Direct measurement of oxygen and water vapor in mesospher

Fedynskiy, A. V.

English

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Produced by the NASA Center for Aerospace Information (CASI) 
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19690022964 2020-03-12T05:04:38+00:00Z
Fedinskiy, k. V,, Perov, S.P. Chizhov, A,F, Kratkie
soobshcheniya. Opylt pryamogo izmereniya kontsentratsiy
vodyanogo para i atomarnogo kisloroda v mezosfere.w
Izvesti a Aka	 Nauk SSSR Fizika Atmosfery
 i Okeana
vo	 No, S, 557-5 1	 9 7 .
Al r
BRIEF INFORMATION
Experiment with direct agasurlag of concentrations
of water vapor and atomic oxygen in the mesosphere
By: A. V. Fed.ynskiy, S. P. Perov, A.F. Chizhov
Until recently literature with data on measurements of con-
centrations of water vapors in the mesosphere was non-existant,
while atomic oxygen measurements were done, with the aid of mass
spectrometers, only at altitudes > 100 km (1-3). Experiments with
rockets following the chemilumineseence method. (4) and the record-
ing of the intensity of the oxygen green line
	 v% 5577 10 results
only in qualitative evaluations due to the difficulties connected
with the interpretation of these results (5,6). Yet, indirect
data on hand. and, theoretical evaluations indicate that these com-
ponents play an important part in such phenomena as the formation
of the ozono-sphere, the ionosphere, cirrus clouds and others (7).
It is with this thought in mind that the present experiments were
carried out and our first results are presented below.
At 24 o'clock local time, August 1965, a meteorological rocket
was launched from the median latitudes of the USSR; this rocket was
equipped with instruments four measuring in the mesosphere the con-
centrations of water vapors and of atomic oxygen as well as the
full density. The scheme of the rocket experiment is described in
article (8). The rocket cone with its measuring equipment was
separated on a determined altitude and then descended, by means of
a parachute; at high altitudes the parachute serves as a stabilizer.
Measurements were taken only during the descent. In order to in-
crease the sensitivity and precision all counters operated under
full pressure conditions (Pitot tube). The shape selected for the
Pitot f s gauge made possible a significant diminution of the data
dependence upon the attack angle.
7VA I e — 5	 (,^a U 11 y - /_5
S 3
	
123 42
-2-
The instruments section
The instruments section consisted of a series of glass tubes
with sensitive elements in the shape of thin metal threads made
of a tungsten-rhenium alloy„ All these threads were connected with
the atmosphere through one tube, whose end was inserted. in a vacuum
seal and led into the front oompartment of a hermetically sealed
cubicle of the rocket cone (Fig. 1).
Fig. 1 General view of the instrument section
and counters measuring concentrations of water
vapor, atomic oxygen and full density
Prior to the start the entire apparatus was degasified, pumped out
and soldered. The opening up of the apparatus was performed auto-
matically near the summit of the trajectory. All counters were
connected. wit'1 measuring bridges; the latter had their diagonal out-
lets connected with the inlet of the telemetering system transmitter
(8). A mechanical commutator assured the transmission of each para-
meter measured. twice per every second. The temperature of the coun-
ter wall and the voltage feeding the measurement bridge circuit were
under control during the flight.
Experiment methodology and results obtained
A method. based on the phenomenon of the variation of the heat
transfer coefficient, due to the heated thread, in the surrounding
gas depending upon the presence of small amounts of admixtures in
the latter (9) was selected for the measurements of the water va-
por concentration in the mesosphere.
wig. mm
-3-
Fig. 2. Water vapor concentrations distributed
along height (curve 1) and temperature computed,
using density measurements in same experiment
(curve 2). The abscissa axis shows the point of
frost temperature on the bottom and the water
vapor elasticity on top; the ordinate axis presents
left- the height, right- the summary pressure
according to (10).
The instrument designed according to this principle consists
of two identical heat counters ( of the hot-wire gauge type)
connected with the measuring bridge electrical circuit. Humid
air enters one of the counters, while the other is filled with air
passed through the drier. This type of procedure eliminates, at
least partly - the effect of pressure and temperature upon the
reading of the instrument. This method was verified and checked.
under laboratory conditions and proved to possess a series of
advantages from the point of view of the rocket experiment: a
low degree of inertness, (the time constant does not exceed 2 sec-
onds), a sufficiently high degree of sensitivity ( the threshold
value of partial pressure being (1.5 - 2) . 10
-5 mm Hg) and. a com-
parative simplicity of design.
The wire made of the tungsten-rhenium alloy of the VA-5 type
with a 8 mkm diameter was strung on a special frame. The resist-
ance of the counters is (1,300 ohm) at a 20 0 C temperature; the
feeding voltage is 15 v. Silica gel was used as a drying agent.
The method of measuring water vapor concentrations consisted
in the following: we determined,--in 'Che counters laboratory, the
dependence of
	 .1AU = f(Pj,), where AU -_ is the voltage in the bridge
diagonal, p is the pressure inside the instrument with dry air
and at various water vapor compositions. The water vapor content
-4-
needed was achieved according to the "cold wall" method with the
aid of a special cryostat, which made possible to reach the frost
point temperature of from -85 to -98 0
 C. For the counters and in
the same experimental manner we determined the summary heat exchange
coefficient in the operational range of pressure changes during real
superheating of the thread and the unbalance of the system at various
contents of small amounts of admixtures was computed. In addition,
the heat inertia of the counters and. the values of corrections consi-
dering the different conductivity levels of the counters , tubes were
determined.
Afterwards, upon a lengthy heating, the apparatus was pumped
out to a 10 -5 to 10
-4
 mm Hg pressure and. unsoldered.
According to the readings of the hot wire gauges ( manometers)
located together with the water vapor counters we were able to
evaluate the pressure inside the apparatus, while by reading the
water vapor counters prior to the opening we could, evaluate the ini-
tial point of the "dry air" curve. After opening of the apparatus
the deviations from this curve considering the pressure inside the
apparatus (hot wire gauge) give us the contents of water vapors
within the limits of the operational range of measurements which are
determined by the interval of the change in the full pressure in the
tube (10-3 to 1 mm Hg). The deviations from the "dry air" curve
attained, during the flight, a value of 15 millivolt.
The effect of the atrmic oxygen upon the readings of the water
vapor counter could be disregarded due to the fact that both counters
had inserts madeof metal foil, where an intensive recombination of
oxygen atoms took place.
The transition from water vapor concentration inside the instal-
lation to concentration in an unperturbed atmosphere was performed
by a simple computation. _LNe°_ Pu
e P.
where p'H2Q and Pme" is the measured pressure of the water vapor
and the general pressure ; P H 0 and Pst are the water vapor pressure
in an unperturbed atmosphere Ed the standard pressure at the mea-
sured altitude according to CA-62 (10), respectively. At that, we
took into account the fact that during the transition through the
front of the shock wave such processes ar dissociation, thermal dif-
fusion and thermal effusion play no important part (11). The effect
-5-
of sorption processes upon the internal sufaces of the installation
was neglected as well. The results of studies of the telemetered
data on the flight are presented in Fig. 2. The mean square error
In the measuremtns is shown on the curve describing the water vapor
content. Fig. 2 carries the temperature at these altitudes, obtained
by studying the density measured during the same flight by the Pitot
gauge.
The instrument measuring the oxygen atoms concentration is
based on the thermal effect of the surface recombination on a thin
tungsten-rhenium wire with a diameter of about 8 microm. The pos-
sibilities arising when this method is used are presented in detail
In article (12). The instrument is also designed along the differ-
ential chart. The design o f
 atomic oxygen counters is analogous to
that of the water vapor measuring counters described above with,
however, the exception that instead of a drier a metal foil insert
is found in one of the tubes: an intensive recombination of atoms
takes place on the foil t s surface. The laboratory scaling of the
instrument included the elimination of the dependence of the outgoing
voltage of the measuring bridge circuit upon the general pressure
Inside the counters, upon the temperature of the walls as well as on
the determiation of the summary heat-transfer coefficient due to
molecular heat exchange radiation and. heat removal through the sup-
porting system in cases of overheated thread, close to the anticipated
values. The over-heating - during the flight - of a thread in one
counter in relation to the other amounted to 10 0 , This effect was
ascribed completely to the action of the atomic oxygen as the content
of other active admixtures, such as OH, H, HO  and others are several
orders less than the content of oxygen (13). The signal from the
instrument during the flight modulated due to the change of the rocket
attack angle. However, the modulation depth was not very significant
(about 30%) and while studying all the parameters we took the maxi-
mum values of signals which correspond to the minimum attack angle.
The method of computation of atom concentration in the atmos-
phere took into account aerodynamics factors ( in particular, the
departed shock wave ) and the diffusion of the atoms inside the
installation along the tubes - with their partial destruction on the
metal foil. The transition from the superheating of the thread of
.w6-
a sensitive element to the concentration of the N atoms at its
surface was based on the utilization of equating the thermal
euilibrium of the thread; at .that, we considered, the heat of the
recombination needed for the heating of the thread. as being:
rBNSp.aqQdr^: I	 _	 where S th rec is the recombination coefficient
on the thread; q is the heat of a single recombination action;
v  is the most probable thermal velocity of the atoms.
Due to an imprecise knowledge of the surface recombination
coefficients on glass and on the thread, the final result is present-
ed as two curves in Fig. 3, Curve 1 presents the result of study
tlsa	
`^,\
no	 \^a
I
X"
4 rI-rOX
>
X^
Fig, 3. Distribution of atomic oxygen concen-
tration by height: 1- values of products of con-
centration multiplied by the n Srn (CM-3 ) recombi-
nation coefficient; 2 - is the n (cm
-3 ) concentration
normalized according to curve III data; I., II, III,
IV - is the distribution of atomic oxygen concentra-
tion according to experiments; 1-(1), II - (2,6),
III - ( 1 9 4 !5)9 IV - (3)
of data in values of products of atom concentrations in the atmo-
sphere multiplied by the coefficient of atoms recombination on the
thread nS rec thr (cm 3)• Curve 2 are the same data but brought
to agreement with data of curve III at a 90 km altitude in concentra-
tion magnitudes n (em-3). The evaluation of the recombination
-7-
coefficient in this case is S rec thr = 0.3 which agrees in a
satisfactory manner with the data on the coefficient of surface
recombination on metals (110.
In order to determine the pressure inside the apparatus we
used a hot wire gauge with a sensitive element made of a serial
tungsten wire strung along the container axis. The range of the
measured pressures is 10-3 - 1 mm Hg. Using the Relay correlation
we computed for a direct density jump, the densit y
 of the free
atmosphere at altitudes of 55 to 85 km. In determining the density
we took into account the-- corrections such as; temperature of the
manometer walls, its thermal inertia, as well as the viscous cor-
rections obtained by the authors for the transition period. The
results of density determination are presented in Fig. 4.
p,a•sAr	 -
Fig. 4. Distribution according to density
height; 1 - according to data in (10), 2 -
in (15), 3 - data obtained by the authors
As can be seen, a good agreement of the results was obtained with
the CIRA-65 model(15). The mean square error in the density deter-
mination has been evaluated as being 5%.
In conclusion the authors express their gratitude to G. A.
Kokin for his constant interest in the work as well as to E. G.
Shvidkovskiy for numerous valuable remarks.
Central aerological observatory
	 Received 20 Sept 1966
-8-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. A.A. Pokhupkov, Gravitational separation, composition and
structural parameters of the night atmospher at altitudes
from 100 to 200 km. Iskusstvennyye Sputniki Zemli, issue
13,1962.
2. Schaefer, E. J., Nichols M. H. Upper air neutral composi-
tion measurements by a mass-specrometer. J. Gephys. Res.
69, No. 21,1964.
3. Nier A. 0., Hoffman J. H., Johnson C. J., Holmes J. C.
Neutral composition of the armosphere in the 100 and 200
km range. J. Geophys, Res., 69, No. 21,1964.
4. Golomb Dan, Rosenberg N. W., Aharontan C., Hill J. A.F.,
Alden H. L. Oxygen atom determination in the upper atmos-
phere by chemiluninescence of nitric oxide. J. Geophys.
Res., 70, No. 5,1965•
5• Kh, Fridman. Results of rocket investigations conducted by
the SE Research Labor: , }ory in 1950-1962. : " Ultraviolet
radiation of the Sun and the interplanetary medium". 1962.
6. O'Brien B. J., Allum F.K., Goldwire H. C. Rocket measure-
ment of midlatitude airglow and particle prcipitation.
J. Geophys. Res., 70, Noel, 1965.
7. I. A. Khvostikov. High atmosphere layers, Gidrometizd.at,
1964.
8. P.F. aleseyev, E. A. Besyadovskiy, G. I. Golyshev, M.N.
Izakov, A. M. Kasatkin, G. A. Kokin, N. S. Livshits, N.D.
Masanova, E. G. Shvidkovskiy, Rocket investigations of the
atmosphere, Meteorologiya i Gidrolc;iya, No. 8 7.957.
9. A. V. Fedynskiy On the possible method of measuring water
vapor concentrations at high altitudes. Works of TsAO,
No. 61, 1965.
-9-
10. Standard atmosphere published by TsAWGI, 1962.
11. Ya. B. Zel l dovicE. Yu. P. Rayzer. Physics of shock waves
and of high tempe.°ature hydrodynamics phenomena. Fitz-
mat ;iz, 1963-
12. S.P. Perov, A.F. Chizhov, On the possibility of measu-
ring the concentration of atomic oxygen at 100 to 150
km altitudes by the haat counters method.. Works TSAO,
No-56, 1964.
13. M. Nikole, Aeronomy, Publishing House "Mir " r 1964.
14. A.I. Rpnev. On the atom recombination effect in the
apparatus upon the measuring of the composition and
density of high atmosphere layers Works TsAO No.40, 1962.
15. CIRA 1965. North Holland Publishing Company, Amsterdam,
1965.
Translated by
Translation and Interpretatation Division
INSTITUTE OF MODERN LANGUAGES,W ashington.D.C.
Under contract with the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center,
Greenbelt, Md., 1468.


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