Electrode effect action on the daily variation in atmospheric electric field in surface air layer
G.V. Kupovykh, D.V. Timoshenko, A.G. Klovo, T.V. Kudrinskaya
Institut Komp'yuternykh Tekhnologiy I Informatsionnoy Bezopasnosti, Taganrog, Russia
Keywords: electric field, atmosphere, surface layer, electrode effect, conductivity, turbulent transport, diurnal variations
Abstract
To solve general and special problems of ground-based monitoring of the atmospheric electric field, it is necessary to identify global factors against the local variability of the monitoring data. The global unitary variation in the ionospheric potential, observed in the daily variation in the electric field, is distorted under the electrode effect near the earth's surface. The structure of the resulting electrode layer strongly depends on the degree of turbulent mixing, the specific conductivity of air, and the altitude of electric field measurement. Based on the equation for the total electric current, which follows from the theory of electrode effect of the surface air layer, we simulated daily variations in the electric field at different altitudes under different meteorological conditions. They revealed the dependence of the position and magnitude of the global extreme points of the electric field on the turbulent mixing coefficient, the electrical conductivity of air, and the electrode layer altitude. Our results can be useful for solving applied problems in geophysics, in particular, atmospheric electric field monitoring.
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