Meteoritic influence on sodium and potassium abundance in the lunar exosphere measured by LADEE
Abstract The Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) orbited the Moon for approximately 6 months, taking data with the Lunar Dust Experiment (LDEX), Ultraviolet‐Visible Spectrometer (UVS), and Neutral Mass Spectrometer (NMS). Here we compare coincident LDEX measurements of meteoritic...
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
2016-06-01
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| Series: | Geophysical Research Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL069541 |
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| Summary: | Abstract The Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) orbited the Moon for approximately 6 months, taking data with the Lunar Dust Experiment (LDEX), Ultraviolet‐Visible Spectrometer (UVS), and Neutral Mass Spectrometer (NMS). Here we compare coincident LDEX measurements of meteoritic influx to exospheric column densities of Na and K derived by UVS. We report a strong correlation of exospheric potassium and meteoroid ejecta during the Geminids meteoroid shower, exhibiting a much stronger response than sodium. With the exception of the Geminids, we find a weak correlation between the sporadic meteoroid influx as measured by LDEX and exospheric density as measured by UVS. |
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| ISSN: | 0094-8276 1944-8007 |