocket campaign in June–July 2016 and comparing the results with those of other instruments (Lidar and photometer) also used in the campaign.

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Future lunar missions and investigation of dusty plasma processes on the Moon

Journal of Plasma Physics ◽

10.1017/s0022377813000214 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 79 (4) ◽

pp. 405-411 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

SERGEY I. POPEL ◽

LEV M. ZELENYI

Keyword(s):

Dusty Plasma ◽

Lunar Surface ◽

Dust Particles ◽

Maximum Height ◽

Charged Dust ◽

The Moon ◽

Plasma System ◽

Lunar Dust ◽

The Impact ◽

Dusty Plasma System

AbstractFrom the Apollo era of exploration, it was discovered that sunlight was scattered at the terminators giving rise to “horizon glow” and “streamers” above the lunar surface. Subsequent investigations have shown that the sunlight was most likely scattered by electrostatically charged dust grains originating from the surface. A renaissance is being observed currently in investigations of the Moon. The Luna-Glob and Luna-Resource missions (the latter jointly with India) are being prepared in Russia. Some of these missions will include investigations of lunar dust. Here we discuss the future experimental investigations of lunar dust within the missions of Luna-Glob and Luna-Resource. We consider the dusty plasma system over the lunar surface and determine the maximum height of dust rise. We describe mechanisms of formation of the dusty plasma system over the Moon and its main properties, determine distributions of electrons and dust over the lunar surface, and show a possibility of rising dust particles over the surface of the illuminated part of the Moon in the entire range of lunar latitudes. Finally, we discuss the effect of condensation of micrometeoriod substance during the expansion of the impact plume and show that this effect is important from the viewpoint of explanation of dust particle rise to high altitudes in addition to the dusty plasma effects.

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Mesospheric dust and its secondary effects as observed by the ESPRIT payload

Annales Geophysicae ◽

10.5194/angeo-27-1119-2009 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 27 (3) ◽

pp. 1119-1128 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

O. Havnes ◽

L. H. Surdal ◽

C. R. Philbrick

Keyword(s):

Charge Density ◽

Lower Layer ◽

Bound Water ◽

Impact Angle ◽

Dust Particles ◽

Height Range ◽

Dust Layer ◽

Water Ice ◽

Dust Charge ◽

The Impact

Abstract. The dust detector on the ESPRIT rocket detected two extended dust/aerosol layers during the launch on 1 July 2006. The lower layer at height ~81.5–83 km coincided with a strong NLC and PMSE layer. The maximum dust charge density was ~−3.5×109 e m−3 and the dust layer was characterized by a few strong dust layers where the dust charge density at the upper edges changed by factors 2–3 over a distance of ≲10 m, while the same change at their lower edges were much more gradual. The upper edge of this layer is also sharp, with a change in the probe current from zero to IDC=−10−11 A over ~10 m, while the same change at the low edge occurs over ~500 m. The second dust layer at ~85–92 km was in the height range of a comparatively weak PMSE layer and the maximum dust charge density was ~−108 e m−3. This demonstrates that PMSE can be formed even if the ratio of the dust charge density to the electron density P=NdZd /n_e≲0.01. In spite of the dust detector being constructed to reduce possible secondary charging effects from dust impacts, it was found that they were clearly present during the passage through both layers. The measured secondary charging effects confirm recent results that dust in the NLC and PMSE layers can be very effective in producing secondary charges with up to ~50 to 100 electron charges being rubbed off by one impacting large dust particle, if the impact angle is θi≳20–35°. This again lends support to the suggested model for NLC and PMSE dust particles (Havnes and Næsheim, 2007) as a loosely bound water-ice clump interspersed with a considerable number of sub-nanometer-sized meteoric smoke particles, possibly also contaminated with meteoric atomic species.

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Nonlinear Dust Acoustic Waves in Strongly Coupled Dusty Plasmas with Positively Charged Dust Particles

Communications in Theoretical Physics ◽

10.1088/0253-6102/65/2/247 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 65 (2) ◽

pp. 247-253 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Yun-Liang Wang ◽

Xiao-Yan Guo ◽

Quan-Shui Li

Keyword(s):

Acoustic Waves ◽

Dusty Plasmas ◽

Dust Particles ◽

Charged Dust ◽

Dust Acoustic Waves ◽

Strongly Coupled ◽

Dust Acoustic ◽

Positively Charged

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Feedback between dust particles and atmospheric processes over West Africa during dust episodes in March 2006 and June 2007

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics ◽

10.5194/acp-10-10771-2010 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 10 (22) ◽

pp. 10771-10788 ◽

Cited By ~ 61

Author(s):

T. Stanelle ◽

B. Vogel ◽

H. Vogel ◽

D. Bäumer ◽

C. Kottmeier

Keyword(s):

West Africa ◽

Mineral Dust ◽

Dust Storms ◽

Dust Particles ◽

Total Emission ◽

Radiative Effect ◽

Radiative Fluxes ◽

Dust Layer ◽

Emission Fluxes ◽

The Impact

Abstract. We used the comprehensive model system COSMO-ART to quantify the impact of mineral dust on the radiative fluxes, the temperature and the feedback between dust particles and their emissions. We simulated two dust storms over West Africa in March 2006 and in June 2007. Simulations with and without coupling of the actual dust concentration with the radiative fluxes and the thermodynamics were carried out for each case. The model results for the 2006 case were compared with observations of the AMMA campaign. At the surface the shortwave radiative effect of mineral dust can be described by a linear relation between the changes in net surface radiation and the aerosol optical depth (AOD). For an AOD at 450 nm of 1 the average shortwave radiation reduction amounts −140 W m−2 during noon. The longwave radiative effect of mineral dust is nonlinear, with an average increase of +70 W m−2 for an AOD (450 nm) of 1. At the top of the atmosphere the effect of the dust layer with an AOD of 1 on radiative fluxes is not as significant as at the surface. It is slightly positive for the shortwave and approximately 26 W m−2 for the longwave radiation. The height range and the extension of the dust layer determine the effect of dust particles on the 2 m temperature. When the dust layer is attached to the surface and lasts for several days it leads to an increase of the surface temperature even during daytime. In case of an elevated dust layer there is a decrease in 2 m temperature of up to 4 K during noon. It is shown, that the temperature changes caused by mineral dust may result in horizontal temperature gradients which also modify near surface winds. Since surface wind thresholds decide the uptake of dust from the surface, a feedback on total emission fluxes is established. The coupled model provides an increase in the total emission fluxes of dust particles by about 16% during the dust storm in March 2006 and 25% during the dust episode in June 2007.

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A 3D Time-Dependent Model for the Study of the Electrification of Non Spherical Dust Particles due to Ion Attachment

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-857 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Sotirios Mallios ◽

Vasiliki Daskalopoulou ◽

Evangelos Skoubris ◽

George Hloupis ◽

Athanasios Papaioannou ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Electric Field ◽

Dust Cloud ◽

Dust Particles ◽

Dust Layer ◽

The Past ◽

Dependent Model ◽

Ion Attachment ◽

Atmospheric Conductivity ◽

Time Dependent Model ◽

Positively Charged

Electrical processes can be a potential key player in the lifecycle of desert dust. The dust particles can be charged during their transport, either by the attachment of atmospheric ions or by particle to particle collisions (triboelectric effect). Measurements indicate that, on average, larger particles become positively charged while the smaller ones become negatively charged [Zhao, H. L., J. Electrostat, 55, 2002; Lacks, D.J., et al., Phys. Rev. Lett., 100, 188305, 2008; Merrison, J.P., Aeolian Res., 4, 2012; Shinbrot, T. and Herrmann, H.J., Nature, 451, 2008]. During dust transportation, the larger and mainly positively charged particles separate from the smaller negatively charged particles due to the gravitational sedimentation, which sorts the dust particles by size. This process develops vertical electric fields within the dust cloud, enhancing the pre-existing field due to the depletion of atmospheric conductivity by the presence of the dust layer [Gringel W. and Mulheisen. R., Beitr. Phys. Atmos., 51, 121&#8211;8, 1978]. Depending on its strength, the total electric field within the dust cloud can: (a) counteract the gravitational settling of large particles and (b) cause a preferential orientation of the non-spherical particles along the vertical direction affecting particle aerodynamics [Ulanowski, Z., et al., Atmos. Chem. Phys., 7, 2007]. Therefore, electrical processes may alter dust removal processes, and thus the evolution of particle size during transport, affecting dust-radiation-cloud interactions and the associated air quality [Sajani S.Z., et al., Occup. Environ. Med., 68(6), 2011], weather, and climate modeling [Mahowald, N., et al., Aeolian Res., 15, 2014].In the present work, we have developed a novel 3D Cartesian time-dependent model that takes into account several atmospheric processes, such as: (i) the ionization due to the galactic cosmic rays radiation, (ii) the ion-ion recombination, and (iii) the ion attachment to non spherical dust particles. &#160;The model is able to self-consistently calculate the time dynamics of the atmospheric conductivity, and the atmospheric electric field, under the presence of a distribution of stationary non spherical dust particles. Additionally, the total charge density, dust particle charge and dust particle orientation are also quantified. The new 3D electrification formalism allows the study of dust layers without imposing any symmetry and &#160;is valid for layers with any horizontal and vertical extend, as opposed to 1D models which are valid when the horizontal extend is much larger than the vertical, or to 2D models which assume a symmetry in the shape of the dust layer. The results are compared, in the limiting case that the horizontal extend is much larger than the vertical one, with those obtained from 1D models found in the past literature [e.g. Zhou, L., Tinsley, B.A., Adv. Space Res. 50, 2012]. Moreover, the effect of the studied electrification process is assessed through a comparison with recent and unique electric field measurements within lofted dust layers, as performed with the use of novel low cost atmospheric electricity sensors in an experimental campaign of the D-TECT ERC project, in Cyprus the past November.

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On the height variation of the E-region cowling conductivity – effect of charged dust particles

Annales Geophysicae ◽

10.5194/angeo-24-2949-2006 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 24 (11) ◽

pp. 2949-2957 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

P. Muralikrishna ◽

V. H. Kulkarni

Keyword(s):

Extreme Values ◽

Particle Density ◽

Meteor Shower ◽

Polarization Field ◽

Dust Particles ◽

Charged Dust ◽

Free Electrons ◽

Dust Layer ◽

Electrojet Current ◽

E Region

Abstract. Height profiles of the Cowling conductivity in the electrojet region, estimated using the atmospheric parameters given by the existing models like CIRA or MSIS and measured electron density profiles, consistently show the heights of the electrojet current intensity peak to be more than 3 km below those estimated from in-situ measurements using magnetometers on board sounding rockets. Kulkarni and Muralikrishna (2005) attempted to explain this to be due to the effect of neutral dust particles. They reported that neutral dust particles, when they exist in sufficient numbers, can modify the collision parameters, especially in the lower E-region, where dust particles of meteoric origin are known to exist in large numbers, and thereby can modify the Cowling conductivity profile in the electrojet region. This work is extended here to include the effect of charged dust particles. Dust particles can become charged negatively by the attachment of ambient free electrons, and can thus reduce the number density of free electrons especially below the electrojet peak. This can alter the vertical profile of the east-west Hall current driven by the vertical Hall polarization field, thereby causing a net reduction in the electrojet current. Such a decrease in the electrojet current may be observed on the ground magnetograms. This mechanism, as proposed here, can operate only during periods of strong meteor shower activity, when the dust particle density at the assumed deposit height of 103 km can reach extreme values (for example, 5×104 cm−3 of 1-µm diameter dust particles). Such a dense dust layer may even cause a reversal in the normally upward vertical Hall polarization field, within the dust layer, causing a reversal of the electrojet currents below the current peak.

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