Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Mechanisms for the Formation of Electric-Field Pulsation Spectra in the Near-Surface Atmosphere

  • Published:
Radiophysics and Quantum Electronics Aims and scope

Abstract

We present the results of detailed measurements of the spectrum of short-term (f≃ 0.001-1 Hz) pulsations of the electric field of the near-surface atmosphere under the fair-weather and fog conditions. It is shown that the electric-field pulsations at frequencies 10-2-10-1 Hz have a power-law spectrum under both fair-weather and fog conditions. The spectral index varies in a range of from -1.23 to -3.36 depending on the experimental conditions, but the most probable values of the index fall in a range of from -2.25 to -3.0. The spectra corresponding to long time intervals of about a few hours are more steep. The relation of the spectral characteristics to the formation of aeroelectric structures (AESs) is studied. The distribution obtained for the structured spectra is bimodal, i.e., it exhibits two maxima in the ranges of spectral indices from -2.75 to -3.0 and from -2.25 to -2.5. The nonstructured-spectrum distribution is asymmetric and has a pronounced maximum corresponding to hard spectra with indices from -2.5 to -3.3. The intensity of the electric-field pulsations under fog conditions increases by about an order of magnitude compared to the case of fair-weather conditions. The mechanisms of spectrum formation of electric-field pulsations and their relations to the pulsation spectra of the electric-charge density with allowance for the neutral-gas turbulence and the presence of AESs are analyzed. We point out the key role of the nonlocal relation between the electric-field intensity and the space-charge density under conditions of spatially inhomogeneous turbulence. Model problems of the spectrum of electric-field fluctuations generated by a homogeneous and “structured” turbulence in the presence of charge-density fluctuations, considered as a passive tracer, are solved.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

REFERENCES

  1. J. Chalmers, Atmospheric Electricity [Russian translation], Gidrometeoizdat, Leningrad (1974).

    Google Scholar 

  2. W. S. Whitlock and J. A. Chalmers, Q. J. R. Meteorol. Soc., 82, 325 (1956).

    Google Scholar 

  3. H. Israel, Q. J. R. Meteorol. Soc., 89, 91 (1959).

    Google Scholar 

  4. T. L. Ogden and W. C. A. Hutchinson, J. Atmos. Terr. Phys., 32, 1131 (1970).

    Google Scholar 

  5. H. Israel, Atmospheric Electricity, 2, 408 (1973).

    Google Scholar 

  6. D. G. Yerg and K. R. Johnson, J. Geophys. Res., 79, 2177 (1974).

    Google Scholar 

  7. R. V. Anderson, in: H. Dolezalek and R. Reiter (Eds.) Electrical Processes in Atmospheres, Steinkopff Verlag, Darmstadt (1977), p. 87.

    Google Scholar 

  8. R. V. Anderson, J. Geophys. Res., 87, 1216 (1982).

    Google Scholar 

  9. S. V. Anisimov, in: S. Lundquist (Ed.), Proc. 8th Int. Conf. on Atmospheric Electricity, Uppsala, Sweden, 1988, p. 130.

  10. S. V. Anisimov, E. A. Mareev, and V. Yu. Trakhtengerts, Res. Lett. Atmos. Electr., 10, 1 (1990).

    Google Scholar 

  11. S. V. Anisimov, S. S. Bakastov, and E. A. Mareev, J. Geophys. Res., 99, 10603 (1994).

    Google Scholar 

  12. V. N. Morozov, Atmospheric Electricity and Magnetospheric Disturbances [in Russian], IZMIRAN Press, Moscow (1983).

    Google Scholar 

  13. J. F. Barlow and R. G. Harrison, in: H. J. Christian (Ed.), Proc. 11th Int. Conf. on Atmospheric Electricity, Guntersville, Alabama, USA, (1999), p. 575.

  14. S. V. Anisimov, E. A. Mareev, and S. S. Bakastov, J. Geophys. Res., 104, 14359 (1999).

    Google Scholar 

  15. S. V. Anisimov and E. A. Mareev, Dokl. Akad. Nauk, 371, 101 (2000).

    Google Scholar 

  16. S. V. Anisimov, S. S. Bakastov, E. A. Mareev, and Yu. E. Borovkov, in: Proc. 10th Int. Conf. on Atmospheric Electricity, Osaka, Japan, (1996), p. 544.

  17. E. A. Mareev and O. V. Mareeva, Geomagn. Aéron., No. 6, 74 (1999).

  18. F. Neeschtadt and H. Van-Dopp (Eds.), Atmospheric Turbulence and Modeling of Tracer Propagation [Russian translation], Gidrometeoizdat, Leningrad (1985).

    Google Scholar 

  19. N. K. Vinnichenko, N. Z. Pinus, S. M. Shmeter, and G. N. Shur, Turbulence in the Free Atmosphere [in Russian], Gidrometeoizdat, Leningrad (1976).

    Google Scholar 

  20. V. I. Tatarsky, Wave Propagation in a Turbulent Atmosphere [in Russian], Nauka, Moscow (1967).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. “Borok“ Geophysical Observatory, United Institute for Physics of the Earth of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Borok, Yaroslavl' region, Russia

    S. V. Anisimov, N. M. Shikhova & E. M. Dmitriev

  2. Institute of Applied Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia

    E. A. Mareev

Authors
  1. S. V. Anisimov
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. E. A. Mareev
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. N. M. Shikhova
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. E. M. Dmitriev
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Anisimov, S.V., Mareev, E.A., Shikhova, N.M. et al. Mechanisms for the Formation of Electric-Field Pulsation Spectra in the Near-Surface Atmosphere. Radiophysics and Quantum Electronics 44, 520–532 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1017905732496

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1017905732496

Keywords

Search

Navigation