The start of lightning: Evidence of bidirectional lightning initiation
Lightning flashes are known to initiate in regions of strong electric fields inside thunderstorms, between layers of positively and negatively charged precipitation particles. For that reason, lightning inception is typically hidden from sight of camera systems used in research. Other technology suc...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
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Nature Publishing Group
2015
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/100535 |
| _version_ | 1826190315433754624 |
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| author | Montanya, Joan van der Velde, Oscar Williams, Earle R. |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Montanya, Joan van der Velde, Oscar Williams, Earle R. |
| author_sort | Montanya, Joan |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Lightning flashes are known to initiate in regions of strong electric fields inside thunderstorms, between layers of positively and negatively charged precipitation particles. For that reason, lightning inception is typically hidden from sight of camera systems used in research. Other technology such as lightning mapping systems based on radio waves can typically detect only some aspects of the lightning initiation process and subsequent development of positive and negative leaders. We report here a serendipitous recording of bidirectional lightning initiation in virgin air under the cloud base at ~11,000 images per second, and the differences in characteristics of opposite polarity leader sections during the earliest stages of the discharge. This case reveals natural lightning initiation, propagation and a return stroke as in negative cloud-to-ground flashes, upon connection to another lightning channel – without any masking by cloud. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T08:38:23Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/100535 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T08:38:23Z |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| publisher | Nature Publishing Group |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1005352022-09-23T13:29:41Z The start of lightning: Evidence of bidirectional lightning initiation Montanya, Joan van der Velde, Oscar Williams, Earle R. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Parsons Laboratory for Environmental Science and Engineering (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) Williams, Earle R. Lightning flashes are known to initiate in regions of strong electric fields inside thunderstorms, between layers of positively and negatively charged precipitation particles. For that reason, lightning inception is typically hidden from sight of camera systems used in research. Other technology such as lightning mapping systems based on radio waves can typically detect only some aspects of the lightning initiation process and subsequent development of positive and negative leaders. We report here a serendipitous recording of bidirectional lightning initiation in virgin air under the cloud base at ~11,000 images per second, and the differences in characteristics of opposite polarity leader sections during the earliest stages of the discharge. This case reveals natural lightning initiation, propagation and a return stroke as in negative cloud-to-ground flashes, upon connection to another lightning channel – without any masking by cloud. Spain. Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (Research Grant AYA2009-14027-C05-05) Spain. Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (Research Grant AYA2011-29936-C05-04) Spain. Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (Research Grant ESP2013-48032-C5-3-R) 2015-12-28T15:42:26Z 2015-12-28T15:42:26Z 2015-10 2015-06 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 2045-2322 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/100535 Montanya, Joan, Oscar van der Velde, and Earle R. Williams. “The Start of Lightning: Evidence of Bidirectional Lightning Initiation.” Scientific Reports 5 (October 16, 2015): 15180. en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep15180 Scientific Reports Creative Commons Attribution http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ application/pdf Nature Publishing Group Nature Publishing Group |
| spellingShingle | Montanya, Joan van der Velde, Oscar Williams, Earle R. The start of lightning: Evidence of bidirectional lightning initiation |
| title | The start of lightning: Evidence of bidirectional lightning initiation |
| title_full | The start of lightning: Evidence of bidirectional lightning initiation |
| title_fullStr | The start of lightning: Evidence of bidirectional lightning initiation |
| title_full_unstemmed | The start of lightning: Evidence of bidirectional lightning initiation |
| title_short | The start of lightning: Evidence of bidirectional lightning initiation |
| title_sort | start of lightning evidence of bidirectional lightning initiation |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/100535 |
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