Atmospheric Electricity

Atmospheric electricity is the study of the electrical charges present in the atmosphere of Earth or another planet, and of the movement of charge between the surface, the atmosphere, and the ionosphere, a circulation known as the global atmospheric electrical circuit. The field draws on electrostatics, atmospheric physics, meteorology, and Earth science. Thunderstorms act as natural batteries, charging the electrosphere to roughly four hundred thousand volts relative to the ground and setting up an electric field that weakens with altitude and averages about one hundred volts per metre near the surface, oriented to drive positive charge downward. The circuit is sustained by two processes at once: thunderstorms, which discharge large amounts of stored charge rapidly through lightning, and a continuous, quieter ionization of the air by cosmic rays and natural radioactivity, so that the atmosphere is never fully electrically neutral. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/