Relations between the Character of Atmospherics and Their Place of Origin

Abstract

From recent experimental work at Cambridge, Eng., it is shown that atmospherics originating from different geographical localities are systematically different in character, even when the distances of propagation are the same and there is no reason to anticipate appreciable dissimilarities in the ionospheres along the respective propagation paths. Detailed and precise information is given of how these "geographical" effects may be traced by recording and classifying types of waveforms. It is also shown that the effects are apparent for observations of atmospherics at fixed frequencies between 0.65 and 27 kc. No attempt is made to assign a reason for the geographical phenomena, but the most promising approach would seem to be by considering differences in the conductivity of the earth's surface, and in particular, those between land and sea.