A Review of Atmospheric Electricity Research in China from 2019 to 2022

Atmospheric electricity is composed of a series of electric phenomena in the atmosphere.Significant advances in atmospheric electricity research conducted in China have been achieved in recent years.In this paper,the research progress on atmospheric electricity achieved in China during 2019-22 is reviewed focusing on the following aspects:(1)lightning detection and location techniques,(2)thunderstorm electricity,(3)lightning forecasting methods and techniques,(4)physical processes of lightning discharge,(5)high energy emissions and effects of thunderstorms on the upper atmosphere,and(6)the effect of aerosol on lightning.

A Review of Atmospheric Electricity Research in China

The importance of atmospheric electricity research has been increasingly recognized in recent decades. Research on atmospheric electricity has been actively conducted since the 1980 s in China. Lightning physics and its effects, as important branches of atmospheric electricity, have received more attention because of their significance both in scientific research and lightning protection applications. This paper reviews atmospheric electricity research based primarily on ground-based field experiments at different regions in China in the last decade. The results described in this review include physics and effects of lightning, rocket-triggered lightning and its physical processes of discharge, thunderstorm electricity on the Tibetan Plateau and its surrounding areas, lightning activity associated with severe convective storms, the effect and response of lightning to climate change, numerical simulation of thunderstorm electrification and lightning discharge, lightning detection and location techniques, and transient luminous events above thunderstorms.

Review and Microphysics of the Maximum Electricity Atmospheric Activity in the World: the Catatumbo Lightning (Venezuela)

A review of the state of knowledge and phenomenology on the site of the greatest atmospheric electrical activity in the world,known as the Catatumbo Lightning,located southeast of Lake Maracaibo(Venezuela),is presented.A microphysical model is presented to explain the charging process through electrical displacement within the cells of the cloud,incorporating the role of the self-polarization of ice and methane molecules as pyroelectric aerosol,which accounts for the phenomenology and is consistent with electrification in thunderstorm.It is concluded that the pyroelectric model allows to explain the phenomenology of the rapid discharges of the flashes in the Catatumbo lightning and could be applied in outer planetary lightning.

A data complementary method for thunderstorm point charge localization based on atmospheric electric field apparatus array group

Data loss or distortion causes adverse effects on the accuracy and stability of the thunderstorm point charge localization.To solve this problem,we propose a data complementary method based on the atmospheric electric field apparatus array group.The electric field component measurement model of the atmospheric electric field apparatus is established,and the orientation parameters of the thunderstorm point charge are defined.Based on the mirror method,the thunderstorm point charge coordinates are obtained by using the potential distribution formulas.To test the validity of the basic algorithm,the electric field component measurement error and the localization accuracy are studied.Besides the azimuth angle and the elevation angle,the localization parameters also include the distance from the apparatus to the thunderstorm cloud.Based on a primary electric field apparatus,we establish the array group of apparatuses.Based on this,the data measured by each apparatus is complementarily processed to regain the thunderstorm point charge position.The results show that,compared with the radar map data,this method can accurately reflect the location of the thunderstorm point charge,and has a better localization effect.Additionally,several observation results during thunderstorm weather have been presented.

Association among Geomagnetic Activity, Atmospheric Electric Field and Selected Meteorological Parameters

The association among the geomagnetic activity (Ap index) and atmospheric electric field, meteorological parameters was investigated using a long series of continuous data set available tor Colaba (18 ° 53'N, 72 ° 48'E, 11m ASL) for the period 1936-1966. The meteorological parameters used for the investigation are the surface pressure, temperature, wind velocity and relative humidity. The results of the above study indicate that the atmospheric electric field and the meteorological parameters are associated with the geomagnetic storms with Ap > 100 . The atmospheric electric field shows an increasing trend after the geomagnetic storm. The surface pressure dips and surface temperatures increase after a geomagnetic storm. The wind velocity shows a decreasing trend and the relative humidity shows an increasing trend after the geomagnetic storm.

Characteristic Analysis of Atmospheric Electric Field in Contaminated Areas

[Objective] The research aimed to analyze characteristics of atmospheric electric field in polluted area. [Method] By using data of atmospheric electric field meter in Taiyuan in 2009, daily and annual changes of atmospheric electric field in Taiyuan were analyzed. [ Result] Atmospheric electric field intensity in Taiyuan was higher than that in other areas. Daily change was double-peak double-valley type. The first highest value appeared at nightfall, and the second highest value was before the noon. The first lowest value appeared in early morning, while the second low- est value appeared after the noon. Annual change was single-peak single-valley type. The maximum appeared in winter, while the minimum ap- peared in summer. [ Conclusion] When forecasting thunderstorm, in the area with higher aerosol content, alarm threshold of electric field should be adjusted via comparison with actual observation, which had very strong regional characteristics. By analyzing real-time monitoring data of atmospheric electric field, thunderstorm forecast could be realized, and timeliness and accuracy of warning and forecast could be increased.

Experimental Research on Atmospheric Electric Field and Extensive Air Shower Particle Increasing During Thunderstorms with ARGO-YBJ

From April 1st to August 14th, 2006, thunderstorms had been recorded at Yangbajing Cosmic Ray Observatory by ARGO-YBJ experiment. This paper analyzed the correlation between atmospheric electric field （AEF） and ＂scaler mode＂ counting rate during thunderstorm. Counting rates of multiplicities n=1,2 were found to have a large increase （from 1.02% to 9.03%）, while there was few or no changes in those of multiplicities n=3 and n≥4 during the thunderstorms. The counts of different multiplicities had different feedbacks on the violent change of AEF, which showed that their energy and most components were distinguishing.

Lunar Phases and Atmospheric Electric Field

The association between the lunar phases and the atmospheric electric field has been investigated from the superposed epoch analysis of the long series of continuous data of the vertical electric field for Colaba, Bombay (18 ° 53'N, 73 ° 48'E 11 mASL) for the period 1947-1966. Also the periodicities in the atmospheric electric field have been studied from the spectral analysis of the data. The study has indicated that when the full moon is within 4 of the ecliptic plane i.e.,Bf 4 ° , the electric field peaks on the day of the full moon followed by a steep fall in the field values up to 4 days following the full moon day and there after it showed a steep increase. Also, the electric field has exhibited 5-9 day periodicity and its multiples are nearly always present. The periodicity in the electric field corresponds with the average time interval between the successive magnetic sector boundary (MSB ) crossings i.e., 7 days. On most of the occasions, the MSB crossing day is associated with a maximum of one or more of the wavelengths derived from the spectral analysis of the atmospheric electric field.

Variations in the Atmospheric Electric Field at Tropical Station during 1930-1987

The variations noticed in the atmospheric electric field recorded at Pune (18°32'N, 73°51'E, 559 m ASL), a tropical inland station located in Dcccan Plateau, India, during the period 1930-1987, have been examined in relation to the variations observed in the Angstrom turbidity coefficient (β) and selected meteorological parameters. The monthly and annual mean values of the atmospheric electric field. Angstrom turbidity coefficient (β), rainfall, temperature and relative humidity for the years 1930-1938, 1957-1958, 1964-1965, 1973-1974 and 1987 were considered in the study.The results of the above study indicated gradual increases in the atmospheric electric field over the period of study (1930-1987) which is statistically significant at less than 5%level. The increases noticed during different periods varied from 30 to 109%. The increase noticed during the period (1930-1938) and (1973-1974) was maximum (109%). The Angstrom turbidity coefficient also showed systematic increases during the period of study, which is consistent. The diurnal curve of the atmospheric electric field at the station by and large, showed a double oscillation, which is generally observed in the conlinental environments.

A kind of informationon short-term and imminent earthquake precursors-research on atmospheric electric field anomalies before earthquakes

The long time practice of observational research on earthquake prediction has shown that the information on shortterm and imminent earthquake precursors can hardly be detected, but it is very important for practical and effective earthquake prediction. The result of analysis and study in this paper has shown that the anomaly of quasi static atmospheric electric field may be a kind of reliable information on short term and imminent earthquake precursors.On such a basis, the 20 years′ continuous and reliable data of atmospheric electric field observed at the Baijiatuan seismic station are used to study the correlation between the anomalies in seismic activity and relative quiet periods bear on the occurrence of near earthquakes within 200 km range around Beijing after the Tangshan earthquake. The observational results recently reported before hand in written form and earthquakes that actually occurred in near field in corresponding time periods are compared and analyzed. The efficacy of these written prediction opinions about near earthquakes in the recent 10 years is tested. From the test results, the brilliant prospect that the anomaly of quasi static atmospheric electric field may really become a reliable mark for making short term and imminent earthquake predictions is discussed. Besides, as a preliminary step, some judgment indexes for predicting earthquakes by use of the observational data of atmospheric electric field before earthquakes are put forward. In the last part, it is pointed out that it would be possible to obtain more believable judgment indexes for determining the three elements of near earthquakes before greater earthquakes ( M S5) only if a relatively reasonable station network (2～4 stations every 10 000 km 2) is deployed and further investigation is made.

Prediction-Based Thunderstorm Path Recovery Method Using CNN-BiLSTM

The loss of three-dimensional atmospheric electric field(3DAEF)data has a negative impact on thunderstorm detection.This paper proposes a method for thunderstorm point charge path recovery.Based on the relation-ship between a point charge and 3DAEF,we derive corresponding localization formulae by establishing a point charge localization model.Generally,point charge movement paths are obtained after fitting time series localization results.However,AEF data losses make it difficult to fit and visualize paths.Therefore,using available AEF data without loss as input,we design a hybrid model combining the convolutional neural network(CNN)and bi-directional long short-term memory(BiLSTM)to predict and recover the lost AEF.As paths are not present during sunny weather,we propose an extreme gradient boosting(XGBoost)model combined with a stacked autoencoder(SAE)to further determine the weather conditions of the recovered AEF.Specifically,historical AEF data of known weathers are input into SAE-XGBoost to obtain the distribution of predicted values(PVs).With threshold adjustments to reduce the negative effects of invalid PVs on SAE-XGBoost,PV intervals corresponding to different weathers are acquired.The recovered AEF is then input into the fixed SAE-XGBoost model.Whether paths need to be fitted is determined by the interval to which the output PV belongs.The results confirm that the proposed method can effectively recover point charge paths,with a maximum path deviation of approximately 0.018 km and a determination coefficient of 94.17%.This method provides a valid reference for visual thunderstorm monitoring.

Observations of NO_2 and O_3 during Thunderstorm Activity Using Visible Spectroscopy

Simultaneous observations for the total column densities of NO2,O3 and H2O were carried on using the portable Spectrometer (438-450 nm and 400-450 nm) and the visible Spectrometer (544.4-628 nm) during premonsoon thunderstorms and embedded hail storm activity at Pune (18°32'N & 73°51'E),India.These observations confirm the fact that there is an increase in O3 and NO2 column densities during thunderstorms.The increase in O3 was observed following onset of thunderstorm,while the increase in NO2 was observed only after the thunder flashes occur.This implies that the production mechanisms for O3 and NO2 in thunderstorm are different.The observed column density of NO,value (1 to 3×1017molecules cm-2) during thunderstorm activity is 10 to 30 times higher than the value (1×10th molecules cm-2) of a normal day total column density.The spectrometric observations and observations of thunder flashes by electric field meter showed that 6.4×1025molecules/flash of NO2 are produced.The increased to-oil column density of ozone during thunderstorm period is 1.2 times higher than normal (clear) day ozone concentration.The multiple scattering in the clouds is estimated from H2O and O2 absorption bands in the visible spectral region Considering this effect the calculated amount of ozone added in the global atmosphere due to thunderstorm activity is 0.26 to 0 52 DU,and the annual production of ozone due to thunderstorm activity is of the order of 4.02×10 molecules/year The annual NO2 production may be of the order of 2.02×1035molecules/year.

Preliminary inquiry into the causes of anomaly increase of air temperature by an impending earthquake

In this paper, the causes of the occurrence of the temperature increase by an impending earthquake of low altitude atmosphere and on the ground surface have been preliminarily expounded through several simulative controlexperiments. Air polarized by the anomalous atmospheric static electric field is regarded as the primary factor tocreate air temperature increase to a large degree and over a large area in the sunlight. In addition, another causeis considered as the temperature increase effect of “polluted” air.

HIGH PERFORMANCE ELECTRIC FIELD MICRO SENSOR WITH COMBINED DIFFERENTIAL STRUCTURE

This paper presents a high performance electric field micro sensor with combined differential structure.The sensor consists of two backward laid micro-machined chips,each packaged by polymer and metal.The novel combined differential structure effectively reduces various environmental affections,such as thermal drift,humidity drift and electrostatic charge accumulation.The sensor is tested in near-ground place as well as balloon-borne sounding.In different weather conditions,the measurement results showed good agreement with those of the commercial electric field mill.

Ultra low frequeney electromagnetic wave anomaly and its spectrum characteristics before earthquakes

Many observations and researches show that abundant and intense ultra low frequency (ULF) electromagneticanomalies appears before local earthquakes. In order to understand this phenomenon systematically, the trans-mission property and the formation of the seismic-electric dipole are discussed in this paper. The results showthat the vertical component Of the ULF electric anomaly before earthquake has the properties of better penetration, less disturbance and high signal-to-noise ratio. The signal can be easily extracted and received. The anomaly should be an important way to seek for reliable short-term and imminent earthquake precursors. After thespectrum analysis of the (ULF) electric field anomalies, we found that the periods of the anomaly related to localearthquakes are from a few minutes to a dozens minutes. There is a relation between the spectrum of the anomaly and the epicentral distance. The ULF electric field anomalies strongly rely on the orientation of the seismo-genie zone. The percolation electric field anomaly and its spectrum amplitude do not have obvious relation withthe size of local earthquakes.

Study on the Lightning-radaited Electric Field Components at Mesospheric Altitudes

In this paper we have extended the semi-analytical model presented by Yashunin et al.to compute both of the lightning vertical and horizontal electric field considering the effect of nonlinear atmospheric electric parameters,and validate its accuracy by using our 2-D FDTD method.It is noted that the semi-analytical model can predict not only the lightning vertical field,but also the horizontal electric field with a satisfied accuracy in a small region with a radius ranging from 5 to 30 km at a height from 80 to 90 km above the lightning strike point.Compared with the results in the free space with a vacuum,the conducting altitude atmosphere has a relatively little effect on the radiated field component,but it has much effect on the electrostatic and induction component because their duration times are longer than the local relaxation time.For example,the induction field component in the conducting nonlinear medium decreases by about 43%,compared with that in the free space with a vacuum.The induction field is larger than the radiation field component within a radius of 25 km at a height of 80 km above the lightning strike point.Therefore,although the induction component may be likely one extra energy source(except for the radiation field)for creating the pancake shape of some elves with a luminous central part,we have to take into account the effect of nonlinear atmospheric electric parameters on the prediction of induced field component peak value that is needed for the production of elves.