Insight: measurements of atmospheric electric field could help forecast weather

Local weather conditions can change the electrical conductivity of the atmosphere or even the amount of charge it contains. In turn this affects the atmospheric electric field. In a recent study in Environmental Research Letters (ERL), we measured the atmospheric electric field at ground level for two case studies with different weather conditions. Using additional data from co-located instruments such as a laser cloud-base recorder to detect cloud and aerosols, we showed that measurements of the atmospheric electric field might be used for weather forecasting and monitoring.