Electrical conductivity channels in the atmosphere produced by relativistic-electron microbursts from the magnetosphere

The properties of a cylindrical-shaped magnetic-field-aligned channel of electrical conductivity produced by the precipitation of relativistic-electrons into the atmosphere during a spatially localized magnetospheric microburst are estimated. The conducting channel connects the middle atmosphere (~50 km) to the ionosphere. A channel diameter of ~ 8 km with an electric conductivity of 1.2×10−9 Ω−1m−1 near the bottom and 1.8×10−7 Ω−1m−1 higher up is found. In the fair-weather electric field, the higher-conductivity portions of the channel can carry substantial electrical currents.