On the Electric Charge on Drifting Snow Pellets

Abstract

Vertical profiles of the electric potential near the surface of snow cover were observed in drifting snow weather at Mt. Teine. From the profiles, the following vertical distribution of space charge near the surface was ascertained: a large positive space charge was distributed just near the surface, a negative space charge was distributed at about 80cm above the surface and further a small positive charge existed at levels higher than 1m. It is considered that these space charges resulted from the impact of snow pellets on one another, and that the space charges of the three categories were carried on larger snow pellets, smaller snow pellets and ions respectively from near the surface to the higher levels.
These observations seem to be serviceable in explaining the confused discrepancies among the results obtained hitherto by Simpson, Kahler and Dorno, Yoshida and Ota.