Measurements of water vapour in the mesosphere with the spectral absorption line imager (SALI) |
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| Institution: | 1. Centre for Research in Earth and Space Science, York University, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, ON, M3J 1P3, Canada;2. Centre for Research in Earth and Space Technology, 4850 Keele Street, Toronto, ON, M3J 3K1, Canada;3. Mayes Mullins Enterprises Ltd., 13214 Hwy 27, PO Box 425, Nobleton, ON, L0G 1N0, Canada;1. Science and Technology on Combustion, Internal Flow and Thermo-Structure Laboratory, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi''an, Shaanxi, 710072, PR China;2. Sichuan Academy of Aerospace Technology, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610100, PR China;3. Xi''an Aerospace Propulsion Institute, Xi''an, Shaanxi, 710100, PR China;4. School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, 200237, PR China;5. Unmanned System Research Institute, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi''an, Shaanxi, 710072, PR China;1. Wolfson School of Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering, Loughborough University, Loughborough, LE113TU, England, UK;2. AVL List GmbH, Graz, Austria;1. School of BioSciences, Bio21 Institute, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia;2. Daintree Rainforest Observatory, Division of Research and Innovation, James Cook University, Cairns, Queensland 4878, Australia;1. Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, USA;2. Social Entrepreneurship to Spur Health, Guangzhou 510095, China;3. St Louis University, St Louis, MO, USA;4. Makerere University-Johns Hopkins University Research Collaboration, Kampala, Uganda;5. FHI 360, Durham, NC, USA;6. Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA;7. American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, Arlington, VA, USA;8. Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases, TDR, Geneva, Switzerland;9. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Babcock University, Ilishan-Remo, Nigeria;10. Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK |
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| Abstract: | Water vapour concentration is one of the most important, yet one of the least known quantities of the mesosphere. Knowledge of water vapour concentration is the key to understanding many mesospheric processes, including the one that is primary focus of our investigation, Polar Mesospheric Clouds (PMC). The processes of formation and occurrence parameters of PMC constitute an interesting problem in their own right, but recent evidence had been provided which suggests that PMC are a critical indicator of climate change. In this context the feasibility of a low cost method of water vapour measurements using an instrument carried aloft by a sounding rocket has been examined and some of the results discussed. It is proposed to measure the strength of the 936nm water absorption line in a solar occultation configuration employing a CCD detector. This leads to the design of a small, low cost and low-mass instrument, which can be flown on a small rocket, of the type of the Orbital Sciences Corporation Viper 5. Alternatively the instrument can be flown as a “passenger” on larger rocket carrying other experiments. In either case flight costs are relatively low. Some performance simulations are presented showing that the instrument we have designed will be sufficiently sensitive to measure water vapor in concentrations that are expected at the summer mesopause, about 85 km height. Sufficient payload design work was carried out showing that the structural, thermal and electrical requirements for a flight on the Viper 5 rocket can be met and thus making the experiment feasible for a flight. |
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