EAGER: Monitoring the Global Electric Circuit from Ocean Straits

世纪以来，人们已经知道，大气相对于地球表面是带正电的，并且通过大气的全球分布的向下的“公平”电流试图平衡这种电荷不平衡。观察到这种电荷不平衡和向下场的持续存在导致了全球大气电路（GC）的理论，其中雷暴和带电云的过程提供了向上的电流，平衡了向下的晴天电流。这项研究将集中于海洋部分在GC中的作用。以前还没有人测量过海洋中的电流。本研究将探索这一新领域。如果成功，将为GC提供新的证据。智力优势。 GC是地球全球电力系统的主要组成部分，由于其在全球气候变化中的推断作用而引起了极大的兴趣。 尽管如此，GC理论中甚至还有一些非常基本的元素没有得到解决，因为对这个行星尺度电路的时间变化性的充分描述还没有用于测试想法。 近世纪来，对GC的持续监测既是观测的优先事项，也是一个未实现的目标。 全球电路似乎既是全球温度计，也是地球天气系统中的一个活跃元素。 GC科学的未来进展将取决于GC连续、持续监测方案的建立，以及GC过程数值模型的发展。 这项工作以一种非常新颖的方法来实现这些目标，目的是建立从海洋海峡进行长期GC监测。 GC电流从字面上穿过地球电动力学中被强烈分离的地理研究领域（空气，地球，水）。通过对海洋GC流的测量，可以更好地了解地球电动力学，并将GC纳入地球系统和气候模式。

It has been known for over a century that the atmosphere is positively charged with respect to the earth's surface, and that a globally-distributed downward "fairweather" electric current through the atmosphere attempts to equilibrate this charge disparity. The observation that this charge imbalance and the downward field persist has lead to a theory for a Global atmospheric electric Circuit (GC), in which processes in thunderstorms and electrified clouds provide an upward current balancing the downward fairweather currents. This research will concentrate on the role of the ocean component in the GC. Measurements of electric currents in oceans have not been done before. The current study will explore this new area. If successful, it will provide new evidence for the GC. Intellectual Merit. The GC is a primary component of the earth's global electrical system and is of great interest due to its inferred role in global climate change. Despite this, there are even very basic elements in the GC theory that have not been resolved because an adequate description of the temporal variability of this planetary-scale circuit has not been available for testing ideas. For nearly a century, continuous monitoring of the GC has been both an observational priority and an unaccomplished goal. The global circuit appears to be both a global thermometer and an active element in the Earth's weather system. Future progress in GC science will hinge on the establishment of programs for the continuous, sustained monitoring of the GC, and on the development of numerical models of the GC processes. The work addresses these goals with a highly original approach aimed at establishing long-term GC monitoring from ocean straits.Broader Impacts. The GC currents literally thread through what has been strongly separated geographic domains of study (air, earth, water) in the earth's electrodynamics. This study may provide a better understanding of earth's electrodynamics through the measurements of GC currents in oceans, and also integrates GC into the earth system and climate models.