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The electrification of snowstorms and sandstorms
Author(s) -
Latham J.
Publication year - 1964
Publication title -
quarterly journal of the royal meteorological society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.744
H-Index - 143
eISSN - 1477-870X
pISSN - 0035-9009
DOI - 10.1002/qj.49709038310
Subject(s) - electrification , winter storm , thunderstorm , meteorology , environmental science , atmospheric sciences , snow , geology , geography , physics , electricity , quantum mechanics
An analysis is made of available observations on the electrical properties of natural and artificial snowstorms. an explanation for this electrification is given in terms of a theory of charge transfer associated with temperature gradients in ice, which has been shown earlier to provide a tenable theory of thunderstorm electrification. Further analysis shows that sandstorms exhibit similar electrical effects to those of snowstorms, and it is suggested that the temperature gradient effect may provide an explanation for sandstorm electrification.