The Global Electric Circuit

OCT 01, 1998

An electric current totaling one kiloamp worldwide flows from thunderstorms in the troposphere into the ionosphere and magnetosphere, eventually returning to the ground through the fair‐weather atmosphere and closing via lightning.

DOI: 10.1063/1.882422

Edgar A. Bering III

Arthur A. Few

James R. Benbrook

On a clear day, there is a downward electric field of 100 to 300 volts/meter at Earth’s surface, although this field is not noticeable in daily life. That is, one does not encounter a 1 kV potential difference when getting into a car on an upper floor in a parking garage, and electrocution is not the major hazard associated with jumping out of trees. The major reason why we don’t notice the fair‐weather field is that virtually everything is a good conductor compared to air. Objects such as tree trunks and our bodies are excellent ionic conductors that short out the field and keep us from noticing it. But the field is there.

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More about the authors

Arthur A. Few, University of Houston.

James R. Benbrook, Rice University, Houston, Texas.