Electrical Conductivity of the Stratosphere

Abstract

Ionic conductivity of the stratosphere is one of the important parameters for understanding the electrical state of the region. This parameter is sensitive to the presence of aerosols and thus, aerosol loading on the stratosphere has a bearing on the conductivity. Preliminary efforts were made to study the behaviour of stratospheric ion conductivity and its variation under enhanced aerosol conditions by making use of an Ion-aerosol model. The aerosol ion-small ion recombination coefficient obtained from the model determines the extent to which aerosols can alter the conductivity of the stratosphere. This necessitates the requirement of experimental measurements of attachment and recombination coefficient along with simultaneously measured aerosol density to have the proper information on electrical conductivity of the region.