The Atmosphere and Ionosphere: Elementary Processes, Monitoring, and Ball Lightning (Physics of Earth and Space Environments)

This book presents a collection of reviews prepared for the conference “Atmosphere, Ionosphere, Safety,” held in Kaliningrad, Russia, in July 2012. It provides the reader insight into the current developments in the following fields: physics of elementary processes; ionosphere dynamics; ball lightning and aerosol structures; as well as remote detection of the radioactive and highly toxic substances. The diversity of scope presented offers readers an up-to-date overview of trends, questions and their solutions.

Vladimir L. Bychkov is a leading researcher at the Department of Physics at the Lomonosov Moscow State University. He has 35 years of experience in plasma physics studies, namely, the physics of elementary processes, gas discharges, plasma chemistry and ball lightning. He is Head of the Russian Committee on Ball Lightning and Vice-President of the International Committee on Ball Lightning.
Gennady V. Golubkov is a leading scientist at the Semenov Institute of Chemical Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences. He has 40 years of experience in quantum scattering theory, the theory of atom-molecular processes, chemical physics of atmosphere and of low temperature plasma.

He is a member of the Moscow Physical Society, the New York Academy of Sciences and the International Committee on Theoretical Chemistry.

Anatoly I. Nikitin is a principle researcher at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute for Energy Problems of Chemical Physics in Moscow. He has 45 years of experience in quantum electronics research, chemical physics, plasma physics, plasma chemistry and ball lightning. He is Secretary of the International Committee on Ball Lightning and a member of the Moscow Physical Society.