Stratospheric volcanic aerosols and changes in air-earth current density at solar wind magnetic sector boundaries as conditions for the Wilcox tropospheric vorticity effect
- Univ. of Texas, Richardson, TX (United States)
A correlation between tropospheric dynamics and solar wind magnetic fields that disappeared in the early 1970s reappeared with a new injection of volcanic aerosols into the stratosphere. A similar pattern of correlation has been found for changes in current density in the global electric circuit and for changes in relativistic electron precipitation. Several other weather and climate variations have been found to correlate with changes in air-earth current density due to solar wind modulation of the global electric circuit. The accumulation of electrostatic charge on supercooled droplets at cloud tops responds to air-earth current density changes. A mechanism linking the effects of charge accumulation to changes in ice nucleation, precipitation efficiency, latent heat retention and perturbations in atmospheric dynamics is thus as an explanation for this and other solar wind - atmospheric electricity - weather and climate correlations.
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- OSTI ID:
- 57368
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 99, Issue D8; Other Information: PBD: Aug 1994
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Atmospheric radiation measurement program facilities newsletter, June 2002.
Chapter 9.12 - Weather, Climatic and Ecological Impacts of Onshore Wind Farms