Understanding the Contributions from Thunderstorms and Electrified Shower Clouds to the Global Electric Circuit

Texas A&M University Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi TX

Investigators

Abstract

This study seeks to improve our knowledge of the role of cloud electrification in the global electric circuit (GEC). For decades we have known that lightning-producing thunderstorms add an upward directed current, known as the Wilson current. The GEC also consists of a downward, fair weather, current that originates from the electric potential difference between the earth's surface and the upper atmosphere. Though these connections are well understood, no known study to date has quantified these properties using observations. Improvements in our understanding of these processes will lead to quantitative models of the GEC, which will in turn benefit society through an improved knowledge of the role of the GEC on weather and climate. This study provides mentorship experiences and training and supports educational diversity through the inclusion of underrepresented groups; especially Hispanic students. This study will focus on existing cloud electrification data from ground-based radar, airborne and satellite remote sensing platforms. This study will create a global climatology of Wilson current to describe the contribution to the GEC from thunderstorms and electrified shower clouds. This research will also advance our understanding of the relationship between the Wilson current emanating from electrified cloud tops and their convective intensity. Knowledge gained from this research will serve as the quantitative basis for answering larger questions of the global scale, current generators and individual life cycles of electrified cloud systems.