Известия Томского политехнического университета: Инжиниринг георесурсов (Oct 2016)
Morphological stratification of clouds by atmospheric electric field in active and quiet sun period
Abstract
Relevance of the research. In recent decade, regional and global climate has changed significantly due to human activities, which became comparable with natural processes. The electric field of atmosphere can serve as an indicator of anthropogenic impact, as the technical and economic environment of cities results in global deviations and modification of natural physical fields. Therefore, there is no doubt in the necessity to study the influence of the atmospheric electric field on distribution of meteorological parameters, since it allows us to reveal qualitatively the «thin» atmospheric stratification structure of the electric field and its change owing to anthropogenic impact. The aim of the research is to consider the morphological stratification of cloud formations by the atmospheric electric field in the period of the active and quiet sun. This approach allows us to clarify qualitatively the mechanism of change in water vapor condensation (on the example of clouds) by the solar activity change as the decrease in the number of excited molecules owing to different ionization of the atmosphere, as well as to build a physical theory of anthropogenic load from industrial plants on the atmosphere and climate. Research subject: the electric field of the atmosphere, clouds. Research technique: detailed statistical analysis of the data on an aircraft sounding during the International Geophysical Year and the International Geophysical Cooperation in 1958-1964. Results. The author has obtained the estimations of radiation cross-sections for the molecules of the standard atmosphere and the condensed phase (cloud aerosols) in geometric approximation. They show that when the characteristic radius is equal to r-10[-3] cm the ionization of the condensed phase is commensurate with the background ionization. The paper introduces the correlative relationship between average water content of clouds and vertical electric field. The analysis of the results demonstrates that the average annual distribution of water content is strongly correlated with the average vertical distribution of the electric field in this region. Using the methods of the detailed statistical analysis the author revealed the relationship between the height of cloud formation and the electric field of the atmosphere. It is shown that the repetition frequency of a cloud lower boundary demonstrates the high coincidence with local sites of neutrality of a bulk charge density for the same latitude.
