Connected Variations of Meteorological and Electrical Quantities of Surface Atmosphere under the Influence of Heavy Rain

Abstract

The electrical state of the surface atmosphere changes significantly under the influence of cloudiness and atmospheric phenomena, including atmospheric precipitation. These features can be used for possible diagnostics of precipitation and improvement of their characteristics based on variations of atmospheric-electrical quantities in the surface layer. Studies of variations of meteorological and atmospheric-electrical quantities in the surface layer were carried out during the heavy rainfall associated with the cumulonimbus (Cb) clouds passage. Meteorological and atmospheric-electrical observations in the Geophysical Observatory of the Institute of Monitoring of Climatic and Ecological Systems are presented in this paper. Precipitation data are used to identify periods of heavy rainfall ≥ 5 mm/h. Information of weather stations and satellites is used to separate the heavy rainfall events by synoptic conditions like thunderstorms and showers of frontal or internal air masses. We find that rains associated with the frontal Cb clouds produce more abrupt changes in negative electrical conductivity in comparison with the Cb clouds in internal air masses. The significant increase in negative electrical conductivity (more than two times vs. normal values) occurs typically during the passage of frontal Cb and heavy rain with droplet size greater than 4 mm.

Keywords

• atmospheric electricity
• atmospheric electric field
• air electric conductivity
• electrode layer
• weather fronts
• cumulonimbus clouds