It's been happening to me for years. I finally decided to ask users who are better with "practical physics" when I was told that my experience – that I am going to describe momentarily – prove that I am a diviner, a psychic, a "sensibil" as we call it. The right explanation clearly needs some electrodynamics although it's "everyday electrodynamics" and theoretical physicists are not trained to quickly answer such questions although each of us has probably solved many exercises that depend on the same principles.
When I am biking under the power lines – which probably have a high voltage in them – I feel a clear tingling shocks near my buttocks and related parts of the body for a second or so when I am under a critical point of the power lines. It is a strong feeling, not a marginal one: it feels like a dozen of ants that are stinging me at the same moment. It seems almost clear that some currents are running through my skins at 50 Hz. I would like to know the estimate (and calculation or justification) of the voltage, currents etc. that are going through my skin and some comparison with the shock one gets when he touches the power outlet.
Now,
my bike that makes this effect particularly strong is a mountain bike, Merida;
the speed is about 20 km/h and the velocity is perpendicular to the direction of the current in the power line;
the seat has a hole in it and there is some metal – probably a conducting one – just a few centimeters away from the center of my buttocks. It's plausible that I am in touch with the metal – or near touch;
my skin is kind of sweating during these events and the liquid isn't pure water so it's probably much more conductive than pure water;
the temperature was 22 °C today, the humidity around 35%, clear skies, 10 km/h wind;
the power lines may be between 22 kV and 1 MV and at 50 Hz, the altitude is tens of meters but I don't really know exactly.
What kind of approximation for the electromagnetic waves are relevant? What is the strength? How high currents one needs?
Does one need some amplification from interference etc. (special places) to make the effect detectable? (I only remember experiencing this effect at two places around Pilsen; the most frequent place where I feel it is near Druztová, Greater Pilsen, Czechia.)
Is the motion of the wheels or even its frequency important? Is there some resonance?
Does the hole in the seat and the metal play any role? Just if you think that I am crazy, other people are experience the effect (although with different body parts), see e.g. here and here. This PDF file seems to suggest that the metals and electromagnetic induction is essential for the effect but the presentation looks neither particularly comprehensive nor impartial enough.
An extra blog discussion on this topic is here:
http://motls.blogspot.com/2012/05/electric-shocks-under-high-voltage.html
Answer
First, Field strength.
This calculation is strictly an electric potential calculation; radiation and induction are safely ignored at 50Hz.*
For a 200kV transmission line 20m above ground, the max electric field at ground level is about 1.2 kV/m.** This number is reduced from the naive 200kV/20m=10 kV/m calculation by two effects:
1) The ~1/r variation in the electric field (reduction to 3 kV/m). I used the method of images to calculate this field, with a 10 cm conductor diameter to keep the peak field below the 1MV/m breakdown field.
2) Cancellation from the other two power lines in this 3-phase system, which are at +/-120 degree electrical phases with respect to the first, and are physically offset in a horizontal line per the photo. I estimated 7m spacings between adjacent lines. The maximum E-field actually occurs roughly twice as far out as the outermost line; the field under the center conductor is lower.
Next, Can you feel it?
1) The human body circuit model for electrostatic discharge is 100pF+1.5kohm; that's a gross simplification but better than nothing. If one imagined a 2m high network, the applied voltage results in a 50Hz current of about 70uA ($C \omega V$). Very small.
2) There will be an AC voltage difference between the (insulated) human and (insulated) bicycle. A 1m vertical separation between their centers of gravity would yield roughly 1200V. This voltage is rather small compared to some car-door-type static discharges, but it would still be sufficient to break down a short air gap (but not a couple cm), and would repeat at 100Hz. I imagine it would be noticeable in a sensitive part of the anatomy.
If the transmission voltage is actually 400 kV, all the field strengths and voltages would of course double.
(*) In response to a comment, here's an estimate of the neglected induction and radiation effects, courtesy of Maxwell 4 and 3:
Induction: Suppose a power line is carrying a healthy 1000A AC current (f=50 Hz). Then by Ampere's law, there is a circumferential AC magnetic field; at the wire-to-ground distance of 20 meters that field's amplitude is $10 \mu T$. (Compare with the earth's DC field of approximately 0.5 gauss, or $50 \mu T$.)
The flux of this magnetic field through a $1 m^2$ area loop (with normal parallel to the ground and perpendicular to the wire) is $\Phi = 10 \mu Wb$ AC. Then from Faraday's law, the voltage around the loop is $d \Phi /dt = 2 \pi f \Phi = 3 mV$ (millivolts). So much for induction.
One can also estimate the magnetic field resulting from the $1200 V/m$ ground-level AC electric field, which has an electric flux density $D =\epsilon_0 E = 10.6 nC/m^2$ and a displacement current density $\partial D / \partial t = 2 \pi f D = 3.3 \mu A/m^2$. The flux of this field through a $1 m$ square loop (parallel to the ground) is $3.3 \mu A$, so the average magnetic field around the square is $0.8 \mu A/m$, for a ridiculously small magnetic flux density of $1 pT$.
(**) 1 Sep 2014 update. Dmytry very astutely points out in a comment that there will be local electric field intensification effects from conductive irregularities in the otherwise flat ground surface, such as our cyclist (who, being somewhat sweaty, will have a conductive surface). The same principle applies to lightning rods.
For the proverbial spherical cyclist, the local field will be increased by a factor of 3, independent of the sphere's size, as long as it's much less than the distance to the power line. It turns out that it doesn't matter whether the sphere is grounded or insulated, since its total charge remains 0.
For more elongated shapes the intensification can be much higher: for a grounded prolate spheroid with 10:1 dimensions, the multiplication factor is 50. This intensification of course enhances any sensation one might feel.
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