diameter and that from 50% to 90% of the fission product activity is
carried by particles of this size range.

The influence of atmospheric

density can also be noted in the slopes of the curves of Figure 5 in
that there is a slower rate of fall as the particle approaches the
surface.

Spherical particles under 100 microns in diameter thus fall

in a manner described by Stokes' Law" with the terminal velocity of

Hae Navin

those particles in the upper cloud being twice the terminal velocity of
free fall in the lower cloud from yields greater than 1 MI.

For spheri-

cal particles larger than 100 microns, as well as for irregulerlyshaped particles of all sizes, free fall is better fitted to a fall
described aerodynamically rather than by Stokes' Law.

During fall

. through any one segment or layer of a cloud, the time of fall will be

Peery

the sum of the time for the loss in height, "gravity", and change in
horizontal position, "vertical wind effect".

Assuming wiiform distri-

bution of the particle size spectrum and of chemical composition
throughout the cloud, a projected fall-out field can be made by plotting
the time required to travel from the initial placement of certain categories of particles in each cloud segment, to the growd.

The activity

deposited will vary, owing to the decay of activity in particles composed of very short half-lived elements, individual particle response
to wind shear and eddy currents, and redistribution after deposition
because of wind and water erosion.
After stabilization, which occurs about 5 to 7 minutes after deton-

ation, the atomic cloud is moved downwind from ground zero.

The mush-

room having cooled to a temperature about equal to that of the surround-

ing atmosphere no longer rises, but does expand to a greater diameter.
This lateral expansion results from the expenditure of the kinetic energy
acquired during the turbulent rise of the fireball, and from diffusion
effects.

As this lateral growth proceeds, the cloud becomes jess

sharply defined, and within a matter of hours, except under unusual
atmospheric conditions, may no longer be identified visually.

The

* Stokee'Law: A mathematical treatment of small spherical particles
falling through air in which the viscosity of the air opposes the pull
of gravity.
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