Atmospheric researchers blamed for drop in cows’ milk yield: “Dissolving radiation”

Lifting a balloon into the air is not an easy and expensive business, this does not happen here every summer. Just filling it with inert gas is like buying a new car. And the balloon itself is not cheap. To lose this for scientists is tantamount to the loss of a beloved friend.

We were lucky. After circling the car through the forest, we drove to the experimental field, where the instruments crackle softly, it smells of fir cones – this is a samovar boiling, and the scientists huddled at a wooden table – drinking tea and discussing the results of the work.

Like in space

“The balloon is only a visible part of the work, ground-based research is no less important and time-consuming,” explains Konstantin Afinogenov, researcher at the geophysical observatory, head of the field expedition team. – Our work is seasonal, all these devices are installed when the snow melts, and before the first snow – October-November. Here we monitor atmospheric electricity, conduct meteorological observations, and also monitor the activity of radon, a natural radioactive gas.”

Data on changes in the electric field strength, vertical atmospheric electric current density, ion concentration in the air, temperature, humidity, wind, precipitation are recorded and stored in databases. The balloon measures everything the same, but at the top, at a height of about a hundred meters.

The difference between a ground-based complex and a balloon complex is its weight and size indicators and energy consumption. In balloon equipment, every gram of weight matters – just like in space. You can’t even plant an extra bug there. The carrying capacity of the balloon is limited, only 25 kg, and there is no way to power the equipment using cable lines, all work is carried out from an autonomous source – a battery, the weight of which should also be minimal. In order for the equipment to work long enough, energy consumption must be kept to a minimum.

At the same time, a whole bunch of instruments and devices that measure the intensity of the atmospheric electric field, the concentration of light air ions, aerosol particles, the volumetric activity of radon, air temperature and humidity, as well as telemetry equipment – satellite navigation equipment, a barometric altimeter , 3D compass and accelerometer-gyroscope. All these devices are controlled by an autonomous data collection system based on a microcomputer, and communication with the platform is carried out via a Wi-Fi channel.

Need for inventions is cunning

A natural question arises – why is all this necessary? It turns out that the distribution of the electrical characteristics of the atmosphere is of great importance precisely in the surface layer and inside the atmospheric boundary layer, up to the heights where clouds are formed. This is where the variability is greatest. Now there are quite a lot of publications on observations of atmospheric electricity above the atmospheric boundary layer using aircraft and drones, but there are almost no such studies. “Moreover, what we do with such a set of equipment has never been done by anyone in the world,” emphasizes Konstantin Afinogenov.

The technique used by geophysicists is unique. They have been working with the balloon since 2014, and ground-based observations have been conducted for many years, since the 70-80s of the last century. Sergei Vasilyevich Anisimov, the current director of the observatory, started this, some of the instruments are his personal development. These are, for example, electrostatic fluxmeters or a current collector antenna with a diameter of 300 meters. All year round 24/7 without holidays and weekends, in the field in the open air, the fluxmeter worked properly for 15 years, and it had to be repaired only after a powerful lightning discharge occurred next to it. And after the repair, it has been working for 12 years without stopping. Such reliability of equipment in geophysics is the rule, not the exception.

Later, a team of geophysicists developed and manufactured sensors for the concentration of light air ions, which make it possible to measure the number of ions – air molecules that lost one electron, or, conversely, acquired an extra one. Ions in the air, or air ions, determine the electrical conductivity of the atmosphere and affect many atmospheric phenomena. In a normal environment, the concentration of light air ions in one cubic centimeter of air can range from tens to thousands. Moreover, ions of different charges can have different concentrations.

In addition to the concentration and charge of ions, there is also such a characteristic as mobility – this is how mobile an ion is in an electric field. An ion with high mobility in an electric field moves much faster than an ion with low mobility. And since it moves faster, it means that it makes a more significant contribution to the electrical conductivity of air. “We are used to thinking that air is a dielectric, that is, it does not conduct electric current,” explains Konstantin Afinogenov. – However, this is not so: the presence of ions makes the air a conductor of electricity, although we do not feel this at all, since the currents formed by the ions are very small. So, the air ion concentration sensor, developed by our team, allows you to simultaneously measure the concentration of positive and negative air ions, and using a special measurement technique, you can even divide the concentration of air ions by mobilities. The sensitivity of the instrument is such that it reliably detects one ion per cubic centimeter of air.”

The equipment for balloon observations, which is also designed and manufactured in Bork, stands apart. I had to solve a lot of non-trivial tasks in order to meet the required parameters and at the same time not sacrifice the sensitivity and fault tolerance of the devices.

predict fire

Such devices cannot be bought or ordered anywhere. No matter how many geophysicists have tried to give such an application, everyone refuses or sets incredible prices and terms. This is where you have to do everything yourself. And at the same time become specialists in a very wide range of disciplines – electronics, programming, technical 3D modeling, skills in working in a locksmith shop with hand tools, knowledge of the principles of building electronic equipment. In addition, frequent work in the field forms practical skills for survival in the wild.

What are the results of this difficult work? “First of all, this is experimental material for modeling changes in atmospheric electricity,” says Konstantin Afinogenov. “A good mathematical model will allow one to have an idea about the entire spectrum of the electrical characteristics of the atmosphere, based on some single signs.”

The verified model has predictive power. Atmospheric electricity is associated, for example, with the meteorological situation. We want to predict catastrophic events – severe thunderstorms, hurricanes, squally winds. But this is very difficult, because usually they are sudden. These studies can help here, as they will give additional parameters of the predicted phenomena. For example, there are observations that before a hurricane the electric field strength changes greatly. Also, by the nature of the change in the electric field, it is possible to assess the probability of occurrence of thunderstorms, including those that carry a serious danger.

Or forest fires – they can be predicted at a stage when no one suspects them, due to the fact that the aerosol and ionic composition of the air changes. Such a fire only originates at depth – you can’t feel it with your nose or see it from a helicopter, and geophysicists can say that there is a threat. This is clearly seen in the electrical state of the lower atmosphere. In particular, in 2010, when forests and peat bogs burned, they often recorded such an increase in the electric field strength that preceded the fire.

“There can be a lot of such applications,” emphasizes Konstantin Afinogenov. – Our devices can be used in medicine, in the production of high-precision electronics, in “clean” rooms. For example, such systems are used in industry in the production of electronic chips, in medicine to control the purity of air in operating rooms.”

There are no surprises either. Sometimes scientists encounter phenomena whose nature they do not understand. There was a period when they measured the vertical profiles of atmospheric electricity. To do this, the balloon was raised to two hundred meters, then lowered to five meters, and like this, by steps, they measured at different heights what was happening there.

During the measurement process, they began to observe that a layer of radon activity suddenly appears, which should not be there. Where did he get to this height? For a long time they could not determine this, and they still do not know for sure, there are only a number of assumptions.

Radon is a natural radioactive gas that decays and ionizes the environment. Ions, in turn, are active condensation nuclei. If there is a lot of water in the form of molecular gas in the air and there are no condensation nuclei, the water will remain in gaseous form. As soon as condensation nuclei appear, water vapor instantly turns into a cloud, fog, and in hot weather a thunderstorm is possible. Moreover, it can be a fast, spontaneous and very powerful thunderstorm, which is the most difficult to predict.

“So often, answering one question, we get a few more new questions, the answers to which will have to be sought in further work,” says Konstantin Afinogenov. “Every time something new appears, and it stimulates us, fills us with energy and positive.”

Do not change

Working in the field is full of romance. It happens that the elk gets tangled in the wires or smells like an edible fox. In the evening, clouds of mosquitoes fly in, on which geophysicists, unlike us, no longer react. They say it’s nonsense. It was a real disaster when, two years ago, a hurricane suddenly hit with hail the size of a palm, with sharp edges. The balloon was instantly blown to pieces. I had to buy a new one. Therefore, the duty here is around the clock, and although there are tents in the field in case of cold, there is always someone awake. And strong tea is always ready.

And yet, admits Konstantin Afinogenov, it is a shame for the low cultural level of some citizens. There was a case when a grandmother came and said that because of us, her cows had a drop in milk yield, because we were “dissolving radiation”. Okay, grandmother – a man came in an expensive car, said that, according to his information, we are establishing contact with aliens, saucers are flying here, all kinds of hell is going on. And someone says that we are infecting the area with poisonous gases. “What you don’t hear about yourself,” my interlocutors complain. “In fact, we are engaged in science, which provides knowledge about how our planet lives.”

Their main rule – do not change! All observations should be carried out with minimal (or better, zero) changes in the environment they observe. It is important to observe an environment undistorted by anthropogenic influence, which is why the work is carried out far from industrial centers and cities. It is not for nothing that this knowledge is called fundamental – it is the foundation for subsequent research that can save millions of lives, predict catastrophes, and allow humanity to live in harmony with its planet without destroying it and itself.

… We did not have time to finish speaking and finish drinking tea from metal mugs, when an unfavorable forecast came – a strong wind was approaching, a thunderstorm was possible, which means that the balloon must be lowered immediately!

And then several pairs of strong hands “one-two-three” pulled the air giant, and he obediently went down, then they laid him down and wrapped him in a thick canvas “blanket”, secured him with ropes so that he would not be carried away. Since it was already dark, “miner’s” lanterns lit up in the geophysicists’ foreheads. This action really looked like some kind of ritual, and the voluminous balloon lying in the field was an alien ship of aliens. Who knows, maybe they look down and admire the enthusiasm of our scientists?