Relationship of the Ohm’s Law Electrical Parameters with Meteorological Elements

Abstract

Measurements of the electrical conductivity, potential gradient and air-earth current density, and the atmospheric pressure, relative humidity, temperature, wind speed and direction have been made near Toronto, Canada. Two years of data are analysed and the power, coherence coefficient and phase coefficient spectra are computed and the results for the fair weather and all weather are compared.

Significant maximum at the diurnal component is observed in the power spectra for all parameters except pressure. In addition, significant maxima at the semidiurnal and terdiurnal components are also observed for the potential gradient, conductivity and the relative humidity, temperature and wind speed. The coherence coefficient spectra, in general, show the minimum coherence for air-earth current density and the maximum coherence for conductivity. The meteorological parameters in order of importance are relative humidity, wind speed, temperature, wind direction and pressure, for the diurnal variation. Maximum coherence is observed in the conductivity-pressure spectrum for the semidiurnal variation. Significantly high coherence is observed in the potential gradient-relative humidity and the conductivity-relative humidity spectra for the terdiurnal variation. The phase coefficient spectra show that the phase relationship is variable. In general the potential gradient lags behind the relative humidity, wind speed and direction, and pressure, and leads the temperature. Opposite phase relationship is observed for the conductivity. The fair-weather and all-weather results are similar with most variable phase relationship for the air-earth current density.

Paper was accepted by the Executive Panel, but could not be presented. It was, therefore, not considered in any discussion.