Visibility in an Atmospheric Nuclear Dust Cloud
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine the optical properties of a localized dust cloud created by a nuclear surface burst. The primary objectives are: (1) Model the dust cloud created by the burst. (2) Determine the number and size distribution of particles lofted. (3) Evaluate the extinction efficiency of each of the particles based on radius of the particle and signal wavelength. (4) Compute the optical thickness at any location within the cloud as it settles to the ground. The technique used to calculate these values was based on calculating the extinction coefficient at 100 points along a line-of-sight through the dust cloud. The optical thickness at each point was then computed using the product of pathlength traveled and extinction coefficient at each point. The results of the study demonstrated that the optical thickness generated by smaller, more localized bursts, was much greater than bursts that create global dust clouds. The localized dust cloud was also modeled to simulate global dust clouds of other models. The optical thickness of these dust clouds were within one percent of the optical thickness predicted by other experiments.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 1989
- Accession Number
- ADA207419
Entities
People
- Thomas J. Wuchte
Organizations
- Air Force Institute of Technology