DUSTER (Dust in the Upper Stratosphere Tracking Experiment and Retrieval). PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS

The DUSTER project is aimed at uncontaminated collection and retrieval of stratospheric solid aerosol particles, in the submicron/micron range. The Earth stratosphere contains extraterrestrial dust, dust from natural and anthropogenic activities. Our main target is the study of dust originated in our planetary system. We present here the preliminary results of the June 2008 campaign. After recovery, collected particles were identified by comparing FESEM images taken on the pre-flight collector with those obtained on the post-fight collector. Possible contamination was monitored by FESEM observation of the 'Blank'. Morphology, dimension, and composition of collected particles were defined using a FESEM equipped with an EDX system. The collected sample are in the size range 0.5-150 mum, ≈30% of aerosols sizing 0.5-1.5 mum, a range poorly studied so far.