Abstract
The historical development of terrestrial atmospheric electricity is described, from its beginnings with the first observations of the potential gradient to the global electric circuit model proposed by C.T.R. Wilson in the early 20th century. The properties of the terrestrial global circuit are summarised. Concepts originally needed to develop the idea of a global circuit are identified as “central tenets”, for example, the importance of radio science in establishing the conducting upper layer. The central tenets are distinguished from additional findings that merely corroborate, or are explained by, the global circuit model. Using this analysis it is possible to specify which observations are preferable for detecting global circuits in extraterrestrial atmospheres. Schumann resonances, the extremely low frequency signals generated by excitation of the surface-ionosphere cavity by electrical discharges, are identified as the most useful single measurement of electrical activity in a planetary atmosphere.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
C. Andre, Comptes Rendus 117, 729–732 (1893)
K.L. Aplin, PhD thesis, The University of Reading, UK, 2000
K.L. Aplin, Surv. Geophys. 27, 63–108 (2006). doi:10.1007/s10712-005-0642-9
K.L. Aplin, R.A. McPheat, J. Atmos. Sol.-Terr. Phys. 67(8–9), 775–783 (2005). doi:10.1016/j.jastp.2005.01.007
G. Beccaria, Della Elettricite Terrestre Atmosferica a Cielo Serno (Turin, 1775)
C. Béghin, F. Simões, V. Karnoselskhikh et al., Icarus 191(1), 251 (2007). doi:/10.1016/j.icarus.2007.04.005
J.J. Berthelier, R. Grard, H. Laakso et al., Planet. Space Sci. 48(12–14), 1193–1200 (2000)
A.J. Bennett, R.G. Harrison, Weather 62, 10 (2007). doi:10.1002/wea.97
B.P. Besser, Radio Sci. 42, RS2S02 (2007). doi:10.1029/2006RS003495
C.E.P. Brooks, Geophys. Memo. 3(24), 147–164 (1925)
M.I. Budyko, Results of observations of atmospheric electricity (The World Network, Additional Issue, 1965–1969). (USSR Chief Administration of the Hydro-Meteorological Service, Leningrad, 1971)
J. Canton, Philos. Trans. 48, 780–785 (1753)
K.S. Carslaw, R.G. Harrison, J. Kirkby, Science 298, 1732 (2002)
S. Chapman, Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. A 218, 1 (1919)
B. Chauveau, Electricité Atmosphèrique, vol. 3 (Libraire Octave Doin, Paris, 1925)
C.A. Coulomb, in Collection de Mémoires Relatifs à la Physique, Tome I (Gauthier-Villars, Paris, 1784), pp. 113–114. Available online at http://cnum.cnam.fr/fSYN/8CA121-1.html
H. Ebert, Phys. Z. 2, 662–664 (1901)
J.E. Elster, H. Geitel, Phys. Z 2, 116 (1900)
J.D. Everett, Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. 158, 347–361 (1868)
E. Everling, A. Wigand, Ann. Phys. 66(20), 261–282 (1921)
I. Falconer, Metrologia 41, S107–S114 (2004)
W.S. Franklin, Science 15(368), 112–113 (1902)
H. Fukunishi, Y. Takahashi, M. Sato et al., Geophys. Res. Lett. 24, 2973 (1997)
M. Füllekrug, E.A. Mareev, M.J. Rycroft (eds.), Sprites, Elves and Intense Lightning Discharges (Springer, Dordrecht, 2006)
P. Galison, Image and Logic: A Material Culture of Microphysics (University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1997)
H. Gerdien, Nachr. Ges. Wiss. Gött. 1903, 383–399 (1903)
H. Gerdien, Nachr. Ges. Wiss. Gött. 1904, 277–299 (1904)
H. Gerdien, Phys. Z. 6, 800–801 (1905a)
H. Gerdien, Nachr. Ges. Wiss. Gött. 1905, 258–270 (1905b)
H. Gerdien, Nachr. Ges. Wiss. Gött. 1905, 447–458 (1905c)
O.H. Gish, K.L. Sherman, in Nat. Geogr. Soc. Techn. Papers. Stratosphere Series, vol. 2, Washington, DC (1936)
A. Gockel, Phys. Z. 4, 871 (1903)
R.G. Harrison, Space Sci. Rev. 94, 381–396 (2000)
R.G. Harrison, Weather 58, 11–19 (2003)
R.G. Harrison, Surv. Geophys. 25, 441 (2004)
R.G. Harrison, K.L. Aplin, Atmos. Env. 36(25), 4037–4043 (2002)
R.G. Harrison, K.L. Aplin, Atmos. Env. 37(38), 5319–5324 (2003). doi:10.1016/j.atmosenv.2003.09.042
R.G. Harrison, A.J. Bennett, J. Atmos. Sol.-Terr. Phys. 69, 515–527 (2007a). doi:10.1016/j.jastp.2006.09.008
R.G. Harrison, A.J. Bennett, Adv. Geosci. 13, 17–23 (2007b)
R.G. Harrison, K.S. Carslaw, Rev. Geophys. 41 (2003). doi:10.1029/2002RG000114
R.G. Harrison, W.J. Ingram, Atmos. Res. 76(1–4), 49–64 (2005). doi:10.1016/j.atmosres.2004.11.022
R.G. Harrison, F. Märcz, Geophys. Res. Lett. 34, L23816 (2007). doi:10.1029/2007GL031714
R.G. Harrison, K.P. Shine, in: Hadley Centre Technical Note 6 (Met Office, Exeter, 1999)
O. Heaviside, in: Encyc. Brit. 10th, vol. 9 (London, 1902), pp. 213–218
V.F. Hess, Phys. Z. 13, 1084 (1912)
M. Hesse, in A Companion to the Philosophy of Science, ed. by W.H. Newton-Smith (Blackwell, Oxford, 2000), pp. 299–307
I.M. Imyanitov, E.V. Chubarina, Electricity of the Free Atmosphere (Israel program for Scientific Translations, Jerusalem, 1967)
G.H. Jones, N. Krupp, H. Krüger et al., Geophys. Res. Lett. 33, L21202 (2006). doi:10.1029/2006GL028146
A.K. Kamra, M. Ravichandran, J. Geophys. Res. 98(D12), 22,875–22,885 (1993)
A.E. Kennelly, Electr. World Eng. 32, 473 (1902)
B. Lovell, Notes Rec. R. Soc. Lond. 51(1), 151–153 (1997)
W. Lowrie, in Fundamentals of Geophysics, 2nd edn. (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2007), pp. 274–276
F. Märcz, J. Geophys. Res. 81(25), 4566 (1976)
R. Markson, Nature 273, 103 (1978)
R. Markson, Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc. 88, 1 (2007)
A. McAdie, Science 61(1586), 540 (1925)
A. Mika, C. Haldoupis, Space Sci. Rev. (2008, this issue)
E. Mishin, G. Milikh, Space Sci. Rev. (2008, this issue). doi:10.1027/s11214-008-9346-z
R.P. Mülheisen, Pure Appl. Geophys. 84, 112–115 (1971)
R.P. Mülheisen, in Electrical Processes in Atmospheres, ed. by H. Dolezalek, R. Reiter (Steinkopf, Darmstadt, 1977), pp. 467–476
N. Olsen, A. Kuvshinov, Earth Planets Space 56, 525 (2004)
N.R. Owen, K.L. Aplin, P.A. Stevens, J. Phys. Conf. Ser. (2008 in press). Available online at http://epubs.cclrc.ac.uk/index
V.P. Pasko, M.A. Stanley, J.D. Mathews, U.S. Inan, T.G. Woods, Nature 416, 152 (2002)
J. Read, Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. 81, 185–212 (1791)
R.G. Roble, I. Tzur, in The Earth’s Electrical Environment, ed. by E.P. Krider, R.G. Roble (National Academy Press, Washington, 1986), pp. 206–231
M.J. Rycroft, J. Atmos. Sol.-Terr. Phys. 68, 445 (2006)
M.J. Rycroft, M. Füllekrug, J. Atmos. Sol.-Terr. Phys. 66, 1103 (2004)
M.J. Rycroft, S. Israelsson, C. Price, J. Atmos. Sol.-Terr. Phys. 62, 1563–1576 (2000). doi:10.1016/S1364-6826(00)00112-7
M.J. Rycroft, A. Odzimek, N.F. Arnold et al., J. Atmos. Sol.-Terr. Phys. (2007). doi:10.1016/j.jastp.2007.09.004
M.J. Rycroft et al., Space Sci. Rev. (2008, this issue). doi:10.1007/s11214-008-9368-6
C.P.R. Saunders, Space Sci. Rev. (2008, this issue). doi:10.1007/s11214-008-9345-0
W.B. Schiffer, in Draw the Lightning Down: Benjamin Franklin and Electrical Technology in the Age of Enlightenment (University of California Press, Berkeley, 2003), pp. 1–11
R.W. Schunk, A.F. Nagy, Ionospheres—Physics, Plasma Physics and Chemistry (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2000)
F. Simoes, R. Grard, M. Hamelin et al., Planet. Space Sci. 55, 1978–1989 (2007). doi:10.1016/j.pss.2007.04.016
F. Simoes et al., Space Sci. Rev. (2008, this issue)
G.C. Simpson, Philos. Trans. R. Soc. A 205, 61–97 (1906a)
G.C. Simpson, Mon. Wea. Rev. 34(1), 16–17 (1906b)
G.C. Simpson, Philos. Trans. R. Soc. A 209, 379–413 (1909)
G.C. Simpson, Geogr. J. 97(6), 383–385 (1941). doi:10.2307/1788175
H.T. Su, R.R. Hsu, A.B. Chen et al., Nature 423, 974 (2003)
W. Thomson, Report of 29th Meeting, British Association for the Advancement of Science, Aberdeen, 1859
B.A. Tinsley, Space Sci. Rev. 94(1–2), 231–258 (2000)
B.A. Tinsley, R.A. Heelis, J. Geophys. Res. 98, 10375–10384 (1993)
B.A. Tinsley, R.P. Rohrbaugh, M. Hei, Atmos. Res. 59–60, 115–135 (2001)
S.N. Tripathi, PhD thesis, The University of Reading, UK, 2000
S.N. Tripathi, R.G. Harrison, Atmos. Res. 62, 57–70 (2002)
S.N. Tripathi, S. Vishnoi, S. Kumar et al., Q. J. R. Met. Soc. 132, 1717 (2006)
J. Tuma, Sitz. Akad. Wiss. Wien, 227–260 (1899)
L. Wahlin, J. Geophys. Res. 99(D5), 10,767 (1994)
F.J.W. Whipple, Q. J. R. Meteorol. Soc. 55, 351 (1929)
F.J.W. Whipple, F.J. Scrase, Meteorol. Off. Geophys. Mem. 68 (1936)
A. Wigand, Terr. Mag. Atm. Elect. 19, 93–101 (1914)
A. Wigand, Ann. Phys. 60(18), 81–109 (1921)
E.R. Williams, in Encyclopedia of Atmospheric Sciences, ed. by J.R. Holton, J.A. Pyle, J.A. Curry (Academic, New York, 2002), pp. 724–733
E.R. Williams, In Proc. 13th Int. Conf. Atm. Elect., Beijing, China, 13–17 August 2007
E.R. Williams, S.J. Heckman, J. Geophys. Res. D 98(3), 5221 (1993)
C.T.R. Wilson, Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. A 189, 265–307 (1897)
C.T.R. Wilson, Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. A 189, 403–453 (1899)
C.T.R. Wilson, Proc. Camb. Philos. Soc. 13, 364 (1906)
C.T.R. Wilson, Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A 80(542), 537–547 (1908)
C.T.R. Wilson, Notebook entitled “Thunderstorms; Condensation” ref CW/A/9 (1909)
C.T.R. Wilson, Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. A 221, 73 (1921)
C.T.R. Wilson, Notebook entitled “Atmospheric electricity” ref CW/B/7 (1926)
C.T.R. Wilson, J. Franklin Inst. 208(1), 1–12 (1929)
Y. Yair, Space Sci. Rev. (2008, this issue). doi:10.1007/s11214-008-9348-x
F. Yu, R.P. Turco, J. Geophys. Res. 106(D5), 4797–4814 (2001). doi:10.1029/2000JD900539
B. Zolss, Phys. Z. 5, 106 (1904)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Aplin, K.L., Harrison, R.G. & Rycroft, M.J. Investigating Earth’s Atmospheric Electricity: a Role Model for Planetary Studies. Space Sci Rev 137, 11–27 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-008-9372-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-008-9372-x