It is observed that hypervelocity space dust, which is continuously bombarding Earth, creates immense momentum flows in the atmosphere. Some of this fast space dust inevitably will interact with the atmospheric system, transferring energy and moving particles around, with various possible consequences. This paper examines, with supporting estimates, the possibility that by way of collisions the Earth-grazing component of space dust can facilitate planetary escape of atmospheric particles, whether they are atoms and molecules that form the atmosphere or larger-sized particles. An interesting outcome of this collision scenario is that a variety of particles that contain telltale signs of Earth's organic story, including microbial life and life-essential molecules, may be “afloat” in Earth's atmosphere. The present study assesses the capability of this space dust collision mechanism to propel some of these biological constituents into space. Key Words: Hypervelocity space dust—Collision—Planetary es...

Space Dust Collisions as a Planetary Escape Mechanism

L625 4-wavelength dual Raman–Mie lidar was used to detect elastically Mie backscattered light at emitting wavelengths (532 and 355 nm) emitted by one Nd:YAG laser, and the nitrogen Raman light (607 and 386 nm) inelastically backscattered by nitrogen molecules at Hefei (117.3°E, 31.9°N), China from 2007 to 2013. From the four return signal profiles, highly accurate aerosol extinction and backscatter coefficients, lidar ratio, Angstrom exponent, and aerosol Junge exponent can be determined. Furthermore, with a priori assumption of the real part of complex refractive index nr=1.50, the profiles of more aerosol microphysical parameters can be retrieved with their respective errors in the free troposphere, such as the imaginary part of the refractive index, Junge number density coefficient, and particle mass index. The profiles of aerosol microphysical parameters were obtained for 179 nights. Their variation and statistical features were discussed.

Aerosol microphysical parameters' vertical profiles measured by a dual Raman-Mie lidar during 2007-2013 at Hefei, China.

Vertical distribution of atmospheric aerosol concentration at xianghe

For many decades vertical winds have been observed at high altitudes of the Earth's atmosphere, in the mesosphere and thermosphere layers. These observations have been used with a simple one dimensional model to make estimates of possible altitude climbs by biologically sized particles deeper into the thermosphere. A particle transport mechanism is suggested from the literature on auroral arcs, indicating that an altitude of 120 km could be reached by a nanometer sized particle which is higher than the measured 77 km limit on the biosphere. Vertical wind observations in the upper mesophere and lower thermosphere are challenging and so we suggest that particles could reach altitudes greater than 120 km, depending on the magnitude of the vertical wind. Applications of the larger vertical winds in the upper atmosphere to astrobiology and climate science are explored.

pdf/on-the-force-of-vertical-winds-in-the-upper-atmosphere-425ugzvhay.pdf

On the force of vertical winds in the upper atmosphere

For many decades, vertical winds have been observed at high altitudes of the Earth's atmosphere, in the mesosphere and thermosphere layers. These observations have been used with a simple one-dimensional model to make estimates of possible altitude climbs by biologically sized particles deeper into the thermosphere, in the rare occurrence where such a particle has been propelled to these altitudes. A particle transport mechanism is suggested from the literature on auroral arcs, indicating that an altitude of 120 km could be reached by a nanometre-sized particle, which is higher than the measured 77 km limit on the biosphere. Vertical wind observations in the upper mesophere and lower thermosphere are challenging to make and so we suggest that particles could reach altitudes greater than 120 km, depending on the magnitude of the vertical wind. Applications of the larger vertical winds in the upper atmosphere to astrobiology and climate science are explored. 

On the force of vertical winds in the upper atmosphere: consequences for small biological particles

Number concentration, size distribution and fine particle fraction of tropospheric and stratospheric aerosols

Handle everyday research tasks with reliable, citation-backed results

Your personal Research Agent to handle research tasks with citation-backed results

Popular Tasks used by Researchers

How can I help with your research?

Meet SciSpace

Get more enhanced response by uploading the PDFs you want me to reference.

No relevant PDFs in your library

SciSpace is the AI research assistant for academics. Run systematic literature reviews on 280M+ papers, and write papers with cited sources. Trusted by 1M+ students, PhDs & researchers.

SciSpace | AI for Research

Analyze PDFs

Code & Manuscripts

Funding & Grants

Literature & Patents

Medical & Clinical Data

Systematic Review

Visualize & Present

Web & Data

Build a Google Scholar-like website for your research.

Build a website

Create charts and images for your research

Create a Chart

Write a paper for submission to a journal

Draft a manuscript

Patent Search

Design eye-catching scientific posters in minutes.

Scientific Poster Generation

Systematic Literature Review

One task is running at the moment. Your messages will be shown right after.

Drag and drop or click here to browse

Loved by <highlight>1 million+</highlight> researchers

Extract a list of specific topics and their sources from unstructured text

Topics

Compare and analyze relevant papers that matches with your search

Papers

Get insights from PDFs and bookmarked papers from your library

My library

Recent searches

Try searching for:

Catch AI-generated content in scholarly and non-scholarly content

{ai} Detector

Ai Writer

Get PDF Summaries, highlighted text explanations 

Chat with PDF

Effortlessly create in-text citations and bibliographies in APA and 2,500 other formats

Citation generator

Get explanations, summaries, and answers on academic papers

Ease up your research workflow with {scispace}'s cohort of exciting AI tools

Elevate your academic writing skills and convey your ideas the way you want

Paraphraser

Explore our range of reading and writing tools

Your file is being prepared and should be ready in a few minutes. If it's a large file, it might take a bit longer. You can close this window, and we'll email you the file when it's done.

You have reached a maximum limit of <strong>{limit}</strong> columns in the table. Remove at least <strong>1</strong> column to add or create another one.

Jun Zhou

Author Tools

Chat about Author

Papers

Vertical distribution of atmospheric aerosol concentration at xianghe

Number concentration, size distribution and fine particle fraction of tropospheric and stratospheric aerosols