sferics

Noun

sferics pl (plural only)

1. (plural, plural-only) Electromagnetic pulses caused by atmospheric phenomena, such as lightning. plural of sferic
   • A Sferics Locating System has been developed to determine the geographical location of lightning strokes...1920: Wilbur H. Paulsen (American Meteorological Society pub.), Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society http://books.google.com/books?vid=0myaFW4os6gDX0JMkJ&id=_IEOAAAAIAAJ&q=sferics&dq=sferic...
   • ...an artificial sferics generator was used as a known source of EM pulses.1965 (pub.): Mitre Corporation, Research & Experimentation 1960-1964 http://books.google.com/books?vid=0womdjATmZ-KMq2Hz5&id=KqTvgTb9FlAC&q=sferics&dq=sferics&pgis=1
2. (plural, plural-only) Radio interference caused by sferics; atmospherics.
   • In the identification of sources of short whistlers, the spectral characteristics of the sferics can often be used to establish many sferics as doubtful...1959, D. L. Carpenter, Identification of Whistler Sources on Visual Records and a Method of Routine Whistler Analysis
   • As it turned out, the whistler was only the first of a family of sferics whose taxonomy was to include clicks, hooks, risers, nose-whistlers and one like a warbling of birds called the dawn chorus....1963, Thomas Pynchon, V.