On the Problem of Critical Electric Field of Atmospheric Air
It is traditionally accepted to define the dielectric strength of air as an electric field corresponding to the balance between the rates of impact ionization and electrons’ attachment to neutrals. Its reduced value is known to be about 110 Td regardless of the altitude above the mean sea level. In...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-08-01
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| Series: | Atmosphere |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/12/8/1046 |
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| author | Artem Syssoev Dmitry Iudin Fedor Iudin Vitaly Klimashov Alexey Emelyanov |
| author_facet | Artem Syssoev Dmitry Iudin Fedor Iudin Vitaly Klimashov Alexey Emelyanov |
| author_sort | Artem Syssoev |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | It is traditionally accepted to define the dielectric strength of air as an electric field corresponding to the balance between the rates of impact ionization and electrons’ attachment to neutrals. Its reduced value is known to be about 110 Td regardless of the altitude above the mean sea level. In this study, the altitude profile of the critical electric field of atmospheric air in the 0–40 km altitude range is specified. Unlike the conventional approach, a wide range of additional plasma-chemical processes occurring in atmospheric air, such as electron detachment from negative ions and ion-ion conversion is taken into account. Atmospheric air is considered to be a mixture of N<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><msub><mrow></mrow><mn>2</mn></msub></semantics></math></inline-formula>:O<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><msub><mrow></mrow><mn>2</mn></msub></semantics></math></inline-formula> = 4:1 containing a small amount of chemically active small gas components, such as water vapor, atomic oxygen, ozone, and several types of nitrogen oxides. It is shown that the dielectric strength of air falls noticeably compared to its conventional value. The results of the study can be important to solve the problems of initiation and propagation of lightning discharges, blue starters, and blue jets. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T09:00:54Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ec30f22d6c2340c286da8003e0edd93f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4433 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T09:00:54Z |
| publishDate | 2021-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Atmosphere |
| spelling | doaj.art-ec30f22d6c2340c286da8003e0edd93f2023-11-22T06:48:14ZengMDPI AGAtmosphere2073-44332021-08-01128104610.3390/atmos12081046On the Problem of Critical Electric Field of Atmospheric AirArtem Syssoev0Dmitry Iudin1Fedor Iudin2Vitaly Klimashov3Alexey Emelyanov4Institute of Applied Physics RAS, 46 Uljanova Str., 603950 Nizhni Novgorod, RussiaInstitute of Applied Physics RAS, 46 Uljanova Str., 603950 Nizhni Novgorod, RussiaInstitute of Applied Physics RAS, 46 Uljanova Str., 603950 Nizhni Novgorod, RussiaInstitute of Applied Physics RAS, 46 Uljanova Str., 603950 Nizhni Novgorod, RussiaInstitute of Applied Physics RAS, 46 Uljanova Str., 603950 Nizhni Novgorod, RussiaIt is traditionally accepted to define the dielectric strength of air as an electric field corresponding to the balance between the rates of impact ionization and electrons’ attachment to neutrals. Its reduced value is known to be about 110 Td regardless of the altitude above the mean sea level. In this study, the altitude profile of the critical electric field of atmospheric air in the 0–40 km altitude range is specified. Unlike the conventional approach, a wide range of additional plasma-chemical processes occurring in atmospheric air, such as electron detachment from negative ions and ion-ion conversion is taken into account. Atmospheric air is considered to be a mixture of N<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><msub><mrow></mrow><mn>2</mn></msub></semantics></math></inline-formula>:O<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><msub><mrow></mrow><mn>2</mn></msub></semantics></math></inline-formula> = 4:1 containing a small amount of chemically active small gas components, such as water vapor, atomic oxygen, ozone, and several types of nitrogen oxides. It is shown that the dielectric strength of air falls noticeably compared to its conventional value. The results of the study can be important to solve the problems of initiation and propagation of lightning discharges, blue starters, and blue jets.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/12/8/1046breakdown electric fielddetachmentsmall gas componentslightning initiation |
| spellingShingle | Artem Syssoev Dmitry Iudin Fedor Iudin Vitaly Klimashov Alexey Emelyanov On the Problem of Critical Electric Field of Atmospheric Air Atmosphere breakdown electric field detachment small gas components lightning initiation |
| title | On the Problem of Critical Electric Field of Atmospheric Air |
| title_full | On the Problem of Critical Electric Field of Atmospheric Air |
| title_fullStr | On the Problem of Critical Electric Field of Atmospheric Air |
| title_full_unstemmed | On the Problem of Critical Electric Field of Atmospheric Air |
| title_short | On the Problem of Critical Electric Field of Atmospheric Air |
| title_sort | on the problem of critical electric field of atmospheric air |
| topic | breakdown electric field detachment small gas components lightning initiation |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/12/8/1046 |
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