抄録
The electrical nature of the upper atmosphere is reviewed with an emphasis on those problems which might be considered as belonging to the regime of space electricity. The physical structure and electrodynamic behaviour of the ionosphere are explained in terms of an interacting ternary gas of electrons, ions and neutral particles under the influence of the geomagnetic field. The concept of an atmospheric dynamo is important, producing strong currents and electric polarization fields in the lower ionosphere. In the exosphere, the behaviour of gas is essentially hydromagnetic. Possible mechanisms for generating electric fields by magnetospheric convective motions are discussed.
