News

News in 2023

• We had a  workshop on dusty plasma in ionospheres organized in collaboration with MISU at Stockholm University.
• Tinna Gunnarsdottir defended he Doctoral Thesis on radar investigations of mesospheric dust on 15 November. Congratulations to Tinna !
• The kick-off meeting for the MAXIDUSTY-2 project took place remotely on 23. October.
• The project proposal “MAXIDUSTY-2” has been approved by Norwegian Space Agency to be implemented via Prodex. This project finances the launch of a rocket for the investigation of dust in the mesosphere from Andøya Space.
• Tanja Rahin from the University of Vienna joined the project for a 6-month internship. Tanja works on preparations for the MAXIDUSTY-2 project; she investigates how dust samples that will be collected in the mesosphere can be analysed with TEM in the laboratory. 
• Herman Greaker, UiT student in space physics started a pre-study for his master thesis project on dust charging in the mesosphere. He investigates how the dust charging is influenced by the ionospheric variability. For this investigation we work together with professor Noora Partamies from the University Center on Svalbard. 

News in 2022

• We submitted an article to Annales Geophysicae on the modulation of polar mesospheric summer echoes during HF heating (13 May 2022):  The lowest temperature in the earth's atmosphere can be found between 80 and 90 km. And the temperature is particularly low there in summer at high and mid latitudes, i.e. from about June to August over the Arctic. Under such conditions, clouds of ice particles form and  lead to the formation of strong radar returns. These are called polar mesospheric summer echoes (PMSE) and arise because the distribution of ice particles changes due to turbulence in the neutral air and because the ice particles collect electrical charge from electrons and ions in the atmosphere. The PMSE are observed with radar devices such as EISCAT. The PMSE signal is modulated when artificial heating is operated at the same time as the radar observations. For example, the EISCAT heater emits low-frequency radio waves that are absorbed in the atmosphere, raising the temperature of the free electrons at the altitude where the PMSE form. Many researchers suggest that the observed PMSE modulation could be used to study how the ice particles interact with the electrons and ions, and to infer the size and composition of the ice from the interactions, since these parameters are unknown. We made measurements with the EISCAT Heating facility and the EISCAT VHF radar in August 2018 and August 2020 to investigate the PMSE modulation. We found that the modulation was often stronger than was reported before by other groups and that the modulation also exceeded the values predicted by theory. But we also found that at other times the modulation is very weak or even disappears. The modulations vary a lot depending on the amount of electrons and ions present in the atmosphere and this is highly variable. This leads us to the conclusion that it is difficult to distinguish the influence of the ice particle on the observations from the influence that the free electrons and ions have. The analysis is further complicated by the fact that even if the heating facility is operated with the same instrument parameters its heating effect depends on the amount of charged particles that are in the atmosphere at the time of the experiment. The paper was submitted to Annales Geophysicae (angeo-2022-16). Title: Modulation of Polar Mesospheric Summer Echoes (PMSE) during HF Heating. Author(s): Tinna Gunnarsdottir, Arne Poggenpohl, Ingrid Mann, Alireza Mahmoudian, Peter Dalin, Ingemar Haeggstroem, and Michael Rietveld

• We presented the mission concept and model payload for MAXIDUSTY-2 rocket campaign (MXD2). The MXD2 that is planned for a launch from Andøya is designed to study dust in the mesosphere. It combines in-situ measurements of charged dust and the surrounding plasma components at 70 to 110 km altitude with a return of collected dust samples. The campaign will further benefit from synergies with other observations of the mesosphere. The project will include Norwegian and European partners and will contribute to the international Grand Challenge Mesosphere Initiative. (I. Mann, S.V. Olsen, Y. Eilertsen, Å. Fredriksen, T. Gunnarsdottir, H. Trollvik, L.V. Narayanan, A. Pineau, M. Noreille and collaborators) Poster presentation at the 25th ESA Symposium on European Rocket and Balloon Programmes and Related Research. 1-5 May 2022 Biarritz – France.

• Ingrid Mann gave a Plenary Invited Lecture “Space and Atmospheric Studies from the Arctic: Sounding Rockets and Remote Observations” during the 25th ESA Symposium on European Rocket and Balloon Programmes and Related Research. 1-5 May 2022 Biarritz – France.  

• We published an article in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics on April 28, 2022. In this work we investigate the formation mechanism of noctilucent clouds observed in the mesosphere (upper atmosphere) using a new theoretical model of the condensation process. We find that homogeneous nucleation is extremely unlikely to occur in the mesosphere because it can only occur at very low temperatures, below 100 K (minus 170 ℃). We find that although there is only a small amount of meteoric smoke particles in this region, it is sufficient for ice particles to grow on them in a heterogeneous process. The results suggest that dust particles generated by meteor ablation can serve as nuclei for heterogeneous nucleation. These results contribute to our understanding of the fundamental processes by which snow and rain nuclei form from water vapor. The same approach is also applicable to the prediction of cloud formation in extraterrestrial planetary atmospheres. Reference: Kyoko Tanaka, Ingrid Mann, and Yuki Kimura: Formation of ice particles through nucleation in the mesosphere, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 2022, DOI 10.5194/acp-22-1-2022.

• We published an article in Advances in Space Researchon on the effects of particle precipitation in the PMSE spectra observed with EISCAT VHF radar: We used the EISCAT VHF radar operating at 224 MHz to study the effect of particle precipitation on the PMSE echoes using data obtained from summer 2019. It is found that PMSE power showed a sudden increase in response to the particle precipitation and the altitude extent of the PMSE has increased. Spectral widths and Doppler shifts do not show any response. While there is a clear response in the PMSE power, there is no simple functional form linking the strength of particle precipitation induced electron density changes with that of the PMSE parameters. Reference: V. L. Narayanan, I. Häggström, I. Mann (2022), Effects of particle precipitation on the polar mesospheric summer echoes observed by EISCAT VHF 224 MHz radar, Advances in Space Research, Published online, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asr.2022.02.015.

• Viswanathan Lakshmi Narayanan presented results in the 15th Quadrennial Solar-Terrestrial Physics Sympositum (STP-15) held online between 21 - 25 February 2022.

News in 2021

• Kristine Ettestad started to work on her Master thesis project from August 2021 on Polar Mesospheric Winter Echoes. 

• Mesoclouds 2021 campaign: EISCAT VHF tristatic observations were conducted in August 2021 along with optical imaging of noctilucent clouds both from stratospheric balloons and ground. This is part of a series of campaigns made every year in collaboration with the Swedish Institute of Space Physics in Kiruna where NLC cameras are operated.

• Ingrid Mann and Viswanathan Lakshmi Narayanan made presentations at the Fysikermøtet 2021 held online during 21 - 24 June 2021.

• Continuous 24 hour observation campaign for studying the dynamics revealed in PMSE layers was conducted using Tristatic EISCAT VHF radar from 12:00 UT of 22 June to 23 June 2021.

• Andreas Kürten from Institute for Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, Goethe-University of Frankfurt, Germany has delivered a special lecture entitled 'The CLOUD Experiment at CERN: Investigating Atmospheric New Particle Formation' on 14 June 2021.

• The online mini-workshop on Dusty ionospheres of the Earth, Saturn and its moons is jointly organized by Michiko Morooka IRF Uppsala and Ingrid Mann UiT Tromsø on  25 May 2021 09: 30-15: 30. Follow-up discussions are made 15 June and will continue during the summer.

• Viswanathan Lakshmi Narayanan, Tinna Gunnarsdottir and Margaretha Myrvang have presented results in the European Geophysical Union General Assembly meeting held online between 19 - 30 April 2021.

• Vincent Deloupy from Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris, France currently spends a student internship working within the project. He works with data from the Mesoclouds 2020 campaign. Because of travel restrictions he started his work remotely and we hope to see him soon in person in Tromsø. (April - July 2021)

• Tinna Gunnarsdottir presented results at the Asia Oceanica Geosciences Society (AOGS) virtual 18th annual meeting held online during 1-6 of August 2021.

• We published a paper on the influence of charged dust on the incoherent scatter from the D-region ionosphere. Incoherent scatter is observed with high-power, large aperture radars and results from electromagnetic waves scattering at electrons that are coupled to other charged components through plasma oscillations. The D-region contains meteoric smoke particles (MSPs) that are of nanometer size and form from incoming ablating meteors. With model calculations of the spectrum, we investigate the influence of the charged dust component with a size distribution.We consider the ionospheric parameters for the location of the EISCAT VHF radar during a year and find that conditions are most suitable for dust detection in winter below 80 km at times with increased electron densities. 

  Citation: Gunnarsdottir, T., & Mann, I. (2021). Charged dust in the D-region incoherent scatter spectrum. Journal of Plasma Physics, 87(5), 905870502. doi:10.1017/S0022377821000866

• We published a paper on statistical analysis of PMSE observations with EISCAT: Mesospheric Summer Echoes (PMSE) are distinct radar echoes from the Earth's upper atmosphere between 80 to 90 km altitude observed during summer when ice particles can form. PMSE form in layers typically extending only a few km in altitude and often have a wavy structure. The paper discusses the use of Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) for classification of EISCAT observations of PMSE. The image data is divided into regions of a xed size and grouped into three categories: PMSE, ionosphere, and noise. The PMSE can be distinguished from ionosphere and noise with around 98 percent accuracy. This method can be applied to select PMSE observations from large data sets (February 2021).

  Citation: Jozwicki, D .; Sharma, P .; Mann, I. Investigation of Polar Mesospheric Summer Echoes Using Linear Discriminant Analysis. Remote Sens. 2021, 13, 522. https://doi.org/ 10.3390 / rs13030522

• The course «Dust and Dusty Plasma in Space and Ionospheres» for 3rd and 4th year students that is taught in spring 2021 addresses, among others, the research topics of this projects. Also PhD students participate. (January - May 2021)

• Night observation campaign was done with EISCAT VHF and the EISCAT heating facility during the peak of the Geminid meteor shower on 14 of December from 00-06 UT. 

2020

• Mesoclouds 2020 campaign: EISCAT VHF observation were made in August 2020 in order to investigate Polar Mesospheric Summer Echoes (PMSE) and noctilucent clouds NLC in overlapping volumes. This is part of a series of campaigns made every year in collaboration with the Swedish Institute of Space Physics in Kiruna where NLC cameras are operated.

• PMSE_3 2020 Campaign: VHF observations were made in July 2020 to study Polar Mesospheric Summer Echoes (PMSE) with tri-static observations. Tri-static configuration includes the 224 MHz VHF radar in Ramfjord and two remote receivers from Kiruna and Sodankylä. The analysis of VHF tri-static observations will provide information on horizontal motion in the PMSE which is possibly related to their formation process. This is also a first observation made together with the new EISCAT Affiliate in Neustrelitz and there are plans to compare the data to observations from Andøya (IAP Kuehlungsborn).

• Lakshmi Narayanan Viswanathan delivers a lecture entitled 'Structure of Geospace' in one-day International webinar 'Physics and its nexus with the Science world' organized by Sri Saradha College for Women (Autonomous), India on 30 June 2020.

• A number of abstracts related to the project were submitted to the 2020 EGU General Assembly planned to be held in Vienna 6 - 10 May. Due to the cancellation of the physical meeting, we join the Sharing Geoscience Online activities and prepare to publish the results. 

• Henriette Trollvik participates as a project engineer from January to June 2020 to work on design considerations for future rocket experiments. 

2019

• On December 17, 2019 Tinna Gunnarsdottir gives school presentations on Northern Lights organized by the Skolelab. The UiT Skolelab offers science and technology activities for students as well as education courses for teachers.

• Lakshmi Narayanan Viswanathan visits Nagoya University, Japan from 10 December 2019 to 15 January 2020 for collaborative research using optical observations made from Tromsø.

• Ingrid Mann visits National Institute of Polar Research, Tokyo, Japan to give an invited presentation at the 10th Symposium on Polar Science December 3 - 5, 2019. She also visits Tohoku University in Sendai to discuss collaborative research on dust growth.  

• From 28 October to 2 November 2019 Tinna Gunnarsdottir and Ingrid Mann visit the University of Leeds, UK to discuss collaborative research work using the WACCM model. During this time, Ingrid Mann also visits the University of Nottingham, UK to discuss dust growth research. 

• Lakshmi Narayanan Viswanathan starts work as a postdoctoral researcher in the project on September 5, 2019.

• Tinna Gunnarsdottir starts her work as a PhD student in the project on September 1, 2019.

• Ingrid Mann gives an invited presentation on - Nanoparticles in Earth's ionosphere - detection from rockets - during the NW2SD international conference - From the Nanoworld to Stardust 17 - 19 July 2019, Marseille, France.

• Tinna Gunnarsdottir and Henriette Trollvik finalize their master thesis projects on dust observations during the G-Chaser student rocket campaign and present their results at the ESA PAC Meeting on rocket and balloon research in June 2019 in Essen, Germany.

• March 2019: The first project workshop takes place at UiT on 14/15 March. External participants are Prof. John Plane (Univ. Of Leeds), Prof. Satonori Nozawa (Nagoya University), Dr. Antti Kero (Sodankylae Geophysical Observatory) and Dr. Jonas Hedin (Stockholm University). Dr. Lakshmi Narayanan Viswanathan (National Atmospheric Research Laboratory, Gadanki, India) and Dr. Alireza Mahmoudian (Univ. Of Tehran) give remote presentations.

• In January 2019, Ingrid Mann participates in two meetings at the International Space Science Institute, ISSI in Bern, Switzerland. In a meeting of the international team on - Electrostatic Manipulation of Nano-Scale Objects of Lunar Regolith (led by Professor Elena Besley from the University of Nottingham, UK) dust interaction models are discussed that we want to apply to dust in the mesosphere. In the international team on - Negative Ions in the Solar System - (led by Dr. Charles Lue, Swedish Institute of Space Physics) the formation of negative dust and ions in the mesosphere is addressed in comparison to the processes observed on other solar system objects . 

• On January 13, 2019: The G-Chaser student rocket is successfully launched from Andøya Space Center. The SPID detector onboard was designed by UiT students and staff to detect small dust particles in the mesosphere.

2018

• Ingrid Mann gives an invited presentation on - Radar studies of ionospheric dust - plasma phenomena - at the 16th International Conference on the Physics of Non-Ideal Plasmas September 24 - 28, 2018 in St. Malo, France.