Thursday Feb. 17, 2011
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Class today was devoted to qualitative descriptions of cloud electrification processes. 


The convective theory starts with the positive charge found in the air above the ground during fair weather (Fig. A).  The updraft in a developing thunderstorm carries this charge upward into the cloud (the charge attaches to cloud particles).  In Fig. B negative charge carriers in the surrounding air are drawn to the positive charge in the top of the cloud and form a screening layer.  Cloud edge motions shown in Fig. C carry this negative charge down and into the middle center of the cloud to form the main negative charge center.  The electric field at the ground intensifies because of the close proximity of negative charge in the cloud.  Objects on the ground go into corona discharge and "spray" positive charge into the air (Fig. D).  The convective theory is generally not considered to be a viable mechanism for the initial electrification of thunderstorms.

In the inductive process an existing (initially fair weather) field induces charges in precipitation particles. 

The downward point fair weather E field induces eual amounts of negative and positive charge on the top and bottom surfaces of precipitation particles.  The particles are off different sizes.  They may be falling at different speeds or one may be falling the other rising as shown above.  In either event, the particles collide.  During the collision some of the charge on each particle is neutralized.  Each particle is left with net charge following the collision.


There are a variety of particle types that can collide.  When two water droplets collide, they will often stick together.  If make just a glancing collision, there won't be any charge neutralization because there isn't any charge induced at the charge's equators.  Thus a collision between two water droplets will not create charge.

Ice particle - ice particle collisions don't neutralize much charge because the particles don't remain in contact for very long and charge doesn't flow as readily through ice as it does through water.

Water - ice particle and ice - riming particle collisions might work, but the general feeling is that the inductive process is not able to start with a fair weather E field and turn it into a thunderstorm strength field.

The non-inductive process, also called the Reynolds, Brook, Gourley process is generally thought to be the mechanism responsible for the initial electrification of thunderstorms.  The process is shown in general terms below.  It doesn't require an existing electric field in order to function.  We will look at some of the details in a little more detail later.

Basically graupel collides with a snow crystal, in the presence of supercooled water droplets, and then depending on the environmental temperature, the graupel ends up with negative or positive charge and the ice crystal ends up with the opposite polarity.  The different sizes and fall velocities of the two types of particles means they will tend to separate after the collision.  The letters A, B, and C show how this process can account for the three main charge centers in a thunderstorm (A & C are the upper and lower positive charge centers, respectively; B is the main negative charge center)

The following figure shows the experimental apparatus used to make the initial measurements of charging (this was on a class handout).  [source: S.E. Reynolds, M. Brook, and Mary Foulks Gourley, "Thunderstorm Charge Separation", J. Meteorology, 14, 426-436, 1957.  I am trying to locate this article; when and if I do I'll put a copy on the class webpage in the articles folder]

Two metal balls at the ends of arms mounted on a rotating shaft simulate graupel particles in a cloud (pt. 1).  These balls become electrically charged and yellow traces the electrical path from the balls to a sensitive electrometer.

Temperature and liquid water content (LWC) are measured near the spinning arms (pt. 2).  Liquid water content is really just a measure of the concentration of supercooled water droplets. 

Warm water at pt. 3 is the source of water vapor.  Cooling coils (pt. 4) cool the air inside the chamber.  Cold air will sink and probably establish a vertical temperature gradient.  Replicas of ice crystals that form can be collected at pt. 5 for later examination.

This would not be an easy experiment to conduct.  It would be difficult to create, measure, and monitor the cloud environment in the chamber and the charging that does occur is probably weak and a sensitive electrometer would be needed.

The following information was on a class handout and was copied from the www.snowcrystals.com website (it is no longer accesible).  It briefly discusses the quasi-liquid layer that is found at the boundary between ice and air. 



The quasi liquid layer seems to play an important role in charging in the non inductive process.



The two colliding particles in the non-inductive process are each thought to be surrounded by a quasi liquid layer.  The particle that is growing faster will have a thicker quasi liquid layer and will transfer mass to the other particle at the time of the collision.  The particle that gains mass ends up with negative charge.

At this point we looked at some of the details or some more recent studies of the non-inductive electrification process.  Results from some of the recent work done by a group at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) are summarized on the graph below (on a class handout).


The charge polarities in the figure refer to the charge on the metal target simulates a graupel particle in these laboratory experiments.  The charge depends on the environmental temperature and on the cloud liquid water content as shown in the figure above.  EW on the vertical axis is effective liquid water content and is the product of liquid water content and collision efficiency (what fraction of the supercooled water droplets colliding with the target that stick and eventually freeze to the target).  We tried to understand what causes the different charging polarities in regions A, B, and C.

Here is my interpretation of what happens in regions A and B

The temperature is low in both cases.  The difference is the liquid water content, the concentration of supercooled water droplets. 

Region A
Supercooled droplets are colliding with and sticking to the graupel particle at a relatively low rate (the accretion or riming rate is low).  The droplets warm as they release latent heat and try to freeze.  The droplets warm but there isn't enough latent heat energy release to warm the graupel particle itself.  So the rates of deposition of water vapor (deposition is a gas to solid, water vapor to ice,  phase change) to the graupel and the ice crystal are about equal.  The graupel gets some additional deposition from the warm water droplets on its surface.  As a result the graupel is growing more quickly and has the thicker quasi liquid layer.  Mass transfer during a collision to to the ice crystal.  The ice crystal ends up with negative charge, the graupel particle with positive charge.

Region B
There are more supercooled water droplets colliding with and sticking to the graupel particle.  As they release latent heat and try to freeze they are able to warm the graupel particle.  The net rate of deposition from the surroundings to the graupel particle is reduced (water vapor is moving from the surroundings to the graupel particle at the same rate as it was in Region A but the graupel particle is evaporating a little more rapidly than it was in Region A.  The net rate of deposition is thus reduced and 2 arrows are shown in B versus 3 arrows in A).  The net rate of deposition from the droplets on the graupel particles surface is also reduced.  As a result the ice crystal grows more quickly and has the thicker quasi liquid layer.  Mass transfer during a collision goes to the graupel particle and the graupel particle ends up with negative charge.

Region C
Both the ice crystal and the graupel particle are in warmer surroundings and the rate of deposition to each is reduced.  The graupel is warmer than it was in Region B.  Now however the deposition from the accreted water droplets is increased because it takes them longer to freeze.  The graupel particle grows faster and has the thicker quasi liquid layer.  Mass transfer is to the ice crystal again and it ends up with negative charge.

Next a couple of figures of the distribution of electrical charge in clouds (on a class handout).


This is a fairly famous and widely published figure.  It shows the location of negative charge that is neutralized during cloud-to-ground and intracloud discharges in clouds in Florida, New Mexico, and Japan.  In each case the negative charge is found in roughly the -10o C to -30o C temperature range despite differences in cloud heights, cloud base altitudes, and cloud thicknesses.

The intent of this figure is to shown that the distribution of charge in thunderstorms is often much more complex than the simple tripolar model discussed above.

We began but didn't finish a discussion of some recent research results that seem to indicate some thunderstorms have an inverted charge distribution.  We'll come back to this in class on Tuesday.