Cough Aerosol Cloud Parameters

Abstract

This work is a further development of the authors' COVID-19 pandemic consequences research. The dynamics of the cough aerosol cloud was studied. An experimental setup for fixing spatial and temporal distributions of aerosol cloud velocities was used. Flags were placed on the threads of the experimental setup. On the first and second frames, the area and shape of the flags were different. The process of air passing through the frames was recorded by photographic equipment. The footage was compared by a computer program to identify differences.The results of an experiment with five adults (18–22 years, men), volunteered for study participation, are presented. The method of aerosol cloud visualization is applied. The dynamic parameters of the aerosol cloud are estimated. The velocity of the air flow arising from coughing was measured. The shape of the flow was determined depending on the time. It was found that the flow front moves with acceleration at the initial stage of propagation and with a constant velocity at the final stage. A nonlinear dependence of the change in the volume of cough air flow aerosol on time was established.