An Overview of Earth’s Global Electric Circuit and Atmospheric Conductivity

Rycroft, M.J.; Harrison, Giles; Nicoll, Keri; Mareev, E. A.

doi:10.1007/978-0-387-87664-1_6

Cited by 31 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 53 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…As the mobility of the small positive and negative ions are almost the same near the Earth's surface, both positive and negative ions move under the influence of atmospheric electric field. As a result, the current density becomes dependent on both ions (Rycroft et al 2008).…”

Section: Observational Resultsmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Even a closer look at the seasonal variation of Carnegie data reveals that during the months of March-April-May, the data of 46 fair-weather days exhibit a unitary diurnal variation having a maximum around 15 UT instead around 19-20 UT (Rycroft 2008). Several works point to the role of electrified shower clouds and its contribution in comparison to global thunderstorm activity and lightning activity in modulating GEC (Williams and Satori 2004;Williams 2009).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

See 1 more Smart Citation

First results of fair-weather atmospheric electricity measurements in Northeast India

Guha

Gurubaran³

et al. 2010

J Earth Syst Sci

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

During the month of March 2006, a short campaign was conducted to measure fair-weather atmospheric electricity parameters in Tripura, Northeast India (23.50 • N, 91.25 • E). The campaign was the first of its kind in this region of the globe. The main objective of the campaign was to characterize the diurnal variation of three parameters namely vertical potential gradient (E), vertical air-earth current density (J z ) and atmospheric electrical conductivity (σ) in fair-weather conditions. The diurnal variation of E and J z over sixteen fair-weather days shows two distinct maxima around 14 UT and 20 UT and a minimum around 03 UT. The average vertical potential gradient is found to be 108 V·m −1 and air-earth current density 1.85 pA·m −2 . The average bipolar atmospheric electrical conductivity at the ground level is found to be 19.6 fS·m −1 . An excellent positive correlation between E and J z is found, with a correlation coefficient of 0.96. A comparative study with Carnegie universal variation shows 70% correlation with observed variation of vertical potential gradient during the period of the campaign. The results are discussed in view of difficulty as well as possibility of getting global signatures in atmospheric electricity measurements made from tropical land stations.

show abstract

Section: Observational Resultsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

First results of fair-weather atmospheric electricity measurements in Northeast India

Guha

Gurubaran³

et al. 2010

J Earth Syst Sci

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…A study of influence of atmospheric solar radiation absorption on photodestruction of ions at D-region altitudes of the ionosphere presented in this work will help to develop such models. An atmospheric electric conductivity profile is an important parameter in establishing the global circuit of the atmosphere, and its value depends on number densities of ions and electrons (Rycroft et al 2008). Therefore, changes in number densities of ions and electrons caused by photodestruction of ions result in the corresponding variability of the global atmospheric electric circuit.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of Atmospheric Solar Radiation Absorption on Photodestruction of Ions at D-Region Altitudes of the Ionosphere

Павлов

2016

Surv Geophys

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The influence of atmospheric solar radiation absorption on the photodetachment, dissociative photodetachment, and photodissociation rate coefficients (photode-, and NO ? (CO 2 ) at D-region altitudes of the ionosphere is studied. A numerical one-dimensional time-dependent neutral atmospheric composition model has been developed to estimate this influence. The model simulations are carried out for the geomagnetically quiet time period of 15 October 1998 at moderate solar activity over the Boulder ozonesonde. If the solar zenith angle is not more than 90°then the strongest influence of atmospheric solar radiation absorption on photodestruction of ions is found for photodissociation of CO 4 -ions when CO 3 -ions are formed. It follows from the calculations that decreases in the photodestruction rate coefficients of ions under consideration caused by this influence are less than 2 % at 70 km altitude and above this altitude if the solar zenith angle does not exceed 90°.

show abstract

“…The whole question of the electrical conditions of the atmosphere, including its most dramatic manifestation (lightning), is tied up with CR insofar as they represent an important source of ions near ground level and the major source at altitudes above a few km. Tinsley et al (2007), Rycroft et al (2008), and others have pointed out the great importance of the 'global electric circuit'-to which CR contribute considerably-even when the changes considered have been small. The global electric circuit possibly can be influenced also by gigantic red sprites and blue jets.…”

Section: Relevance Of Eas To the Origin Of Lifementioning

confidence: 96%

“…This is where it must be pointed out that direct CR may affect the climate. The effect of GCR on the 'Global electrical circuit' (Williams 2002;Rycroft et al 2008) has been studied by Tinsley (2008) and Aplin et al (2008) who consider the effect of 'electrofreezing' and 'electro-scavenging'; these processes lead to changes in the density of cloud condensation nuclei. In all these processes it is important to know the manner in which CR ionization varies with atmospheric depth.…”

Section: The Cosmic Radiation and Its Relation To Climatementioning

confidence: 99%

Long Term Time Variability of Cosmic Rays and Possible Relevance to the Development of Life on Earth

Erlykin

Wolfendale

2010

Surv Geophys

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

An analysis is made of the manner in which the cosmic ray intensity at Earth has varied over its existence and its possible relevance to both the origin and the evolution of life. Much of the analysis relates to the 'high energy' cosmic rays (E [ 10 14 eV; =0.1 PeV) and their variability due to the changing proximity of the solar system to supernova remnants which are generally believed to be responsible for most cosmic rays up to PeV energies. It is pointed out that, on a statistical basis, there will have been considerable variations in the likely 100 My between the Earth's biosphere reaching reasonable stability and the onset of very elementary life. Interestingly, there is the increasingly strong possibility that PeV cosmic rays are responsible for the initiation of terrestrial lightning strokes and the possibility arises of considerable increases in the frequency of lightnings and thereby the formation of some of the complex molecules which are the 'building blocks of life'. Attention is also given to the well known generation of the oxides of nitrogen by lightning strokes which are poisonous to animal life but helpful to plant growth; here, too, the violent swings of cosmic ray intensities may have had relevance to evolutionary changes. A particular variant of the cosmic ray acceleration model, put forward by us, predicts an increase in lightning rate in the past and this has been sought in Korean historical records. Finally, the time dependence of the overall cosmic ray intensity, which manifests itself mainly at sub-10 GeV energies, has been examined. The relevance of cosmic rays to the 'global electrical circuit' points to the importance of this concept.

show abstract

An Overview of Earth’s Global Electric Circuit and Atmospheric Conductivity

Cited by 31 publications

References 53 publications

First results of fair-weather atmospheric electricity measurements in Northeast India

First results of fair-weather atmospheric electricity measurements in Northeast India

Influence of Atmospheric Solar Radiation Absorption on Photodestruction of Ions at D-Region Altitudes of the Ionosphere

Long Term Time Variability of Cosmic Rays and Possible Relevance to the Development of Life on Earth

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About