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Abstract. The EU HIBISCUS project consisted of a series of field campaigns during the intense convective summers in 2001, 2003 and 2004 in the State of São Paulo in Brazil. Its objective was to investigate the impact of deep convection on the Tropical Tropopause Layer (TTL) and the lower stratosphere by providing a new set of observational data on meteorology, tracers of horizontal and vertical transport, water vapour, clouds, and chemistry in the tropical Upper Troposphere/Lower Stratosphere (UT/LS). This was achieved using short duration research balloons to study local phenomena associated with convection over land, and long-durationCorrespondence to: J.-P. Pommereau (jean-pierre.pommereau@latmos.ipsl.fr) balloons circumnavigating the globe to study the contrast between land and oceans.Analyses of observations of short-lived tracers, ozone and ice particles show strong episodic local updraughts of cold air across the lapse rate tropopause up to 18 or 19 km (420-440 K) in the lower stratosphere by overshooting towers. The long duration balloon and satellite measurements reveal a contrast between the composition of the lower stratosphere over land and oceanic areas, suggesting significant global impact of such events. The overshoots are shown to be well captured by non-hydrostatic meso-scale Cloud Re- Weather Forecast Models (NWP) underestimating the overshooting process. Finally, the data collected by the HIBIS-CUS balloons have allowed a thorough evaluation of temperature NWP analyses and reanalyses, as well as satellite ozone, nitrogen oxide, water vapour and bromine oxide measurements in the tropics.

In the frame of the African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analyses campaign, measurements of very low frequency electric fields were performed onboard a stratospheric balloon launched on 7 August 2006 from Niamey, Niger. During flight, numerous sferics were observed associated to lightning from active convective cells a few hundred kilometers from the balloon. Lightning data analysis shows the transverse mode mean frequency of the Earth‐ionosphere cavity decreasing from ∼2.4 to 2 kHz over a period of 1 h about sunset. The observed change of the transverse resonance near dusk can be fairly reproduced by an electromagnetic wave propagation model, which takes into account the D‐region electron density variation predicted by the International Reference Ionosphere model.

Abstract. HIBISCUS was a field campaign for investigating the impact of deep convection on the Tropical Tropopause Layer (TTL) and the Lower Stratosphere, which took place during the Southern Hemisphere summer in February–March 2004 in the State of São Paulo, Brazil. Its objective was to provide a set of new observational data on meteorology, tracers of horizontal and vertical transport, water vapour, clouds, and chemistry in the tropical UT/LS from balloon observations at local scale over a land convective area, as well as at global scale using circumnavigating long-duration balloons. Overall, the composition of the TTL, the region between 14 and 19 km of intermediate lapse rate between the almost adiabatic upper troposphere and the stable stratosphere, appears highly variable. Tracers and ozone measurements performed at both the local and the global scale indicate a strong quasi-horizontal isentropic exchange with the lowermost mid-latitude stratosphere suggesting that the barrier associated to the tropical jet is highly permeable at these levels in summer. But the project also provides clear indications of strong episodic updraught of cold air, short-lived tracers, low ozone, humidity and ice particles across the lapse rate tropopause at about 15 km, up to 18 or 19 km at 420–440 K potential levels in the lower stratosphere, suggesting that, in contrast to oceanic convection penetrating little the stratosphere, fast daytime developing land convective systems could be a major mechanism in the troposphere-stratosphere exchange at the global scale. The present overview is meant to provide the background of the project, as well as overall information on the instrumental tools available, on the way they have been used within the highly convective context of the South Atlantic Convergence Zone, and a brief summary of the results, which will be detailed in several other papers of this special issue.

Electric conductivity of air is an important characteristic of the electric properties of an atmosphere. Testing instruments to measure electric conductivity ranging from~10 −13 to 10 −9 Sm −1 in natural conditions found in the Earth atmosphere is not an easy task. One possibility is to use stratospheric balloon flights; another (and a simpler one) is to look for terrestrial environments with significant radioactive decay. In this paper we present measurements carried out with different types of conductivity sensors in two 222 Rn-rich environments, i.e., in the Roselend underground tunnel (French Alps) and in the Institute of Radioprotection and Nuclear Safety BACCARA (BAnC de CAllibrage du RAdon) chamber. The concept of the conductivity sensor is based on the classical time relaxation method. New elements in our design include isolation of the sensor sensitive part (electrode) from the external electric field and sensor miniaturization. This greatly extends the application domain of the sensor and permits to measure air electric conductivity when the external electric field is high and varies from few tens of Vm −1 to up to few tens of kVm −1 . This is suitable to propose the instrument for a planetary mission. Two-fold objectives were attained as the outcome of these tests and their analysis. First was directly related to the performances of the conductivity sensors and the efficiency of the conductivity sensor design to shield the external electric field. Second objective aimed at understanding the decay mechanisms of 222 Rn and its progeny in atmosphere and the impact of the enclosed space on the efficiency of gas ionization.

[1] We report results of a field campaign conducted in the Nevada desert with a suite of electric field instruments consisting of a field mill (FM) and a short dipole antenna (SDA). Furthermore, we show that a combination of the measurements of these two instruments allows the estimation of the electric resistivity of air, an important quantity that is extremely difficult to measure near the Earth's surface. The electric resistivity of air is found to vary between 1.5 · 10 13 and 6 · 10 13 Ω m and to correlate with changes in electric field. Vertical DC electric fields with amplitudes up to 6 kV m À1 were observed to correspond to clouds of dust blowing through the measurement site. Enhanced DC and AC electric fields are measured during periods when horizontal wind speed exceeds 7 m s À1 , or around twice the background value. We suggest that low-frequency emissions, below~200 Hz, are generated by the motion of electrically charged particles in the vicinity of the SDA electrode and propose a simple model to reproduce the observed spectra. According to this model, the spectral response is controlled by three parameters, (i) the speed of the charged particles, (ii) the charge concentration, and (iii) the minimum distance between the particle and the electrode. In order to explain the electric fields measured with the FM sensors at different heights, we developed a multilayer model that relates the electric field to the charge distribution. For example, a nonlinear variation of the electric field observed by the FM sensors below 50 cm is simulated by a near-surface layer of tens of centimeters that is filled with electrically charged particles that carry a predominantly negative charge in the vicinity of the soil. The charge concentration inside this layer is estimated to vary between 10 12 and 5 · 10 13 electrons m À3 .Citation: Seran, E., M. Godefroy, N. Renno, and H. Elliott (2013), Variations of electric field and electric resistivity of air caused by dust motion,

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