The atmospheric electric field is an important research parameter in understanding storm electrification and energy exchange between lightning and the atmosphere across the globe. The near‐surface electric field can range from a few V/m (order of 10–100 V/m), mainly produced by the currents in the global electric circuit and local charge perturbations, to tens of kV/m in the presence of electrified clouds. The electric field mill (EFM), a variable capacitance electrometer, has been the instrument of choice in the atmospheric electricity community studying phenomena associated with the atmospheric electric field. The EFM is particularly useful in following storm movement and evolution, monitoring the fair‐weather electric field at distant locations, and measuring the vertical electric field inside clouds with EFM deployments on balloons. In this paper, we describe a new electric field mill ground‐based design, which focuses on lowering the manufacturing and operational costs of doing research with an array of EFM instruments while maintaining the scientific capabilities offered by past designs and commercially available devices. The theory of operation, data processing, and calibration of the instrument are also described. Example data from the first generation of these new field mills, deployed in the RELAMPAGO campaign in Argentina, are presented here. The RELAMPAGO deployment and data set illustrate important strengths of this design, for example, cost, autonomy, longevity, and measurement quality.

中文翻译：

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用于雷暴研究的一系列低成本、高速、自主电场磨机


大气电场是了解全球风暴带电以及闪电与大气之间能量交换的重要研究参数。近表面电场的范围可以从几 V/m（10-100 V/m 量级）（主要由全局电路中的电流和局部电荷扰动产生）到几十 kV/m（在存在电场的情况下）。带电云。电场磨 (EFM) 是一种可变电容静电计，一直是大气电学界研究与大气电场相关现象的首选仪器。 EFM 在跟踪风暴运动和演变、监测远处的晴天电场以及通过气球上部署的 EFM 测量云内垂直电场方面特别有用。在本文中，我们描述了一种新型电场磨地面设计，其重点是降低使用一系列 EFM 仪器进行研究的制造和运营成本，同时保持过去设计和商用设备提供的科学能力。还描述了仪器的操作原理、数据处理和校准。此处介绍了在阿根廷 RELAMPAGO 活动中部署的第一代新型现场磨机的示例数据。 RELAMPAGO 部署和数据集说明了该设计的重要优势，例如成本、自主性、寿命和测量质量。