The Role of Electrical Forces in the Development and Dissipation of Clouds and Fogs.
Abstract
The purpose of the study was to determine whether the disruption of freely falling drops, principally by electrical forces, could initiate freezing; to establish the physical basis of this phenomenon; and to assess its meteorological relevance. From the experimentation it was concluded that the freezing of supercooled drops may be facilitated by disruption of the drop in an electric field and is not dependent upon the presence of a support. The passage of a spark to the drop at the time of disruption does not appear significantly to affect the nucleation process. Experiments were also performed in which falling supercooled drops were disrupted by means of an air jet in the absence of electrical forces. Photographs obtained in the same manner as in the primary experiments provided no evidence for the presence of ice in the drops, but these studies were too cursory to be definitive. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Nov 01, 1970
- Accession Number
- AD0716362
Entities
People
- John Latham
- M. H. Smith
Organizations
- University of Manchester