ФОРМИРОВАНИЕ СТРУКТУРЫ АТМОСФЕРНОГО ЭЛЕКТРОДНОГО СЛОЯ

Abstract

The problem of the formation of the electric state in the lower layer of the atmosphere nearthe Earth's surface is considered in the article. An electrodynamic model of a non-stationary turbulent-convective surface layer is investigated in the approximation of the electrode effect. Theinitial system consists of the ionization-recombination equations for aeroions and the Poissonequation. Depending on the meteorological conditions in the atmosphere, the cases of classicaland turbulent electrode effects, as well as the approximation of strong turbulent mixing, are consideredseparately. Turbulent and convective transport, the degree of air ionization, and the presenceof submicron aerosol particles in the air are factors that affect the space-time structure of theelectrode layer. Dimensionless parameters (similarity criteria) for electrodynamic equations arerevealed, which allow choosing the appropriate approximation for modeling the structure of theelectrode layer depending on atmospheric conditions. In an aerosol-free atmosphere, the time toestablish a stationary state in the electrode layer is about 5 minutes, for the classical layer (thetypical height is about 4-5 m), and in the turbulent layer-about 15 minutes. (the typical height isabout 10 m). In the case of strong turbulent mixing, the distribution scale of electrical quantitiesincreases to hundreds of meters. The ratio of the characteristic velocities of turbulent and convectiveprocesses indicates the predominant physical mechanism of ion transport and the formation ofthe electrode layer structure. An increase in the rate of convective transport directed downwardsleads to a weakening of the turbulent mixing mechanism, and when moving up, the opposite effectoccurs. The presence of a submicron aerosol in the atmosphere leads to the formation of heavyions, the mobility of which is much less than that of aeroions. Single-charged aerosol particleswith a concentration not exceeding the number of aeroions slightly change the spatiotemporalcharacteristics of the electrode layer. While the presence of repeatedly charged aerosol particlesin the surface air increases the time of electrical relaxation and reduces the height of the electrodelayer. At sufficiently high concentrations of aerosol (more than the number of aeroions by an orderof magnitude or more), it is necessary to take into account its transport by turbulentconvectiveflows, and the structure of the electrode layer is determined only by heavy ions.