Atmospheric Electrical Plume Detection: Theory and Field Measurements

Abstract

Airborne atmospheric electrical measurements may be useful in studies of air pollution, turbulence, and aerosol distributions. A short summary of the electrical nature and behavior of the atmosphere is given relative to the atmospheric electrical detection of aerosol plumes. An example of the efficacy of this approach is illustrated through an experiment in which an aircraft equipped with atmospheric electrical instruments flew side by side with another aircraft equipped to measure particles and gases while tracking a plume out to 90 km. The approach described would be equally viable for the detection of exhaust tracks from ships and submarines and for detecting and monitoring radioactive plumes.