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Laboratory experiments on the microphysical formation process of Noctilucent Clouds

Nachbar, Mario; Duft, Denis ORCID iD icon; Wilms, Henrike; Kitajima, Kensei; Leisner, Thomas ORCID iD icon

Abstract (englisch):

Ablated meteoric material condensates in the upper atmosphere to nanometer sized meteoric smoke particles
(MSPs). These particles are believed to be the major kind of nuclei for the formation of so called NoctiLucent
Clouds (NLCs) in the polar summer mesosphere. However, describing the formation process of these clouds
is flawed with large uncertainties mainly due to a lack of experimental data on their microphysical formation
process.
To investigate these processes, we produce single charged nanometer sized (1-3 nm) MSP analogues in a
microwave plasma particle source. The particles are suspended in a carrier gas and transferred to a vacuum setup
where they are stored in a linear ion trap (MICE). The trap allows us to apply realistic mesopause conditions
in terms of temperature, background pressure and water vapor concentration. By using a time-of-flight mass
spectrometer, we are able to observe adsorption and, if nucleation occurs, subsequent deposition of water vapor on
the MSP analogues as a function of saturation and residence time in MICE. From these experiments, we determine
critical saturations needed to activate cloud formation. ... mehr


Zugehörige Institution(en) am KIT Institut für Meteorologie und Klimaforschung Atmosphärische Aerosolforschung (IMKAAF)
KIT-Zentrum Klima und Umwelt (ZKU)
Publikationstyp Poster
Publikationsdatum 27.04.2017
Sprache Englisch
Identifikator KITopen-ID: 1000076431
HGF-Programm 12.04.02 (POF III, LK 01) Cirrus Clouds
Veranstaltung European Geosciences Union General Assembly 2017, Vienna (Austria), 23–28 April 2017
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