Inertia Induces Strong Orientation Fluctuations of Nonspherical Atmospheric Particles

The orientation of nonspherical particles in the atmosphere, such as volcanic ash and ice crystals, influences their residence times and the radiative properties of the atmosphere. Here, we demonstrate experimentally that the orientation of heavy submillimeter spheroids settling in still air exhibit...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Physical review letters Vol. 132; no. 3; p. 034101
Main Authors:	Bhowmick, T, Seesing, J, Gustavsson, K, Guettler, J, Wang, Y, Pumir, A, Mehlig, B, Bagheri, G
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	United States American Physical Society 19-01-2024
Subjects:	Meteorologi och atmosfärforskning Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences Physics
Online Access:	Get full text
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Summary:	The orientation of nonspherical particles in the atmosphere, such as volcanic ash and ice crystals, influences their residence times and the radiative properties of the atmosphere. Here, we demonstrate experimentally that the orientation of heavy submillimeter spheroids settling in still air exhibits decaying oscillations, whereas it relaxes monotonically in liquids. Theoretical analysis shows that these oscillations are due to particle inertia, caused by the large particle-fluid mass-density ratio. This effect must be accounted for to model solid particles in the atmosphere.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	0031-9007 1079-7114 1079-7114
DOI:	10.1103/PhysRevLett.132.034101