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Detailed Reference Information |
Sugiyama, T. (1994). Ion-recombination nucleation and growth of ice particles in noctilucent clouds. Journal of Geophysical Research 99: doi: 10.1029/93JA02822. issn: 0148-0227. |
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Formation of ice particles in the polar summer mesosphere is simulated with the proton hydrate, H+(H2O)n, as the origin. In an ion-recombination nucleation scheme, electrons in the mesosphere play a role in removing heavy proton hydrates from the ionic system to the background neutral system, making an ionic system a steady source of neutral embryonic nuclei for condensation. Referring to the laboratory data of n≤6, a model of reaction coefficients up to the hydration order of n=1000 is constructed with the help of both the nucleation theory and the unimolecular reaction theory. For a model nucleation layer 600 m in thickness with a minimum temperature of 125 K, produced fluxes of embryonic nuclei are calculated as a strong function of [H2O>, 103 cm-2 s-1 at [H2O>=2.16 parts per million by volume, for example. In the time dependent simulations, stable limit cycle oscillations of the cloud formation are found with periods of 3 to 4 days depending on the magnitude of diffusion. A cloud becomes bright after an active nucleation with a delay of ~1.3 days which is a sedimentation time of embryonic nuclei. Deposition of water vapors in ice particles switches off the nucleation, and evaporation of particles at the bottom of a cloud recovers the nucleation activity with a lag of diffusion-advection time. Out of phase oscillations are predicted between the cloud brightness and the polar mesospheric summertime echo from the region of heavy proton hydrates, which will be a crucial evidence for the in situ origin of the clouds. |
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Abstract |
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Keywords
Atmospheric Composition and Structure, Ion chemistry of the atmosphere, Atmospheric Composition and Structure, Aerosols and particles, Atmospheric Composition and Structure, Cloud physics and chemistry, Atmospheric Composition and Structure, Middle atmosphere—composition and chemistry |
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Publisher
American Geophysical Union 2000 Florida Avenue N.W. Washington, D.C. 20009-1277 USA 1-202-462-6900 1-202-328-0566 service@agu.org |
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