Several tons of meteoric particles burn up in our atmosphere each day. This deposits a great deal of material that binds with other atmospheric particles and forms so-called meteoric smoke particles. These particles are assumed to influence radar measurements. Here, we have compared radar measurements with simulations of a radar spectrum with and without dust particles and found that dust influences the radar spectrum in the altitude range of 75–85 km.

In situ observations are crucial for understanding interplanetary dust, yet not every spacecraft has a dedicated dust detector. Dust encounters happen at great speeds, leading to high energy density at impact, which leads to ionization and charge release, which is detected with electrical antennas.  Our work looks at how the transient charge plume interacts with Solar Orbiter spacecraft. Our findings are relevant for the design of future experiments and the understanding of present data.

We present a second-level calibration method for electron density measurements from multi-beam incoherent scatter radars. It is based on the well-known Flat field correction method used in imaging and photography. The methods improve data quality and useability as they account for unaccounted, and unpredictable variations in the radar system. This is valuable for studies where inter-beam calibration is important such as studies of polar cap patches, plasma irregularities and turbulence.

Gravity waves (GWs) are waves in Earth's atmosphere and can be observed as cloud ripples. Under certain conditions, these waves can propagate up into the ionosphere. Here, they can cause ripples in the ionosphere plasma, observable as oscillations of the plasma density. Therefore, GWs contribute to the ionospheric variability, making them relevant for space weather prediction. Additionally, the behavior of these waves allows us to draw conclusions about the atmosphere at these altitudes.

Temperatures at 85 km around Earth's poles in summer can be so cold that small ice particles form. These can become charged, and, combined with turbulence at these altitudes, they can influence the many electrons present. This can cause large radar echoes called polar mesospheric summer echoes. We use radio waves to heat these echoes on and off when the sun is close to or below the horizon. This allows us to gain some insight into these ice particles and how the sun influences the echoes.

Collisional fragmentation of asteroids, comets and meteoroids is the main source of dust in the solar system. The dust distribution is however uncharted and the role of dust in the solar system is largely unknown. At present, the interplanetary medium is explored by the Solar Orbiter spacecraft. We present a novel method, based on artificial intelligence, that can be used for detecting dust impacts in Solar Orbiter observations with high accuracy, advancing the study of dust in the solar system.

We have investigated the nucleation process of noctilucent clouds observed in the mesosphere using a theoretical approach, where we adopt a more accurate model called the semi-phenomenological model for the nucleation process. We obtained an important result that rejects one of the two dominant nucleation mechanisms that have been proposed. Our results show it is extremely difficult for homogeneous nucleation of water to occur in the mesosphere, while heterogeneous nucleation occurs effectively.

Our model calculations indicate that meteoric smoke particles (MSPs) influence both the magnitude and shape of the electron temperature during artificial heating. Others have found that current theoretical models most likely overestimate heating in the D-region compared to observations. In a future study, we will compare our results to observations of the electron temperature during heating to investigate if the presence of MSPs can explain the discrepancy between model and observations.

This paper discusses the charge generation for impacts of nano- to micro-scale dust on metal surfaces at speeds below a few kilometres per second. By introducing a model of capacitive coupling between the dust and the impact surface, we find that at such low speeds, the charge can be dominated by contact charging as opposed to plasma generation.

Agglomeration of ice and dust particles in the mesosphere are studied, using classical electrostatic approaches which are extended to capture the induced polarisation of surface charge. The instances of strong attraction between particles of the same sign of charge are predicted, which take place at small separation distances and also lead to the formation of stable aggregates.

In the past, additional sodium peaks occurring above the main sodium layer of the upper mesosphere were discussed. Here, formation of an additional sodium peak below the main sodium layer peak is discussed in detail. The event coincided with passage of multiple mesospheric bores, which are step-like disturbances occurring in the upper mesosphere. Hence, this work highlights the importance of such mesospheric bores in causing significant changes to the minor species concentration in a short time.