Abstract
The penetration of the nighttime ionosphere by electric fields in the African zone of thunderstorm activity is studied based on calculations. These fields are caused by both the Coulomb charges of thunderclouds and the electric current generated by them as elements of the global electric circuit in the studied zone. An electric field is produced by the sum of Coulomb fields from each of the 600 thunderclouds in the zone in the first case and by an average total upward current of 600 A in the second case (1 A from each thundercloud, when it is considered an elementary, bipolar, point, quasi-stationary current source within the global atmospheric electrical circuit model in the African zone of thunderstorm activity). It is found that tropospheric Coulomb charges produce weak electric fields (of no more 1 μV/m) in the ionosphere. However, an ionospheric electric field produced by the total current from thunderclouds in the African zone of thunderstorm activity can attain ~0.2 mV/m at ionospheric altitudes at night in winter during periods of low solar activity.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Brooks, C.E.P., The distribution of thunderstorms over the globe, Geophys. Mem. London, 1925, vol. 3, no. 24, pp. 147–164.
Chalmers, J.A., Atmospheric Electricity, London: Pergamon, 1967.
Crichlow, W.Q., Davis, R.C., Disney, R.T., and Clark, M.W., Hourly probability of world-wide thunderstorm occurrence, Telecommunications Research Report OT/ITS RR 12, U.S. Department of Commerce, Boulder, Colo., April 1971.
Davydenko, S.S., Mareev, E.A., Marshall, T.C., and Stolzenburg, M., On the calculation of electric fields and currents of mesoscale convective systems, J. Geophys. Res., 2004, vol. 109, D11103. https://doi.org/10.1029/2003JD003832
Denisenko, V.V., Boudjada, M.Y., Horn, M., Pomozov, E.V., Biernat, H.K., Schwingenschuh, K., Lammer, H., Prattes, G., and Cristea, E., Ionospheric conductivity effects on electrostatic field penetration into the ionosphere, Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 2008, vol. 8, no. 5, pp. 1009–1017. https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-8-1009-2008
Denisenko, V.V., Nesterov, S.A., Boudjada, M.Y., and Lammere, H., A mathematical model of quasistationary electric field penetration from ground to the ionosphere with inclined magnetic field, J. Atmos. Sol.-Terr. Phys., 2018, vol. 179, pp. 527–537. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jastp.2018.09.002
Denisenko, V., Rycroft, M., and Harrison, G., Mathematical simulation of the ionospheric electric field as a part of the global electric circuit, Surv. Geophys., 2019, vol. 40, no. 1, pp. 1–35. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10712-018-9499-6
Farley, D.T., Jr., A theory of electrostatic fields in the ionosphere at nonpolar geomagnetic latitudes, J. Geophys. Res., 1960, vol. 65, no. 3, pp. 869–877. https://doi.org/10.1029/JZ065i003p00869
Frenkel’, Ya.I., Teoriya yavlenii atmosfernogo elektrichestva (Theory of Atmospheric Electricity Phenomena), Moscow: KomKniga, 2007.
Hays, P.B. and Roble, R.G., A quasi-static model of global atmospheric electricity. 1. The lower atmosphere, J. Geophys. Res., 1979, vol. 84, no. A7, pp. 3291–3305. https://doi.org/10.1029/JA084iA07p03291
Hegai, V.V., Kim, V.P., and Liu, J.Y., On a possible seismo–magnetic effect in the topside ionosphere, Adv. Space Res., 2015, vol. 56, no. 8, pp. 1707–1713. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asr.2015.07.034
https://ccmc.gsfc.nasa.gov/modelweb/models/iri2016_ vitmo.php.
https://modelweb.gsfc.nasa.gov/atmos/nrlmsise00.html.
Imyanitov, I.M. and Shifrin, K.S., Present state of research on atmospheric electricity, Sov. Phys. Usp., 1962, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 292–322. https://doi.org/10.1070/PU1962v005n02ABEH003413
Kartalev, M.D., Rycroft, M.J., Fuellekrug, M., Papitashvili, V.O., and Keremidarska, V.I., A possible explanation for the dominant effect of South American thunderstorms on the Carnegie curve, J. Atmos. Sol.-Terr. Phys., 2006, vol. 68, nos. 3–5, pp. 457–468. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jastp.2005.05.012
Kasemir, H.W., The thundercloud, in Problems of Atmospheric and Space Electricity, Coroniti, S.C., Ed., New York: Elsevier, 1965, pp. 215–235.
Khegai, V.V., Analytical model of a seismogenic electric field according to data of measurements in the surface layer of the midlatitude atmosphere and calculation of its magnitude at the ionospheric level, Geomagn. Aeron. (Engl. Transl.), 2020, vol. 60, no. 4, pp. 507–520. 2020. https://doi.org/10.1134/S0016793220030081
Kim, V.P. and Hegai, V.V., On the electric fields produced by dipolar coulomb charges of an individual thundercloud in the ionosphere, J. Astron. Space Sci., 2015, vol. 32, no. 2, pp. 141–144. https://doi.org/10.5140/JASS.2015.32.2.141
Making, M. and Ogawa, T., Responses of atmospheric electric field and air–earth current to variations of conductivity profiles, J. Atmos. Terr. Phys., 1984, vol. 46, no. 5, pp. 431–445. https://doi.org/10.1016/0021-9169(84)90087-4
Malan, D.J., Physics of Lightning, London: English University, 1963.
Mareev, E.A., Global electric circuit research: achievements and prospects, Phys.-Usp., 2010, vol. 53, no. 5, pp. 504–511. https://doi.org/10.3367/UFNe.0180.201005h.0527
Muhleisen, R., The global circuit and its parameters, in Electrical Processes in Atmospheres, Dolezalek, H., Reiter, R., and Landsberg, H.E., Eds., Darmstadt: Dr. Dietrich Steinkopff, 1976, pp. 467–476. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-85294-7_73.
Park, C.G. and Dejnakarintra, M., Penetration of thundercloud electric fields into the ionosphere and magnetosphere: 1. Middle and subauroral latitudes, J. Geophys. Res., 1973, vol. 78, no. 28, pp. 6623–6633. https://doi.org/10.1029/JA078i028p06623
Rycroft, M.J., Odzimek, A., Arnold, N.F., Fullekrug, M., Kulak, A., and Neubert, T., New model simulations of the global atmospheric electric circuit driven by thunderstorms and electrified shower clouds: The roles of lightning and sprites, J. Atmos. Sol.-Terr. Phys., 2007, vol. 69, nos. 17–18, pp. 2485–2509. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jastp.2007.09.004
Uman, M.A., Lightning, New York: McGraw-Hill, 1969.
Weisberg, J.S., Meteorology: The Earth and Its Weather, Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1976.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Ethics declarations
The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.
Additional information
Translated by O. Ponomareva
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Khegai, V.V., Korsunova, L.P. & Legen’ka, A.D. Estimation of a Tropospheric Electric Field Associated with the African Zone of Thunderstorm Activity that Penetrates the Ionosphere. Geomagn. Aeron. 61, 559–564 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1134/S001679322104006X
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S001679322104006X