Daily Dynamics of the Electric Field in the Turbulent Surface Air Layer under the Action of Local Factors

Abstract

This work studies the effect of the daily dynamics of turbulent processes on the daily dynamics of the electric field in the surface air layer. During simulation, the coefficient of turbulent diffusion within the electrode layer is specified as a stationary function of altitude in view of hydrodynamic concepts. A mathematical model of the dynamics of the electric field intensity in the surface air layer in the case of a turbulent electrode effect is presented. The main equation of the model is the equation of the total current in the surface layer, which has been derived in the approximation of strong turbulent mixing and describes the electrodynamics of the surface layer under the combined action of local and global current generators. The work examines the non-stationary nature of turbulent exchange in order to confirm the previously ascertained effects in the daily dynamics of the electric field strength in the surface air layer under stationary turbulence. To describe the daily dynamics of turbulent processes, gradient measurements in high-altitude conditions of the Elbrus region were used. Processing of the measurement data enables deriving the time dependence of the turbulent diffusion coefficient from the solution of the total current equation. Taking into account this dependence, the expression for the daily dynamics of the field strength was refined. Time shifts of the daily extremes, a change in their amplitude, and the appearance of additional extremes depending on the electric field strength have been established. All these effects are comparable to the global unitary variation and increase with the electric field strength. The results can be useful for solving a number of applied geophysical problems, in particular, monitoring the electric field of the atmosphere and analyzing atmospheric-electrical measurement data.