Atmospheric Electricity

Atmospheric Electricity
Author: J. Alan Chalmers
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 340
Release: 2015-12-04
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1483225437

Atmospheric Electricity brings together numerous studies on various aspects of atmospheric electricity. This book is composed of 13 chapters that cover the main problems in the field, including the maintenance of the negative charge on the earth and the origin of the charges in thunderstorms. After a brief overview of the historical developments of atmospheric electricity, this book goes on dealing with the general principles, results, methods, and the MKS system of the field. The succeeding chapters are devoted to some aspects of electricity in the atmosphere, such as the occurrence and detection of ions, the air-Earth conduction current, and point-discharge and precipitation currents. These topics are followed by discussions on the maintenance of the Earth's charge; the correlation of Earth's charge with thunderstorm activity and current; and mechanism of charge transfer in nonstormy rain and snow. The concluding chapters consider the phenomena of thunder cloud and the lightning discharge. These chapters also examine various theories in understanding the separation of Earth's charge. This book will be of value to physicists, atmospheric scientists, and researchers in the allied fields.

Planetary Atmospheric Electricity

Planetary Atmospheric Electricity
Author: François Leblanc
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 522
Release: 2008-10-01
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0387876642

This book is a comprehensive discussion of all issues related to atmospheric electricity in our solar system. It details atmospheric electricity on Earth and other planets and discusses the development of instruments used for observation.

The Earth and Atmospheric Electricity

The Earth and Atmospheric Electricity
Author: Vladimir Shuleikin
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2018
Genre: Atmospheric electricity
ISBN: 9781536139730

According to the provisions of the surface atmospheric electricity theory, the space charge of the surface air layer owes its origin to ionization by exhaling soil radon. According to field observations, a model representation of relations between hydrogen, methane, radon, and surface atmospheric electricity elements is composed. Bubbles of two volatile gases carry soil radon from a depth of 4-6 m to the near-surface atmosphere. As a consequence, light ions produced by ionization determine polar conductivity of the surface air; light ion aggregation with neutral condensation nuclei produces heavy ions primarily responsible for the atmospheric electric field. This means that the surface atmospheric electricity is determined by local geology and geodynamics.According to the field observations, the radon content in the surface soil layers is at least two orders of magnitude higher than the concentration of ionizer exhalation. A change in the soil radon content of a single percent will lead to a twofold change in the exhalation concentration, i.e., to a twofold change in the polar conductivities and the atmospheric electric field. This means that the surface atmospheric electricity elements will be extremely sensitive to variations in the subvertical carrier gas (hydrogen and methane) flow density.The results of multiple field observations prove the correctness of the above assumptions. The increased soil-atmosphere air exchange above fault zones, the basement top settling area, and the zones of natural or human-made soil loosening leads to an abrupt decrease in the atmospheric electric field and an increase in the polar air conductivity. An increase in the sub-vertical flow density of hydrogen above the ore body cap or methane in the oil field plume inevitably leads to low values of the atmospheric electric field within the deposit boundaries. The effect can be increased by the presence of natural or human-made seismic excitation in geological environments.The industrial level withdrawal of artesian waters is accompanied by a multiple increase in the atmospheric electric field above the area of hydrogeological processes; methane injection into the underground gas storage, industrial disposal of industrial wastewater leads to the opposite effect, i.e., a decrease of the atmospheric electric field. Taking into account the model constructed, complex measurements of surface atmospheric electricity elements--hydrogen and radon--allow for an indirect expression estimate of the soil methane content above the level of (10-6 - 10-5) vol.% and monitoring of the landslide stressed state.

Ball Lightning and Bead Lightning

Ball Lightning and Bead Lightning
Author: James Barry
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 316
Release: 2013-06-29
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1475717105

The purpose of this monograph is to review the known physical aspects of two unusual forms of atmospheric luminous phenomena, to deduce their characteristics and properties, and to promote efforts to improve their understanding. These two forms, called ball lightning and bead lightning, have visual images that differ from the linear image associated with normallightning. The terms "balliightning" and "bead lightning" are used to denote atmospheric luminous forms which are occasionally observed and have the geometrie shape suggested by their name. Vet, it is possible that neither phenomenon may in fact be a form of lightning in the sense of a continuous electrical discharge. Bead lightning has been described as the residue of a cloud-to cloud or cloud-to-ground lightning stroke and has the appearance of aseries of luminous balls separated by dark regions, thus resembling astring of pearls, and remains visible for about one second. Ball lightning has been described as a single luminous globe appearing ne ar the ground after a lightning stroke and also remaining visible for about one second. Both phenomena remain visible far longer than normal lightning flashes.

Electrifying Atmospheres: Charging, Ionisation and Lightning in the Solar System and Beyond

Electrifying Atmospheres: Charging, Ionisation and Lightning in the Solar System and Beyond
Author: Karen Aplin
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 64
Release: 2013-05-14
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9400766335

Electrical processes take place in all planetary atmospheres. There is evidence for lightning on Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, it is possible on Mars and Titan, and cosmic rays ionise every atmosphere, leading to charged droplets and particles. Controversy surrounds the role of atmospheric electricity in physical climate processes on Earth; here, a comparative approach is employed to review the role of electrification in the atmospheres of other planets and their moons. This book reviews the theory, and, where available, measurements, of planetary atmospheric electricity, taken to include ion production and ion-aerosol interactions. The conditions necessary for a global atmospheric electric circuit similar to Earth’s, and the likelihood of meeting these conditions in other planetary atmospheres, are briefly discussed. Atmospheric electrification is more important at planets receiving little solar radiation, increasing the relative significance of electrical forces. Nucleation onto atmospheric ions has been predicted to affect the evolution and lifetime of haze layers on Titan, Neptune and Triton. For planets closer to Earth, heating from solar radiation dominates atmospheric circulations. Mars may have a global circuit analogous to the terrestrial model, but based on electrical discharges from dust storms, and Titan may have a similar global circuit, based on transfer of charged raindrops. There is an increasing need for direct measurements of planetary atmospheric electrification, in particular on Mars, to assess the risk for future unmanned and manned missions. Theoretical understanding could be increased by cross-disciplinary work to modify and update models and parameterisations initially developed for a specific atmosphere, to make them more broadly applicable to other planetary atmospheres. The possibility of electrical processes in the atmospheres of exoplanets is also discussed.

The Earth's Electrical Environment

The Earth's Electrical Environment
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 279
Release: 1986-02-01
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0309036801

This latest addition to the Studies in Geophysics series explores in scientific detail the phenomenon of lightning, cloud, and thunderstorm electricity, and global and regional electrical processes. Consisting of 16 papers by outstanding experts in a number of fields, this volume compiles and reviews many recent advances in such research areas as meteorology, chemistry, electrical engineering, and physics and projects how new knowledge could be applied to benefit mankind.

The Earth's Electric Field

The Earth's Electric Field
Author: Michael C. Kelley
Publisher: Newnes
Total Pages: 230
Release: 2013-09-21
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0123978831

The Earth's Electric Field provides you with an integrated and comprehensive picture of the generation of the terrestrial electric fields, their dynamics and how they couple/propagate through the medium. The Earth's Electric Field provides basic principles of terrestrial electric field related topics, but also a critical summary of electric field related observations and their significance to the various related phenomena in the atmosphere. For the first time, Kelley brings together information on this topic in a coherent way, making it easy to gain a broad overview of the critical processes in an efficient way. If you conduct research in atmospheric science, physics, atmospheric chemistry, space plasma physics, and solar terrestrial physics, you will find this book to be essential reading. - The only book on the physics of terrestrial electric fields and their generation mechanisms, propagation and dynamics–making it essential reading for scientists conducting research in upper atmospheric, ionospheric, magnetospheric and space weather - Covers the processes related to electric field generation and electric field coupling in the upper atmosphere along with providing new insights about electric fields generated by sources from sun to mud - Focuses on real-world implications—covering topics such as space weather, earthquakes, the effect on power grids, and the effect on GPS and communication devices

Geology, Geodynamics, and Atmospheric Electricity

Geology, Geodynamics, and Atmospheric Electricity
Author: Vladimir Shuleikin
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
Total Pages: 167
Release: 2020-01-10
Genre: Science
ISBN: 152754513X

Bubbles of hydrogen and methane carry soil radon, the main ionizer of surface air, into the surface atmosphere. As a consequence of ionization, light ion pairs are formed that determine the polar conductivity of the surface air; light ions’ aggregation with neutral condensation nuclei gives heavy ions, primarily responsible for the atmospheric electric field. As such, the density of hydrogen and methane subvertical flows will determine local electrical characteristics of the surface atmospheric air. Geological heterogeneities, deformations, and seismic and hydrogeological activity can change the density of hydrogen and methane flows. This book brings together extensive material from field observations to illustrate the possible use of atmospheric-electrical monitoring to solve problems of applied geophysics.

Atmospheric Electrodynamics

Atmospheric Electrodynamics
Author: H. Volland
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 211
Release: 2013-03-07
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3642698131

This book resulted from lectures which I gave at the Universities of Kyoto, Cologne, and Bonn. Its objective is to summarize in a unifying way two other wise rather separately treated subjects of atmospheric electrodynamics: elec tric fields of atmospheric origin, in particular thunderstorm phenomena and related problems on the one hand, and magnetic fields, in particular those which are associated with electric currents of upper atmospheric origin, on the other. Geoelectricity and geomagnetism were not always considered as be longing to quite different fields of geophysics. On the contrary, they were re cognized by the physicists of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century as two manifestations of one and the same physical phenomenon, which we pre sently refer to as electromagnetic fields. This can still be visualized from the choice of names of scientific journals. For instance, there still exists the Japanese Journal of Geomagnetism and Geoelectricity, and the former name of the present American Journal of Geophysical Research was Terrestrial Magnetism and Atmospheric Electricity. Whereas geomagnetism became the root of modern magnetospheric phys ics culminating in the space age exploration of the earth's environment, geo electricity evolved as a step-child of meteorology. The reason for this is clear. The atmospheric electric field observed on the ground reflects merely the local weather with all its frustrating unpredictability. The variable part of the geomagnetic field, however, is a useful indicator of ionospheric and magneto spheric electric current systems.