THE EFFECT OF ELECTRIC CHARGES AND FIELDS ON THE COLLISIONS OF VERY SMALL CLOUD DROPS,

Abstract

The growth of cloud droplets by collision and coalescence is a basic process in the development of precipitation. The paper discusses the influence of electric charges and fields on collisions of small cloud droplets using accurate electrostatic forces (Davis, 1962, 1964) and recently improved values for hydrodynamic forces. Of primary interest are cases where collisions will occur only under the influence of electrostatic forces (Sartor, 1960). Using Hocking's hydrodynamics it was estimated that electrostatic forces began to produce collisions in droplets with radii under 15 microns when alpha exceeded 0.01 esu/ sq cm. The effect was most important when the droplets were nearly the same size.

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 01, 1965
Accession Number
AD0613650

Entities

People

  • M. H. Davis

Organizations

  • RAND Corporation

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Cloud Physics
  • Clouds
  • Coalescence
  • Collisions
  • Electric Charge
  • Hydrodynamics
  • Physics
  • Precipitation

Readers

  • Atmospheric Remote Sensing.
  • Plasma Physics.