Variability of Surface Electric Field and UV Transmittance of Clouds Depending on the Cloud Form

Atmospheric electricity is the totality of electrical phenomena occurring in the atmosphere, including clouds and precipitation, and forming the global electrical circuit. Studying the functioning of this circuit, particularly the factors that determine its local variability, is a pressing and important scientific problem, especially in the context of the current climate change. Based on atmospheric electrical, spectrophotometric, and meteorological observations Tomsk from 2006 to 2020, we analyze the variability of the main characteristic of atmospheric electricity, that is, the surface electric field potential gradient and the spectral transmittance of long-wave UV radiation by clouds depending on their form. The analysis revealed a statistically significant positive relationship between variations in the potential gradient and the transmittance of radiation at a wavelength of 380 nm for almost all main cloud forms. The new statistical data complement existing understanding of the interaction of atmospheric-electrical and actinometric characteristics and can be used to improve the models of global electric circuit and atmosphere, among other things, for numerical weather prediction and climate change modeling.