Diurnal Patterns of Fair-Weather Atmospheric Electric Field in Nigeria: Deviation from Global Standards

Authors

Keywords:

Atmospheric electricity, Diurnal variation, Carnegie curve, Nigeria, West Africa, Electric field, Aerosol effects

Abstract

The first continuous measurements of fair-weather atmospheric electric field in Nigeria reveal distinctive diurnal patterns that fundamentally challenge conventional assumptions about atmospheric electrical behaviour in tropical regions. While the global electric circuit is traditionally characterized by the Carnegie curve derived from maritime measurements, the influence of regional aerosol loading on atmospheric electrical patterns in dust-affected tropical environments remains poorly understood. This study aims to establish the first comprehensive atmospheric electrical climatology for Nigeria and quantify the impact of local aerosol influences on diurnal electric field patterns. Based on 418 fair-weather days over 30 months at Lokoja (7°49'N, 6°44'E), the atmospheric electric field exhibits a pronounced double-peak structure with morning (08:30 LT) and evening (19:45 LT) maxima, reaching amplitudes 2.8 times the daily mean during the dry season. This pattern contrasts sharply with the classical Carnegie curve, showing a weakly negative correlation (r = -0.42) that indicates dominant local aerosol influences over global electric circuit signals. Harmonic analysis reveals that 87% of temporal variance is captured by the first three harmonics, with the 12-hour semidiurnal component contributing 24%—substantially higher than the <5% typical of maritime stations. The diurnal amplitude factor varies systematically from 3.4 during Harmattan dust periods to 1.8 during the wet season, directly tracking regional aerosol loading patterns. These findings establish the first baseline atmospheric electrical climatology for Nigeria and demonstrate the necessity of developing region-specific standards for atmospheric electricity research in dust-affected tropical environments. The results have significant implications for global electric circuit modelling and highlight West Africa's unique role in continental atmospheric electrical processes.

Dimensions

Aplin, K. L. (2012). Atmospheric electricity at the millennium. Weather, 67(8), 179–184. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/wea.1943

Chapman, S., & Bartels, J. (1951). Geomagnetism, Volume I. Oxford University Press.

Christian, H. J., Blakeslee, R. J., Boccippio, D. J., Boeck, W. L., Buechler, D. E., Driscoll, K. T., ... Stewart, M. F. (2003). Global frequency and distribution of lightning as observed from space by the Optical Transient Detector. Journal of Geophysical Research, 108(D1), 4005. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1029/2002JD002347

Ette, A. I. I. (1988). The effect of harmattan haze on atmospheric electric parameters in northern Nigeria. Journal of Atmospheric and Terrestrial Physics, 50(2), 89–94.

Evan, A. T., Flamant, C., Gaetani, M., & Guichard, F. (2016). The past, present and future of African dust. Nature, 531(7595), 493–495. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature17149

Harrison, R. G. (2002). Twentieth-century atmospheric electrical measurements at the observatories of Kew, Eskdalemuir and Lerwick. Weather, 57(1), 11–16. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1256/wea.239.01

Israelsson, S., & Knudsen, E. (1994). Meteorological effects on atmospheric electrical quantities measured at a continental station. Journal of Atmospheric and Terrestrial Physics, 56(6), 785–800. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/0021-9169(94)90083-3

McTainsh, G. H. (1980). Harmattan dust deposition in northern Nigeria. Nature, 286(5771), 587–588. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/286587a0

Nicholson, S. E. (2013). The West African Sahel: A review of recent studies on the rainfall regime and its interannual variability. ISRN Meteorology, 2013, 453521. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1155/2013/453521

Prospero, J. M., Ginoux, P., Torres, O., Nicholson, S. E., & Gill, T. E. (2002). Environmental characterization of global sources of atmospheric soil dust identified with the Nimbus 7 Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) absorbing aerosol product. Reviews of Geophysics, 40(1), 1002. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1029/2000RG000095

Rycroft, M. J., Nicoll, K. A., Aplin, K. L., & Harrison, R. G. (2008). Recent advances in global electric circuit coupling between the space environment and the troposphere. Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics, 70(11-12), 1518–1528.

Torreson, O. W., Parkinson, W. C., & Torreson, S. L. (1946). Scientific results of Cruise VII of the Carnegie during 1928-1929: Ocean magnetic, electric and meteorological observations. Carnegie Institution of Washington Publication 568.

Williams, E. R. (2009). The global electrical circuit: A review. Atmospheric Research, 91(2-4), 140–152. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosres.2008.05.018

Wilson, C. T. R. (1920). Investigations on lightning discharges and on the electric field of thunderstorms. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London A, 221, 73–115. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.1921.0003

Published

2025-10-02

How to Cite

Diurnal Patterns of Fair-Weather Atmospheric Electric Field in Nigeria: Deviation from Global Standards. (2025). Nigerian Journal of Theoretical and Environmental Physics, 3(3), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.62292/njtep.v3i3.2025.89

Issue

Vol. 3 No. 3 (2025): Nigerian Journal of Theoretical and Environmental Physics - Vol. 3 No. 3

Section

Articles
Copyright & Licensing

How to Cite

Diurnal Patterns of Fair-Weather Atmospheric Electric Field in Nigeria: Deviation from Global Standards. (2025). Nigerian Journal of Theoretical and Environmental Physics, 3(3), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.62292/njtep.v3i3.2025.89

Most read articles by the same author(s)