Atmospheric Electrical Soundings and Their Relation to Precipitation

Forty-five Aircraft soundings were flown over West Plains, Missouri, during the summer of 1963 to determine the" electrical nature of the atmosphere up to 10,000 feet msl. The results from the soundings obtained are described and compared with the occurrence or nonoccurrence of precipitation in the 5 hours following each sounding. Usually the potential gradient was found to increase in the first 1000 to 3000 feet above the surface and then decrease to the top of the sounding. Early afternoon soundings which were followed by precipitation showed an unusually high potential gradient above 7000 feet, but a similar situation occurred in the presence of vertical mixing to 10,000 feet in the absence of precipitation. It is conqluded that precipitation is not preceded by a unique set of atmospheric electrical conditions in the lower atmosphere.