Global atmospheric electrical circuit Global atmospheric electrical circuit The global atmospheric electrical circuit is the course of continuous movement of atmospheric electricity between the ionosphere and the Earth. Through solar radiation, thunderstorms, and the fair-weather condition, the atmosphere is subject to a continual and substantial electrical current. Principally, thunderstorms throughout the world carry "negative" charges to the earth, which is then discharged gradually through the air in fair weather. This atmospheric circuit is central to the study of atmospheric physics and meteorology. It is used in the prediction of thunderstorms, and was central to the understanding of electricity. In the past it has been
Atmospheric optics when they pass through air layers of different temperatures in a steep thermal inversion where an atmospheric duct has formed. A thermal inversion is an atmospheric condition where warmer air exists in a well-defined layer above a layer of significantly cooler air. This temperature inversion is the opposite of what is normally the case; air is usually warmer close to the surface, and cooler higher up. In calm weather, a layer of significantly warmer air can rest over colder dense air, forming an atmospheric duct which acts like a refracting lens, producing a series of both inverted and erect images.