Atmospheric electric fields at the Kennedy Space Center, 1997-2005: No evidence for effects of global warming or modulation by galactic cosmic rays

Near surface, atmospheric voltage gradients [Ez] measured at 31 sites of the Kennedy Space Center [KSC], between Aug. 1997 and Dec. 2005, averaged 162.5 ± 3.5 V/m, positive upward, with a standard deviation of 21.4 V/m and an apparent trend of +0.40 ± 1.04 %/yr. That is, no significant positive trend, predicted to be a consequence of global warming, yet rises above the noise. The correlation of Ez with a monthly index of galactic cosmic rays at Haleakala, Hawaii, was −0.07 ± 0.18, for periods between 2 and 25 months. That is, no significant short‐period effect of solar‐magnetically modulated cosmic‐ray flux on Ez was observed at KSC, during this epoch.