Digital holography for observing aerosol particles undergoing Brownian motion in microgravity conditions

Brownian diffusion of aerosol particles was studied in microgravity conditions using a digital holographic velocimeter. Based on digital image processing, the observed volume, recorded on a charge-coupled device (CCD) camera, is reconstructed slice by slice in order to achieve a full focused volume. Three dimensional coordinates of the particles are retrieved by such procedures and particle trajectories are reconstructed by analysing the sequence of the particle position. We deduced that the displacement of particles in microgravity, due to Brownian motion, follows a Gaussian distribution, like at 1 g. Particle sizes obtained from SEM measurements were in good agreement with those calculated from the three dimensional trajectories provided by the holographic microscope.