Electric State of the Near-Surface Atmosphere according to the Results of Tethered Balloon Observations

The electric state of the near-surface atmosphere up to a height of 400 m is investigated using a tethered balloon with a measuring platform and a ground-based information-measuring complex of the Borok middle-latitude geophysical observatory. For the first time, measurements were taken simultaneously for vertical profiles of the atmospheric electric field, polar electrical conductivities, size distribution of aerosol particles, and the volume activity of radon, which have allowed estimating the average values and variability of the space charge density and conduction current in the atmosphere. The height dependence of the electric potential with respect to the Earth’s surface and electrical resistance of the near-surface atmospheric column under different conditions of the temperature stratification is studied.

     

Global and Regional Electricity Components in Undisturbed Midlatitude Lower Atmosphere

The physical mechanisms determining the variability of the vertical profiles of electrical conductivity, space charge density, and electric field in the undisturbed midlatitude lower atmosphere are discussed. The influence of the global and local mesoscale processes on the variability of electrical conductivity and the main component of the atmospheric electric field is estimated. The sunrise effect is studied, estimates are obtained for the charge accumulation rate in the column of the lower atmosphere and the corresponding growth rate of the field strength close to the ground. It is shown that the increase in the average charge density is mainly due to the breakdown of the stable stratification of the atmospheric boundary layer and transformation of the vertical profile of electrical conductivity following the convective mixing of a radon and its daughter products.