Simulations of the Global Electrical Circuit coupled to local Potential Gradient measurements

Abstract

There are several models describing the Global Electric Circuit of the Earth’s atmosphere. Here it is used the common model and parameters of Global Electric Circuit to couple it with a local circuit less studied in literature. The first objective is to test different voltage sources describing thunderstorm activity and compare the output, Potential Gradient, with the known Carnegie Curve. Two sets of parameters are used, the first one from values found in literature and the second one from values tweaked to get the best agreement between the simulated Potential Gradient and the Carnegie Curve. This study is a first step in simulations regarding the coupling of the Global Electric Circuit (primary) to local electric circuit (secondary). One of the main objectives is to estimate the aerosol load on the local resistor in case of aerosol events, e.g. fires.