TURB3D: NEW ROCKET-BORNE MULTI-SENSOR SYSTEM TO STUDY THREE-DIMENSIONAL STRUCTURES OF MESOSPHERIC TURBULENCE

摘要

Leibniz Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP) at the Rostock University in Kiihlungsborn, Germany together with the company von Hoerner and Sulger GmbH (vH&S) in Schwetzingen, Germany develop a new instrumental setup for 3-dimensional in-situ turbulence and temperature measurements in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT) region. The setup consists of a mother payload carrying a new generation CONE instrument and three identical daughter payloads that will be ejected from the main payload at a predefined altitude. When ejected, all the payloads measure densities of neutral air and one of the plasma species, either electrons or ions. Each payload has its own telemetry and positioning system and sends all the data directly down to the ground. The new measurements will thereby yield four simultaneously measured profiles of neutral and plasma densities, neutral air temperature, and turbulence energy dissipation rate, separated by up to some hundreds of meters. Important for turbulence studies, these measurements will infer spectra information that cover a wide range of spatial scale characteristics for MLT turbulence in both horizontal and vertical directions.