2009, Brattli, A., Lie-Svendsen, Ø., Svenes, K., Hoppe, U.-P., Strelnikova, I., Rapp, M., Latteck, R., Torkar, K., Gumbel, J., Megner, L., Baumgarten, G.

The ECOMA series of rocket payloads use a set of aerosol particle, plasma, and optical instruments to study the properties of aerosol particles and their interaction with the ambient plasma environment in the polar mesopause region. In August 2007 the ECOMA-3 payload was launched into a region with Polar Mesosphere Summer Echoes (PMSE) and noctilucent clouds (NLC). An electron depletion was detected in a broad region between 83 and 88 km, coincident with enhanced density of negatively charged aerosol particles. We also find evidence for positive ion depletion in the same region. Charge neutrality requires that a population of positively charged particles smaller than 2 nm and with a density of at least 2×108 m−3 must also have been present in the layer, undetected by the instruments. A numerical model for the charging of aerosol particles and their interaction with the ambient plasma is used to analyse the results, showing that high aerosol particle densities are required in order to explain the observed ion density depletion. The model also shows that a very high photoionisation rate is required for the particles smaller than 2 nm to become positively charged, indicating that these may have a lower work function than pure water ice.

2014, Demissie, T.D., Espy, P.J., Kleinknecht, N.H., Hatlen, M., Kaifler, N., Baumgarten, G.

Four years of noctilucent cloud (NLC) images from an automated digital camera in Trondheim and results from a ray-tracing model are used to extend the climatology of gravity waves to higher latitudes and to identify their sources during summertime. The climatology of the summertime gravity waves detected in NLC between 64 and 74° N is similar to that observed between 60 and 64° N by Pautet et al. (2011). The direction of propagation of gravity waves observed in the NLC north of 64° N is a continuation of the north and northeast propagation as observed in south of 64° N. However, a unique population of fast, short wavelength waves propagating towards the SW is observed in the NLC, which is consistent with transverse instabilities generated in situ by breaking gravity waves (Fritts and Alexander, 2003). The relative amplitude of the waves observed in the NLC Mie scatter have been combined with ray-tracing results to show that waves propagating from near the tropopause, rather than those resulting from secondary generation in the stratosphere or mesosphere, are more likely to be the sources of the prominent wave structures observed in the NLC. The coastal region of Norway along the latitude of 70° N is identified as the primary source region of the waves generated near the tropopause.

2009, Rapp, M., Strelnikova, I., Strelnikov, B., Latteck, R., Baumgarten, G., Li, Q., Megner, L., Gumbel, J., Friedrich, M., Hoppe, U.-P., Robertson, S.

We present in situ observations of mesospheric ice particles with a new particle detector which combines a classical Faraday cup with the active photoionization of particles and subsequent detection of photoelectrons. Our observations of charged particles and free electrons within a decaying PMSE-layer reveal that the presence of charged particles is a necessary but not sufficient condition for the presence of PMSE. That is, additional requirements like a sufficiently large electron density – which we here estimate to be on the order of ~100 cm−3 – and the presence of small scale structures (commonly assumed to be caused by turbulence) need to be satisfied. Our photoelectron measurements reveal a very strong horizontal structuring of the investigated ice layer, i.e., a very broad layer (82–88 km) seen on the upleg is replaced by a narrow layer from 84.5–86 km only 50 km apart on the downleg of the rocket flight. Importantly, the qualitative structure of these photoelectron profiles is in remarkable qualitative agreement with photometer measurements on the same rocket thus demonstrating the reliability of this new technique. We then show that the photoelectron currents are a unique function of the ice particle volume density (and hence ice mass) within an uncertainty of only 15% and we derive corresponding altitude profiles of ice volume densities. Derived values are in the range ~2–8×10−14 cm3/cm3 (corresponding to mass densities of ~20–80 ng/m3, and water vapor mixing ratios of 3–12 ppm) and are the first such estimates with the unique spatial resolution of an in situ measurement.

2009, Megner, L., Khaplanov, M., Baumgarten, G., Gumbel, J., Stegman, J., Strelnikov, B., Robertson, S.

We here report on the characteristics of exceptionally high Noctilucent clouds (NLC) that were detected with rocket photometers during the ECOMA/MASS campaign at Andøya, Norway 2007. The results from three separate flights are shown and discussed in connection to lidar measurements. Both the lidar measurements and the large difference between various rocket passages through the NLC show that the cloud layer was inhomogeneous on large scales. Two passages showed a particularly high, bright and vertically extended cloud, reaching to approximately 88 km. Long time series of lidar measurements show that NLC this high are very rare, only one NLC measurement out of thousand reaches above 87 km. The NLC is found to consist of three distinct layers. All three were bright enough to allow for particle size retrieval by phase function analysis, even though the lowest layer proved too horizontally inhomogeneous to obtain a trustworthy result. Large particles, corresponding to an effective radius of 50 nm, were observed both in the middle and top of the NLC. The present cloud does not comply with the conventional picture that NLC ice particles nucleate near the temperature minimum and grow to larger sizes as they sediment to lower altitudes. Strong up-welling, likely caused by gravity wave activity, is required to explain its characteristics.

2013, Wilms, H., Rapp, M., Hoffmann, P., Fiedler, J., Baumgarten, G.

The influence of gravity waves on noctilucent clouds (NLC) at ALOMAR (69° N) is analysed by relating gravity wave activity to NLC occurrence from common-volume measurements. Gravity wave kinetic energies are derived from MF-radar wind data and filtered into different period ranges by wavelet transformation. From the dataset covering the years 1999–2011, a direct correlation between gravity wave kinetic energy and NLC occurrence is not found, i.e., NLC appear independently of the simultaneously measured gravity wave kinetic energy. In addition, gravity wave activity is divided into weak and strong activity as compared to a 13 yr mean. The NLC occurrence rates during strong and weak activity are calculated separately for a given wave period and compared to each other. Again, for the full dataset no dependence of NLC occurrence on relative gravity wave activity is found. However, concentrating on 12 h of NLC detections during 2008, we do find an NLC-amplification with strong long-period gravity wave occurrence. Our analysis hence confirms previous findings that in general NLC at ALOMAR are not predominantly driven by gravity waves while exceptions to this rule are at least possible.

2009, Robertson, S., Horányi, M., Knappmiller, S., Sternovsky, Z., Holzworth, R., Shimogawa, M., Friedrich, M., Torkar, K., Gumbel, J., Megner, L., Baumgarten, G., Latteck, R., Rapp, M., Hoppe, U.-P., Hervig, M.E.

MASS (Mesospheric Aerosol Sampling Spectrometer) is a multichannel mass spectrometer for charged aerosol particles, which was flown from the Andøya Rocket Range, Norway, through NLC and PMSE on 3 August 2007 and through PMSE on 6 August 2007. The eight-channel analyzers provided for the first time simultaneous measurements of the charge density residing on aerosol particles in four mass ranges, corresponding to ice particles with radii <0.5 nm (including ions), 0.5–1 nm, 1–2 nm, and >3 nm (approximately). Positive and negative particles were recorded on separate channels. Faraday rotation measurements provided electron density and a means of checking charge density measurements made by the spectrometer. Additional complementary measurements were made by rocket-borne dust impact detectors, electric field booms, a photometer and ground-based radar and lidar. The MASS data from the first flight showed negative charge number densities of 1500–3000 cm−3 for particles with radii >3 nm from 83–88 km approximately coincident with PMSE observed by the ALWIN radar and NLC observed by the ALOMAR lidar. For particles in the 1–2 nm range, number densities of positive and negative charge were similar in magnitude (~2000 cm−3) and for smaller particles, 0.5–1 nm in radius, positive charge was dominant. The occurrence of positive charge on the aerosol particles of the smallest size and predominately negative charge on the particles of largest size suggests that nucleation occurs on positive condensation nuclei and is followed by collection of negative charge during subsequent growth to larger size. Faraday rotation measurements show a bite-out in electron density that increases the time for positive aerosol particles to be neutralized and charged negatively. The larger particles (>3 nm) are observed throughout the NLC region, 83–88 km, and the smaller particles are observed primarily at the high end of the range, 86–88 km. The second flight into PMSE alone at 84–88 km, found only small number densities (~500 cm−3) of particles >3 nm in a narrow altitude range, 86.5–87.5 km. Both positive (~2000 cm−3) and negative (~4500 cm−3) particles with radii 1–2 nm were detected from 85–87.5 km.

2011, Fiedler, J., Baumgarten, G., Berger, U., Hoffmann, P., Kaifler, N., Lübken, F.-J.

Noctilucent clouds (NLC) have been measured by the Rayleigh/Mie/Raman-lidar at the ALOMAR research facility in Northern Norway (69° N, 16° E). From 1997 to 2010 NLC were detected during more than 1850 h on 440 different days. Colocated MF-radar measurements and calculations with the Leibniz-Institute Middle Atmosphere (LIMA-) model are used to characterize the background atmosphere. Temperatures as well as horizontal winds at 83 km altitude show distinct differences during NLC observations compared to when NLC are absent. The seasonally averaged temperature is lower and the winds are stronger westward when NLC are detected. The wind separation is a robust feature as it shows up in measurements as well as in model results and it is consistent with the current understanding that lower temperatures support the existence of ice particles. For the whole 14-year data set there is no statistically significant relation between NLC occurrence and solar Lyman-α radiation. On the other hand NLC occurrence and temperatures at 83 km show a significant anti-correlation, which suggests that the thermal state plays a major role for the existence of ice particles and dominates the pure Lyman-α influence on water vapor during certain years. We find the seasonal mean NLC altitudes to be correlated to both Lyman-α radiation and temperature. NLC above ALOMAR are strongly influenced by atmospheric tides. The cloud water content varies by a factor of 2.8 over the diurnal cycle. Diurnal and semidiurnal amplitudes and phases show some pronounced year-to-year variations. In general, amplitudes as well as phases vary in a different manner. Amplitudes change by a factor of more than 3 and phases vary by up to 7 h. Such variability could impact long-term NLC observations which do not cover the full diurnal cycle.

2009, Baumgarten, G., Fiedler, J., Fricke, K.H., Gerding, M., Hervig, M., Hoffmann, P., Müller, N., Pautet, P.-D., Rapp, M., Robert, C., Rusch, D., von Savigny, C., Singer, W.

During the ECOMA/MASS rocket campaign large scale NLC/PMC was observed by satellite, lidar and camera from polar to mid latitudes. We examine the observations from different instruments to investigate the morphology of the cloud. Satellite observations show a planetary wave 2 structure. Lidar observations from Kühlungsborn (54° N), Esrange (68° N) and ALOMAR (69° N) show a highly dynamic NLC layer. Under favorable solar illumination the cloud is also observable by ground-based cameras. The cloud was detected by cameras from Trondheim (63° N), Juliusruh (55° N) and Kühlungsborn. We investigate planetary scale morphology and local scale gravity wave structures, important for the interpretation of the small scale rocket soundings. We compare in detail the lidar observations with the NLC structure observed by the camera in Trondheim. The ALOMAR RMR-lidar observed only a faint NLC during the ECOMA launch window, while the camera in Trondheim showed a strong NLC display in the direction of ALOMAR. Using the high resolution camera observations (t~30 s, Δx<5 km) and the wind information from the meteor radar at ALOMAR we investigate the formation and destruction of NLC structures. We observe that the NLC brightness is reduced by a factor of 20–40 within 100 s which can be caused by a temperature about 15 K above the frostpoint temperature. A horizontal temperature gradient of more than 3 K/km is estimated.

2009, von Savigny, C., Robert, C.E., Baumgarten, G., Bovensmann, H., Burrows, J.P.

SCIAMACHY, the Scanning Imaging Absorption spectroMeter for Atmospheric CHartographY has provided measurements of limb-scattered solar radiation in the 220 nm to 2380 nm wavelength range since summer of 2002. Measurements in the UV spectral range are well suited for the retrieval of particle sizes of noctilucent clouds (NLCs) and have been used to compile the largest existing satellite data base of NLC particle sizes. This paper presents a comparison of SCIAMACHY NLC size retrievals with the extensive NLC particle size data set based on ground-based LIDAR measurements at the Arctic LIDAR Observatory for Middle Atmosphere Research (ALOMAR, 69° N, 16° E) for the Northern Hemisphere NLC seasons 2003 to 2007. Most of the presented SCIAMACHY NLC particle size retrievals are based on cylindrical particles and a Gaussian particle size distribution with a fixed width of 24 nm. If the differences in spatial as well as vertical resolution between SCIAMACHY and the ALOMAR LIDAR are taken into account, very good agreement is found. The mean particle size derived from SCIAMACHY limb observations for the ALOMAR overpasses in 2003 to 2007 is 56.2 nm with a standard deviation of 12.5 nm, and the LIDAR observations yield a value of 54.2 nm with a standard deviation of 17.4 nm.