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  • Letter
  • Open Access

Generation and sustenance of electric fields in sandstorms

Mustafa Mutiur Rahman*, Wan Cheng†, and Ravi Samtaney

  • Division of Physical Science & Engineering, King Abdullah University of Science & Technology, Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia

  • *Mustafa.Rahman@kaust.edu.sa
  • †Also affiliated with Graduate Aerospace Laboratories, California Institute of Technology, CA 91125, USA.
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Phys. Rev. Research 3, L012008 – Published 20 January, 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.3.L012008

Abstract

Sandstorms are frequently accompanied by intense electric fields and lightning. In a very narrow region close to the ground, sand particles undergo a charge exchange during which larger-sized sand grains become positively charged and smaller-sized sand grains become negatively charged, and then all particles become suspended by the turbulent fluid motion. Although the association of intense electric fields with sandstorms has long been observed, the mechanism that causes these intense electric fields has not yet been described. Here, we hypothesize that differently sized sand particles are differentially transported by turbulence in the flow, resulting in a large-scale charge separation and a consequential large-scale electric field. To confirm our hypothesis, we combined a large-eddy simulation framework comprising a turbulent atmospheric boundary layer and movement of sand particles with an electrostatic Gauss law to investigate the physics of the electric fields in sandstorms. We varied the strength of the sandstorm from weak to strong as parametrized by the number density of the entrained sand particles. Our simulations reproduced observational measurements of both mean and root mean squared fluctuation values of the electric field. Our results allowed us to propose a law in which the electric field scales to two-thirds of the power of the concentration of the sand particles in weak to medium strength sandstorms.

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Phys. Rev. Research 3, L012008– Published 20 January, 2021
  • Received 3 February 2020
  • Accepted 28 December 2020
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