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Artificially produced space charge of positive or negative polarity was released into the atmosphere at a rate of about 1 milliampere from an electrified horizontal wire 14 km long. Operating characteristics of this apparatus are described. Electrical measurements from an airplane show that the charge from the wire mixed rapidly into the lower atmosphere and caused large perturbations in the fair‐weather electric potential gradient and space charge. These perturbations extended downwind 10 km or more. When there was convection, the charge was rapidly carried aloft by thermal updrafts. The artificial charge appears to be a good tracer for micrometeorological studies of atmospheric circulation.

Areal rainfall distribution over a 50-square-mile area was observed by 3-cm radar and by a rain-gage network of 33 rain gages. Isohyetal maps were prepared from both rain-gage and radar observations in order to compare the rainfall distribution as observed by the two rainfall observation techniques. The computed rainfall values were at least as accurate as those obtained by a rain-gage network of one gage per 200 square miles and in some cases they were considerably more accurate.