Speaker
Description
Cloud electrification models, such as CEM, developed at the Atmospheric Physics Institute of the CAS, take into account atmospheric ionization by cosmic rays. Originally, only fair weather conditions were considered. To expand this, we first tested CEM's response to changes in vertical ionization curves with a change of solar modulation potential and geomagnetic latitude using the CRAC:CRII model. Observing a positive response in local minima and maxima, absolute charge values, and discharge amounts led us to develop another model. Specifically, we modeled additional ionization caused by accelerated particles from cosmic ray air showers under strong thunderstorm electric fields, named Cosmic Ray Ionization of Thunderstorms (CRIT). This model was developed using the Monte Carlo transport code PHITS and subsequently simplified for use in CEM iterations.