Facility DescriptionThe cold room facility in the Simon Building of The University of Manchester, England, houses one of the tallest cloud chambers in Europe at a height of 10 m. The 1 m diameter fall tube spans 3 floors and can reach temperatures as low as -50°C. The chamber can also be pressure sealed and evacuated to simulate conditions found in the upper troposphere. More quick facts about the chamber can be seen by moving over the white dots in the figure on the left.Liquid CloudsLiquid water, mixed phase, or entirely glaciated clouds can be generated in the chamber, with cloud liquid water contents ranging from zero to the highest values found in nature. Water clouds are typically generated in two ways. For the first method, a water boiler is situated at the base of the chamber and produces a cloud of droplets. At sub-zero temperatures, these quickly become supercooled. Similarly, it is also possible to use atomisers in lieu of a boiler to generate a cloud of water droplets. The second method involves using high power pumps to rapidly evacuate the chamber. This depressurisation rapidly reduces the air temperature and causes cloud to form.Ice CloudsAn ice cloud can be formed from a cloud of supercooled liquid water droplets by either heterogeneously or homogeneously nucleating the droplet cloud. Homogeneous cloud nucleation, when warmer than about -36°C, is achieved using one of two methods. Firstly, a rapid air expansion technique can be used in which a small volume of compressed air is rapidly expanded (adiabatically) to locally reduce air temperature below the homogeneous freezing temperature (about -36°C) and force ice formation (this is discussed further elsewhere on this site). Alternatively, a liquid nitrogen-cooled rod (-200°C) is inserted into the cloud to turn the droplets into ice crystals. The crystals generated then grow at the expense of the available water vapour and droplets.By varying the environmental chamber conditions and nucleation techniques, a range of habits, sizes and number concentrations of ice crystals can be produced for experimental studies. The large height associated with the new chamber provides a longer crystal fall and growth time, and a new opportunity to grow particularly large, mm-sized, ice crystals and even aggregates in experiments.Other InstrumentsThe chamber is also laced with sensors and probes. In addition to pressure, humidity and temperature sensors, a number of inlets and port holes into the chamber allow the insertion of cloud and aerosol sampling probes. The majority of the probes are located at the base of the cloud chamber and sample falling cloud hydrometeors. Manchester utilises two Cloud Particle Imaging probes (CPI) and a Cloud Droplet Probe (CDP) amongst others; both the CPIs and CDP have been used extensively in chamber studies to sample ice crystals and droplets. Also used in the chamber is a Welas aerosol detection probe.Research TopicsResearch in the chamber has covered several scientific topics, ranging from ice crystal aggregation, light scattering from ice crystals, ice crystal formation, ice crystal riming, the fall speed of small ice crystals, and thunderstorm electrification. Further information about these topics is available from the navbar above.Mouseover the white dots to read more about the chamber1st floor sectionRoof section1st floor sectionGround–1st floor spaceGround floor sectionPlease navigate this microsite using the main navbar above.Site and content created using Xara Designer Pro 6
Ground floor sectionBasement–ground floor spaceBasement sectionWhat’s new:•24/07/2010Updated homogeneous ice crystal generation process video with small crystal footage. Other minor site improvements.•22/07/2010Updated video of water droplet falling at terminal velocity with new slow motion footage.•14/07/2010New video demonstrating homogeneous ice crystal generation process added to formation of ice crystals page.•08/05/2010Site visual appearance and functionality improved.•13/03/2010Added the droplet freezingpage in the student projects section.Click here for older news
Website technical factsSoftware Xara Designer Pro 6 was used to create this website and all it’s content, including graphics, panoramic photos and Flash animations. Creation involved a new approach to web design: graphical, WYSIWYG object placement without the need to code a single line of HTML or JavaScript.The site is highly optimised: the entire 19 page website consumes a grand total of just 4.5 MB, including all html, Flash, photo and graphic image files (plus there's a separate 12.6 MB of panoramic photo data—eight 50 million pixel photos). All graphics and photos are screen optimised for the web, and all this makes the site as fast as possible to load.
Site history:•12/03/2010•Added a new student project section to the Research menu of the site navbar, initially containing a droplet terminal fall speed experiment•various site navigation and aesthetic improvements.•08/03/2010Update to thunderstorm electrification section, including a video of some recent work.•31/12/2009New video of large snow aggregates on aggregation page.•23/12/2009•Automatic upgrade in resolution of all videos due to YouTube’s support for 1080p videos (1920x1080 pixels) (formerly only 720p [1280x720 pixels]). View at full screen on supporting monitor technology to view at this quality.•Various new navigation links added throughout site.•Updated various figures based on feedback.•Optimised load times of some pages.•Added a new figure to aggregation page showing some new preliminary results.•16/10/2009New video of freezing droplets on the Formation of Ice Crystals page. (Update 13/03/2010: moved this video to the droplet freezing page in the student projects section.)•14/10/2009Site online for first time
M.I.C.C.
Manchester Ice Cloud Chamber
Facility Description
The cold room facility in the Simon Building of
The University of Manchester, England, houses
one of the tallest cloud chambers in Europe at a
height of 10 m. The 1 m diameter fall tube spans
3 floors and can reach temperatures as low as
-50°C. The chamber can also be pressure
sealed and evacuated to simulate conditions
found in the upper troposphere. More quick facts
about the chamber can be seen by moving over
the white dots in the figure on the left.
Liquid Clouds
Liquid water, mixed phase, or entirely glaciated
clouds can be generated in the chamber, with
cloud liquid water contents ranging from zero to
the highest values found in nature. Water clouds
are typically generated in two ways. For the first
method, a water boiler is situated at the base of
the chamber and produces a cloud of droplets.
At sub-zero temperatures, these quickly become
supercooled. Similarly, it is also possible to use
atomisers in lieu of a boiler to generate a cloud of
water droplets. The second method involves
using high power pumps to rapidly evacuate the
chamber. This depressurisation rapidly reduces
the air temperature and causes cloud to form.
Ice Clouds
An ice cloud can be formed from a cloud of
supercooled liquid water droplets by either
heterogeneously or homogeneously nucleating
the droplet cloud. Homogeneous cloud
nucleation, when warmer than about -36°C, is
achieved using one of two methods. Firstly, a
rapid air expansion technique can be used in
which a small volume of compressed air is rapidly
expanded (adiabatically) to locally reduce air
temperature below the homogeneous freezing
temperature (about -36°C) and force ice
formation (this is discussed further elsewhere on
this site). Alternatively, a liquid nitrogen-cooled
rod (-200°C) is inserted into the cloud to turn the
droplets into ice crystals. The crystals generated
then grow at the expense of the available water
vapour and droplets.
By varying the environmental chamber conditions
and nucleation techniques, a range of habits,
sizes and number concentrations of ice crystals
can be produced for experimental studies. The
large height associated with the new chamber
provides a longer crystal fall and growth time,
and a new opportunity to grow particularly large,
mm-sized, ice crystals and even aggregates in
experiments.
Other Instruments
The chamber is also laced with sensors and
probes. In addition to pressure, humidity and
temperature sensors, a number of inlets and port
holes into the chamber allow the insertion of
cloud and aerosol sampling probes. The majority
of the probes are located at the base of the cloud
chamber and sample falling cloud hydrometeors.
Manchester utilises two Cloud Particle Imaging
probes (CPI) and a Cloud Droplet Probe (CDP)
amongst others; both the CPIs and CDP have
been used extensively in chamber studies to
sample ice crystals and droplets. Also used in
the chamber is a Welas aerosol detection probe.
Research Topics
Research in the chamber has covered several
scientific topics, ranging from ice crystal
aggregation, light scattering from ice crystals, ice
crystal formation, ice crystal riming, the fall speed
of small ice crystals, and thunderstorm
electrification. Further information about these
topics is available from the navbar above.
Mouseover
the white
dots to read
more about
the chamber
1st floor section
Roof section
1st floor section
Ground–1st floor
space
Ground floor
section
Please navigate this microsite using the main navbar above.
Site and content created using Xara Designer Pro 6
Ground floor
section
Basement–ground
floor space
Basement section
What’s new:
•
24/07/2010
Updated homogeneous ice
crystal generation process
video with small crystal footage.
Other minor site improvements.
•
22/07/2010
Updated video of water droplet
falling at terminal velocity with
new slow motion footage.
•
14/07/2010
New video demonstrating
homogeneous ice crystal
generation process added to
formation of ice crystals page.
•
08/05/2010
Site visual appearance and
functionality improved.
•
13/03/2010
Added the droplet freezing
page in the student projects
section.
Click here for older news
