Tracking electrically charged puffs, as used in short range atmospheric diffusion investigations, by ground level electric field measurements

The use of ionized air as a tracer in short range atmospheric diffusion investigations raises the possibility of cloud location using electric field measurements. In this short communication a simple analysis is developed which enables the trajectory of a charged cloud to be ascertained from electric field measurements at three points at ground level (assuming the charge is known). Alternatively, if the charge is not known, it is shown that five-position electric field measurements are needed to find both its position and magnitude.