Journal ArticleDOI
An Overview of Earth's Global Electric Circuit and Atmospheric Conductivity
TLDR
The Earth's global atmospheric electric circuit depends on the upper and lower atmospheric boundaries formed by the ionosphere and the planetary surface as mentioned in this paper, with the current carried by molecular cluster ions; lightning phenomena drive the AC global circuit.Abstract:
The Earth’s global atmospheric electric circuit depends on the upper and lower atmospheric boundaries formed by the ionosphere and the planetary surface. Thunderstorms and electrified rain clouds drive a DC current (∼1 kA) around the circuit, with the current carried by molecular cluster ions; lightning phenomena drive the AC global circuit. The Earth’s near-surface conductivity ranges from 10−7 S m−1 (for poorly conducting rocks) to 10−2 S m−1 (for clay or wet limestone), with a mean value of 3.2 S m−1 for the ocean. Air conductivity inside a thundercloud, and in fair weather regions, depends on location (especially geomagnetic latitude), aerosol pollution and height, and varies from ∼10−14 S m−1 just above the surface to 10−7 S m−1 in the ionosphere at ∼80 km altitude. Ionospheric conductivity is a tensor quantity due to the geomagnetic field, and is determined by parameters such as electron density and electron–neutral particle collision frequency. In the current source regions, point discharge (coronal) currents play an important role below electrified clouds; the solar wind-magnetosphere dynamo and the unipolar dynamo due to the terrestrial rotating dipole moment also apply atmospheric potential differences.read more
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Journal ArticleDOI
Solar influences on climate
Lesley J. Gray,Lesley J. Gray,Juerg Beer,M. Geller,Joanna D. Haigh,Mike Lockwood,Mike Lockwood,Katja Matthes,Ulrich Cubasch,Dominik Fleitmann,Dominik Fleitmann,Giles Harrison,Lon L. Hood,Jürg Luterbacher,Gerald A. Meehl,Drew Shindell,B. van Geel,W. White +17 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the development of this review article has evolved from work carried out by an international team of the International Space Science Institute (ISSI), Bern, Switzerland, and from work performed under the auspices of Scientific Committee on Solar Terrestrial Physics (SCOSTEP) regarding climate and weather of the Sun-Earth System (CAWSES).
Journal ArticleDOI
Pre-earthquake signals: Underlying physical processes
TL;DR: In this article, it was shown that most crustal rocks contain dormant electronic charge carriers in the form of peroxy defects, O 3 Si / OO ⧹ SiO 3, known as positive holes.
Journal ArticleDOI
Solar Influence on Global and Regional Climates
Mike Lockwood,Mike Lockwood +1 more
TL;DR: The literature relevant to how solar variability influences climate is vast as mentioned in this paper, but much has been based on inadequate statistics and non-robust procedures, and the common pitfalls are outlined in this review.
Journal ArticleDOI
Ionosphere plasma bubbles and density variations induced by pre‐earthquake rock currents and associated surface charges
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors formulated a coupling model for the stressed rock-Earth surface charges-atmosphere ionosphere system, where the stressed-rock acts as the dynamo to provide the currents for the coupling system.
Journal ArticleDOI
Atmospheric electricity coupling between earthquake regions and the ionosphere
TL;DR: In this article, the authors proposed a mechanism to explain suggested links between seismic activity and ionospheric changes detected overhead, and explained changes in the natural extremely low-frequency (ELF) radio noise recently observed in the topside ionosphere aboard the DEMETER satellite at night.
References
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Book
An Introduction to Boundary Layer Meteorology
TL;DR: In this article, the boundary layer is defined as the boundary of a boundary layer, and the spectral gap is used to measure the spectral properties of the boundary layers of a turbulent flow.
Book
Lightning: Physics and Effects
Vladimir A. Rakov,Martin A. Uman +1 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a model of lightning and its effects in the atmosphere and the distant lightning electromagnetic environment: atmospherics, Schumann resonances and whistlers.
Book
Introduction to ionospheric physics
Henry Rishbeth,Owen K. Garriott +1 more
TL;DR: In this article, a book on ionospheric physics covering neutral atmosphere and photochemical processes, morphology, phenomena, geomagnetism, storms and geomagnetic storms is presented.