Runaway breakdown in the Jovian atmospheres

Dwyer, J. R.; Coleman, L. M.; López, Ramón; Saleh, Z.; Concha, D.; Brown, Michael G.; Rassoul, H. K.

doi:10.1029/2006gl027633

“…These issues are addressed in other parts of this manuscript. We can however indicate, in agreement with Dwyer et al (2006), that under similar conditions runaway breakdown is more likely to occur on the gas giants than conventional breakdown when compared to Earth or the other planets.…”

Section: Implications For Planetary Atmospheressupporting

confidence: 88%

Physical Processes Related to Discharges in Planetary Atmospheres

Roussel-Dupré

¹

,

Colman

²

,

Symbalisty

³

et al. 2008

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This paper focuses on the rudimentary principles of discharge physics. The kinetic theory of electron transport in gases relevant to planetary atmospheres is examined and results of detailed Boltzmann kinetic calculations are presented for a range of applied electric fields. Comparisons against experimental swarm data are made. Both conventional breakdown and runaway breakdown are covered in detail. The phenomena of transient luminous events (TLEs), particularly sprites, and terrestrial gamma-ray flashes (TGFs) are discussed briefly as examples of discharges that occur in the terrestrial environment. The observations of terrestrial lightning that exist across the electromagnetic spectrum and presented throughout this volume fit well with the broader understanding of discharge physics that we present in this paper. We hope that this material provides the foundation on which explorations in search of discharge processes on other planets can be based and previous evidence confirmed or refuted.R. Roussel-Dupré ( ) · J.J. Colman · E. Symbalisty

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“…4a-c where the avalanche time, mean energy, and spread in energy, are plotted as a function of the scaled electric field (E/N ) in Td, respectively. One key result is that the avalanche time is smaller for Jupiter than for Earth by large factors at low E/N and by factors of 2-3 at high E/N , in agreement with the findings of Dwyer et al (2006). The indication again is that runaway breakdown initiates more easily and proceeds faster on the gas giants for the same applied electric field.…”

Section: Runaway Breakdown Regimesupporting

confidence: 84%

Physical Processes Related to Discharges in Planetary Atmospheres

Roussel-Dupré

¹

,

Colman

²

,

Symbalisty

³

et al. 2008

Space Sciences Series of ISSI

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper focuses on the rudimentary principles of discharge physics. The kinetic theory of electron transport in gases relevant to planetary atmospheres is examined and results of detailed Boltzmann kinetic calculations are presented for a range of applied electric fields. Comparisons against experimental swarm data are made. Both conventional breakdown and runaway breakdown are covered in detail. The phenomena of transient luminous events (TLEs), particularly sprites, and terrestrial gamma-ray flashes (TGFs) are discussed briefly as examples of discharges that occur in the terrestrial environment. The observations of terrestrial lightning that exist across the electromagnetic spectrum and presented throughout this volume fit well with the broader understanding of discharge physics that we present in this paper. We hope that this material provides the foundation on which explorations in search of discharge processes on other planets can be based and previous evidence confirmed or refuted.R. Roussel-Dupré ( ) · J.J. Colman · E. Symbalisty

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“…Experimental evidence as well as Monte-Carlo calculations suggest that the electric field strength in the clouds is much lower than the threshold electric field required to initiate electrical breakdown (Marshall et al 2005;Dwyer et al 2006;Stolzenburg et al 2007). This inhibits the application of the breakdown discharge process to explain the numerous lightning discharges observed during the active period of a thunderstorm.…”

Section: Thunderstorms and Gcr Induced Dischargesmentioning

confidence: 97%

Solar Activity, Lightning and Climate

Siingh

¹

,

Singh

²

,

Singh

³

et al. 2011

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The physics of solar forcing of the climate and long term climate change is summarized, and the role of energetic charged particles (including cosmic rays) on cloud formation and their effect on climate is examined. It is considered that the cosmic raycloud cover hypothesis is not supported by presently available data and further investigations (during Forbush decreases and at other times) should be analyzed to further examine the hypothesis. Another player in climate is lightning through the production of NO x ; this greenhouse gas, water vapour in the troposphere (and stratosphere) and carbon dioxide influence the global temperature through different processes. The enhancement of aerosol concentrations and their distribution in the troposphere also affect the climate and may result in enhanced lightning activity. Finally, the roles of atmospheric conductivity on the electrical activity of thunderstorms and lightning discharges in relation to climate are discussed.

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Runaway breakdown in the Jovian atmospheres

Cited by 26 publications

References 38 publications

Physical Processes Related to Discharges in Planetary Atmospheres

Physical Processes Related to Discharges in Planetary Atmospheres

Physical Processes Related to Discharges in Planetary Atmospheres

Solar Activity, Lightning and Climate

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