Atmospheric electricity
Before Franklin could carry out his experiment, in 1752 Thomas-François Dalibard erected a 40-foot (12 m) iron rod at Marly-la-Ville, near Paris, drawing sparks from a passing cloud.
The kite experiment was repeated by Romas, who drew from a metallic string sparks 9 feet (2.7 m) long, and by Cavallo, who made many important observations on atmospheric electricity.
Lemonnier (1752) also reproduced Franklin's experiment with an aerial, but substituted the ground wire with some dust particles (testing attraction).
Beccaria (1775) confirmed Lemonnier's diurnal variation data and determined that the atmosphere's charge polarity was positive in fair weather.
Saussure found that the atmospheric electrification under clear weather conditions had an annual variation, and that it also varied with height.
His discovery was contrary to the prevailing thought at the time, that the atmospheric gases were insulators (which they are to some extent, or at least not very good conductors when not ionized).
Francis Ronalds began observing the potential gradient and air-earth currents around 1810, including making continuous automated recordings.
[7] He resumed his research in the 1840s as the inaugural Honorary Director of the Kew Observatory, where the first extended and comprehensive dataset of electrical and associated meteorological parameters was created.
[13] Discoveries about the electrification of the atmosphere via sensitive electrical instruments and ideas on how the Earth's negative charge is maintained were developed mainly in the 20th century, with CTR Wilson playing an important part.
Global daily cycles in the atmospheric electric field, with a minimum around 03 UT and peaking roughly 16 hours later, were researched by the Carnegie Institution of Washington in the 20th century.
[19] These near-surface electrostatic forces are detected by organisms such as the bumblebee to navigate to flowers[19] and the spider to initiate dispersal by ballooning.
This radiation primarily consists of positively charged ions from protons to iron and larger nuclei derived sources outside the Solar System.
The potential difference between the ionosphere and the Earth is maintained by thunderstorms, with lightning strikes delivering negative charges from the atmosphere to the ground.
St. Elmo's Fire is an electrical phenomenon in which luminous plasma is created by a coronal discharge originating from a grounded object.
Corona is caused by the electric field around the object in question ionizing the air molecules, producing a faint glow easily visible in low-light conditions.
Bare wires suspended in the air spanning many kilometers and isolated from the ground can collect very large stored charges at high voltage, even when there is no thunderstorm or lightning occurring.
This charge will seek to discharge itself through the path of least insulation, which can occur when a person reaches out to activate a power switch or to use an electric device.
The additional electric grounding wire that carries no power serves a secondary role, providing a high-current short-circuit path to rapidly blow fuses and render a damaged device safe, rather than have an ungrounded device with damaged insulation become "electrically live" via the grid power supply, and hazardous to touch.
