chuck wrote:
Based on that, it would seem the fairweather field can support corona
formation by itself.

Even though the fairweather current is 13 magnitudes below
the corona current?

It occurs to me that the current due to charge redistribution could be
rather significant if numerous particles are striking the antenna in a
short time interval.

Maybe aggravated by one element of the dipole being grounded
and the other floating?
--
73, Cecil http://www.qsl.net/w5dxp