Researchers Unravel Mystery of Lightning Diversity

coondoggie writes to tell us that researchers from Penn State and New Mexico Tech have unraveled the mystery of lightning diversity. A new "Lightning Mapping Array" has been able to show detailed models on how lightning acts. "About 90% of lightning occurs inside clouds and is not visible to the casual observer, researchers said. The researchers wondered if lightning that appears within clouds and the lightning that escapes upward or downward shared the same development mechanisms, researchers said. Lightning forms in clouds when different areas of the cloud become either positively or negatively charged. Once the electric field near a charged area exceeds a certain propagation level, lightning occurs. The type of lightning depends on where the charge builds and where the imbalance in charge exists in the clouds. The mechanism behind different types of lightning is what the new model shows, researchers said."

Comments

I Worked On This Project

[Stranger4U]

New array? I worked on this project in 99-00 and it was several years old then. I think "new" here just corresponds to awareness in the minds of the public. Papers derived from this research have been around ten years, at least. The results are, however, quite impressive. It's possible to plot, in time, the path a lightning bolt takes through a cloud. Airplanes are also quite easy to spot on their graphs. A quick look on their research page might make for interesting reading: Langmuir Labs.

Re:Teach the controversy

[zappepcs]

Yes, but only on Thursdays!

I'm waiting for the final explanation that shows dark matter particles cause lighting bolts...

Re:Power Source?

[Kandenshi]

I'm not an electrical engineer, but...
What the hell do you put that energy into? Some sort of massive capacitor that can be discharged gradually into the system? I'm not sure that those are able to absorb that much electricity that quickly at an even remotely reasonable price.
Just directly funneling into the power grid seems like it'd cause all sorts of issues. Massive spike of energy that lasts a second or so? Sure it'll power quite a few homes, but it'd also melt quite a few lines I'd think.