Vol. 12 No. 1 (2013): Mapana Journal of Sciences
Research Articles

Electrical Conductivity of the Stratosphere

  • Kamsali Nagaraja,
  • S D Pawar,
  • P Murugavel,
  • V Gopalakrishnan
Kamsali Nagaraja
Department of Physics, Bangalore University, Bangalore-560 056
S D Pawar
Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune-411 008
P Murugavel
Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune-411 008
V Gopalakrishnan
Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune-411 008
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12723/mjs.24.5

Published 2013-01-29

Keywords

  • Aerosols,
  • conductivity,
  • stratosphere,
  • model studies

Abstract

Ionic conductivity of the stratosphere is one of the important parameters for understanding the electrical state of the region. This parameter is sensitive to the presence of aerosols and thus, aerosol loading on the stratosphere has a bearing on the conductivity. Preliminary efforts were made to study the behaviour of stratospheric ion conductivity and its variation under enhanced aerosol conditions by making use of an Ion-aerosol model. The aerosol ion-small ion recombination coefficient obtained from the model determines the extent to which aerosols can alter the conductivity of the stratosphere. This necessitates the requirement of experimental measurements of attachment and recombination coefficient along with simultaneously measured aerosol density to have the proper information on electrical conductivity of the region.

References

  1. J. Datta, C. P. Revankar, S. C. Chakravarty and A. P. Mitra, “Influence of aerosols on middle atmospheric conductivities,” Physica Scripta, vol. 36, p. 705, 1987. http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1088/ 0031-8949/36/4/015.
  2. N. Srinivas and B. S. N. Prasad, “Seasonal and Latitudinal variations of stratospheric small ion density and conductivity,” Ind. J. Radio Space Phys., vol. 22, p. 122, 1993. http://dx.doi.org/ 1993IJRSP..22...122S.
  3. N. Srinivas, B. S. N. Prasad and K. Nagaraja, “An ion-aerosol model study for the stratospheric conductivity under enhanced aerosol condition,” Ind. J. Radio Space Phys., vol. 30, p. 31, 2001.
  4. J. M. Rosen, D. J. Hofmann and W. Gringel, “Measurements of ion mobility to 30 km,” J. Geophys. Res., vol. 90, p. 5876, 1985. http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/JD090iD04p05876
  5. K. Nagaraja, B. S. N. Prasad, N. Srinivas and M. S. Madhava, “Electrical conductivity near the Earth's surface: Ion–aerosol model,” J. Atmos. Solar Terr. Phys., vol. 68, p. 757, 2006. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jastp.2005.12.005
  6. K. Nagaraja, J. Datta and B. S. N. Prasad, “Atmospheric electrical conductivity measurements and modeling for application to air pollution studies,” J. Adv. Space Res., vol. 44, p. 1067, 2009. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.asr.2009.05.020
  7. K. Nagaraja, S. D. Pawar, P. Murugavel and V. Gopalakrishnan, “Estimation of small ion concentration near the Earth's surface,” J. Atmos. Solar Terr. Phys., vol. 73, p. 2345, 2011. http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1016/j.jastp.2011.07.011
  8. R. E. Meyerott, J. B. Reagan and R. G. Joiner, “The mobility and concentration of ions and the ionic conductivity in the lower stratosphere,” J. Geophys. Res., vol. 85, p. 1273, 1980. http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/JA085iA03p01273.
  9. D. Smith and N. G. Adams, “Ionic recombination in the stratosphere,” Geophys. Res. Lett., vol. 9, p. 1085, 1982. http:// dx.doi.org/ 10.1029/GL009i009p01085.
  10. W. A. Hoppel, “Bipolar model of the electrical environment of the high-voltage direct current power line,” J. Geophys. Res., vol. 90,
  11. p. 5945, 1985. http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/JD090iD04p05945.
  12. E. Cole and A. J. kantor, AFGL-TR-78-0051, “Air Force Geophysics Laboratory,” Hanscom, AFB, Massachusetts, USA, 1978.
  13. M. G. Heaps, “Parametrization of the cosmic ray ion-pair production rate above 18 km,” Planet & Space Sci., vol. 26, p. 513, 1978. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0032-0633 (78)90041-7.

Most read articles by the same author(s)