Abstract
IN making some tests recently with an apparatus designed for the observation of large ions in the atmosphere, I have found evidence of a close connexion between the concentration of large ions and the magnitude of the atmospheric potential gradient. When conditions are not quite steady the two quantities frequently vary simultaneously in the same fashion, large values of one being accompanied by large values of the other. The curves in Figs. 1 and 2, each representing about one hour's observations, show examples of this correspondence. The connexion is not always so well marked, as large and irregular fluctuations in the potential gradient are often unaccompanied by any notable change in the concentration of large ions. There is nearly always, however, a general resemblance be tween the curves obtained, and in a number of cases, peaks even more sharply defined than those of Fig. 2 have been found to coincide. The figures for the concentration of large ions refer to ions of one sign only. No great difference has so far been found between the numbers of positive and negative ions, except on one occasion during heavy rain, when the potential gradient was negative and negative ions were present in considerable excess. The values given for the potential gradient are not absolute values with reference to a plane surface.
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NOLAN, J. Relation between the Potential Gradient and the Number of Large Ions in the Atmosphere. Nature 113, 493 (1924). https://doi.org/10.1038/113493a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/113493a0
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