Atmospheric electricity

Atmospheric electricity
Name	Atmospheric electricity
Caption	Lightning over a cumulonimbus cloud
Field	Atmospheric science, Geophysics
Related	Ionosphere, Magnetosphere, Thunderstorm

Atmospheric electricity is the study of electric charges, fields, currents, and discharges that occur in planetary atmospheres. It encompasses phenomena ranging from fair-weather electric fields and the global circuit to lightning, sprites, and interactions with the ionosphere and magnetosphere. Research intersects observational programs, satellite missions, and historical investigations by figures and institutions that advanced knowledge of electricity in the atmosphere.

Overview

Atmospheric electricity spans processes studied by investigators associated with Royal Society, Max Planck Society, Smithsonian Institution, Carnegie Institution for Science, Imperial College London, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and was influenced by experiments by Benjamin Franklin, Michael Faraday, James Clerk Maxwell, Charles Darwin, and Lord Kelvin. Core elements include the electric field near Earth's surface measured at observatories such as Kew Observatory and Mullard Space Science Laboratory and currents flowing through the atmosphere monitored by campaigns like International Geophysical Year and missions such as Atmospheric Explorer and Dynamics Explorer. Subjects connect to technologies developed at organizations including National Aeronautics and Space Administration, European Space Agency, NOAA, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and UK Met Office.

Global Electric Circuit

The global electric circuit concept was articulated in programs involving C. T. R. Wilson and institutions like University of Cambridge and University of Toronto, and maintained by measurements from platforms such as CS裙? and observatories like Mauna Loa Observatory and Vostok Station. The circuit links thunderstorm generators explored during International Year of the Quiet Sun to the fair-weather return currents measured by arrays from United Kingdom Meteorological Office and Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Models employ frameworks developed at Princeton University, Stanford University, and Imperial College London and are tested with data from satellites including UARS, DE-1, and FORMOSAT.

Lightning and Thunderstorms

Lightning research advanced through work at University of Chicago, University of Florida, Texas A&M University, and laboratories such as Sandia National Laboratories, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Observational networks like National Lightning Detection Network and radar systems from European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites and Doppler radar arrays complement field programs such as VORTEX and HyMeX. Historical studies cite instrument pioneers at Kew Observatory and innovators like Nikola Tesla and Guglielmo Marconi; contemporary experiments involve platforms operated by NOAA, NASA, and CNES.

Ionospheric and Magnetospheric Interactions

Coupling between atmospheric electricity and the ionosphere and magnetosphere has been explored in collaborations among University of Alaska Fairbanks, Boston University, University of California, Berkeley, and agencies like NASA and ESA. Phenomena such as sprites, elves, and blue jets were documented by researchers affiliated with University of Minnesota, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, and observatories like Palomar Observatory and Arecibo Observatory. Satellite missions including Arecibo Observatory-supported campaigns, TIMED, IMAGE, and Cluster contributed to understanding of electrodynamic coupling, while theory was shaped by scientists at Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research and Stanford University.

Atmospheric Electricity in Weather and Climate

Studies linking electrification to precipitation, cloud microphysics, and climate involve teams at University of Reading, Pennsylvania State University, NOAA's National Severe Storms Laboratory, and Met Office Hadley Centre. Long-term records from stations such as Barrow Observatory, Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory, and ice-core analyses from Dome C and Greenland Ice Sheet Project inform paleoclimate inferences used by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Modeling efforts harness frameworks developed at European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts and National Center for Atmospheric Research and draw on cloud physics research at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory.

Measurement and Observation Techniques

Techniques include field mills, electric field meters, and balloon-borne sondes used by teams at CSIR, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, and Brazilian National Institute for Space Research, as well as remote sensing from satellites such as TRMM, Lightning Imaging Sensor, GOES, and Meteosat. Ground-based arrays of VLF receivers and magnetometers operated by World Data Center networks, research by British Antarctic Survey, and deployments by US Antarctic Program have improved monitoring. Laboratory experiments at institutions like University of Delaware and École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne use particle accelerators and high-voltage facilities developed in collaboration with CERN and ITER partners.

Human Impacts and Applications

Understanding atmospheric electricity informs safety standards by organizations such as International Electrotechnical Commission and National Fire Protection Association, and underpins engineering at Boeing, Airbus, Siemens, and General Electric. Applications include lightning protection for infrastructure designed by firms influenced by Underwriters Laboratories and practices adopted after events investigated by Federal Aviation Administration and Civil Aviation Administration of China. Research has practical outcomes in mineral exploration techniques used by Rio Tinto, renewable energy integration considered by Ørsted, and risk assessment frameworks employed by insurers like Lloyd's of London.

Category:Atmospheric sciences