Electrical charges on snow particles

Abstract

Measurements of the charges on individual airborne snow particles showed that they were distributed approximately symmetrically between positive and negative values. The majority of the small charges were negative, however, and the majority of the large charges were positive. The magnitudes of the positive (or the negative) charges tended to follow a log-normal distribution. The mirror image relationship between the sign of the net charge carried by precipitation and the sign of the atmospheric potential gradient was generally found to hold, but some exceptions were noted. Even in the exceptional cases, however, changes in the atmospheric potential gradient affected the distribution of charges.