title: On the variations in the electrical state under specific meteorological conditions in the ground atmospheric layer in semi-arid areas.
abstract: The object of this study is to evaluate the role of synoptic situations or the combination of several environmental parameters typical for regions close to big deserts, as possible exterior pathogenic factors, which give rise to a number of sometimes medically unexplained symptoms and disorders of human well-being. We suppose that one of the most important causes might be atmospheric electricity, whose role in human life, health and feelings can scarcely be exaggerated; in particular, our research is concentrated on the influence of electromagnetic fields on some subsystems of the human organism. Discussed below are the results of one of the initial stages of our research into the problem of the variations in the electrical state in connection with meteorological conditions in the surface atmospheric layer. The environmental electrical state is determined by either global electrical effects or local factors, as the content of the air column and the meteorological conditions in this volume are tightly connected with air streams. Especially in our region, located between the Mediterranean Sea and the huge African and Asian deserts, the direction, duration and speed of the winds must play the dominant role, due to their control over the content and concentration of air-suspended particles N(T). Desert winds bring increased N(T) of enlarged solid grains, mostly charged, hotter temperature T(0), dryness and other perturbations in the usual weather state and, finally, in the atmospheric electric field intensity E. Within limited intervals of wind speed V(w) (2-5 m x s(-1)) and concentration of enlarged solid grains N(T) (500-4500 grains cm(-3)), the correlation coefficients between E and N(T) and V(w) can reach more than 0.90. Outside these ranges, considerably increased N(T) or several combinations of wind direction with V(w) (not necessarily strong winds) lead to the principal change in the values of E and the form of its diurnal distribution from what is usual for stable weather. For moderately polluted air, the dependence of E on N(T) can be approximated well enough by a polynomial of the second degree; in a dust storm, this function is very close to the log-normal distribution.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, P.O.B. 653, Beer-Sheva 84105, Israel. naomy@ee.bgu.ac.il
authors.forename: Naomy
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yackerson
authors.forename: Arkady
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zilberman
mesh_terms: D000397:Air Pollution / Q000009:adverse effects; D001272:Atmosphere; D003889:Desert Climate; D004391:Dust; D004574:Electromagnetic Fields; D006801:Humans; D007557:Israel; D014919:Wind
chemical_list: D004391:Dust