dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaA study of the link between cosmic rays and clouds with a cloud chamber at the CERN PS
| Authors | The Cloud Collaboration |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | physics/0104048 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0104048 |
Abstract
Recent satellite data have revealed a surprising correlation between galactic cosmic ray (GCR) intensity and the fraction of the Earth covered by clouds. If this correlation were to be established by a causal mechanism, it could provide a crucial step in understanding the long-sought mechanism connecting solar and climate variability. The Earth's climate seems to be remarkably sensitive to solar activity, but variations of the Sun's electromagnetic radiation appear to be too small to account for the observed climate variability. However, since the GCR intensity is strongly modulated by the solar wind, a GCR-cloud link may provide a sufficient amplifying mechanism. Moreover if this connection were to be confirmed, it could have profound consequences for our understanding of the solar contributions to the current global warming. The CLOUD (Cosmics Leaving OUtdoor Droplets) project proposes to test experimentally the existence a link between cosmic rays and cloud formation, and to understand the microphysical mechanism. CLOUD plans to perform detailed laboratory measurements in a particle beam at CERN, where all the parameters can be precisely controlled and measured. The beam will pass through an expansion cloud chamber and a reactor chamber where the atmosphere is to be duplicated by moist air charged with selected aerosols and trace condensable vapours. An array of external detectors and mass spectrometers is used to analyse the physical and chemical characteristics of the aerosols and trace gases during beam exposure. Where beam effects are found, the experiment will seek to evaluate their significance in the atmosphere by incorporating them into aerosol and cloud models.
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"abstract": "Recent satellite data have revealed a surprising correlation between galactic\ncosmic ray (GCR) intensity and the fraction of the Earth covered by clouds. If\nthis correlation were to be established by a causal mechanism, it could provide\na crucial step in understanding the long-sought mechanism connecting solar and\nclimate variability. The Earth\u0027s climate seems to be remarkably sensitive to\nsolar activity, but variations of the Sun\u0027s electromagnetic radiation appear to\nbe too small to account for the observed climate variability. However, since\nthe GCR intensity is strongly modulated by the solar wind, a GCR-cloud link may\nprovide a sufficient amplifying mechanism. Moreover if this connection were to\nbe confirmed, it could have profound consequences for our understanding of the\nsolar contributions to the current global warming. The CLOUD (Cosmics Leaving\nOUtdoor Droplets) project proposes to test experimentally the existence a link\nbetween cosmic rays and cloud formation, and to understand the microphysical\nmechanism. CLOUD plans to perform detailed laboratory measurements in a\nparticle beam at CERN, where all the parameters can be precisely controlled and\nmeasured. The beam will pass through an expansion cloud chamber and a reactor\nchamber where the atmosphere is to be duplicated by moist air charged with\nselected aerosols and trace condensable vapours. An array of external detectors\nand mass spectrometers is used to analyse the physical and chemical\ncharacteristics of the aerosols and trace gases during beam exposure. Where\nbeam effects are found, the experiment will seek to evaluate their significance\nin the atmosphere by incorporating them into aerosol and cloud models.",
"arxiv_id": "physics/0104048",
"authors": [
"The Cloud Collaboration"
],
"categories": [
"physics.ao-ph",
"hep-ex",
"physics.geo-ph",
"physics.space-ph"
],
"title": "A study of the link between cosmic rays and clouds with a cloud chamber at the CERN PS",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0104048"
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