HR: 16:15h
AN: SA24A-02    [Abstracts]
TI: Rocket-born instrument to detect charged smoke and cloud particles in the mesosphere
AU: Robertson, S
EM: Scott.Robertson@colorado.edu
AF: University of Colorado, Physics Department, Boulder, CO 80309-0390 United States
AU: * Sternovsky, Z
EM: Zoltan.Sternovsky@colorado.edu
AF: University of Colorado, Physics Department, Boulder, CO 80309-0390 United States
AU: Horanyi, M
EM: horanyi@colorado.edu
AF: University of Colorado, Physics Department, Boulder, CO 80309-0390 United States
AB: An instrument has been developed to detect charged, sub-visible aerosol particles in the upper atmosphere. The instrument is designed to fly on a sounding rocket and has a 30 square centimeter entrance slit. Venting ports are placed lower on the detector in order to let the air out and reduce pressure buildup inside the detector. The air sample flows between four pairs of graphite electrodes biased symmetrically with increasing bias potentials. Electrons, light ions, cluster ions and heavy charged aerosol particles of both polarities are collected mass-selectively on the electrodes that are connected to sensitive electrometers. Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) codes have been used to optimize the supersonic airflow around the instrument. The design of the entrance slit reduces the effect of the shock on the motion of the aerosols. A separate code is used to model the motion of charged particles within the detector. The effect of collisions with the residual gas is modeled using Monte Carlo techniques and collection efficiency is calculated. A laboratory prototype of the instrument has been fabricated and is currently under testing using ion beams.
DE: 0305 Aerosols and particles (0345, 4801)
DE: 0320 Cloud physics and chemistry
DE: 0340 Middle atmosphere--composition and chemistry
DE: 0394 Instruments and techniques
SC: SPA-Aeronomy [SA]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting