  Observations of continuous radio and sporadic X-ray emission from low-mass
objects suggest they harbour localized plasmas in their atmospheric
environments. For low-mass objects, the degree of thermal ionization is
insufficient to qualify the ionized component as a plasma, posing the question:
what ionization processes can efficiently produce the required plasma that is
the source of the radiation? We propose Alfv\'{e}n ionization as a mechanism
for producing localized pockets of ionized gas in the atmosphere, having
sufficient degrees of ionization ($\geq10^{-7}$) that they constitute plasmas.
We outline the criteria required for Alfv\'{e}n ionization and demonstrate it's
applicability in the atmospheres of low-mass objects such as giant gas planets,
brown dwarfs and M-dwarfs for both solar and sub-solar metallicities. We find
that Alfv\'{e}n ionization is most efficient at mid to low atmospheric
pressures where a seed plasma is easier to magnetize and the pressure gradients
needed to drive the required neutral flows are the smallest. For the model
atmospheres considered, our results show that degrees of ionization of
$10^{-6}-1$ can be obtained as a result of Alfv\'{e}n ionization. Observable
consequences include continuum Bremsstrahlung emission, superimposed with
spectral lines from the plasma ion species (e.g. He, Mg, H$_{2}$ or CO lines).
Forbidden lines are also expected from the metastable population. The presence
of an atmospheric plasma opens the door to a multitude of plasma and chemical
processes not yet considered in current atmospheric models. The occurrence of
Alfv\'{e}n ionization may also be applicable to other astrophysical
environments such as protoplanetary disks.
