First results of fair-weather atmospheric electricity

measurements in Northeast India

A Guha1,∗ , B K De1 , S Gurubaran2, S S De3 and K Jeeva2

1
Department of Physics, Tripura University, Suryamaninagar, Tripura (West) 799 130, India.
2
Equatorial Geophysical Research Laboratory, Indian Institute of Geomagnetism, Krishnapuram,
Tirunelveli 627 011, India.
3
Centre of Advanced Study in Radiophysics and Electronics 1, Girish Vidyaratna Lane,
University of Calcutta, Kolkata 700 009, India.
∗
e-mail: [email protected]

During the month of March 2006, a short campaign was conducted to measure fair-weather
atmospheric electricity parameters in Tripura, Northeast India (23.50◦ N, 91.25◦ E). The campaign
was the first of its kind in this region of the globe. The main objective of the campaign was to char-
acterize the diurnal variation of three parameters namely vertical potential gradient (E), vertical
air–earth current density (Jz ) and atmospheric electrical conductivity (σ) in fair-weather condi-
tions. The diurnal variation of E and Jz over sixteen fair-weather days shows two distinct maxima
around 14 UT and 20 UT and a minimum around 03 UT. The average vertical potential gradient is
found to be 108 V·m−1 and air–earth current density 1.85 pA·m−2 . The average bipolar atmospheric
electrical conductivity at the ground level is found to be 19.6 fS·m−1 . An excellent positive corre-
lation between E and Jz is found, with a correlation coefficient of 0.96. A comparative study with
Carnegie universal variation shows 70% correlation with observed variation of vertical potential
gradient during the period of the campaign. The results are discussed in view of difficulty as well as
possibility of getting global signatures in atmospheric electricity measurements made from tropical
land stations.

1. Introduction magnetospheric dynamo systems as well as by cur-

rent generators at the planetary boundary layer
The electrical properties of Earth’s atmosphere (Markson 2007).
have been continually investigated since the late One of the milestones in the study of the
eighteenth century, due to its relevance with local GEC through atmospheric electricity was several
climate system and the possible connection with Carnegie voyages around the year 1920 which
global solar terrestrial activities. The discovery of revealed the universal variation of the fair-weather
the highly conducting ionosphere in the 1920s ini- vertical potential gradient and also its correlation
tiated long-range propagation of radio waves and with the occurrence of thunderstorms at different
was important for the evolution of the concept of parts of the world (Wilson 1920; Simpson 1929;
the Global Electric Circuit (GEC). The ionosphere, Parkinson and Torrenson 1931). It was pointed out
with its large electrical conductivity compared to that the average diurnal variations of the verti-
the neutral atmosphere, provided a means of clos- cal potential gradient over long periods at ground
ing the global circuit. The electric currents and level in fair-weather conditions match closely to
fields in the fair-weather atmosphere are driven the global diurnal variation in thunderstorm acti-
by the combined action of the ionospheric and vities (Whipple and Scrase 1936). Several other

Keywords. Global electric circuit; atmospheric vertical potential gradient; air–earth current density; atmospheric electrical
conductivity.

J. Earth Syst. Sci. 119, No. 2, April 2010, pp. 221–228

© Indian Academy of Sciences 221
222 A Guha et al

independent measurements supported the find- 3. Experimental setup

ings which are reviewed by several workers (Israel
1973a, 1973b; Siingh et al 2007). An air–earth current measurement unit, a field-mill
The study of atmospheric electricity has been and a Gerdien condenser were operated simultane-
an important tool to investigate the global ously to measure different atmospheric electricity
thunderstorm activity as well as solar terres- parameters during the campaign. The instruments
trial relationship with Earth’s atmosphere. Recent were designed to measure fair-weather vertical air–
researches show major concerns like climate change earth current density (Jz ), vertical potential gradi-
and global warming issues may be well understood ent (E) and atmospheric electrical conductivity (σ)
(Bering III 1995; Williams 2007) investigating the of air at ground level, respectively. The instruments
cross-correlation among these fundamental para- and corresponding high impedance electrometers
meters. The developments and recent trends in were designed by Equatorial Geophysical Research
this area are extensively studied and reviewed by Laboratory (EGRL), Tirunelveli, India. Military
several research workers (Roble and Tzur 1986; grade components were used in all electronic cir-
Bering III et al 1998; Rycroft et al 2000; Tinsley cuits to maintain their characteristics at differ-
2000; Singh et al 2004; Harrison 2005; Siingh et al ent temperatures. The electrometer for air–earth
2005; Williams 2005; Rycroft 2006). The contri- current measurement was originally calibrated at
bution from electrified shower clouds on GEC is National Physical Laboratory, New Delhi, India,
one of the current burning topics of investigation electrometer for Gerdien condenser was originally
(Williams 2009). All the works emphasize the need calibrated at Equatorial Geophysical Research
for more elaborate and accurate measurements Laboratory, Tirunelveli, India and the field-mill
of different atmospheric electricity parameters to was originally calibrated at Indian Institute of
have a comprehensive understanding about the Tropical Meteorology, Pune, India.
interrelationship between climate change, thunder- The vertical air–earth current was measured
storm activity, electrified shower clouds and solar with the help of a horizontal long wire antenna of
variations. 33 m in length and 2 mm in diameter at a height
Ground based fair-weather measurements in of 1 m from the ground. The antenna was made
pollution free regions have often proved as the using bare pre-stretched copper wire. The wire
most frequently used (Anderson 1967; Leblanc et al was suspended in air with the help of two metal
2008) and reliable technique to study atmospheric masts and the current flowing through the wire was
electricity, be it global, regional or local. In this passed through the electrometer located at one end
paper, our aim is to report the first measurements of the wire antenna. The antenna wire was sepa-
of fair-weather atmospheric electricity at a tropi- rated from the metallic masts using teflon insula-
cal land station in Northeast India. The results are tors. The electrometer was calibrated to produce
discussed briefly in connection with its dependence 1 V output for a current of 1 pA. The resolution of
on local factors as well as in view of its correlation the electrometer was 0.05 pA.
with the Carnegie diurnal variation of ionospheric The atmospheric air–earth current density was
potential. calculated using the method of area averaging
(Tammet et al 1996). The horizontal long wire
2. Short description of the antenna, if placed in the atmosphere closely
experimental site follows the electrical current variations of the
atmosphere by collecting incoming charges from
The campaign was conducted inside Tripura the atmosphere after the initial net charge on the
University campus (23.50◦ N, 91.25◦ E), located antenna leaks off. When the antenna is connected
around 43 m above the mean sea level. The dis- to ground through a resistor, it picks up a certain
tance to the Great Himalayas is around 350 km and amount of current proportional to the air–earth
the Bay of Bengal is around 150 km from the site. current. The method also greatly reduces the fluc-
The nearest city Agartala, the capital of the state tuations caused by local disturbances. The aver-
Tripura, is 10 km away from the site. The experi- age capacitance C between the wire and Earth was
mental site is an open field around 1.5 acres in measured and the effective area A was calculated
area. The site is relatively less polluted compared from the formula A = hC/ε where h = 1 m and ε
to urban locations due to the absence of nearby is the dielectric constant of the air. The effective
industries. The site receives severe thunderstorms area was calculated to be 90.48 m2 . The total cur-
locally known as ‘Nor-Wester’ in the month of rent passing through the antenna was divided by
April–May and heavy monsoon rain from June to the effective area to get the current density.
August every year. The site is also hit by heavy The atmospheric vertical potential gradient was
rain from depressions created in the Bay of Bengal measured with a field-mill which worked on the
several times in a year. principle of bound charge. The field-mill was
 Fair-weather atmospheric electricity 223

installed in a pit in such a way that the sensor occurred and the average Kp and Ap indices were
plates lie exactly parallel to the surrounding 1.5 and 8, respectively.
ground. This was to ensure that the presence of
the field-mill had no effect on the intensity of elec-
tric field near the measuring instrument in the 5. Observational results
open atmosphere. On site calibration was per-
formed to validate the data. The field-mill was The diurnal variation of fair-weather vertical air–
capable of detecting a field between −250 V·m−1 earth current density (Jz ), vertical potential gradi-
and 250 V·m−1 with a resolution of 0.25 V·m−1 . ent (E) and atmospheric positive conductivity (σ+ )
The positive electrical air-conductivity at one averaged over sixteen days is shown in figure 1.
foot above the ground level was measured The mean value of Jz is 1.85 pA·m−2 with a stan-
using a Gerdien condenser. The critical mobi- dard deviation of 0.23 pA·m−2 . For E, the mean
lity of the Gerdien condenser was calculated value is 108 V·m−1 with a standard deviation of
as 2.91 × 10−4 cm2 · V−1 · s−1 , i.e., the condenser 8.25 V·m−1 . Two distinct maxima and one mini-
could detect ions with minimum mobility of mum are found around 14 UT, 20 UT and 3 UT,
2.91 × 10−4 cm2 · V−1 · s−1 . So the condenser was respectively in both Jz and E. The ratio of maxi-
able to measure the conductivity for a wide range mum to minimum values for Jz and E are 1.77
of charged particles beginning from small ions from and 1.37, respectively. The mean value of σ+ is
a few nanometers to intermediate and large ions 9.8 fS·m−1 with a standard deviation of 0.1 fS·m−1 .
having a maximum radius up to 50 nm (Tammet The data was originally taken at a rate of one per
1995). second. At this sampling data rate, all the three
The surrounding ground for all the instruments parameters showed fluctuations about some mean
was completely freed from grass and other vegeta- value during the whole observational period. The
tion and levelled to reduce or remove the effects fluctuations were higher during local sunrise and
of point discharge currents. A proper earthing sunset times compared to other timings. In order to
arrangement was made in the vicinity of the field reduce the fluctuation, we took a running average
instruments to provide common earthing to all of the data at five-minute interval. Then we took
the instruments. Regular cleaning of instruments the average of all fair-weather day data according
using isopropyl alcohol was made to ensure the to our selection criteria. The average daily dynamic
elimination of dust particles from the surface of the ranges of vertical potential gradient, air–earth cur-
field instruments. Regular checking of zero shift- rent and positive air-ion conductivity are 35 V·m−1 ,
ing for all the electrometers was also done using 1 pA·m−2 and 0.2 fS·m−1 , respectively.
standard procedures. All the data were recorded The total conductivity (positive and negative)
round the clock inside a laboratory 50 m away of air σt is related to the ion number concen- 
from the experimental field. The data were taken tration n and their motilities μ as σt = e ndμ.
from the field using shielded RG58 coaxial cable. The electrical conductivity of air is mainly con-
A Pentium-IV 3 GHz computer equipped with a trolled by small ions having average mobility
24-bit PCI interface bipolar data acquisition card in the range 1.3–1.6 cm 2 V−1 s−1 (Hõrrak et al
was used to record the data with an interval of one 1999). So assuming that all small ions have the
second. same mobility, the expression of total air-ion
conductivity can be approximated as σt = neμ for
diurnal averaging purpose (Harrison 1992). Also,
4. Selection of fair-weather data considering charge neutrality of the atmosphere
near ground, the total atmospheric conductivity
The campaign continued for the entire month of (σt ) is calculated as 19.6 fS·m−1 from the value of
March 2006. Out of whole month’s data, only positive conductivity. As the mobility of the small
sixteen days’ data were selected as fair-weather positive and negative ions are almost the same
data and included for analysis in the present work. near the Earth’s surface, both positive and negative
The data were selected for the days when no ions move under the influence of atmospheric elec-
precipitation and local thunderstorm activity was tric field. As a result, the current density becomes
present, the sky was clear with bright sunshine, dependent on both ions (Rycroft et al 2008).
high altitude cloud occupying less than one octet Figures 2–4 present the histograms for the aver-
of the whole sky and a gentle breeze having speed aged Jz , E and σt over sixteen fair-weather days
less than 3 m·s−1 . If any one of the above condi- having data resolution of one second. For Jz ,
tions did not satisfy for any time during the whole 64% data lie within 10% of the mean value of
period of any day, the entire data of that day was 1.85 pA·m−2 . Similarly, for E, 80% data lie within
excluded from the analysis. During the period of 10% of the mean value of 108 V·m−1 . The conduc-
selected sixteen days’ data, no geomagnetic storm tivity histogram shows two maxima, one centered
224 A Guha et al

Figure 1. Diurnal variation of atmospheric vertical air–earth current density (Jz ), vertical potential gradient (E) and
positive air-ion conductivity (σ+ ) near ground for sixteen days in Tripura, Northeast India.

Figure 2. Histogram of vertical air–earth current density

(Jz ) for sixteen fair-weather days. Figure 3. Histogram of vertical potential gradient (E) for
sixteen fair-weather days.

about the mean value, i.e., 9.8 fS·m−1 and another

about 8.2 fS·m−1 . About 55% counts lie between We compared our results with Carnegie diurnal
10% of the mean value of 9.8 fS·m−1 . variation which is regarded as the reference for any
An excellent positive correlation of 96% is found atmospheric electricity measurements. The plot
between Jz and E. The correlation plot is depicted for both vertical potential gradients is shown in
in figure 5. The high correlation verifies the figure 6. The average value for our measurement
applicability of Ohm’s law in our measurements is 108 V·m−1 compared to 127 V·m−1 in case of
which is one of the necessary conditions for Carnegie variation. The diurnal variation at our
fair-weather atmospheric electricity measurements. location shows a resemblance with Carnegie vari-
The atmospheric bipolar total conductivity (σt ) ation except around 14 UT when a strong maxi-
calculated from the ratio of Jz /E from figure 5 is mum exists in our result. The comparison of both
found to be 17 fS·m−1 . It is to be noted that the σt potential gradients provides a correlation coeffi-
found from direct measurement is 19.6 fS·m−1 , is cient of +0.7 and the correlation plot is shown in
very close to the value calculated from Ohm’s law. figure 7.
 Fair-weather atmospheric electricity 225

Jz = VI /(Aeff Rc ) whereas E is related with VI , Rc

and atmospheric conductivity (σ) near Earth’s sur-
face as E = VI /(σAeff Rc ), ‘Aeff ’ being the effective
area through which the total current passes. It can
be readily observed that E is highly dependent on
local variation of atmospheric conductivity com-
pared to Jz . This is the reason why the varia-
tion of Jz is often treated as the representative of
ionospheric potential over E. Nevertheless, there
are evidences of global signatures in measurements
of vertical potential gradient in fair-weather in
remote locations, far from sources of pollution, and
during fair-weather conditions (Frank-Kamenetsky
et al 2001; Reddell et al 2004; Burns et al 2005;
Figure 4. Histogram of positive air-ion conductivity (σ+ ) Panneerselvam et al 2007).
for sixteen fair-weather days. In fair-weather condition, electrical conductivity
of the atmosphere near ground is governed by small
ions having sizes of few nanometers and indicates
the level of atmospheric pollution and aerosol con-
centration (Cobb and Wells 1970; Kamra et al
2001; Deshpande and Kamra 2002; Siingh et al
2005). Immediately above the continental surface,
the total conductivity (the sum of the positive
and negative ion conductivity) ranges typically in
between 2 fS·m−1 for highly polluted regions to
20 fS·m−1 for relatively clean regions (Chalmers
1967) and up to 40 fS·m−1 in clean marine air
(Cobb and Wells 1970). Table 1 shows the values
of total atmospheric conductivity near Earth’s sur-
face for some atmospheric electricity measurements
along with our data. The average atmospheric total
Figure 5. Correlation plot between vertical potential
electrical conductivity at our station is 19.6 fS·m−1 .
gradient (E) and vertical air–earth current density (Jz ). The high correlation (96%) between Jz and E,
validation of Ohm’s law along with an indica-
tion of clean atmosphere from the value of elec-
trical conductivity gives us the confidence to look
6. Discussions for regional as well as global signatures in our
results.
An excellent review is done by Williams (2009) According to the standard model, there are
about three electrical parameters measured by three major thunderstorm occurring centers in the
various workers at different locations over a vast entire world namely Asia–Australia region, African
span of time. The values presented there are well region and South American region (Bering III
comparable to the values of the three parameters et al 1998) which peaks around 09 UT, 14 UT and
we have measured. One of the most challenging 19 UT, respectively. The unitary diurnal variation
tasks in the surface measurement of atmospheric of vertical potential gradient shows a maximum
electric parameters is finding the signatures of around 19–20 UT and a minimum around 3–4 UT
global thunderstorm activity. The global signature if the data is averaged for long time span. Data
is often totally masked by disturbed weather condi- averaging of 130 fair-weather days spread over
tions, local changes due to aerosol pollution, space several years was required for the unitary diur-
charge, radioactive pollution, etc. The processes in nal variation to emerge in the Carnegie curve
planetary boundary layer play a crucial role in the (Wilson 1920). Data of shorter span from tropical
diurnal variation of atmospheric parameters. The regions show considerable deviation from the uni-
most suitable parameter for monitoring the global tary one (Kamra et al 1994) due to several factors
circuit is ionospheric potential (VI ) and after that like temporal and spatial distribution of thunder-
in order of merit, vertical air–earth current den- storm all over the globe (Dolezalek 1972). Results
sity (Jz ) and vertical potential gradient (E) comes from 20 fair-weather days from Indian station at
into picture (Markson 2007). Jz is dependent on VI Maitri, Antarctica (Deshpande and Kamra 2001)
and columnar resistance of the atmosphere (Rc ) as also exhibit a significant deviation from unitary
226 A Guha et al

Figure 6. Comparison between diurnal variation of vertical potential gradient (E) at Tripura and Carnegie voyages.

Table 1. Atmospheric electrical conductivity values near

Earth’s surface measured by several workers.
Conductivity
Location Reference (fS·m−1 )
Oceans Cobb and Wells 30
(1970)
Swann (1915); 35
Ault and
Mauchly (1925)
Torreson et al
(1946)
Sea
Bay of Bengal Kamra and 9
(within 1500 km Deshpande
from coastline) (1995)
Figure 7. Correlation plot between vertical potential Land
gradient (E) at Tripura and Carnegie voyages.
Peebles, Scotland Harrison (2007) 13
Eskdalemuir, Scotland Harrison (2007) 9.8
Edinburgh, Scotland Harrison (2007) 5.1
variation showing two maxima around 13 UT and
Kew, England Harrison (2007) 3.8
19 UT and a minimum at 01 UT. Anderson (1969)
explained the deviation of air–earth current density Our measurements 19.6
measured by them as a result of imperfect propa-
gation of effects of thunderstorms from one side of
the Earth to the other side. Our data show two dis- period (Kasemir 1972). Even a closer look at the
tinct maxima around 14 UT and 20 UT and a mini- seasonal variation of Carnegie data reveals that
mum around 3 UT. The question arises whether during the months of March–April–May, the data
the variation observed from our station represents of 46 fair-weather days exhibit a unitary diurnal
variation of global ionospheric potential, a contri- variation having a maximum around 15 UT instead
bution of regional thunderstorm activity or it is around 19–20 UT (Rycroft 2008). Several works
totally controlled by local aerosol and space charge point to the role of electrified shower clouds and
variations in planetary boundary layer. its contribution in comparison to global thunder-
It is worth mentioning that there are several fair- storm activity and lightning activity in modulating
weather results from pollution free regions which GEC (Williams and Satori 2004; Williams 2009).
indicate a deviation from unitary diurnal variation It was Wilson (1920) who first argued that elec-
especially when the data are averaged over short trified shower clouds were equally important along
 Fair-weather atmospheric electricity 227

with thunderstorm activity as one of the sources Anderson R V 1969 Universal diurnal variation in air–earth
of GEC. It is to be noted that spatial and tem- current density; J. Geophys. Res. 74 1697–1700.
Ault J P and Mauchly S J 1925 Atmospheric electricity
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play a vital role in the determination of global Carnegie Inst., Washington DC., 197–286.
ionospheric potential over periods of time. The Bering III E A 1995 The global circuit: Global thermometer,
current knowledge of monsoon shower clouds in weather by product or climate modulator?; Rev. Geophys.
modulating ionospheric potential is also not well- 33 845–862.
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8–43.
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the observation of fair-weather atmospheric elec- Papitashvili V O 2001 Variations of the atmospheric
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Charges and Currents; Published for the National Science
The campaign was funded via a scientific project Foundation by the Israel Program for Scientific Transla-
under Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), tions, ISBN 0 7065 1129 8.
through S K Mitra Centre for Research in Kamra A K, Deshpande C G and Gopalakrishnan V 1994
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Space Environment, University of Calcutta, India. ation of atmospheric potential gradient based on obser-
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the Department of Physics, Tripura University for Sea; J. Geophys. Res. 99 21,043–21,050.
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MS received 16 August 2009; revised 14 January 2010; accepted 14 January 2010