THE IONIZATION OF THE ATMOSPHERE MEASURED FROM FLYING AIRCRAFT

1931 ◽  
Vol 5 (6) ◽  
pp. 625-635
Author(s):  
D. C. Rose

The Gerdian type of atmospheric ionization measuring apparatus was attached to a cabin aeroplane so that the state of ionization of the atmosphere could be studied. The limitations of the apparatus for aeroplane use are discussed. Measurements were taken from ground level to heights of 15000 ft. The results are plotted in number of ions per cc. (separate curves for positive and negative) at different altitudes.The results indicate that at the cloud level there is an abnormal excess of small positive ions and a minimum in the excess of positive ions over negative ions from 4000–6000 ft. higher. This does not include large ions such as charged water drops or dust particles. The observations were taken in regions free from clouds, the cloud level being determined by observation on clouds in the sky, and by relative humidity measurements taken at the same time.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiří Pavlů ◽  
Samuel Kočiščák ◽  
Åshild Fredriksen ◽  
Michael DeLuca ◽  
Zoltan Sternovsky

<p>We experimentally observe both positive and negative charge carriers in impact plasma and estimate their effective temperatures. The measurements are carried on a dust accelerator using polypyrrole (PPy)-coated olivine dust particles impacting tungsten (W) target in the velocity range of 2–18 km/s. We measure the retained impact charge as a function of applied bias potential to the control grid. The temperatures are estimated from the data fit. The estimated effective temperatures of the positive ions are approximately 7 eV and seems to be independent of the impact speed. The negative charge carriers' temperatures vary from as low as 1 eV for the lowest speeds to almost ten times higher speeds. The presented values differ significantly from previous studies using Fe dust particles. Yet, the discrepancy can be attributed to a larger fraction of negative ions in the impact plasma that likely originates from the PPy coating.</p>


2006 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 517 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary L. Achtemeier

Smoke from wildland burning in association with fog has been implicated as a visibility hazard over roadways in the southern United States. A project began in 2002 to determine whether moisture released during the smoldering phases of southern prescribed burns could contribute to fog formation. Temperature and relative humidity measurements were taken from 27 smoldering ‘smokes’ during 2002 and 2003. These data were converted to a measure of the mass of water vapor present to the mass of dry air containing the vapor (smoke mixing ratio). Some smokes were dry with almost no moisture beyond ambient. Other smokes were moist with moisture excesses as large as 39 g kg–1. Calculations show that ground-level smoke moisture excesses have no impact on ambient relative humidity during the day. However, the impact at night can be large enough to increase the ambient relative humidity to 100%. Therefore smoke moisture may be a contributing factor to the location and timing of fog formation.


2010 ◽  
Vol 76 (5) ◽  
pp. 673-676 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. K. SHUKLA ◽  
L. STENFLO

AbstractThe potential distribution around a charged dust grain in an electronegative plasma is obtained by using the appropriate dielectric susceptibilities for the Boltzmann distributed electrons and negative ions, and for the inertial positive ions that are streaming from the bulk plasma into the electronegative plasma sheath. The existence of oscillatory ion wakefields is shown. Positive ions are trapped/focused in the ion wakefields, and subsequently the negative dust particles are attracted to each other, forming ordered dust structures.


2009 ◽  
Vol 75 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. K. SHUKLA ◽  
M. ROSENBERG

AbstractWe investigate the drift dissipative instability in a non-uniform magnetized plasma composed of electrons, positive ions, negative ions and negatively charged dust particles. We use a multi-fluid plasma model and derive a dispersion relation for the electrostatic drift waves with frequencies much smaller than the ion gyrofrequencies and wavelengths longer than the ion gyroradii. The presence of the negatively charged, massive dust grains affects the drift wave frequency and the growth rate of the drift dissipative instability. The present results may be relevant to space and laboratory magnetoplasmas containing negative ions and charged dust grains.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 9487-9492

The outdoor insulator is commonly exposed to environmental pollution. The presence of water like raindrops and dew on the contaminant surface can lead to surface degradation due to leakage current. However, the physical process of this phenomenon is not well understood. Hence, in this study we develop a mathematical model of leakage current on the outdoor insulator surface using the Nernst Planck theory which accounts for the charge transport between the electrodes (negative and positive electrode) and charge generation mechanism. Meanwhile the electric field obeys Poisson’s equation. Method of Lines technique is used to solve the model numerically in which it converts the PDE into a system of ODEs by Finite Difference Approximations. The numerical simulation compares reasonably well with the experimental conduction current. The findings from the simulation shows that the conduction current is affected by the electric field distribution and charge concentration. The rise of the conduction current is due to the distribution of positive ion while the dominancy of electron attachment with neutral molecule and recombination with positive ions has caused a significant reduction of electron and increment of negative ions.


Materials ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (17) ◽  
pp. 3852
Author(s):  
Bongjun Gu ◽  
Dongwook Ko ◽  
Sungjin Jo ◽  
Dong Choon Hyun ◽  
Hyeon-Ju Oh ◽  
...  

Wrinkles attract significant attention due to their ability to enhance the mechanical and optical characteristics of various optoelectronic devices. We report the effect of the plasma gas type, power, flow rate, and treatment time on the wrinkle features. When an optical adhesive was treated using a low-pressure plasma of oxygen, argon, and nitrogen, the oxygen and argon plasma generated wrinkles with the lowest and highest wavelengths, respectively. The increase in the power of the nitrogen and oxygen plasma increased the wavelengths and heights of the wrinkles; however, the increase in the power of the argon plasma increased the wavelengths and decreased the heights of the wrinkles. Argon molecules are heavier and smaller than nitrogen and oxygen molecules that have similar weights and sizes; moreover, the argon plasma comprises positive ions while the oxygen and nitrogen plasma comprise negative ions. This resulted in differences in the wrinkle features. It was concluded that a combination of different plasma gases could achieve exclusive control over either the wavelength or the height and allow a thorough analysis of the correlation between the wrinkle features and the characteristics of the electronic devices.


Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (11) ◽  
pp. 2891
Author(s):  
Elena Fomenko ◽  
Igor Altman ◽  
Igor E. Agranovski

This paper attempts to demonstrate the importance of the nanoparticle charge in the synthesis flame, for the mechanism of their evolution during formation processes. An investigation was made of MgO nanoparticles formed during combustion of magnesium particles. The cubic shape of nanoparticles in an unaffected flame allows for direct interpretation of results on the external flame charging, using a continuous unipolar emission of ions. It was found that the emission of negative ions applied to the flame strongly affects the nanoparticle shape, while the positive ions do not lead to any noticeable change. The demonstrated effect emphasizes the need to take into account all of the phenomena responsible for the particle charge when modeling the nanoparticle formation in flames.


1995 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 453 ◽  
Author(s):  
R Morrow ◽  
JJ Lowke

A theory is presented for the development of streamers from a positive point in atmospheric air. The continuity equations for electrons, positive ions, and negative ions are solved simultaneously with Poisson's equation. For an applied voltage of 20 kV across a 20 mm gap, streamers are predicted to cross the gap in 26 ns, and the calculated streamer velocities are in fair agreement with experiment. When the gap is increased to 50 mm for the same voltage, the streamer is predicted not to reach the cathode. In this case an intense electric field front rapidly propagates about 35 mm into the gap in 200 ns. For a further 9�5 �s the streamer slowly moves into the gap, until the electric field at the head of the streamer collapses, and the streamer front stops moving. Finally, only positive space-charge remains; this moves away from the point, allowing the field near the point to recover, giving rise to a secondary discharge near the anode. The electric field distribution is shown to be quite different from that found previously for SF6; this is explained by the much lower attachment coefficient in air compared with that in SF6. These results show that streamers in air have a far greater range than streamers in SF6. This greater range cannot be explained by comparison of the values of E*, the electric field at which ionisation equals attachment.


1936 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 482-485 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. A. Smith

When an electron makes a transition from a continuous state to a bound state, for example in the case of neutralization of a positive ion or formation of a negative ion, its excess energy must be disposed of in some way. It is usually given off as radiation. In the case of neutralization of positive ions the radiation forms the well-known continuous spectrum. No such spectrum due to the direct formation of negative ions has, however, been observed. This process has been fully discussed in a recent paper by Massey and Smith. It is shown that in this case the spectrum would be difficult to observe.


2020 ◽  
Vol 86 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Samiran Ghosh ◽  
Biplab Maity ◽  
Swarup Poria

The dynamical behaviour of weakly nonlinear, low-frequency sound waves are investigated in a plasma composed of only positive and negative ions incorporating the effects of a weak external uniform magnetic field. In the plasma model the mass (temperature) of the positive ions is smaller (larger) than that of the negative ions. The dynamics of the nonlinear wave is shown to be governed by a novel nonlinear equation. The stationary plane wave (analytical and numerical) nonlinear analysis on the basis of experimental parameters reveals that the nonlinear wave does have quasi-periodic and chaotic solutions. The Poincarè return map analysis confirms these observed complex structures.


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