Table Of ContentF. Leblanc (cid:2) K.L. Aplin (cid:2) Y. Yair (cid:2) R.G. Harrison (cid:2)
J.P. Lebreton (cid:2) M. Blanc
Editors
Planetary Atmospheric
Electricity
Previously published in Space Science Reviews Volume 137,
Issues 1–4, 2008
F.Leblanc R.G.Harrison
Serviced’AeronomieduCNRS/IPSL DepartmentofMeteorology,UniversityofReading
UniversitéVersaillesSaintQuentin Reading,UK
VerrièresLeBuisson,France
J.P.Lebreton
K.L.Aplin SpaceScienceDepartmentofESA
SpaceScienceandTechnologyDepartment Noordwick,TheNetherlands
RutherfordAppletonLaboratory
Oxon,UK M.Blanc
CESR.UniversitePaulSabatier
Y.Yair Toulouse,France
DepartmentofLifeandNaturalSciences
OpenUniversityofIsrael
Ra’anana,Israel
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Contents
FOREWORD
Foreword
(cid:3)
R.-M.Bonnet M.Blanc 1
PREFACE
PlanetaryAtmosphericElectricity
(cid:3) (cid:3) (cid:3)
R.G.Harrison K.L.Aplin F.Leblanc Y.Yair 5
INTRODUCTORYOVERVIEWS
InvestigatingEarth’sAtmosphericElectricity:aRoleModelforPlanetaryStudies
(cid:3) (cid:3)
K.L.Aplin R.G.Harrison M.J.Rycroft 11
UpdatedReviewofPlanetaryAtmosphericElectricity
(cid:3) (cid:3) (cid:3) (cid:3)
Y.Yair G.Fischer F.Simões N.Renno P.Zarka 29
PhysicalProcessesRelatedtoDischargesinPlanetaryAtmospheres
(cid:3) (cid:3) (cid:3) (cid:3)
R.Roussel-Dupré J.J.Colman E.Symbalisty D.Sentman V.P.Pasko 51
AnOverviewofEarth’sGlobalElectricCircuitandAtmosphericConductivity
(cid:3) (cid:3) (cid:3)
M.J.Rycroft R.G.Harrison K.A.Nicoll E.A.Mareev 83
IonsintheTerrestrialAtmosphereandOtherSolarSystemAtmospheres
(cid:3)
R.G.Harrison H.Tammet 107
ChargeGenerationandSeparationProcesses
Y.Yair 119
PhysicsofElectricDischargesinAtmosphericGases:AnInformalIntroduction
(cid:3) (cid:3)
R.A.Treumann Z.Kłos M.Parrot 133
IONISATIONPROCESSESINPLANETARYATMOSPHERES
CosmicRayInducedIonProductionintheAtmosphere
(cid:3) (cid:3) (cid:3) (cid:3) (cid:3)
G.A.Bazilevskaya I.G.Usoskin E.O.Flückiger R.G.Harrison L.Desorgher
(cid:3) (cid:3) (cid:3) (cid:3) (cid:3)
R.Bütikofer M.B.Krainev V.S.Makhmutov Y.I.Stozhkov A.K.Svirzhevskaya
(cid:3)
N.S.Svirzhevsky G.A.Kovaltsov 149
MeteoricLayersinPlanetaryAtmospheres
(cid:3) (cid:3)
J.G.Molina-Cuberos J.J.López-Moreno F.Arnold 175
ProfilesofIonandAerosolInteractionsinPlanetaryAtmospheres
(cid:3) (cid:3)
S.N.Tripathi M.Michael R.G.Harrison 193
CompositionandMeasurementofChargedAtmosphericClusters
K.L.Aplin 213
AtmosphericIonsandAerosolFormation
F.Arnold 225
TroposphericNewParticleFormationandtheRoleofIons
(cid:3) (cid:3)
J.Kazil R.G.Harrison E.R.Lovejoy 241
MEASUREMENTSEFFECTSANDHAZARDSOFTHUNDERSTORMSANDLIGHTNING
Ground-BasedandSpace-BasedRadioObservationsofPlanetaryLightning
(cid:3) (cid:3) (cid:3)
P.Zarka W.Farrell G.Fischer A.Konovalenko 257
AtmosphericElectricityatSaturn
(cid:3) (cid:3) (cid:3) (cid:3) (cid:3) (cid:3)
G.Fischer D.A.Gurnett W.S.Kurth F.Akalin P.Zarka U.A.Dyudina
(cid:3)
W.M.Farrell M.L.Kaiser 271
AtmosphericElectricityHazards
R.D.Lorenz 287
ElectricalEffectsonAtmosphericChemistry
R.D.Lorenz 295
NEWMISSIONS
TARANIS—ASatelliteProjectDedicatedtothePhysicsofTLEsandTGFs
(cid:3) (cid:3) (cid:3) (cid:3) (cid:3) (cid:3)
F.Lefeuvre E.Blanc J.-L.Pinçon R.Roussel-Dupré D.Lawrence J.-A.Sauvaud
(cid:3) (cid:3)
J.-L.Rauch H.deFeraudy D.Lagoutte 301
LightningDetectionbyLACOnboardtheJapaneseVenusClimateOrbiter,Planet-C
(cid:3) (cid:3) (cid:3) (cid:3)
Y.Takahashi J.Yoshida Y.Yair T.Imamura M.Nakamura 317
CHARGEGENERATIONANDSEPARATION
ChargeSeparationMechanismsinClouds
C.Saunders 335
ChargeStructureandDynamicsinThunderstorms
(cid:3)
M.Stolzenburg T.C.Marshall 355
FormationofChargeLayersinthePlanetaryAtmospheres
E.A.Mareev 373
ElectricalChargingofVolcanicPlumes
(cid:3) (cid:3) (cid:3) (cid:3) (cid:3) (cid:3)
M.R.James L.Wilson S.J.Lane J.S.Gilbert T.A.Mather R.G.Harrison
R.S.Martin 399
ElectricalActivityandDustLiftingonEarth,Mars,andBeyond
(cid:3)
N.O.Renno J.F.Kok 419
TheChargingofPlanetaryRings
(cid:3) (cid:3) (cid:3) (cid:3)
A.L.Graps G.H.Jones A.Juhász M.Horányi O.Havnes 435
ELECTROMAGNETICSIGNATURESOFDISCHARGESINTHEATMOSPHERE
SchumannResonancesasaMeansofInvestigatingtheElectromagneticEnvironment
intheSolarSystem
(cid:3) (cid:3) (cid:3) (cid:3) (cid:3)
F.Simões M.Rycroft N.Renno Y.Yair K.L.Aplin Y.Takahashi 455
BlueJets:UpwardLightning
(cid:3)
E.V.Mishin G.M.Milikh 473
VLFStudiesDuringTLEOccurrencesinEurope:ASummaryofNewFindings
(cid:3)
Á.Mika C.Haldoupis 489
DEMETERObservationsofEMEmissionsRelatedtoThunderstorms
(cid:3) (cid:3) (cid:3) (cid:3)
M.Parrot J.J.Berthelier J.P.Lebreton R.Treumann J.L.Rauch 511
OnULFSignaturesofLightningDischarges
(cid:3)
T.Bösinger S.L.Shalimov 521
Foreword
Roger-MauriceBonnet·MichelBlanc
OriginallypublishedinthejournalSpaceScienceReviews,Volume137,Nos1–4.
DOI:10.1007/s11214-008-9418-0©SpringerScience+BusinessMediaB.V.2008
“PlanetaryAtmosphericElectricity”isthefirstpublicationofitskindintheSpaceScience
SeriesofISSI.ItistheresultofanewandsuccessfuljointventurebetweenISSIandEuro-
planet.
Europlanetisanetworkofover110EuropeanandU.S.laboratoriesdeeplyinvolvedin
thedevelopmentofplanetarysciencesandsupporttotheEuropeanplanetaryspaceexplo-
rationprogramme.In2004,theEuroplanetconsortiumobtainedsupportfromtheEuropean
Commissiontostrengthentheplanetarysciencecommunityworldwide,andtoamplifythe
scientificoutput,impactandvisibilityoftheEuropeanspaceprogramme,essentiallytheEu-
ropeanSpaceAgency’sHorizon2000,CosmicVisionprogrammesandtheirsuccessors.Its
presentcontractwiththeCommissionextendsfrom2005to2008,andincludes7networking
activities,includingdiscipline-basedworkinggroupscoveringthemainareasofplanetary
sciences.AnewcontractwiththeCommission,presentlyundernegotiation,willextendEu-
roplanet’sactivitiesintotheperiod2009–2012.Withthebroadcommunityconnectionmade
throughitsDisciplineWorkingGroupsandotheractivities,Europlanetoffersanidealbase
fromwhichtoidentifynewfieldsofresearchforplanetarysciencesandtostimulatecollab-
orativeworkamongitsmemberlaboratories.ForEuroplanet,developingcollaborationwith
ISSIinholdingworkshopsandproducingbooksonthesenewandemergingsubjectsisboth
natural and extremely stimulating,considering thehighprofile,international standingand
provensuccessofISSI.ForISSI,collaborationwithEuroplanetoffersaveryinterestingop-
portunitytoextenditssuccessfulseriesofworkshopsandbookswithintheareaofplanetary
sciencesandtodeepenitslinkswiththiscommunity.
Workingfromthisclearconvergenceofinterests,in2006ISSIandEuroplanetinitiated
implementationofaseriesofjointworkshops,soonaftertheestablishmentofEuroplanet’s
(cid:2)
R.-M.Bonnet( )
InternationalSpaceScienceInstitute(ISSI),Bern,Switzerland
e-mail:[email protected]
M.Blanc
CentreEtudeSpatialedesRayonnements(CESR),Toullouse,France
F.Leblancetal.(eds.),PlanetaryAtmosphericElectricity.DOI:10.1007/978-0-387-87664-1_1 1
2 R.-M.Bonnet,M.Blanc
Discipline Working Groups. Each of Europlanet’s nine Discipline Working Groups were
invitedtoselectoneortwopromisingsubjectsforISSIworkshops,whichwerepresented
anddiscussedataworkinggroupmeetingatESAC,Villafranca,Spain,April24th–26th.The
BoardofCoordinatorsofEuroplanetthenselectedashortlist.Finally,onMay18th,2006,
theScienceCommitteeofISSI,chairedbyProf.LenCulhane,selectedthe“PlanetaryAt-
mosphericElectricity”proposal,initiallyformulatedbyJean-PierreLebretonandFrançois
Leblanc,tobecomethefirstjointISSI-Europlanetworkshop.
Inretrospect,thechoiceofthissubjecthasindeedbeenparticularlygood.Asthisvolume
nicely illustrates, Planetary Atmospheric Electricity happened to be an outstanding theme
to stimulate the dialogue between a “traditional” field of geosciences—atmospheric elec-
tricitywasinitiatedasasciencebyBenjaminFranklin—andtheemergingfieldofplanetary
electricity,apromisingdevelopmentofcomparativeplanetology.Onceagain,thesynergis-
ticalchemyofISSIoperatedbeautifullybetweenthesetwocommunities,leadingtomany
excitingscientificexchangesandfinallytoafundamentallyinterdisciplinarybook,merging
theexpertiseandprospectsofthetwocommunities.
Electrical phenomena have been studied for centuries in the Earth’s atmosphere, lead-
ingtoaprogressivelybetterunderstandingofelectrificationsources(galacticcosmicrays,
deepcloudconvection,etc.),theirmanifestations(lightning,dischargesandelectromagnetic
emissions...)andtheirhazards.Atmosphericelectricitystilloffersoutstandingchallenges
tomodernenvironmentalresearch.Forexample,theverymechanismofchargingofcloud
dropletsisonlypartlyunderstood,andunderstandingthecomplex3-Dgeometryofthunder-
stormconvectioncellsisonlybeginning.Evenmore,asignificantfractionofelectrostatic
discharges, those which occur between the cloud tops and the ionosphere base and mani-
festthemselvesthroughspectacularopticalphenomenasuchassprites,elves,coronae,have
only recently been discovered. Taranis, the first European in-depth global study of these
phenomenafromspaceisstillonlyinitspreparationphase.Manydiscoveriesareaheadof
us!
Whileterrestrialatmosphericelectricityiswellestablishedyetrapidlyevolving,itsplan-
etarycounterpartisinitsinfancy.Oneofthemajormeritsofthisbookistoshowtheuni-
versality,thediversityandtheimportanceofatmosphericelectricalphenomenaacrossthe
solarsystem.
Standingasagoodexampleofauniversalprocess,lightningiscommonandcurrently
observedatJupiterandSaturn,itislikelyatUranusandNeptune,andevidenceofitsex-
istenceintheatmosphereofVenusaccumulatesfromVenusExpressdata.Butmanybasic
questionsaboutitsgenerationandoccurrenceareopen:doescloudconvectionneedwaterto
generateelectrificationandlightning?Isthereaglobalelectricalcircuitatanyotherplanet
thanEarth?
Spaceexplorationofthesolarsystemhasalsoillustratedthebroaddiversityofcharging
anddischargephenomena,inMartianduststormsoronplanetaryringsanddustparticles,
forinstance,orthroughlevitationprocessesatthesurfacesofairlessbodies.
Finally,theimportanceofelectricalphenomenainthehistoryofsolarsystemevolution
isalsoemergingmoreandmoreasresearchprogresses.Didatmosphericdischargesplaya
roleinthedynamicsandchemicalactivityoftheprimordialsolarnebula?Orinthesynthesis
of the first prebiotic molecules of early Earth as suggested by Miller and Urey more than
fiftyyearsago?Orinthegrowthanddynamicsofatmosphericaerosol?
Basedonthisfirstinventoryofelectricalphenomenainthesolarsystem,thenextphase
ofdetailedinvestigationsofthesephenomenabyfutureplanetarymissionscanbeexpected
tobeplannedwithgreateffectiveness,throughtakingadvantageoftheterrestrialexperience
bothtodesignthebestpossiblediagnosticinstrumentsandtoanticipateandbetterunder-
stand what they will observe. We are convinced that this first ISSI-Europlanet volume on
Foreword 3
PlanetaryAtmosphericElectricitywillbecomeandremainakeyreferencefortheplanning
offuturemissions.
Inachievingthisgoal,allcreditmustbegiventothosewhosehardworkanddedication
madethisfirstjointworkshopandpublicationofISSIandEuroplanetpossible.Manythanks,
first,totheleadershipofISSIandEuroplanetwhodesignedthiscollaborativeproject,and
to the leaders of the Discipline Working Groups of Europlanet, Norbert Krupp and Ari-
Matti Harri, who managed and inspired their working groupsto produce challenging new
subjects for future planetary science workshops. Many thanks to the Science Committee
ofISSI,chairedbyProf.LenCulhane,whodidtheselectionandmadeusefulsuggestions
ontheworkshopcontents.OurspecialgratitudegoestoFrançoisLeblancandJean-Pierre
Lebreton,whooriginallyproposedtheworkshop’stopic,andtoFrançoisformasterlylead-
ershipofthewholeprocess,fromthefirstConvenersMeetingtobookproduction.Theteam
of conveners and editors did a fantastic job in defining the structure of the workshop and
ofthebook,inmanagingthewritingandtheoverallreviewprocess:asusual,allchapters
werecarefullyreviewedbyindependentexpertstowhomwewouldalsoliketoextendour
gratitude.
Last,butnotleast,ourwarmestappreciationgoestothewonderfulstaffofISSI,Andrea
Fischer,VittorioManno,SalibaSaliba,BrigitteSchutte,IrmelaSchweizer,SilviaWenger,
and all their colleagues whosekindness and dedication make ISSI such a nice place for a
visitandforwork.Theyarethegreatestassetonwhichthisnewandpromisingcollaboration
betweenISSIandEuroplanetwillcontinuetodevelopandflourishintheyearstocome.
Roger-MauriceBonnet
ExecutiveDirector,InternationalSpaceScienceInstitute
MichelBlanc
EuroplanetCoordinator
Preface
Planetary Atmospheric Electricity
R.G.Harrison·K.L.Aplin·F.Leblanc·Y.Yair
OriginallypublishedinthejournalSpaceScienceReviews,Volume137,Nos1–4.
DOI:10.1007/s11214-008-9419-z©SpringerScience+BusinessMediaB.V.2008
Abstract Electrificationisafundamentalprocessinplanetaryatmospheres,foundwidely
in the solar system. It is most evident through lightning discharges, which can influence
an atmosphere’s chemical composition, but electrification also affects the physical behav-
iourofaerosolsandclouddropletsthatdetermineanatmosphere’sradiativebalance.Inthe
terrestrialatmosphere,lightninghasbeenimplicatedintheoriginoflife.
Keywords Charge·Lightning·Electrostaticdischarge·Comparativeplanetology·
Primordialatmosphere·Cosmicrays·Electromagneticradiation
1 ElectrificationinAtmospheres
Electrificationoccurscommonlyinplanetaryatmospheres,althoughitispresentindifferent
forms.Themostdirectevidencetoremoteobserversispresentedbylightning,whichisde-
finitivelyknowntooccuronEarth,Jupiter,Saturnand,mostprobably,Venus,withlightning
on Mars thought very likely but as yet undetected. In addition, Uranus and Neptune have
yieldedpossiblesignalsoflightningdischarges.Takenacrossthesolarsystem,theproba-
bilityoflightningoccurringinaplanetaryatmosphere(Venus,Earth,Mars,Jupiter,Saturn,
Uranus and Neptune, but neglecting moons) is therefore confidently at least (4±1) in 7.
Thus,aslightningcanalsoresultfromvolcanicactivity,itisreasonabletoexpectelectrical
dischargesinasolarsystematmosphere,withoddsconsiderablybetterthanevens.
(cid:2)
R.G.Harrison( )
DepartmentofMeteorology,UniversityofReading,EarleyGate,Reading,UK
e-mail:[email protected]
K.L.Aplin
SpaceScienceandTechnologyDepartment,RutherfordAppletonLaboratory,Didcot,Oxon,UK
F.Leblanc
Serviced’AeronomieduCNRS,OsservatorioAstronomicodiTrieste,34131Trieste,Italy
Y.Yair
DepartmentofLifeandNaturalSciences,OpenUniversityofIsrael,Ra’anana43107,Israel
F.Leblancetal.(eds.),PlanetaryAtmosphericElectricity.DOI:10.1007/978-0-387-87664-1_2 5
