The Earth micro- and submicro-particle environment
Abstract
Each year the Earth is bombarded by about 10e7 kg of interplanetary micrometeoroids of cometary and asteroidal origin. Most of these projectiles range from 10 nm to about 1 mm in size and enter the Earth atmosphere with speeds between 10 and 70 km/s. The knowledge we have today about the natural micrometeoroid background is derived from remote sensing observations of the zodiacal cloud, in-situ measurements of dust detectors onboard space probes, lunar microcrater studies and from collected particles in the stratosphere. Studies of returned materials from Low Earth Orbit provide further insight into the submicron-particle environment, but primarily reveal impact features of the manmade space debris population. In this paper we summerize the properties of the natural submicron dust background and introduce into capable dust measurement methods.
- Publication:
-
39th COSPAR Scientific Assembly
- Pub Date:
- July 2012
- Bibcode:
- 2012cosp...39.1869S