Meeting

Meetingreport
report Space, satellite and solutions: essential climate variables and the
Energetic future
Particle Effects in the Lower Atmosphere
of climate monitoring from space

The Society’s Atmospheric Electricity Special
Interest Group organised this meeting,
which was held on Friday 31 March 2017
at the Met Office headquarters in Exeter
and was attended by 20 people. Building
on a recent ‘Focus Issue’ of Environmental
Research Letters (doi: 10.1088/1748-
9326/10/10/100201), this interdisciplinary
meeting considered energetic particle
Weather – December 2018, Vol. 73, No. 12
gradient provides an alternative estimate,
with better coverage. The results suggest
low stratiform cloud bases are typically
negatively charged, with a median charge
density of −0.86nCm−2. Giles suggests that
coupling of the cosmic ray-facilitated cur-
rent flow into cloud is therefore common-
place, potentially bringing solar-terrestrial
signals into the lower troposphere.
between solar activity and thunderstorms,
he noted that on annual timescales, the
resulting p ­ icture is confusing. Differing
results are found both geographically and
over time – UK and Japanese records sug-
gest any solar-cycle-associated variations
diminished after the 1960s. UK thunder
day records and ATDnet data were used
to characterise lightning on hour-to-day

influences on the lower atmosphere, and
the relationships between meteorological
processes, atmospheric electricity, energetic
particles and space weather.
After coffee and a short poster session
on space weather research and operations
at the Met Office, Karen Aplin (University
of Oxford) gave the first talk, on Radiative
effects of ionisation in the troposphere.
This considered molecular cluster ions,
which are radiatively active trace species
not currently included in meteorological
models. They are formed when energetic
particles (due, for example, to cosmic rays
and space weather events) ionise atmos-
pheric air. Neutral molecules form hydro-
gen bonds with the central ion, forming a
cluster. To quantify the infrared absorption
of clusters, a filter radiometer and a cosmic
ray ‘telescope’ were deployed. The results
suggest a slow increase in absorption for
~9min after the triggering event, with a
swifter recovery, as the ions recombine.
The overall impact is estimated to be a
small flux density change (~7mWm−2),
which is expected to occur globally and
continuously, possibly varying over the
solar cycle. Further work is needed to
corroborate the results with other instru-
ments, look for expected space-weather-
related modulations, and compare the
impact estimates with radiative transfer
calculations.
Giles Harrison (University of Reading) pre-
sented Charge effects in stratiform clouds.
This introduced the global electric circuit
– the idea that a vertical electric circuit
connects the ionosphere and the surface
(between which there is a ~250kV potential
difference); with current being generated
by thunderstorms, upper atmosphere light-
ning (e.g. sprites) and, in clearer air, ionisa-
tion from energetic particles. Extensive layer
clouds in semi-fair-weather regions are an
important component – these act as resis-
tors, leading to charge accumulation on
cloud edges. Giles summarised observations
exploring cloud boundaries, notably from
charge detectors on radiosondes, which
suggest that charges of up to hundreds
of pCm−3 often accumulate. Combining
Lidar measurements of cloud base height
406 and surface measurements of the potential
After lunch, Mai Mai Lam (British Antarctic timescales. By comparing these data to
Survey) discussed the Interplanetary mag- the solar wind magnetic field, enhance-
netic field effects on surface temperature. ments in the lightning rate were found
This examined whether the magnetic field in the days following a ‘sector crossing’,
embedded in the solar wind could affect the where the large-scale magnetic field
near-surface atmosphere near the poles, as changes polarity – from pointing away
previous Antarctic observations have sug- from the sun to towards the sun. This
gested. Concentrating on Antarctica, NCAR could be consistent with either a global
reanalysis data was binned into periods electric circuit or energetic charged par-
when the duskward (By) component of the ticle mechanism. It is also unclear what
interplanetary magnetic field was large and the global picture is – similar results
oppositely directed (>±3nT). Differences were found from Romania, but equiva-
between the periods provided anomalies lent results from Florida suggested the
in surface pressure and temperature (~1K), opposite p ­ olarity relationship.
which seemed to be significant and to travel Alec Bennett ended the meeting, present-
upwards from the surface to ~6km altitudes ing Electron acceleration above thunderclouds
over a few days. The suggested mechanism on behalf of Martin Fullekrug (University of
is the induced ionospheric potential change Bath). This talk summarised the various
altering the global electric circuit, which in forms of electrical breakdown which can
turn affects the surface atmosphere through occur above thunderstorms, from sprites,
changes to low-level clouds.
Alec Bennett (Biral) provided a useful
background on lightning observations
in Lightning detection for space weather
research. He noted that Matt Owen’s talk
would cover the association with space
weather, and that investigating this may
help us to better understand lightning ini-
tiation. Alec gave a comprehensive over-
view of lightning physics and how distant
strikes can be detected through various
emissions. These range from sound (thun-
der day records), electromagnetic (optical/
VHF detection from space, or VLF/LF radio
networks on the ground), and quasi-elec-
trostatic detectors, each of which provides
complementary information.
Over teatime, Jacqueline Sugier, Mike
Protts, Sven-Erik Enno and Stephen Prust
gave participants a tour of the Met Office’s
ATDnet facilities. This is a VLF network,
which determines lightning strike location
using the difference in arrival time of the
emitted radio waves at different receivers
(an example of which is shown in Figure 1).
The team gave a good overview of the raw
data and how it is recorded and processed,
as well as the network’s complex swathe of
sensitivity to strikes globally.
Matt Owens (University of Reading) fol- Figure 1. An ATD receiver (foreground) in the
lowed up neatly in Space weather influ- Azores helps locate lightning strikes – energetic
ences on lightning. Reviewing the many particles or other effects from space may alter
studies investigating the relationship the lightning rate.

jets, and elves, to exotic gamma ray flashes
(produced when runaway breakdown
creates electron beams, accelerating some
electrons to MeV energies). Two lightning
strikes from a storm over southern France in
2012 showed that while the first strike was
associated with a sprite (powerful enough to
penetrate the ionosphere and be detected
by the DEMETER satellite), the second sug-
gested the presence of an electron beam.
Oscillations in magnetic field data suggest
the electron excitation may result from
resonance along a ~1km lightning chan-
nel. Increased aerosols from Spanish forest
fires and the Sahara may have enhanced
the electric fields above the storm.
In summary, the meeting gave a good
overview of research investigating possible
‘downward’ impacts from space on the trop-
osphere – and some ‘upward’ effects too!
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Correspondence to: E. Henley
edmund.henley@metoffice.gov.uk
© 2018 Crown copyright.
Weather © 2018 Royal Meteorological Society
This article is published with the permission
of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen’s
Printer for Scotland.
doi:10.1002/wea.3256
Meeting report
Weather – December 2018, Vol. 73, No. 12
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