Titan 34D-9 Abort Cloud Measurements- Quantitative Imagery from Two Camera Sites
Abstract
The low altitude explosion of the Titan 34D-9 on 18 April 1986 at Vandenberg Air Force Base provides a unique opportunity to test and validate toxic cloud transport models for the near ground catastrophic abort scenario. Video tape imagery of the 34D-9 abort cloud from two sites at VAFB has been analyzed using techniques developed to track and measure the ground clouds from normal launches. Since abort cloud transport model predictions have been responsible for launch holds and delays at both the Eastern and Western ranges, these data are an important complement to the more extensive normal launch data. We calculated the 34D-9 abort cloud's air entrainment coefficient using cloud volumes and altitudes derived from imagery. The assumptions used in processing the imagery are consistent with T-0.5 hour rawinsonde data. The entrainment coefficient is the slope of a plot of the cloud's sphere equivalent radius vs altitude. It is a critical input parameter in the Rocket Exhaust Effluent Dispersion Model (REEDM) used by both ranges to predict toxic cloud transport. The entrainment coefficient (0.35 +/- 0.01) for the Titan 34D-9 abort cloud is in good agreement with the imagery derived values for normal Titan IV launch clouds.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 20, 1998
- Accession Number
- ADA342315
Entities
People
- R. N. Abernathy
Organizations
- The Aerospace Corporation