Lecturer: Peter Dalin (IRF) Date: 2021-12-16 10:00 Place: Aula
Stratospheric balloon-borne studies of noctilucent clouds
Peter Dalin
Swedish Institute of Space Physics
The seminar is also online. See emails for connection details.
Abstract:
Noctilucent clouds (NLC) are the highest clouds in the Earth’s atmosphere forming at 80-90 km altitudes in the summer mesopause region. These clouds are composed of tiny ice particles, of a few tens of nm in radius, scattering sunlight. On the night 16-17 August 2021, IRF successfully launched an NLC imager, installed on XENON French balloon, to 33 km altitude from Esrange. The aim was to study NLC dynamics and ice particles microphysics from the stratosphere using balloon-borne measurements. All three NLC cameras and electronics were completely operational in the stratosphere for more than 10 hours at temperatures minus 30-32°C. Two wide angle cameras registered NLC in the twilight sky sector. NLC were of a moderate brightness and were located at high latitudes to the north of Esrange. The NLC imager successfully survived and had no damages after the landing of the gondola. We discuss technical characteristics of the NLC imager, the balloon launch and preliminary scientific results of the experiment.
Created 2021-09-28 08:19:52 by Mats Holmström Last changed 2021-12-09 10:52:34 by Mats Holmström
