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Atmospheric electricity is an interdisciplinary topic with a long history, involving concepts from electrostatics, atmospheric physics, meteorology and Earth science. [2] Thunderstorms act as a giant battery in the atmosphere, charging up the electrosphere to about 400,000 volts with respect to the surface. [3]
The time required to form a new ionic atmosphere on the right or time required for ionic atmosphere on the left to fade away is known as time of relaxation. The asymmetrization of ionic atmosphere does not occur in the case of Debye Falkenhagen effect due to high frequency dependence of conductivity.
The global circuit concept is closely related to atmospheric electricity, but not all atmospheres necessarily have a global electric circuit. [2] The basic concept of a global circuit is that through the balance of thunderstorms and fair weather, the atmosphere is subject to a continual and substantial electrical current.
However, multiple ionizations occur always in practice. Free electrons at the cathode surface are created by the impacting ions. The problem is that the number of thereby created electrons strongly depends on the material of the cathode, its surface ( roughness , impurities) and the environmental conditions (temperature, humidity etc.).
Artist's rendition of the Earth's plasma fountain, showing oxygen, helium, and hydrogen ions that gush into space from regions near the Earth's poles. The faint yellow area shown above the north pole represents gas lost from Earth into space; the green area is the aurora borealis, where plasma energy pours back into the atmosphere. [32]
Generally speaking, the F region has the highest concentration of free electrons and ions anywhere in the atmosphere. It may be thought of as comprising two layers, the F1 and F2 layers. The F-region is located directly above the E region (formerly the Kennelly-Heaviside layer) and below the protonosphere. It acts as a dependable reflector of ...
Atmospheric electricity – Electricity in planetary atmospheres; Birkeland current – Currents flowing along geomagnetic field lines; Electrical resistivity tomography – A geophysical technique for imaging sub-surface structures; Geomagnetically induced current – Ground level manifestation of space weather
The slowing carriers also increases the space charge density and resulting potential. In addition, the potential developed by the space charge can reduce the number of carriers emitted. [16] When the space charge limits the current, the random arrivals of the carriers are smoothed out; the reduced variation results in less shot noise. [15]