QUANTITATIVE STUDY OF THE RELATIONSHIPS
OF HYDROGEN, METHANE, RADON
AND ATMOSPHERIC ELECTRIC FIELD

V.N. Shuleikin

Oil and Gas Research Institute, Russian Academy of  Sciences, Moscow, Russia

Abstract. Based on the results of experimental observations, a model representation of the relationships of hydrogen, methane, radon, and the atmospheric electric field was constructed. Bubble formations of hydrogen and methane are the only carriers of radon in the near-surface layers of the soil and atmosphere. As a result of ionization, light ions are formed, which, when combined with neutral condensation nuclei, form heavy ions that affect the atmospheric electric field. Outside the hydrocarbon clusters, hydrogen and methane are related by an exponential relationship. In stable weather conditions, the radon of the atmosphere and its inverse atmospheric electric field will correlate with the radon content of the ground and the density of carrier gases. At comparable concentrations of volatile gases due to a lower molecular weight, hydrogen is the main carrier of radon in the near-surface layers of the soil and the surface atmosphere. In the case of the ratio of hydrogen concentration to methane H2/CH4 ~ 6.4, volatile gases are equally involved in the transportation of the ionizer. For the average ratio of methane to hydrogen CH4/H2 ~ 47, the main carrier gas of radon is methane. With increasing concentrations of carrier gases, the sensitivity of the atmospheric electric field to changes in their concentrations increases. The obtained result significantly increases the accuracy of the indirect control of the methane content of the soil from the observations of the atmospheric electric field, hydrogen and radon.

Keywords: atmospheric electric field, concentrations, radon, hydrogen, methane.

About the author

SHULEIKIN Vladimir N. – Ph. D. (phys. and math.), chief researcher, Oil and Gas Research Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences. Moscow, Russia. Tel.: +7 (903) 511-91-36. E-mail: shvn1947@yandex.ru