volume | PIER Journals

Abstract

In this paper, the exerted electric and geomagnetic forces on the electrified hydrometeors in thunderclouds are compared. The parameters of geomagnetic field are acquired from International Geomagnetic Reference Field (IGRF) model. First, the calculations showed that the magnitude of the electricforce exerted on a charged hydrometeor dominates the magnitude of the geomagnetic force in troposphere. These results revealed the significance of electricforce in the formation of thunderclouds' charge structure. Moreover, as the electric field increases in thunderstorm conditions, (regarding the dependence of the induction mechanism of cloud electrification to the intensity of the electric field) the increased electric field strengthens the induction mechanism of cloud electrification and influences the electrical properties of thunderstorm. Second, using satellite-based/ground-based data and reports, an inverse relation has been revealed between the totalgeomagnetic field and the mean annual lightningactivity in most of the hot spots on the Earth. Moreover, a comparison between the global annual thunder days' map and the map of global total geomagnetic field showed an inverse relation between these two maps. Furthermore, regarding the horizontal and vertical correlation coefficient matrices of the geomagnetic field and the global mean annual lightning activity (in the global tropics and subtropics), approximately in latitudes and longitudes with high lightning density, the reverse relation between the average annual lightning activity and the total geomagnetic field is stronger.

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Mr. Babak Sadeghi

Dr. Amir Abbas Shayegani Akmal

Dr. Farahnaz Taghavi