Vertical profile measurements of lower troposphere ionisation

Vertical soundings of the atmospheric ion production rate have been obtained from Geiger counters integrated with conventional meteorological radiosondes. In launches made from Reading (UK) during 2013-2014, the Regener-Pfotzer ionisation maximum was at an altitude equivalent to a pressure of (63.1±...

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Huvudupphovsmän: Harrison, R, Nicoll, K, Aplin, K
Materialtyp: Journal article
Språk:English
Publicerad: Elsevier 2014
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author Harrison, R
Nicoll, K
Aplin, K
author_facet Harrison, R
Nicoll, K
Aplin, K
author_sort Harrison, R
collection OXFORD
description Vertical soundings of the atmospheric ion production rate have been obtained from Geiger counters integrated with conventional meteorological radiosondes. In launches made from Reading (UK) during 2013-2014, the Regener-Pfotzer ionisation maximum was at an altitude equivalent to a pressure of (63.1±2.4)hPa, or, expressed in terms of the local air density, (0.101±0.005)kgm-3. The measured ionisation profiles have been evaluated against the Usoskin-Kovaltsov model and, separately, surface neutron monitor data from Oulu. Model ionisation rates agree well with the observed cosmic ray ionisation below 20km altitude. Above 10km, the measured ionisation rates also correlate well with simultaneous neutron monitor data, although, consistently with previous work, measured variability at the ionisation maximum is greater than that found by the neutron monitor. However, in the lower atmosphere (below 5km altitude), agreement between the measurements and simultaneous neutron monitor data is poor. For studies of transient lower atmosphere phenomena associated with cosmic ray ionisation, this indicates the need for in situ ionisation measurements and improved lower atmosphere parameterisations.
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spelling oxford-uuid:85c403e2-964b-45fc-9f00-c0988dc913022022-03-26T21:59:37ZVertical profile measurements of lower troposphere ionisationJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:85c403e2-964b-45fc-9f00-c0988dc91302EnglishSymplectic Elements at OxfordElsevier2014Harrison, RNicoll, KAplin, KVertical soundings of the atmospheric ion production rate have been obtained from Geiger counters integrated with conventional meteorological radiosondes. In launches made from Reading (UK) during 2013-2014, the Regener-Pfotzer ionisation maximum was at an altitude equivalent to a pressure of (63.1±2.4)hPa, or, expressed in terms of the local air density, (0.101±0.005)kgm-3. The measured ionisation profiles have been evaluated against the Usoskin-Kovaltsov model and, separately, surface neutron monitor data from Oulu. Model ionisation rates agree well with the observed cosmic ray ionisation below 20km altitude. Above 10km, the measured ionisation rates also correlate well with simultaneous neutron monitor data, although, consistently with previous work, measured variability at the ionisation maximum is greater than that found by the neutron monitor. However, in the lower atmosphere (below 5km altitude), agreement between the measurements and simultaneous neutron monitor data is poor. For studies of transient lower atmosphere phenomena associated with cosmic ray ionisation, this indicates the need for in situ ionisation measurements and improved lower atmosphere parameterisations.
spellingShingle Harrison, R
Nicoll, K
Aplin, K
Vertical profile measurements of lower troposphere ionisation
title Vertical profile measurements of lower troposphere ionisation
title_full Vertical profile measurements of lower troposphere ionisation
title_fullStr Vertical profile measurements of lower troposphere ionisation
title_full_unstemmed Vertical profile measurements of lower troposphere ionisation
title_short Vertical profile measurements of lower troposphere ionisation
title_sort vertical profile measurements of lower troposphere ionisation
work_keys_str_mv AT harrisonr verticalprofilemeasurementsoflowertroposphereionisation
AT nicollk verticalprofilemeasurementsoflowertroposphereionisation
AT aplink verticalprofilemeasurementsoflowertroposphereionisation