Contents Historical Review
The atmospheric electric field has been studied for centuries. As instruments have improved beyond a key on a string, measurements have been made both near the ground and at altitude in the study of weather in general, as well as of weather phenomena such as lightning storms. There is evidence that dust devils have electric fields [1] as do volcanoes [2]. Electric fields affect the way falling snow lands [3]. The sun is a prodigious source of ions; the charging of spacecraft in earth orbit is one result.
