On the Electric Fields Produced by Dipolar Coulomb Charges of an Individual Thundercloud in the Ionosphere

Abstract

In this paper we study the transmission of the electrostatic field due to coulomb charges of an individual thundercloud into the midlatitude ionosphere, taking into account the total geomagnetic field integrated Pedersen conductivity of the ionosphere. It is shown that at ionospheric altitudes, a typical thundercloud produces an insignificant electrostatic field whereas a giant thundercloud can drive the horizontal electrostatic field with a magnitude of ~270 μV/m for nighttime conditions.

Keywords

• thundercloud
• ionosphere
• electrostatic field