The Multi-Angle Snowflake Camera (MASC) takes 10 to 30 micron resolution photographs of hydrometeors from three angles while simultaneously measuring their fallspeed. The cameras are triggered by a vertically stacked bank of sensitive infrared motion sensors designed to filter out slow variations in ambient light. The triggering is auto-calibrated, and sensitive to snowflake sizes ranging from 100 micrometers to 3 cm (30,000 micrometers). Fallspeed is derived from successive triggers along the fall path. Photographs are obtained at a speed of up to 1/40,000th of a second and the hydrometeors are illuminated by three 40 W LEDs rated at 2700 lumens each.

The instrument is robust to cold and weather and runs unattended. Calibration is limited to occasional camera alignment and lens focusing using a calibration tool that attaches to the instrument. Software is included for image and fallspeed acquisition and display on PC platforms and for creating a live internet feed from the installation site. The executables include lossless (png) image compression to facilitate with data management. Tens of thousands of images might be obtained in a single day. Scientific analysis scripts are available for detailed post-processing.

Technical details are available in the specifications PDF.

For more information or to request a quote, please reach out to us at info@particleflux.net.