Lunar Phases and Atmospheric Electric Field

The association between the lunar phases and the atmospheric electric field has been investigated from the superposed epoch analysis of the lone series of continuous data of the vertical electric field for Colaba, Bombay (18o53’N, 73o48’E 11 mASL) for the period 1947-1966. Also the periodicities in the atmospheric electric field have been studied from the spectral analysis of the data. The study has indicated that when the full moon is within 4o of the ecliptic plane i. e., Bf 4o, the electric field peaks on the day of the full moon followed by a steep fall in the field val-ues up to 4 days following the full moon day and there after it showed a steep increase. Also, the electric field has exhibited 5-9 day periodicity and its multiples are nearly always present. The periodicity in the electric field corresponds with the average time interval between the successive magnetic sector boundary (MSB) crossings i.e., 7 days. On most of the occasions, the MSB crossing day is associated with a maximum of one or more of the wavelengths derived from the spectral analysis of the atmospheric electric field.