Inputs / Outputs

The load on the DC branch of the GEC is routinely measured in Antarctica, and changed throughout the day following the Carnegie curve. Quantifying the global total source current is tricky because it requires measuring every electrified cloud across the globe. We use TRMM / GPM measurements to estimate the Wilson current supplied by each storm feature, and then compare the results with modern measurements of the Carnegie curve. Our retrieved source currents are an excellent match for the diurnal change in the load on the GEC, and how it varies seasonally.

Electrified weather across the globe powers the Global Electric Circuit (GEC) that regulates the electrical potential of the ionosphere. As it is impossible to measure the current provided by every electrified cloud directly, we use a retrieval algorithm to quantify this current from Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) and Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) satellite measurements. We then examine the variability of this generator current on time scales that range from one day to more than a decade.

We estimate that electrified weather provides an average current of 1.4 kA and 1.6 kA globally. Though current contributions can be found in land and ocean regions across the globe, large concentrations are found in the tropics near the equator and in the "tropical chimneys" of the Americas, Africa, and Asia. The greatest source of variability in the GEC generator current is on the semi‐annual time scale (110%) followed by local hour (58%), and universal time (34% ‐ Carnegie curve). The smallest variations are on the decadal (7.5%) and weekly (2%) time scales.