Abstract
A high-volume airborne precipitation collector is described. The device, installed in the nose of a twin-engine aircraft, has a 30-cm diameter intake that extends ahead of the aircraft nose. Both air and rain enter the collector where the liquid water is separated from the air by impaction and centrifugal force. Measurements of the airflow in the collector are described and the resulting collection efficiency for precipitation-size droplets is calculated and discussed.
The device is being used to determine if radioactive particles are washed from the air by precipitation between cloud base and the surface by comparing the activities of surface and airborne samples. The implications of one set of samples are summarized.
