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Byrne et al. 1988
Byrne, G.J., Benebrook, J.R., Bering, E.A., Oró, D., Seubert, C.O. and Sheldon, W.R. (1988). Observations of the statospheric conductivity and its variation at three latitudes. Journal of Geophysical Research 93: doi: 10.1029/88JD01635. issn: 0148-0227.

Measurements of the atmospheric conductivity from nine high-altitude balloon flights are presented. The measurements were obtained between the altitudes of 10 and 30 km at three locations widely separated in latitude, providing the opportunity to investigate conductivity variations on local and global scales. The data contribute to the set of global conductivity measurements, which are generally lacking. The conductivity profiles exhibit a considerable variability from day to day which does not correlate with solar or cosmic ray activity. The variations are apparently dominated by local effects. The conductivity measurements provide evidence of stratospheric aerosol layers with number densities of the order of 1000 cm-3. The observed variations of the conductivity with latitude is much larger than that predicted by a latitudinal variation of cosmic ray ionization alone. A global background distribution of aerosols is estimated and parameterized. By including the effects of aerosols and latitudinal temperature variations, the agreement between the predicted variation of conductivity with latitude and the observed variation is significantly improved. The implication is that present global models of the conductivity, which employ latitudinal variations based on cosmic ray ionization alone, may be improved by including the effects of latitudinal variations of temperature and aerosols. The effects of photoelectric emissions on relaxation time conductivity measurements are discussed. ¿ American Geophysical Union 1988

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Keywords
Meteorology and Atmospheric Dynamics, Atmospheric electricity, Atmospheric Composition and Structure, Ion chemistry of the atmosphere, Atmospheric Composition and Structure, Middle atmosphere—composition and chemistry, Meteorology and Atmospheric Dynamics, Instruments and techniques
Journal
Journal of Geophysical Research
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Publisher
American Geophysical Union
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