Detection of Ionized Exhaust Trails by Airborne Equipment.
Abstract
One method of finding snorkeling submarines is by detecting the trail of large ions left behind with the exhaust gases. This is done by scooping up the air and collecting the charged particles in an ion chamber. The resulting current is a measure of the ion concentration. References (b) and (c) describe measurements made from surface ships of ion trails left by submarines and other surface ships. Since the speed differential between surface ships and a snorkeling submarine is so low, greater search areas can be covered by making the equipment airborne. During the winter of 1951-1952 an ion chamber was installed and flown in a K-type airship at Lakehurst, N. J. The purpose of these flights was to investigate the magnitude of ion concentration in exhaust trails from snorkeling submarines. Only one working day with a submarine was available and that under very poor weather conditions. However, exhaust trails were measurable and enough data was taken to show that the signals were large enough to warrant further efforts. Many flights were also made with trails from freighters as targets. p5
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 02, 1952
- Accession Number
- ADA311270
Entities
People
- Ralph A. Richardson
Organizations
- United States Naval Research Laboratory