Related papers: The global atmospheric electrical circuit and clim…
Clouds on Titan result from the condensation of methane and ethane and, as on other planets, are primarily structured by circulation of the atmosphere. At present, cloud activity mainly occurs in the southern (summer) hemisphere, arising…
The physical principles governing the planetary atmospheres are briefly introduced in the first part of this chapter, moving from the examples of Solar System bodies. Namely, the concepts of collisional regime, balance equations,…
Recent satellite data have revealed a surprising correlation between galactic cosmic ray (GCR) intensity and the fraction of the Earth covered by clouds. If this correlation were to be established by a causal mechanism, it could provide a…
Planetary atmospheres, and models of them, are discussed from the viewpoint of condensed matter physics. Atmospheres are a form of condensed matter, and many interesting phenomena of condensed matter systems are realized by them. The…
Slow magnetic field variations in stars and planets create a quasistationary electrical field which may be observed. It is supposed that the electrical field near the Earth surface may be partially connected with variation of the Earth…
The upper atmospheres of the planets and their satellites are more directly exposed to sunlight and solar wind particles than the surface or the deeper atmospheric layers. At the altitudes where the associated energy is deposited, the…
It has been proposed that cosmic ray events could have a causal relationship with cloud formation rates. Given the weak constraints on the role that cloud formation plays in climate forcing it is essential to understand the role such a…
The ambipolar electrostatic field has long been recognized as a key driver of ion escape from planetary atmospheres. Elucidating the mechanisms responsible for the generation of this field is critical for understanding atmospheric escape…
To predict line emission in the solar atmosphere requires models which are fundamentally different depending on whether the emission is from the chromosphere or the corona. At some point between the two regions, there must be a change…
Low energy cosmic rays (up to the GeV energy domain) play a crucial role in the physics and chemistry of the densest phase of the interstellar medium. Unlike interstellar ionising radiation, they can penetrate large column densities of gas,…
A striking correlation has recently been observed between global cloud cover and the flux of incident cosmic rays. The effect of natural variations in the cosmic ray flux is large, causing estimated changes in the Earth's energy radiation…
We are investigating the possible origin of small-scale anomalies, like the annual stratospheric temperature anomalies. Unexpectedly within known physics, their observed planetary "dependency", does not match concurrent solar activity,…
A short account of the physics of electrical discharges in gases is given in view of its historical evolution and application to planetary atmospheres. As such it serves as an introduction to the articles on particular aspects of electric…
A decrease in the globally averaged low level cloud cover, deduced from the ISCCP infra red data, as the cosmic ray intensity decreased during the solar cycle 22 was observed by two groups. The groups went on to hypothesise that the…
We analyze solar, geomagnetic and cosmic ray flux data along with rainfall and temperature data for almost five solar cycles. We provide evidence of significant influence of solar variability on climate. Specifically, we demonstrate…
The effects of multi-layered clouds in the atmospheres of Earth-like planets orbiting different types of stars are studied. The radiative effects of cloud particles are directly correlated with their wavelength-dependent optical properties.…
We investigate thermal instability in an electron-ion magnetized plasma relevant to galaxy clusters, solar corona, and other two-component astrophysical objects. We apply the multicomponent plasma approach when the dynamics of all the…
The crucial part of electromagnetic phenomena in many atmospheric processes is verified by systematized data. The multilayered charged system of clouds represents some dynamically equilibrium structure kept by the ionic and polarization…
Low energy galactic cosmic rays as well as particles accelerated to high energies either at the solar surface or in the interplanetary medium have access to the atmosphere above a given position on the Earth depending upon the state of the…
Saturn's ionosphere is produced when the otherwise neutral atmosphere is exposed to a flow of energetic charged particles or solar radiation. At low latitudes the latter should result in a weak planet-wide glow in infrared (IR),…