Observed electric charge of insect swarms and their contribution to atmospheric electricity

The atmosphere hosts multiple sources of electric charges that are used to influence critical processes like the aggregation of droplets and the removal of dust and aerosols. This is evidenced by the variability of the atmospheric electric field. And these fields are known to respond to physical and geological processes, but the effect of biotic sources of charge has not hitherto been considered.  Also, the charge contribution of some ScienceDirect's AI-generated Topic Pages" class="topic-link" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-thickness: 1px; text-decoration-color: rgb(46, 46, 46); color: rgb(46, 46, 46); word-break: break-word; text-underline-offset: 1px; font-size: 16px;">insect swarms will be comparable with that of meteorologically induced variations. And the observed transport of charge by insects, therefore, demonstrates an unexplored role of the biogenic space charge for physical and ecological processes in the atmosphere.

the earth's atmosphere is always electrified to a greater or lesser extent, even in fair weather away from thunderstorms. And fossil evidence of pale lightning indicates this is unlikely to be a new phenomenon geologically, and that's why the atmospheric electric field can be regarded as fundamental atmospheric property. The continuous monitoring of atmospheric electric fields is essential in developing a detailed understanding of a wide array of atmospheric, biological, and geological processes. According to the study's... new perspective based on the idea that organisms that inhabit the lower atmosphere can act as a source of atmospheric space whose charge and associated atmospheric electrical variability, Insects are well-known to be ubiquitous in the global atmosphere and they can occur in large densities in the lower (∼0–5 km altitude) atmosphere.

Conclusion:

Effect of honeybee swarms on the atmospheric electricity

• ScienceDirect's AI-generated Topic Pages" class="topic-link" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-thickness: 1px; text-decoration-color: rgb(46, 46, 46); color: rgb(46, 46, 46); word-break: break-word; text-underline-offset: 1px;">Insect swarms can occur at different altitudes and with different densities, and often consist of a single species (e.g., honeybees, locusts, butterflies, Using published charge measurements of honeybees and our own calibrated measurements, They have developed a three-dimensional finite element analysis model to computationally evaluate the effect of the swarming honeybees on local atmospheric electric fields. These models of the electric fields around honeybee swarms highlight the appreciable perturbing influence that they may have on their local electrical environment 

  
   Effect of honeybee swarms on the atmospheric potential gradient, PG

  •  Honeybees passing the electric field monitor at the experimental site.
  •  ScienceDirect's AI-generated Topic Pages" class="topic-link" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-thickness: 1px; text-decoration-color: rgb(46, 46, 46); color: rgb(46, 46, 46); word-break: break-word; text-underline-offset: 1px;">Finite element model illustrating the potential effect of a honeybee swarm on atmospheric PG which is in V/m. Color scale truncated above 300 V/m.
  •  Atmospheric PG and honeybee swarm density which is expressed as the pixel density, Px( Inset shows dynamics in PG for both the honeybee swarm (red) and open field conditions (blue).
  • Cross-correlation analysis between an atmospheric PG and honeybee swarm density.
  • And also, ScienceDirect's AI-generated Topic Pages" class="topic-link" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-thickness: 1px; text-decoration-color: rgb(46, 46, 46); color: rgb(46, 46, 46); word-break: break-word; text-underline-offset: 1px;">Linear regression analysis between atmospheric PG and honeybee swarm density.
  •  Changes in between atmospheric PG in response to another honeybee swarming event.

  
  

  Effect of a locust swarm on the atmospheric potential gradient and the significance of insect swarm compared with ScienceDirect's AI-generated Topic Pages" class="topic-link" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-thickness: 1px; text-decoration-color: rgb(46, 46, 46); color: rgb(46, 46, 46); word-break: break-word; text-underline-offset: 1px;">meteorological conditions

  •  Example of a locust swarm (Courtesy: Bilal Tarabey-AFP).
  •  ScienceDirect's AI-generated Topic Pages" class="topic-link" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-thickness: 1px; text-decoration-color: rgb(46, 46, 46); color: rgb(46, 46, 46); word-break: break-word; text-underline-offset: 1px;">Finite element model showing the effect of a locust swarm on the atmospheric PG, Color scale truncated above 300 V/m.
  •  Charge densities of several swarming insect species and also meteorological phenomena – from top to bottom, honeybee  ScienceDirect's AI-generated Topic Pages" class="topic-link" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-thickness: 1px; text-decoration-color: rgb(46, 46, 46); color: rgb(46, 46, 46); word-break: break-word; text-underline-offset: 1px;">Lepidoptera, desert locust, semi-fair-weather clouds, thunderstorm clouds, and electrified dust storms.