The Electricity of Extensive Layer Clouds
LOCATION
University of Edinburgh
Institute of Geography
University of Edinburgh
Drummond Street
Edinburgh EH8 9XP
This meeting will take place as a hybrid meeting so both in person or virtual attendance is available.
Stratiform clouds constitute approximately 40% of global cloud cover and play a key role in determining the planetary radiation budget. Electrification remains one of the least understood effects on their microphysical processes. Charging of droplets at the top and bottom edges of stratiform clouds arises from vertical current flow through clouds driven by the Global atmospheric Electric Circuit.
Charge can affect cloud microphysical processes such as droplet evaporation and droplet–droplet collisions which are important in determining large scale cloud properties which affect Earth’s radiative balance. Since the global atmospheric electric circuit current is influenced by both external (e.g. solar modulation of high-energy particles) and internal (e.g. El Nino–Southern Oscillation) factors, current flow leading to layer cloud edge charging provides a possible route for expressing solar influences on the climate system and a teleconnection mechanism for communicating internal climate variability. In this presentation I will discuss the current state of knowledge surrounding the effect of charge on cloud and droplet properties. This will include how charge is generated in stratiform clouds, typical magnitudes of charge on droplets (measured from balloon campaigns), techniques to monitor cloud charging, and evidence for electrical effects on large scale cloud properties.
This will be a 45 minute talk followed by 15 minutes for Q&A. The meeting will open from 6:00 pm for attendees to join and the event will start promptly at 6:10 pm. Please register for the event on www.rmets.org and join the meeting using Zoom. Please note that joining instructions will not be provided unless you have registered.
Speaker
Dr Keri Nicoll is an Associate Professor in the Department of Meteorology at the University of Reading. She is known internationally for her expertise in fair weather atmospheric electricity measurements and instrumentation development. This has enabled Keri to become a world leader in investigating fundamental questions related to charge and atmospheric electricity effects on cloud and aerosol microphysics, which are potentially important for climate projections.
Registration
REGISTRATION IS NOW CLOSED.
The Royal Meteorological Society has a number of local centres across the UK, where meetings are held throughout the year. The Scotland Local Centre are currently hosting monthly meetings which can be attended in person or virtually. For further information on the local centre, upcoming events or to be added to the mailing list, please contact scotland@rmets.org.
This meeting will take place as a hybrid meeting so both in person or virtual attendance is available.
Stratiform clouds constitute approximately 40% of global cloud cover and play a key role in determining the planetary radiation budget. Electrification remains one of the least understood effects on their microphysical processes. Charging of droplets at the top and bottom edges of stratiform clouds arises from vertical current flow through clouds driven by the Global atmospheric Electric Circuit.
Charge can affect cloud microphysical processes such as droplet evaporation and droplet–droplet collisions which are important in determining large scale cloud properties which affect Earth’s radiative balance. Since the global atmospheric electric circuit current is influenced by both external (e.g. solar modulation of high-energy particles) and internal (e.g. El Nino–Southern Oscillation) factors, current flow leading to layer cloud edge charging provides a possible route for expressing solar influences on the climate system and a teleconnection mechanism for communicating internal climate variability. In this presentation I will discuss the current state of knowledge surrounding the effect of charge on cloud and droplet properties. This will include how charge is generated in stratiform clouds, typical magnitudes of charge on droplets (measured from balloon campaigns), techniques to monitor cloud charging, and evidence for electrical effects on large scale cloud properties.
This will be a 45 minute talk followed by 15 minutes for Q&A. The meeting will open from 6:00 pm for attendees to join and the event will start promptly at 6:10 pm. Please register for the event on www.rmets.org and join the meeting using Zoom. Please note that joining instructions will not be provided unless you have registered.
Speaker
Dr Keri Nicoll is an Associate Professor in the Department of Meteorology at the University of Reading. She is known internationally for her expertise in fair weather atmospheric electricity measurements and instrumentation development. This has enabled Keri to become a world leader in investigating fundamental questions related to charge and atmospheric electricity effects on cloud and aerosol microphysics, which are potentially important for climate projections.
Registration
REGISTRATION IS NOW CLOSED.
The Royal Meteorological Society has a number of local centres across the UK, where meetings are held throughout the year. The Scotland Local Centre are currently hosting monthly meetings which can be attended in person or virtually. For further information on the local centre, upcoming events or to be added to the mailing list, please contact scotland@rmets.org.
