THE SOURCE OF ATMOSPHERIC ELECTRIFICATION
Abstract
Synoptic rocket exploration of the stratospheric circulation has revealed the presence of hemispheric tidal circulations which are indicated to be in part characterized by systematic vertical motions in low latitudes of the sunlit hemisphere. These vertical motions are powered by meridional oscillations in the stratospheric circulation produced by solar heating of the stratopause region, and serve as the energy source of electrical current systems which are postulated to result from an impressed electromotive force which is produced by charged particle mobility differences in the lower ionosphere as the tidal circulations tend to force these particles across the earth's magnetic field. These dynamo currents are variable with geometry and time variabilities of the tidal circulations as well as variability in the solar-induced conductivity of the E region. The semiconducting lower atmosphere and highly conducting earth's surface occupy the near field of the lower side of this current system with a resulting complex tropospheric electrical structure. Low impedance electric current paths along magnetic field lines result in development of currents in the exosphere which are driven and controlled by the electrical structure of the primary dynamo circuit and exert a control of their own through interaction with the solar wind.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 1967
- Accession Number
- AD0660316
Entities
People
- Willis L. Webb
Organizations
- Atmospheric Sciences Laboratory