Remote sensing of cloud base charge

TL;DR

This paper presents a method to measure cloud boundary charging at low altitudes using surface electric field data and laser cloud base height measurements, avoiding balloon-based techniques.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach combining electric field measurements and laser data to detect cloud boundary charging without balloons.

Findings

Effective detection of cloud boundary charging at altitudes below 1 km.

Use of electrostatic models to interpret surface electric field data.

Potential for improved understanding of cloud electrification processes.

Abstract

Layer clouds are abundant in the Earth's atmosphere. Such clouds do not become sufficiently strongly charged to generate lightning, but they show weak charging along the upper and lower cloud boundaries where there is a conductivity transition. Cloud edge charging has recently been observed using balloon-carried electrometers. Measurement of cloud boundary charging without balloons is shown to be possible here for low altitude (<1km) charged cloud bases, through combining their effect on the surface electric field with laser time of flight cloud base height measurements, and the application of simple electrostatic models.