SA43A-4100:
Observations of neutral mesospheric smoke particles using triboelectric current measurements from a multi-surface Langmuir probe
Thursday, 18 December 2014
Aroh Barjatya, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Physical Sciences Department, Daytona Beach, FL, United States, Martin Friedrich, Graz University of Technology, Graz, Austria and Boris Strelnikov, Leibniz Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Kühlungsborn, Germany
Abstract:
We present results from two recent mesospheric rocket flights which were part of the German WADIS campaign from Andoya Rocket Range. One rocket was flown in polar summer, and the other in early winter. The payloads carried a novel multi-surface Langmuir probe. Three fixed bias Langmuir probes with different surfaces: Stainless Steel, Nickel and Platinum were exposed to the mesospheric plasma environment. In addition to collecting thermal electrons, each surface is expected to interact differently with the neutral constituents of the mesosphere: neutral metal atoms, mesospheric smoke particles, ice particles, etc. We estimate these particle densities from the measured electric current data.
