Work

WEEVIL: design and commissioning of an ice-sublimation chamber and a cryogenic submillimeter radiometer for studying rarefied gas plumes

Year: 2026

Type: preprint

Abstract: We present WEEVIL (WatEr Emission of Vapor from Ice in the Laboratory), an experimental facility developed to study ice sublimation under laboratory conditions to support observations of comets and icy moons. The setup combines a submillimeter heterodyne radiometer and a high-vacuum cryogenic chamber, enabling spatially and temporally resolved monitoring of gas plumes formed during ice sublimation under controlled laboratory conditions. This paper describes the facility's design and implementation. Furthermore, we present the commissioning of the experimental setup, including the first water-vapor spectra acquired during an ice sublimation experiment.

Source: arXiv (Cornell University)

DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2610.05495

Authors: Belousov, D., Fritschi, J., Mokhtari, O., Stöckli, L. L., Piazza, D., Murk, A., Thomas, N.

Institution: University of Bern

Language: English

Topic: Astro and Planetary Science

Subfield: Space and Planetary Science

Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: University of Bern, Haute école Spécialisée de Suisse Occidentale, Staatssekretariat für Bildung, Forschung und Innovation

OpenAlex ID: W7220663080

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