Seasonal changes in diurnal variation of potential gradient at Fargo, North Dakota

Abstract

The atmospheric electric potential gradient was recorded continuously by a field mill at Fargo, North Dakota, for the period August, 1972–March, 1973. Hourly averages were taken by the equal areas technique to eliminate short period variations. The diurnal variation of monthly averages is shown for the fair weather periods and all weather. In addition, the diurnal variation is shown for all positive values of the potential gradient, which excludes periods of major local space charge generators, but includes periods when the potential gradient might be influenced by regional conditions not otherwise present during fair weather. For a given month the diurnal variation curves are generally similar, with the fair weather curve giving the highest values, and all weather curve giving the lowest values. The months September–November have similar curves with the lowest values and least deviation from the average. The months December–February have similar curves with the highest values. Harmonic analysis is used to compute the times of maxima and contributions to variance of the first four harmonics for each diurnal variation curve. The fair weather first harmonic accounts for the majority of variance and has a maximum near 19.5 h GMT. It is attributed to the global diurnal variation of potential gradient due to thunderstorm activity in the tropics. The second harmonic has one maximum occurring from 9–12 h local time and is attributed to the ‘austausch’ effect of convection, where ions affect the conductivity of the air locally. The differences in these monthly diurnal variation curves emphasize that the season of year, weather conditions, and length of time over which data is averaged must be specified in atmospheric electricity studies if meaningful conclusions are to be drawn.