Charged meteoric particles as ice nuclei in the mesosphere: Part 2

Recondensed meteoric material, so-called meteoric smoke, has long been considered the main candidate for condensation nuclei for mesospheric ice formation. Recently however, model studies have shown that meteoric smoke particles are transported away from the polar region, where ice phenomena such as...

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Published inJournal of atmospheric and solar-terrestrial physics Vol. 71; no. 12; pp. 1236 - 1244
Main Authors Megner, L., Gumbel, J.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Elsevier Ltd 01.08.2009
Subjects
Charging processes
Mesosphere
Meteoric smoke
NLC ice nucleation
Mesosphere
Charging processes
Meteoric smoke
NLC ice nucleation
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Summary:Recondensed meteoric material, so-called meteoric smoke, has long been considered the main candidate for condensation nuclei for mesospheric ice formation. Recently however, model studies have shown that meteoric smoke particles are transported away from the polar region, where ice phenomena such as noctilucent clouds occur, before they can grow large enough to serve as ice condensation nuclei. In the accompanying paper it is argued that charging of the meteoric smoke particles may solve this dilemma by significantly altering the efficiency of the particles as condensation nuclei. In the present paper, the feasibility of this idea is investigated more quantitatively, by analysing the time scales of processes such as charging, recombination, and particle growth. Despite large uncertainties, especially in the charging efficiency of the smallest smoke particles, we show that reasonable assumptions yield number densities of charged condensation nuclei that are consistent with what is expected for mesospheric ice phenomena.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-2
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-1
content type line 23
ISSN:1364-6826
1879-1824
DOI:10.1016/j.jastp.2009.05.002