Observation of the sling effect When cloud particles are small enough, they move with the turbulent air in the cloud. On the other hand, as particles become larger their inertia affects their motions, and they move differently than the air. These inertial dynamics impact cloud evolution and ultimately climate prediction, since clouds govern the Earths energy balances. However, we lack a simple description of the dynamics. Falkovich et al describe theoretically a new dynamical mechanism called the sling effect by which extreme events in the turbulent air cause idealized inertial cloud particles to break free from the airflow (Falkovich et al 2002 Nature 419 151). The sling effect thereafter causes particle trajectories to cross each other within isolated pockets in the flow, which increases the chance of collisions that forms larger particles. We combined experimental techniques that allow for precise control of a turbulent flow with three-dimensional tracking of multiple particles at unprecedented resolution....
Posted on: Mon, 01 Dec 2014 09:33:33 +0000