Voltage Potentials

Similar to the telluric currents discussed in Field Recordings - Earth, atmospheric electricity has been the subject of hundreds of years of ongoing study into voltage potential that exists between the earth and the sky.

The general rule of atmospheric electricity approximates that on a day with fair weather, every 1 metre increase in altitude results in 100 volts potential difference. The means a person at the top of a 20 metre building has a voltage potential of 2000 volts relative to the ground. Of course, in stormy weather the atmospheric voltage increases considerably. The electrostatic charge between the clouds and ground can build up so much that the air (that acts as an insulator) reaches the point of voltage breakdown, resulting in lightning discharge. However it is the electrification present in non-thunderstorm weather that has fascinated many thinkers and tinkerers over the centuries.

In 1899 Nikola Tesla investigated the possibility of harvesting energy from this phenomenon by using a single wire hung from a great height to the ground, but found the amount of current collected by his system to be negligible.

It is well known… that electric currents circulate constantly through the earth, and that there exists between the earth and any air stratum a difference of electrical pressure, which varies in proportion to the height. In recent experiments I have discovered two novel facts of importance in this connection. One of these facts is that an electric current is generated in a wire extending from the ground to a great height by the axial, and probably by the transitory, movement of the earth. No appreciable current, however, will flow continuously in the wire unless the electricity is allowed to leak out into the air. Its escape is great facilitated by providing at the elevated end of the wire a conducting terminal of great surface, with as many sharp edges or points. We are thus enabled to get a continuous supply of electrical energy by merely supporting a wire at a height, but, unfortunately the amount of electricity which can be obtained is small.[i]

Well known studies in to atmospheric electricity have also been conducted by Benjamin Franklin, Jules Guillot, and Charles Thomas Rees Wilson. While some of this research has been incorporated into meteorological surveys, the capacity to produce a decent amount of electrical current from this phenomena remains elusive. Still, modern electrostatic generators and atmospheric 'ion collector' protoypes do exist on the fringe of alternative energy research.

[i] Tesla, Nikola. "The Problem of Increasing Human Energy." In Tesla: Lectures, Patents, Articles. (Yoguslavia: Nikola Tesla Museum, 1956), 139.

Artwork idea

Although not fully creatively developed, I have long considered creating a series of small, simple devices that read measurements of local environmental voltage potential in pairs. Unlike similar meteorological devices that are designed to take precise reading in order to predict weather conditions, these devices are purpose built to exist in domestic settings and take approximate readings for the sake of casually monitoring a local environment, similar to a thermometer. Although the current from these particular sources are nominal and difficult to capture, the point here is to acknowledge that electricity exists naturally, and most significantly passively, all around us. Additionally these works allow an insight into the seasonal, climatic, and diurnal fluctuations and patterns of natural electricity that is ever present but rarely, if ever, identified.

There is a lovely quote from physicist H.B. de Saussure, regarding atmospheric measurements made between 1785 and 1788:

 "In winter, the season during which i have the best observations of serene electricity… the electricity undergoes an ebb and flow like the tides, which increases and decreases twice in the span of twenty-four hours. The times of greatest intensity are a few hours after sunrise and sunset, and the weakest before sunrise and sunset." 

By allowing casual and continuous access to passive electrical data, these devices reference the hopeful yet frustrating point of potential at which many renewable energy technologies currently sit.

Process

I have discussed options for building prototypes with professional product designers and programmers. Very simple prototypes using Arduino and simple electronics are a possibility. For example, instructions for an Arduino-based Field Mill (a device that measures local electrostatic charge) are available here. 

Exhibition / Outcome

I imagine this work culminating as a series of site-specific devices, therefore not necessarily existing in a gallery. The device may be mounted outside, or within stairwells of buildings, etc. Additionally, as the devices will collect data, there would be the capacity to stream voltage fluctuations online, which in turn can generate data for other creative projects.