Observation of mesospheric dust and ionospheric conditions during the G-chaser rocket campaign

Abstract

SPID, Smoke Particle Impact Detector, is a Faraday cup detector designed to measure nanometer-sized meteoric smoke particles during rocket flights. We report measurements made with SPID during the G-Chaser student rocket campaign 13 January 2019 and describe the design of the SPID instruments. Model calculations of dust trajectories within the detector result in an effective cross section of 0.97 for particles larger than 0.5 nm at 60 km. Data analysis indicates that in order to generate the measured current, the number densities must be ∼10¹⁰m⁻³ or higher at 60 km. During the campaign the ground systems MAARSY and EISCAT were operating. These ground measurements showed smooth ionospheric conditions with weak precipitation down to 90 km. As a secondary goal of the campaign we wanted to investigate the possible connection between PMWE and MSPs. On the day of the launch there was no sign of PMWE and no conclusions can be drawn at this point.