scholarly journals Small-scale structures in neutrals and charged aerosol particles as observed during the ECOMA/MASS rocket campaign

2009 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 1449-1456 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Strelnikov ◽  
M. Rapp ◽  
I. Strelnikova ◽  
N. Engler ◽  
R. Latteck

Abstract. We present results of in situ measurements of neutral temperature during the ECOMA/MASS rocket campaign. We present and compare results of turbulence measurements conducted simultaneously by both in situ and doppler radar techniques. We show that the derived values of the turbulence energy dissipation rates are similar on average. We also find a region with a near adiabatic lapse rate with turbulence detected at the upper and lower edge. We note that it is consistent with expectation for a Kelvin-Helmholtz instability. We also present an estimate of the Schmidt numbers, Sc, for the charged aerosols that utilizes in situ measured small-scale density fluctuations of charged aerosols and both in situ and radar turbulence measurements. The derived Schmidt numbers fall within the range between 100 and 4500. This result agrees with previous estimates based on multi-frequency observations of PMSE (Rapp et al., 2008) and also with estimates of microphysical parameters presented in the companion paper by Rapp et al. (2009).

2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 979-998 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heiner Asmus ◽  
Tristan Staszak ◽  
Boris Strelnikov ◽  
Franz-Josef Lübken ◽  
Martin Friedrich ◽  
...  

Abstract. We present results of in situ measurements of mesosphere–lower thermosphere dusty-plasma densities including electrons, positive ions and charged aerosols conducted during the WADIS-2 sounding rocket campaign. The neutral air density was also measured, allowing for robust derivation of turbulence energy dissipation rates. A unique feature of these measurements is that they were done in a true common volume and with high spatial resolution. This allows for a reliable derivation of mean sizes and a size distribution function for the charged meteor smoke particles (MSPs). The mean particle radius derived from Schmidt numbers obtained from electron density fluctuations was ∼ 0.56 nm. We assumed a lognormal size distribution of the charged meteor smoke particles and derived the distribution width of 1.66 based on in situ-measured densities of different plasma constituents. We found that layers of enhanced meteor smoke particles' density measured by the particle detector coincide with enhanced Schmidt numbers obtained from the electron and neutral density fluctuations. Thus, we found that large particles with sizes  > 1 nm were stratified in layers of  ∼ 1 km thickness and lying some kilometers apart from each other.


2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 1099-1116
Author(s):  
Gerald A. Lehmacher ◽  
Miguel F. Larsen ◽  
Richard L. Collins ◽  
Aroh Barjatya ◽  
Boris Strelnikov

Abstract. Four mesosphere–lower thermosphere temperature and turbulence profiles were obtained in situ within ∼30 min and over an area of about 100 by 100 km during a sounding rocket experiment conducted on 26 January 2015 at Poker Flat Research Range in Alaska. In this paper we examine the spatial and temporal variability of mesospheric turbulence in relationship to the static stability of the background atmosphere. Using active payload attitude control, neutral density fluctuations, a tracer for turbulence, were observed with very little interference from the payload spin motion, and with high precision (<0.01 %) at sub-meter resolution. The large-scale vertical temperature structure was very consistent between the four soundings. The mesosphere was almost isothermal, which means more stratified, between 60 and 80 km, and again between 88 and 95 km. The stratified regions adjoined quasi-adiabatic regions assumed to be well mixed. Additional evidence of vertical transport and convective activity comes from sodium densities and trimethyl aluminum trail development, respectively, which were both observed simultaneously with the in situ measurements. We found considerable kilometer-scale temperature variability with amplitudes of 20 K in the stratified region below 80 km. Several thin turbulent layers were embedded in this region, differing in width and altitude for each profile. Energy dissipation rates varied between 0.1 and 10 mW kg−1, which is typical for the winter mesosphere. Very little turbulence was observed above 82 km, consistent with very weak small-scale gravity wave activity in the upper mesosphere during the launch night. On the other hand, above the cold and prominent mesopause at 102 km, large temperature excursions of +40 to +70 K were observed. Simultaneous wind measurements revealed extreme wind shears near 108 km, and combined with the observed temperature gradient, isolated regions of unstable Richardson numbers (0<Ri<0.25) were detected in the lower thermosphere. The experiment was launched into a bright auroral arc under moderately disturbed conditions (Kp∼5).


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boris Strelnikov ◽  
Martin Eberhart ◽  
Martin Friedrich ◽  
Jonas Hedin ◽  
Mikhail Khaplanov ◽  
...  

Abstract. In this paper we present an overview of measurements conducted during the WADIS-2 rocket campaign. We investigate the effect of small-scale processes like gravity waves and turbulence on the distribution of atomic oxygen and other species in the MLT region. Our analysis suggests that density fluctuations of atomic oxygen are coupled to fluctuations of other constituents, i.e., plasma and neutrals. Our measurements show that all measured quantities, including winds, densities, and temperatures, reveal signatures of both waves and turbulence. We show observations of gravity wave saturation and breakdown together with simultaneous measurements of generated turbulence. Atomic oxygen inside turbulence layers shows two different spectral behaviors, which might imply change of its diffusion properties.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yiwen Liu ◽  
Chao Xiong ◽  
Xin Wan

&lt;p&gt;The mid-latitude ionospheric trough (MIT) is a well-known feature in the topside ionosphere and plasmasphere. In this report,&amp;#160;we&amp;#160;investigated&amp;#160;the plasma irregularities inside the MIT region&amp;#160;based on the high-resolution (2 Hz) measurements of electron density and temperature from the Swarm satellite. We developed a method to&amp;#160;automatically&amp;#160;identify the mid-latitude trough from Swarm in-situ density measurements, and&amp;#160;the small-scale irregularities inside MIT region can also be well determined by considering appropriate thresholds of&amp;#160;both the relative (&amp;#8710;Ne/Ne) and&amp;#160;absolute (&amp;#8710;Ne) density fluctuations. Further statistics has been performed&amp;#160;based-on the multi-years database of identified MITs and irregularities from Swarm. Finally, we&amp;#160;provided for the first time the seasonal and magnetic local time distributions of irregularities within the MIT region, and the involved plasma instabilities&amp;#160;that cause&amp;#160;the irregularities&amp;#160;at the MIT region have been discussed.&lt;/p&gt;


2005 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 551-558 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Marshak ◽  
Yuri Knyazikhin ◽  
Michael L. Larsen ◽  
Warren J. Wiscombe

Abstract By analyzing aircraft measurements of individual drop sizes in clouds, it has been shown in a companion paper that the probability of finding a drop of radius r at a linear scale l decreases as lD(r), where 0 ≤ D(r) ≤ 1. This paper shows striking examples of the spatial distribution of large cloud drops using models that simulate the observed power laws. In contrast to currently used models that assume homogeneity and a Poisson distribution of cloud drops, these models illustrate strong drop clustering, especially with larger drops. The degree of clustering is determined by the observed exponents D(r). The strong clustering of large drops arises naturally from the observed power-law statistics. This clustering has vital consequences for rain physics, including how fast rain can form. For radiative transfer theory, clustering of large drops enhances their impact on the cloud optical path. The clustering phenomenon also helps explain why remotely sensed cloud drop size is generally larger than that measured in situ.


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (17) ◽  
pp. 11443-11460 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boris Strelnikov ◽  
Martin Eberhart ◽  
Martin Friedrich ◽  
Jonas Hedin ◽  
Mikhail Khaplanov ◽  
...  

Abstract. In this paper we present an overview of measurements conducted during the WADIS-2 rocket campaign. We investigate the effect of small-scale processes like gravity waves and turbulence on the distribution of atomic oxygen and other species in the mesosphere–lower thermosphere (MLT) region. Our analysis suggests that density fluctuations of atomic oxygen are coupled to fluctuations of other constituents, i.e., plasma and neutrals. Our measurements show that all measured quantities, including winds, densities, and temperatures, reveal signatures of both waves and turbulence. We show observations of gravity wave saturation and breakdown together with simultaneous measurements of generated turbulence. Atomic oxygen inside turbulence layers shows two different spectral behaviors, which might imply a change in its diffusion properties.


Author(s):  
D.M. Seyedi ◽  
C. Plúa ◽  
M. Vitel ◽  
G. Armand ◽  
J. Rutqvist ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hai Le-The ◽  
Christian Küchler ◽  
Albert van den Berg ◽  
Eberhard Bodenschatz ◽  
Detlef Lohse ◽  
...  

AbstractWe report a robust fabrication method for patterning freestanding Pt nanowires for use as thermal anemometry probes for small-scale turbulence measurements. Using e-beam lithography, high aspect ratio Pt nanowires (~300 nm width, ~70 µm length, ~100 nm thickness) were patterned on the surface of oxidized silicon (Si) wafers. Combining wet etching processes with dry etching processes, these Pt nanowires were successfully released, rendering them freestanding between two silicon dioxide (SiO2) beams supported on Si cantilevers. Moreover, the unique design of the bridge holding the device allowed gentle release of the device without damaging the Pt nanowires. The total fabrication time was minimized by restricting the use of e-beam lithography to the patterning of the Pt nanowires, while standard photolithography was employed for other parts of the devices. We demonstrate that the fabricated sensors are suitable for turbulence measurements when operated in constant-current mode. A robust calibration between the output voltage and the fluid velocity was established over the velocity range from 0.5 to 5 m s−1 in a SF6 atmosphere at a pressure of 2 bar and a temperature of 21 °C. The sensing signal from the nanowires showed negligible drift over a period of several hours. Moreover, we confirmed that the nanowires can withstand high dynamic pressures by testing them in air at room temperature for velocities up to 55 m s−1.


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