Atmospheric Electricity

Atmospheric Electricity brings together numerous studies on various aspects of atmospheric electricity. This book is composed of 13 chapters that cover the main problems in the field, including the maintenance of the negative charge on the earth and the origin of the charges in thunderstorms. After a brief overview of the historical developments of atmospheric electricity, this book goes on dealing with the general principles, results, methods, and the MKS system of the field. The succeeding chapters are devoted to some aspects of electricity in the atmosphere, such as the occurrence and detection of ions, the air-Earth conduction current, and point-discharge and precipitation currents. These topics are followed by discussions on the maintenance of the Earth''s charge; the correlation of Earth''s charge with thunderstorm activity and current; and mechanism of charge transfer in nonstormy rain and snow. The concluding chapters consider the phenomena of thunder cloud and the lightning discharge. These chapters also examine various theories in understanding the separation of Earth''s charge. This book will be of value to physicists, atmospheric scientists, and researchers in the allied fields.