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Lunar dust simulant charging and transport under UV irradiation in vacuum: Experiments and numerical modeling
Author(s) -
Champlain A.,
MatéoVélez J.C.,
Roussel J.F.,
Hess S.,
Sarrailh P.,
Murat G.,
Chardon J.P.,
Gajan A.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: space physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2169-9402
pISSN - 2169-9380
DOI - 10.1002/2015ja021738
Subject(s) - physics , astrobiology , interplanetary dust cloud , particle (ecology) , electric field , irradiation , altitude (triangle) , ultraviolet , interplanetary spaceflight , atmospheric sciences , plasma , mechanics , computational physics , environmental science , solar wind , optics , solar system , geology , nuclear physics , geometry , mathematics , quantum mechanics , oceanography
Recent high‐altitude observations, made by the Lunar Dust Experiment (LDEX) experiment on board LADEE orbiting the Moon, indicate that high‐altitude (>10 km) dust particle densities are well correlated with interplanetary dust impacts. They show no evidence of high dust density suggested by Apollo 15 and 17 observations and possibly explained by electrostatic forces imposed by the plasma environment and photon irradiation. This paper deals with near‐surface conditions below the domain of observation of LDEX where electrostatic forces could clearly be at play. The upper and lower limits of the cohesive force between dusts are obtained by comparing experiments and numerical simulations of dust charging under ultraviolet irradiation in the presence of an electric field and mechanical vibrations. It is suggested that dust ejection by electrostatic forces is made possible by microscopic‐scale amplifications due to soil irregularities. At low altitude, this process may be complementary to interplanetary dust impacts.