Atmospheric electric measurements in the Arctic and Antarctic

Abstract

During the International Geophysical Year, 1958, and extending into 1959, the atmospheric electric field, current, and conductivity were recorded at Thule, Greenland (78°N). During the International Year of the Quiet Sun, 1964, records of the atmospheric electric field were obtained at the Amundsen-Scott Station at the South Pole (90°S). The diurnal variation averaged over the year of the normalized current at Thule and the normalized field at the South Pole show a surprisingly good agreement. These two curves combined into one represent the world time variation of the air-earth current (or field) in the Polar regions. Compared with the oceanic diurnal field variation obtained at the Carnegie ship cruises, the Polar curve shows a very similar shape but a much reduced amplitude. The maximum and minimum in the Polar regions are 1.07 and 0.92. The corresponding values on the oceans are 1.20 and 0.85. The difference is greater than the measuring error or statistical scatter and has to be accepted as real. No conclusive explanation of the deviation of the two curves can be offered.