How many types of lightning are there in reality? It turns out that there are more than ten species, and the most interesting of them are given in this article. Naturally, there are not only bare facts here, but also real photographs of real lightning.

So, the types of lightning will be considered in order, from the most common linear lightning to the rarest sprite lightning. Each type of lightning is given one or more photos that help to understand what such lightning really is.

L frost lightning (cloud-earth)

How to get such lightning? Yes, it's very simple - all that is required is a couple of hundred cubic kilometers of air, a height sufficient for the formation of lightning and a powerful heat engine - well, for example, the Earth. Ready? Now take the air and sequentially begin to heat it. When it starts to rise, with each meter of rise, the heated air cools, gradually becoming colder and colder. Water condenses into ever larger droplets, forming thunderclouds. Remember those dark clouds above the horizon, at the sight of which the birds fall silent and the trees stop rustling? So, these are the thunderclouds that give rise to lightning and thunder.

Scientists believe that lightning is formed as a result of the distribution of electrons in the cloud, usually positively charged from the top of the cloud, and negatively from. The result is a very powerful capacitor that can be discharged from time to time as a result of the abrupt transformation of ordinary air into plasma (this is due to the increasingly strong ionization of atmospheric layers close to thunderclouds). Plasma forms peculiar channels, which, when connected to the ground, serve as an excellent conductor for electricity. Clouds are constantly discharged through these channels, and we see the external manifestations of these atmospheric phenomena in the form of lightning.

By the way, the air temperature in the place where the charge (lightning) passes reaches 30 thousand degrees, and the speed of lightning propagation is 200 thousand kilometers per hour. In general, a few lightning bolts were enough to supply electricity small town for several months.

And there are such lightning. They are formed as a result of the accumulating electrostatic charge on top of the tallest object on earth, which makes it very "attractive" for lightning. Such lightnings are formed as a result of "piercing" the air gap between the top of a charged object and the bottom of a thundercloud.

The higher the object, the more likely it is to be struck by lightning. So they say the truth - you should not hide from the rain under tall trees.

Yes, lightning can also be “exchanged” by individual clouds that strike electric charges each other. It's simple - since the upper part of the cloud is positively charged, and the lower part is negatively charged, nearby thunderclouds can shoot each other with electric charges.

It is quite common for lightning to break through one cloud, and much rarer for lightning to travel from one cloud to another.

This lightning does not hit the ground, it spreads horizontally across the sky. Sometimes such lightning can spread across a clear sky, coming from a single thundercloud. Such lightning is very powerful and very dangerous.

This lightning looks like several lightning bolts running parallel to each other. There is no mystery in their formation - if a strong wind blows, it can expand the plasma channels, which we wrote about above, and as a result, such a differentiated lightning is formed.

This is a very, very rare lightning, it exists, yes, but how it is formed is still anyone's guess. Scientists suggest that dotted lightning is formed as a result of the rapid cooling of some sections of the lightning track, which turns ordinary lightning into dotted lightning. As you can see, this explanation clearly needs to be improved and supplemented.

So far, we have only talked about what happens below the clouds, or at their level. But it turns out that some types of lightning are higher than clouds. They have been known since the advent of jet aircraft, but these lightning bolts were photographed and filmed only in 1994. Most of all, they look like jellyfish, right? The height of the formation of such lightning is about 100 kilometers. So far, it is not very clear what they are.

Here are photos and even videos of unique sprite lightning. Very beautiful.

Some people claim that ball lightning does not exist. Others post videos of fireballs on YouTube and prove it's all real. In general, scientists are not yet firmly convinced of the existence of ball lightning, and the most famous proof of their reality is a photo taken by a Japanese student.

This, in principle, is not lightning, but simply the phenomenon of a glow discharge at the end of various sharp objects. The fires of St. Elmo were known in antiquity, now they are described in detail and captured on film.

These are very beautiful lightning bolts that appear during a volcanic eruption. It is likely that the charged gas-dust dome, penetrating several layers of the atmosphere at once, causes disturbances, since it itself carries a rather significant charge. It all looks very nice, but creepy. Scientists do not yet know exactly why such lightning is formed, and there are several theories at once, one of which is outlined above.

Here are a few interesting facts about lightning, which is not so often published:

* Typical lightning lasts about a quarter of a second and consists of 3-4 discharges.

* An average thunderstorm travels at a speed of 40 km per hour.

* There are 1,800 thunderstorms in the world right now.

* The US Empire State Building is struck by lightning an average of 23 times a year.

* Lightning strikes aircraft on average once every 5-10 thousand flight hours.

* The probability of being killed by lightning is 1 in 2,000,000. Each of us has the same chance of dying from falling out of bed.

* The probability of seeing ball lightning at least once in a lifetime is 1 in 10,000.

* People who were struck by lightning were considered marked by God. And if they died, they supposedly went straight to heaven. In ancient times, victims of lightning were buried at the place of death.

What should you do when lightning approaches?

In home

* Close all windows and doors.
* Unplug all electrical appliances. Do not touch them, including phones, during thunderstorms.
* Keep away from bathtubs, faucets and sinks as metal pipes can conduct electricity.
* If ball lightning has flown into the room, try to get out quickly and close the door on the other side. If not, at least freeze in place.

On the street

* Try to go into the house or car. Do not touch metal parts in the car. The car should not be parked under a tree: suddenly lightning will strike it and the tree will fall right on you.
* If there is no shelter, go out into the open and, bending over, snuggle up to the ground. But you can't just lie down!
* In the forest, it is better to hide under low bushes. NEVER stand under a free-standing tree.
* Avoid towers, fences, tall trees, telephone and electrical wires, bus stops.
* Stay away from bicycles, barbecues, other metal objects.
* Keep away from the lake, river or other bodies of water.
* Remove all metal from yourself.
* Do not stand in the crowd.
* If you are in an open area and you suddenly feel your hair stand on end or hear a strange noise coming from objects (that means lightning is about to strike!), bend forward with your hands on your knees (but not on the ground). The legs should be together, the heels pressed against each other (if the legs do not touch, the discharge will pass through the body).
* If a thunderstorm caught you in a boat and you no longer have time to swim to the shore, bend down to the bottom of the boat, join your legs and cover your head and ears.

Lightning is a giant electrical discharge in the atmosphere, usually seen during thunderstorms. It manifests itself as a bright flash of light and is accompanied by thunder. The current strength in a lightning discharge reaches 10-300 thousand amperes, the voltage is from tens of millions to a billion volts. The discharge power is from 1 to 1000 GW. And with all this, lightning is one of the most unexplored natural phenomena.
Oddly enough, but there are more than 10 different types of lightning, some of which have a very original appearance and extremely rare. In this collection you will see almost all of them.

1. Linear cloud-to-ground lightning
Scientists believe that lightning is formed as a result of the distribution of electrons in the cloud, usually the top of the cloud is positively charged, and the bottom is negatively charged. The result is a very powerful capacitor that can be discharged from time to time as a result of the abrupt transformation of ordinary air into plasma (this is due to the increasingly strong ionization of atmospheric layers close to thunderclouds). By the way, the air temperature in the place where the charge (lightning) passes reaches 30 thousand degrees, and the speed of lightning propagation is 200 thousand kilometers per hour.

2.Lightning earth-cloud

They are formed as a result of the accumulating electrostatic charge on top of the tallest object on earth, which makes it very "attractive" for lightning. Such lightning is formed as a result of "breaking through" the air gap between the top of a charged object and the bottom of a thundercloud.

3. Lightning cloud-to-cloud

Since the top of the cloud is positively charged and the bottom is negatively charged, nearby thunderclouds can shoot electric charges at each other.

4. Horizontal zipper

Horizontal zipper. This lightning does not hit the ground, it spreads horizontally across the sky. Sometimes such lightning can spread across a clear sky, coming from a single thundercloud. Such lightning is very powerful and very dangerous.

5. Tape zipper

Ribbon lightning - several identical zigzag discharges from clouds to the ground, parallel shifted relative to each other with small or no gaps.

6. Rosary (dotted lightning)

A rare form of electrical discharge during a thunderstorm, in the form of a chain of luminous dots. The lifetime of bead lightning is 1-2 seconds. It is noteworthy that the trajectory of bead lightning often has a wave-like character. Unlike linear lightning, the trace of bead lightning does not branch - this is a distinctive feature of this species.

7. Curtain zipper

Curtain lightning looks like a wide vertical band of light, accompanied by a low low rumble.

8. Volumetric lightning

Bulk lightning is a white or reddish flash with low translucent clouds, with a strong crackling sound “from everywhere”. It is more often observed before the main phase of a thunderstorm.

9. Elves

The elves are huge, but faintly luminous flash-cones with a diameter of about 400 km, which appear directly from the top of the thundercloud. The height of the elves can reach 100 km, the duration of flashes is up to 5 ms (average 3 ms)

10. Jets

The jets are blue tube-cones. The height of jets can reach 40-70 km (lower boundary of the ionosphere), jets live relatively longer than elves.

11. Sprites

Sprites are a kind of lightning that shoots up from the cloud. For the first time this phenomenon was recorded in 1989 by accident. Very little is known about the physical nature of sprites.

12. Fireballs

Ball lightning is a luminous plasma ball floating in the air, a uniquely rare natural phenomenon. A unified physical theory of the occurrence and course of this phenomenon has not been presented to date.
Some people claim that ball lightning does not exist. Others post videos of fireballs on YouTube and prove it's all real. In general, scientists are not yet firmly convinced of the existence of ball lightning.

13. Fires of St. Elmo

St. Elmo's fires are a discharge in the form of luminous beams or tassels (or a corona discharge) that occurs at the sharp ends of tall objects (towers, masts, lonely trees, sharp rock tops, etc.) with a high electric field in the atmosphere. They are formed at times when the electric field strength in the atmosphere near the tip reaches a value of about 500 V/m and higher, which most often happens during a thunderstorm or when it approaches, and in winter during snowstorms.

14 Volcanic Lightning

According to one of the many assumptions of scientists, volcanic lightning occurs due to the fact that bubbles of magma thrown up or volcanic ash carry an electric charge, and when they move, separated areas appear. In addition, it has been suggested that volcanic lightning may be caused by charge-producing collisions in volcanic dust.

What is lightning and why does it occur? Types of lightning

linear, intracloud, terrestrial. Lightning discharge. How ball lightning is formed

Lightning is one of those natural phenomena that have long inspired fear in the human race. The greatest minds, such as Aristotle or Lucretius, sought to understand its essence. They believed that it was a ball consisting of fire and sandwiched in the water vapor of the clouds, and, increasing in size, it breaks through them and falls to the ground with a swift spark.

The concept of lightning and its origin

Most often, lightning is formed in thunderclouds, which are quite large. The upper part can be located at an altitude of 7 kilometers, and the lower one - only 500 meters above the ground. Taking into account the atmospheric air temperature, we can conclude that at a level of 3-4 km, the water freezes and turns into ice floes, which, colliding with each other, become electrified. Those that have the largest size receive a negative charge, and the smallest - a positive one. Based on their weight, they are evenly distributed in the cloud by layers. Approaching each other, they form a plasma channel, from which an electric spark, called lightning, is obtained. It got its broken shape due to the fact that on the way to the ground there are often various air particles that form barriers. And to get around them, you have to change the trajectory.

Physical description of lightning

A lightning discharge releases 109 to 1010 joules of energy. Such a colossal amount of electricity in more is spent on creating a light flash and a shock wave, which is otherwise called thunder. But even a small part of lightning is enough to do unthinkable things, for example, its discharge can kill a person or destroy a building. Another interesting fact suggests that this natural phenomenon is able to melt sand, forming hollow cylinders. This effect is achieved due to the high temperature inside the lightning, it can reach 2000 degrees. The time of impact with the ground is also different, it cannot be more than a second. As for power, the pulse amplitude can reach hundreds of kilowatts. Combining all these factors, the most powerful natural discharge of current is obtained, which brings death to everything that it touches. All existing types of lightning are very dangerous, and meeting with them is extremely undesirable for a person.

Thunder formation

All types of lightning cannot be imagined without thunder, which does not carry the same danger, but in some cases can lead to network failure and other technical problems. It occurs due to the fact that a warm wave of air, heated by lightning to a temperature hotter than the sun, collides with a cold one. The sound resulting from this is nothing but a wave caused by air vibrations. In most cases, the volume increases towards the end of the roll. This is due to the reflection of sound from the clouds.

What are lightning

It turns out they are all different.

1. Line lightning - the most common variety. An electric peal looks like an overgrown tree turned upside down. Several thinner and shorter "processes" depart from the main canal. The length of such a discharge can reach 20 kilometers, and the current strength is 20,000 amperes. The speed of movement is 150 kilometers per second. The temperature of the plasma filling the lightning channel reaches 10,000 degrees.

2. Intracloud lightning - the origin of this type is accompanied by a change in electric and magnetic fields, radio waves are also emitted. Such a roll is most likely to be found closer to the equator. In temperate latitudes, it appears extremely rarely. If there is lightning in the cloud, then a foreign object that violates the integrity of the shell, such as an electrified aircraft or a metal cable, can also induce it to get out. The length can vary from 1 to 150 kilometers.

3. Ground lightning - this type goes through several stages. On the first of them, impact ionization begins, which is created at the beginning by free electrons, they are always present in the air. Under the action of an electric field, elementary particles acquire high speeds and head towards the earth, colliding with the molecules that make up the air. Thus, there are electron avalanches, otherwise called streamers. They are channels that, merging with each other, cause a bright, thermally insulated lightning. It reaches the ground in the form of a small ladder, because there are obstacles in its path, and in order to get around them, it changes direction. The speed of movement is approximately 50,000 kilometers per second.

After the lightning has passed its way, it ends its movement for several tens of microseconds, while the light weakens. After that, the next stage begins: the repetition of the path traveled. The most recent discharge surpasses all the previous ones in brightness, the current strength in it can reach hundreds of thousands of amperes. The temperature inside the channel fluctuates around 25,000 degrees. This type of lightning is the longest, so the consequences can be devastating.

Pearl Lightning

When answering the question of what kind of lightning are, one cannot lose sight of such a rare natural phenomenon. Most often, the discharge passes after the linear one and completely repeats its trajectory. Only now it looks like balls that are at a distance from each other and resemble beads made of precious material. Such lightning is accompanied by the loudest and rolling sounds.

A natural phenomenon when lightning takes the form of a ball. In this case, the trajectory of its flight becomes unpredictable, which makes it even more dangerous for humans. In most cases, such an electric lump occurs together with other species, but the fact of its appearance even in sunny weather has been recorded.

How is ball lightning formed? This is the question most often asked by people who are faced with this phenomenon. As everyone knows, some things are excellent conductors of electricity, and so it is in them, accumulating their charge, that the ball begins to emerge. It can also appear from the main lightning. Eyewitnesses say that it just appears out of nowhere.

Lightning diameter ranges from a few centimeters to a meter. As for the color, there are several options: from white and yellow to bright green, it is extremely rare to find a black electric ball. After a rapid descent, it moves horizontally, about a meter from the surface of the earth. Such lightning can suddenly change its trajectory and just as suddenly disappear, releasing huge energy, due to which melting or even destruction of various objects occurs. She lives from ten seconds to several hours.

lightning sprite

More recently, in 1989, scientists discovered another type of lightning, which was called the sprite. The discovery happened quite by accident, because the phenomenon is extremely rare and lasts only tenths of a second. They are distinguished from other electrical discharges by the height at which they appear - approximately 50-130 kilometers, while other subspecies do not overcome the 15-kilometer line. Also, the lightning sprite has a huge diameter, which reaches 100 km. They look like vertical pillars of light and flash in groups. Their color varies depending on the composition of the air: closer to the ground, where there is more oxygen, they are green, yellow or white, but under the influence of nitrogen, at an altitude of more than 70 km, they acquire a bright red hue.

Behavior during a thunderstorm

All types of lightning carry an extraordinary danger to health and even human life. To avoid electric shock, the following rules should be followed in open areas:

1. In this situation, the highest objects fall into the risk group, so open areas should be avoided. To become lower, it is best to sit down and put your head and chest on your knees, in case of defeat, this posture will protect all vital organs. In no case should you lie flat, so as not to increase the area of ​​\u200b\u200ba possible hit.
2. Also, do not hide under tall trees and lampposts. Unprotected structures or metal objects (for example, a picnic shed) will also be undesirable shelter.
3. During a thunderstorm, you must immediately get out of the water, because it is a good conductor. Getting into it, a lightning discharge can easily spread to a person.
4. Under no circumstances should you use your mobile phone.
5. To provide first aid to the victim, it is best to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation and immediately call the rescue service.

Rules of conduct in the house

Indoors, too, there is a danger of injury.

1. If a thunderstorm starts outside, the first thing to do is close all windows and doors.
2. All electrical appliances must be turned off.
3. Stay away from wired telephones and other cables, they are excellent conductors of electricity. Metal pipes have the same effect, so you should not be near plumbing.
4. Knowing how ball lightning is formed and how unpredictable its trajectory is, if it does get into the room, you must immediately leave it and close all windows and doors. If these actions are not possible, it is better to stand still.

Nature is still beyond the control of man and carries many dangers. All types of lightning are, in essence, the most powerful electrical discharges, which are several times more powerful than all artificially created current sources by man.

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The main types of lightning - Zefirka

Zefirka > Interesting things > The main types of lightning

Lightning is a giant electrical discharge in the atmosphere, usually seen during thunderstorms. It manifests itself as a bright flash of light and is accompanied by thunder. The current strength in a lightning discharge reaches 10-300 thousand amperes, the voltage is from tens of millions to a billion volts. Discharge power - from 1 to 1000 GW. And with all this, lightning is one of the most unexplored natural phenomena.

1.

Linear cloud-to-ground lightning
Scientists believe that lightning is formed as a result of the distribution of electrons in the cloud, usually positively charged from the top of the cloud, and negatively from. The result is a very powerful capacitor that can be discharged from time to time as a result of the abrupt transformation of ordinary air into plasma (this is due to the increasingly strong ionization of atmospheric layers close to thunderclouds). By the way, the air temperature in the place where the charge (lightning) passes reaches 30 thousand degrees, and the speed of lightning propagation is 200 thousand kilometers per hour.

2.

They are formed as a result of the accumulating electrostatic charge on top of the tallest object on earth, which makes it very "attractive" for lightning. Such lightning is formed as a result of "breaking through" the air gap between the top of a charged object and the bottom of a thundercloud.

3.

Since the top of the cloud is positively charged and the bottom is negatively charged, nearby thunderclouds can shoot electric charges at each other.

4.

Horizontal zipper.

5.

6.

Rosary (dotted lightning)
A rare form of electrical discharge during a thunderstorm, in the form of a chain of luminous dots. The lifetime of bead lightning is 1–2 seconds. It is noteworthy that the trajectory of bead lightning often has a wave-like character. Unlike linear lightning, the trace of bead lightning does not branch - this is a distinctive feature of this species.

7.

curtain zipper

8.

Volumetric lightning

9.

elves
The elves are huge, but faintly luminous flash-cones with a diameter of about 400 km, which appear directly from the top of the thundercloud. The height of the elves can reach 100 km, the duration of flashes is up to 5 ms (average 3 ms)

10.

Jets
The jets are blue tube-cones. The height of jets can reach 40-70 km (lower boundary of the ionosphere), jets live relatively longer than elves.

11.

Sprites

12.

Ball lightning is a luminous plasma ball floating in the air, a uniquely rare natural phenomenon. A unified physical theory of the occurrence and course of this phenomenon has not yet been presented. Some people argue that ball lightning does not exist. Others post videos of fireballs on YouTube and prove it's all real. In general, scientists are still not firmly convinced of the existence of ball lightning. However, my grandfather claimed that his fellow villager died before his eyes when he decided to light a cigarette from ball lightning under a strong shofe ...

13.

St. Elmo's fires - a discharge in the form of luminous beams or tassels (or a corona discharge) that occurs at the sharp ends of tall objects (towers, masts, lonely trees, sharp rock tops, etc.) with a high electric field strength in the atmosphere. They are formed at times when the electric field strength in the atmosphere near the tip reaches a value of about 500 V/m and higher, which most often happens during a thunderstorm or when it approaches, and in winter during snowstorms.

14.

According to one of the many assumptions of scientists, volcanic lightning occurs due to the fact that bubbles of magma thrown up or volcanic ash carry an electric charge, and when they move, separated areas appear. In addition, it has been suggested that volcanic lightning may be caused by charge-producing collisions in volcanic dust.

zefirka.net

How many types of lightning are there in reality?

The most interesting of them are presented in this article.

How to get such lightning? Yes, it's very simple - all that is required is a couple of hundred cubic kilometers of air, a height sufficient for the formation of lightning and a powerful heat engine - well, for example, the Earth. Ready? Now take the air and sequentially begin to heat it. When it starts to rise, with each meter of rise, the heated air cools, gradually becoming colder and colder. Water condenses into ever larger droplets, forming thunderclouds.

Remember those dark clouds above the horizon, at the sight of which the birds fall silent and the trees stop rustling? So, these are the thunderclouds that give rise to lightning and thunder.

Scientists believe that lightning is formed as a result of the distribution of electrons in the cloud, usually positively charged from the top of the cloud, and negatively from. The result is a very powerful capacitor that can be discharged from time to time as a result of the abrupt transformation of ordinary air into plasma (this is due to the increasingly strong ionization of atmospheric layers close to thunderclouds).

Plasma forms peculiar channels, which, when connected to the ground, serve as an excellent conductor for electricity. Clouds are constantly discharged through these channels, and we see the external manifestations of these atmospheric phenomena in the form of lightning.

And there are such lightning. They are formed as a result of the accumulating electrostatic charge on top of the tallest object on earth, which makes it very "attractive" for lightning.

Such lightning is formed as a result of “breaking through” the air gap between the top of a charged object and the bottom of a thundercloud. The higher the object, the more likely it is that lightning will strike it. So they say the truth - you should not hide from the rain under tall trees.

This lightning does not hit the ground, it spreads horizontally across the sky. Sometimes such lightning can spread across a clear sky, coming from a single thundercloud. Such lightning is very powerful and very dangerous.

So far, we have only talked about what happens below the clouds, or at their level. But it turns out that some types of lightning are higher than clouds. They have been known since the advent of jet aircraft, but these lightning bolts were photographed and filmed only in 1994.

Most of all, they look like jellyfish, right? The height of the formation of such lightning is about 100 kilometers. So far, it is not very clear what they are. Here are photos and even videos of unique sprite lightning. Very beautiful.

These are very beautiful lightning bolts that appear during a volcanic eruption. It is likely that the charged gas-dust dome, penetrating several layers of the atmosphere at once, causes disturbances, since it itself carries a rather significant charge. It all looks very beautiful, but creepy. Scientists do not yet know exactly why such lightning is formed, and there are several theories at once, one of which is outlined above.

* A typical lightning lasts about a quarter of a second and consists of 3-4 strikes. * An average thunderstorm travels at a speed of 40 km per hour. * There are 1,800 thunderstorms in the world right now. * Aircraft are struck by lightning on average once every 5-10 thousand flight hours. * The probability of being killed by lightning is 1 in 2,000,000. Each of us has the same chance of dying from falling out of bed. at least once in a lifetime is 1 in 10,000. * People who were struck by lightning were considered marked by God. And if they died, they supposedly went straight to heaven. In ancient times, victims of lightning were buried at the place of death.

* Try to go into the house or car. Do not touch metal parts in the car. The car should not be parked under a tree: suddenly lightning will strike it and the tree will fall right on you. * If there is no shelter, go out into the open and, bending over, snuggle up to the ground. But you can’t just lie down!* In the forest, it’s better to hide under low bushes. NEVER stand under a free standing tree.* Avoid towers, fences, tall trees, telephone and electric wires, bus stops.* Stay away from bicycles, barbecues, other metal objects. all metal off you.* Do not stand in a crowd.* If you are in an open place and you suddenly feel that your hair is standing on end, or you hear a strange noise coming from objects (this means that lightning is about to strike!), bend forward, resting your hands on your knees (but not on the ground). The legs should be together, the heels pressed to each other (if the legs do not touch, the discharge will pass through the body). * If a thunderstorm caught you in a boat and you don’t have time to swim to the shore, bend down to the bottom of the boat, connect your legs and cover your head and ears .

interesno.cc

Lightning is amazing phenomenon nature, which is still poorly understood and holds many mysteries.

This lightning does not hit the ground, it spreads horizontally across the sky. Sometimes such lightning can spread across a clear sky, coming from a single thundercloud. Such lightning is very powerful and dangerous.
In the early 1990s, a new natural phenomenon was discovered. At an altitude of 100 km from the earth's surface, optical flashes were seen above the thunderclouds. The duration of such radiance is very short (hundredths of a second).
One of the least studied, and therefore the most mysterious phenomena of nature, is ball lightning. The chance of seeing ball lightning at least once in a lifetime is 1 in 10,000.
These are very beautiful lightning bolts that appear during a volcanic eruption. A volcanic thunderstorm is a phenomenon similar to an ordinary thunderstorm that accompanies volcanic eruptions with emissions of large amounts of water vapor and ash. Scientists attribute this to the friction of positively charged vapor particles with negatively charged ash particles.
Catatumbo lightning is an amazing phenomenon that is observed in only one place on our planet - at the confluence of the Catatumbo River into Lake Maracaibo ( South America). The most amazing thing about this type of lightning is that its discharges last about 10 hours and appear at night 140-160 times a year.

Bonus: More Types of Lightning and More Facts

fishki.net

Lightning - Halo

"physical phenomenon"

A giant electrical spark discharge in the atmosphere, usually manifested by a bright flash of light and accompanying thunder. The electrical nature of lightning was revealed in the research of the American physicist B. Franklin, on the basis of which an experiment was carried out to extract electricity from a thundercloud.

Most often, lightning occurs in cumulonimbus clouds, then they are called thunderclouds; sometimes lightning is formed in nimbostratus clouds, as well as during volcanic eruptions, tornadoes and dust storms.

The process of ground lightning development consists of several stages. At the first stage, in the zone where the electric field reaches a critical value, impact ionization begins, initially created by free electrons, always present in a small amount in the air, which, under the action of an electric field, acquire significant speeds towards the ground and, colliding with air atoms, ionize them. That. electron avalanches appear, turning into filaments of electric discharges - streamers, which are well-conducting channels, which, merging, give rise to a bright thermally ionized channel with high conductivity - a step leader.

The movement of the leader to the earth's surface occurs in steps of several tens of meters at a speed of ~ 5 * 10,000,000 m/sec, after which its movement stops for several tens of microseconds, and the glow is greatly weakened; then, in the next stage, the leader again advances several tens of meters. A bright glow covers all the steps passed; then a stop and a weakening of the glow follow again. These processes are repeated when the leader moves to the earth's surface at an average speed of 2*100,000 m/s. As the leader moves towards the ground, the field strength at its end increases and under its action a response streamer is thrown out of the objects protruding on the Earth's surface, connecting with the leader.

lightning shapes

Line lightning

A discharge of linear lightning occurs between clouds, inside a cloud, or between a cloud and the ground, and usually has a length of about 2-3 km, but there are lightnings up to 20-30 km long.

It looks like a broken line, often with numerous branches. Lightning color - white, yellow, blue or reddish

Most often, the diameter of the thread of such lightning reaches a couple of tens of centimeters. This type is the most common; we see it most often. Linear lightning appears when the electric field of the atmosphere is up to 50 kV / m, the potential difference in its path can reach hundreds of millions of volts. The lightning current of this kind is about 10 thousand amperes. A thundercloud that produces a linear lightning discharge every 20 seconds has an electrical energy of 20 million kW. The potential electrical energy stored in such a cloud is equal to the energy of a megaton bomb.

This is the most common form of lightning.

Flat zipper

Flat lightning looks like a scattered flash of light on the surface of clouds. Thunderstorms, accompanied only by flat lightning, are classified as weak, and they are usually observed only in early spring or late autumn.

Ribbon lightning - several identical zigzag discharges from clouds to the ground, parallel shifted relative to each other with small or no gaps.

Bead lightning

A rare form of electrical discharge during a thunderstorm, in the form of a chain of luminous dots. The lifetime of bead lightning is 1–2 seconds. It is noteworthy that the trajectory of bead lightning often has a wave-like character. Unlike linear lightning, the trail of bead lightning does not branch - this is a distinctive feature of this species.

rocket lightning

Rocket lightning is a slowly developing discharge, lasting 1–1.5 seconds. Rocket lightning is very rare.

Ball lightning is a bright luminous electric charge of various colors and sizes. Near the ground, it most often looks like a ball with a diameter of about 10 cm, less often it has the shape of an ellipsoid, a drop, a disk, a ring, and even a chain of connected balls. The duration of the existence of ball lightning is from several seconds to several minutes, the color of the glow is white, yellow, light blue, red or orange. Usually this type of lightning moves slowly, almost silently, accompanied by only a slight crackling, whistling, buzzing or hissing. Ball lightning can penetrate into enclosed spaces through cracks, pipes, windows.

A rare form of lightning, according to statistics, there are 2-3 ball lightning per thousand ordinary lightning.

The nature of ball lightning is not fully understood. There are many hypotheses about the origin of ball lightning, from scientific to fantastic.

curtain zipper

Curtain lightning looks like a wide vertical band of light, accompanied by a low low rumble.

Volumetric lightning

Bulk lightning is a white or reddish flash with low translucent clouds, with a strong crackling sound “from everywhere”. It is more often observed before the main phase of a thunderstorm.

strip zipper

Strip lightning - strongly resembles the aurora, "laid on its side" - horizontal stripes of light (3-4 stripes) are grouped on top of each other.

Elves, jets and sprites

Elves (English Elves; Emissions of Light and Very Low Frequency Perturbations from Electromagnetic Pulse Sources) are huge, but dimly luminous flash cones with a diameter of about 400 km, which appear directly from the top of a thundercloud.

The jets are blue tube-cones.

Sprites - a kind of lightning, beating up from the cloud. For the first time this phenomenon was recorded in 1989 by accident. Very little is known about the physical nature of sprites.

Jets and Elves form from the tops of the clouds to the lower edge of the ionosphere (90 kilometers above the Earth's surface). The duration of these aurora is a fraction of a second. To photograph such short-lived phenomena, high-speed imaging equipment is needed. Only in 1994, flying in an airplane over a big thunderstorm, did scientists manage to capture this amazing sight.

photo of sprites from http://www.spaceweather.com

Other phenomena

flashes

Flashes are white or blue silent flashes of light observed at night in partly cloudy or clear weather. Flashes usually occur in the second half of summer.

Zarnitsa

Zarnitsy - reflections of distant high thunderstorms, visible at night at a distance of up to 150 - 200 km. The sound of thunder during lightning is not heard, the sky is cloudy.

Volcanic Lightning

There are two types of volcanic lightning. One arises at the crater of the volcano, and the other, as seen in this image of the Puyehue volcano in Chile, electrifies the smoke of the volcano. Water and frozen ash particles in the smoke rub against each other, and this causes static discharges and volcanic lightning.

Catatumbo lightning is an amazing phenomenon that is observed in only one place on our planet - at the confluence of the Catatumbo River into Lake Maracaibo (South America). The most amazing thing about this type of lightning is that its discharges last about 10 hours and appear at night 140-160 times a year. Catatumbo lightning is clearly visible at a fairly long distance - 400 kilometers. Lightnings of this kind were often used as a compass, from which people even nicknamed the place of their observation - “Maracaibo Lighthouse”.

Most say that Catatumbo lightning is the largest single ozone generator on Earth, because. winds coming from the Andes cause thunderstorms. Methane, which is abundant in the atmosphere of these wetlands, rises to the clouds, fueling lightning discharges.

ice-halo.net

WHAT ARE THE TYPES OF LIGHTNING? Encyclopedia. Abstract material. Types of lightning

How many types of lightning are there in reality? It turns out that there are more than ten species, and the most interesting of them are given in this article. Naturally, there are not only bare facts here, but also real photographs of real lightning.

So, the types of lightning will be considered in order, from the most common linear lightning to the rarest sprite lightning. Each type of lightning is given one or more photos that help to understand what such lightning really is.

How to get such lightning? Yes, it's very simple - all that is required is a couple of hundred cubic kilometers of air, a height sufficient for the formation of lightning and a powerful heat engine - well, for example, the Earth. Ready? Now take the air and sequentially begin to heat it. When it starts to rise, with each meter of rise, the heated air cools, gradually becoming colder and colder. Water condenses into ever larger droplets, forming thunderclouds. Remember those dark clouds above the horizon, at the sight of which the birds fall silent and the trees stop rustling? So, these are the thunderclouds that give rise to lightning and thunder.

Scientists believe that lightning is formed as a result of the distribution of electrons in the cloud, usually positively charged from the top of the cloud, and negatively from. The result is a very powerful capacitor that can be discharged from time to time as a result of the abrupt transformation of ordinary air into plasma (this is due to the increasingly strong ionization of atmospheric layers close to thunderclouds). Plasma forms peculiar channels, which, when connected to the ground, serve as an excellent conductor for electricity. Clouds are constantly discharged through these channels, and we see the external manifestations of these atmospheric phenomena in the form of lightning.

By the way, the air temperature in the place where the charge (lightning) passes reaches 30 thousand degrees, and the speed of lightning propagation is 200 thousand kilometers per hour. In general, a few lightning bolts were enough to power a small town for several months.

And there are such lightning. They are formed as a result of the accumulating electrostatic charge on top of the tallest object on earth, which makes it very "attractive" for lightning. Such lightnings are formed as a result of "piercing" the air gap between the top of a charged object and the bottom of a thundercloud.

The higher the object, the more likely it is to be struck by lightning. So they say the truth - you should not hide from the rain under tall trees.

Yes, individual clouds can “exchange” with lightning, striking each other with electric charges. It's simple - since the upper part of the cloud is positively charged, and the lower part is negatively charged, nearby thunderclouds can shoot each other with electric charges.

It is quite common for lightning to break through one cloud, and much rarer for lightning to travel from one cloud to another.

This lightning does not hit the ground, it spreads horizontally across the sky. Sometimes such lightning can spread across a clear sky, coming from a single thundercloud. Such lightning is very powerful and very dangerous.

This lightning looks like several lightning bolts running parallel to each other. There is no mystery in their formation - if a strong wind blows, it can expand the plasma channels, which we wrote about above, and as a result, such a differentiated lightning is formed.

This is a very, very rare lightning, it exists, yes, but how it is formed is still anyone's guess. Scientists suggest that dotted lightning is formed as a result of the rapid cooling of some sections of the lightning track, which turns ordinary lightning into dotted lightning. As you can see, this explanation clearly needs to be improved and supplemented.

So far, we have only talked about what happens below the clouds, or at their level. But it turns out that some types of lightning are higher than clouds. They have been known since the advent of jet aircraft, but these lightning bolts were photographed and filmed only in 1994. Most of all, they look like jellyfish, right? The height of the formation of such lightning is about 100 kilometers. So far, it is not very clear what they are.

Here are photos and even videos of unique sprite lightning. Very beautiful.

Some people claim that ball lightning does not exist. Others post videos of fireballs on YouTube and prove it's all real. In general, scientists are not yet firmly convinced of the existence of ball lightning, and the most famous proof of their reality is a photo taken by a Japanese student.

This, in principle, is not lightning, but simply the phenomenon of a glow discharge at the end of various sharp objects. The fires of St. Elmo were known in antiquity, now they are described in detail and captured on film.

These are very beautiful lightning bolts that appear during a volcanic eruption. It is likely that the charged gas-dust dome, penetrating several layers of the atmosphere at once, causes disturbances, since it itself carries a rather significant charge. It all looks very nice, but creepy. Scientists do not yet know exactly why such lightning is formed, and there are several theories at once, one of which is outlined above.

Here are some interesting facts about lightning that are not often published:

* Typical lightning lasts about a quarter of a second and consists of 3-4 discharges.

* An average thunderstorm travels at a speed of 40 km per hour.

* There are 1,800 thunderstorms in the world right now.

* The US Empire State Building is struck by lightning an average of 23 times a year.

* Lightning strikes aircraft on average once every 5-10 thousand flight hours.

* The probability of being killed by lightning is 1 in 2,000,000. Each of us has the same chance of dying from falling out of bed.

* The probability of seeing ball lightning at least once in a lifetime is 1 in 10,000.

* People who were struck by lightning were considered marked by God. And if they died, they supposedly went straight to heaven. In ancient times, victims of lightning were buried at the place of death.

What should you do when lightning approaches?

* Close all windows and doors. * Unplug all electrical appliances. Avoid touching them, including telephones, during thunderstorms.* Stay away from bathtubs, faucets, and sinks as metal pipes can conduct electricity.* If ball lightning has entered the room, try to get out quickly and close the door on the other side. If you can't, at least freeze in place.

* Try to go into the house or car. Do not touch metal parts in the car. The car should not be parked under a tree: suddenly lightning will strike it and the tree will fall right on you. * If there is no shelter, go out into the open and, bending over, snuggle up to the ground. But you can’t just lie down!* In the forest, it’s better to hide under low bushes. NEVER stand under a free standing tree.* Avoid towers, fences, tall trees, telephone and electric wires, bus stops.* Stay away from bicycles, barbecues, other metal objects. all metal off you.* Do not stand in a crowd.* If you are in an open area and you suddenly feel that your hair is standing on end, or you hear a strange noise coming from objects (this means that lightning is about to strike!), lean forward, resting your hands on your knees (but not on the ground). The legs should be together, the heels pressed to each other (if the legs do not touch, the discharge will pass through the body). * If a thunderstorm caught you in a boat and you don’t have time to swim to the shore, bend down to the bottom of the boat, connect your legs and cover your head and ears .

Types of lightning

a) Most lightning occurs between clouds and the ground, however, there are lightnings that occur between clouds. All these lightnings are called linear. The length of an individual linear lightning can be measured in kilometers.

• b) Another type of lightning is tape lightning. In this case, the following picture, as if there were several almost identical linear lightning shifted relative to each other.
• c) It was noticed that in some cases the flash of lightning breaks up into separate luminous sections several tens of meters long. This phenomenon is called bead lightning. According to Malan (1961), this type of lightning is explained on the basis of a protracted discharge, after which the glow seems to be brighter in the place where the channel bends in the direction of the observer, observing it with its end towards itself. And Yuman (1962) believed that this phenomenon should be considered as an example of the "ping effect", which consists in a periodic change in the radius of the discharge column with a period of several microseconds.
• d) Ball lightning, which is the most mysterious natural phenomenon.

Physics of linear lightning

Linear lightning is a series of pulses rapidly following each other. Each impulse is a breakdown of the air gap between the cloud and the ground, which occurs in the form of a spark discharge. Let's look at the first impulse first. There are two stages in its development: first, a discharge channel is formed between the cloud and the ground, and then a main current pulse quickly passes through the formed channel.

The first stage is the formation of a discharge channel. It all starts with the fact that an electric field of very high intensity is formed in the lower part of the cloud - 105 ... 106 V / m.

Free electrons receive huge accelerations in such a field. These accelerations are directed downwards, since the lower part of the cloud is negatively charged, while the surface of the earth is positively charged. On the way from the first collision to the next, the electrons acquire significant kinetic energy. Therefore, colliding with atoms or molecules, they ionize them. As a result, new (secondary) electrons are born, which, in turn, are accelerated in the cloud field and then ionize new atoms and molecules in collisions. Entire avalanches of fast electrons arise, forming clouds at the very "bottom", plasma "threads" - a streamer.

Merging with each other, the streamers give rise to a plasma channel, through which the main current pulse subsequently passes.

This plasma channel, which develops from the "bottom" of the cloud to the surface of the earth, is filled with free electrons and ions, and therefore can conduct electric current well. He is called a leader, or rather a step leader. The fact is that the channel is not formed smoothly, but in jumps - “steps”.

Why there are pauses in the leader's movement and, moreover, relatively regular ones, is not exactly known. There are several theories of step leaders.

In 1938 Schonlund put forward two possible explanations for the delay that causes the stepping nature of the leader. According to one of them, electrons should move down the channel of the leading streamer (pilot). However, some of the electrons are captured by atoms and positively charged ions, so that it takes some time for new advancing electrons to enter before a potential gradient is created sufficient for the current to continue. According to another point of view, it takes time for positively charged ions to accumulate under the head of the leader channel and thus create a sufficient potential gradient across it. And here physical processes occurring near the head of the leader are quite understandable. The field strength under the cloud is quite large - it is V/m; in the region of space directly in front of the leader's head, it is even greater. In the strong electric field Intense ionization of air atoms and molecules occurs near the leader head. It occurs due, firstly, to the bombardment of atoms and molecules by fast electrons emitted from the leader (the so-called impact ionization), and, secondly, to the absorption by atoms and molecules of photons of ultraviolet radiation emitted by the leader (photoionization). Due to intense ionization of air atoms and molecules encountered on the way of the leader, the plasma channel grows, the leader moves to the earth's surface.

Taking into account the stops along the way, it took the leader 10…20 ms to reach the ground at a distance of 1 km between the cloud and the ground surface. Now the cloud is connected to the ground by a plasma channel, which perfectly conducts current. The channel of ionized gas, as it were, short-circuited the cloud with the earth. This completes the first stage of development of the initial impulse.

The second stage is fast and powerful. The main current rushes along the path laid by the leader. The current pulse lasts approximately 0.1ms. The current strength reaches values ​​of the order of A. A significant amount of energy (up to J) is released. The temperature of the gas in the channel reaches. It is at this moment that the extraordinarily bright light that we observe in the discharge of lightning is born, and there is thunder caused by the sudden expansion of the suddenly heated gas.

It is essential that both the glow and the heating of the plasma channel develop in the direction from the ground to the cloud, i.e. down up. To explain this phenomenon, we conditionally divide the entire channel into several parts. As soon as the channel has formed (the head of the leader has reached the ground), first of all, the electrons that were in its lowest part jump down; therefore, the lower part of the channel is the first to glow and warm up. Then electrons from the next (higher up part of the channel) rush to the ground; the glow begins, and the heating of this part. And so gradually - from the bottom to the top - more and more electrons are included in the movement to the ground; as a result, the glow and heating of the channel propagate in the upward direction. After the main current pulse has passed, a pause occurs with a duration of 10 to 50 ms. During this time, the channel practically goes out, its temperature drops to approximately, the degree of ionization of the channel decreases significantly.

If more time than usual passes between subsequent lightning strikes, the degree of ionization can be so low, especially in the lower part of the channel, that a new pilot is needed to re-ionize the air. This explains individual cases of the formation of steps at the lower ends of the leaders, preceding not the first, but subsequent main lightning strikes.

The most interesting of them are presented in this article.

Linear lightning (cloud-ground)

How to get such lightning? Yes, it's very simple - all that is required is a couple of hundred cubic kilometers of air, a height sufficient for the formation of lightning and a powerful heat engine - well, for example, the Earth. Ready? Now take the air and sequentially begin to heat it. When it starts to rise, with each meter of rise, the heated air cools, gradually becoming colder and colder. Water condenses into ever larger droplets, forming thunderclouds.

Remember those dark clouds above the horizon, at the sight of which the birds fall silent and the trees stop rustling? So, these are the thunderclouds that give rise to lightning and thunder.

Scientists believe that lightning is formed as a result of the distribution of electrons in the cloud, usually positively charged from the top of the cloud, and negatively from. The result is a very powerful capacitor that can be discharged from time to time as a result of the abrupt transformation of ordinary air into plasma (this is due to the increasingly strong ionization of atmospheric layers close to thunderclouds).

Plasma forms peculiar channels, which, when connected to the ground, serve as an excellent conductor for electricity. Clouds are constantly discharged through these channels, and we see the external manifestations of these atmospheric phenomena in the form of lightning.

By the way, the air temperature in the place where the charge (lightning) passes reaches 30 thousand degrees, and the speed of lightning propagation is 200 thousand kilometers per hour. In general, a few lightning bolts were enough to power a small town for several months.

Lightning earth-cloud

And there are such lightning. They are formed as a result of the accumulating electrostatic charge on top of the tallest object on earth, which makes it very "attractive" for lightning.

Such lightning is formed as a result of “breaking through” the air gap between the top of a charged object and the bottom of a thundercloud. The higher the object, the more likely it is that lightning will strike it. So they say the truth - you should not hide from the rain under tall trees.

lightning cloud-cloud

Yes, individual clouds can “exchange” with lightning, striking each other with electric charges. It's simple - since the upper part of the cloud is positively charged, and the lower part is negatively charged, nearby thunderclouds can shoot each other with electric charges.

It is quite common for lightning to break through one cloud, and much rarer for lightning to travel from one cloud to another.

Horizontal zipper

This lightning does not hit the ground, it spreads horizontally across the sky. Sometimes such lightning can spread across a clear sky, coming from a single thundercloud. Such lightning is very powerful and very dangerous.

Tape zipper

This lightning looks like several lightning bolts running parallel to each other. There is no mystery in their formation - if a strong wind blows, it can expand the plasma channels, which we wrote about above, and as a result, such a differentiated lightning is formed.

Beaded (dotted zipper)

This is a very, very rare lightning, it exists, yes, but how it is formed is still anyone's guess. Scientists suggest that dotted lightning is formed as a result of the rapid cooling of some sections of the lightning track, which turns ordinary lightning into dotted lightning. As you can see, this explanation clearly needs to be improved and supplemented.

sprite lightning

So far, we have only talked about what happens below the clouds, or at their level. But it turns out that some types of lightning are higher than clouds. They have been known since the advent of jet aircraft, but these lightning bolts were photographed and filmed only in 1994.

Most of all, they look like jellyfish, right? The height of the formation of such lightning is about 100 kilometers. So far, it is not very clear what they are. Here are photos and even videos of unique sprite lightning. Very beautiful.

Ball lightning

Some people claim that ball lightning does not exist. Others post videos of fireballs on YouTube and prove it's all real. In general, scientists are not yet firmly convinced of the existence of ball lightning, and the most famous proof of their reality is a photo taken by a Japanese student.

Saint Elmo's fires

This, in principle, is not lightning, but simply the phenomenon of a glow discharge at the end of various sharp objects. The fires of St. Elmo were known in antiquity, now they are described in detail and captured on film.

Volcanic lightning

These are very beautiful lightning bolts that appear during a volcanic eruption. It is likely that the charged gas-dust dome, penetrating several layers of the atmosphere at once, causes disturbances, since it itself carries a rather significant charge. It all looks very beautiful, but creepy. Scientists do not yet know exactly why such lightning is formed, and there are several theories at once, one of which is outlined above.

Here are some interesting facts about lightning that are not often published:

* Typical lightning lasts about a quarter of a second and consists of 3-4 discharges.
* An average thunderstorm travels at a speed of 40 km per hour.
* There are 1,800 thunderstorms in the world right now.
* The US Empire State Building is struck by lightning an average of 23 times a year.
* Lightning strikes aircraft on average once every 5-10 thousand flight hours.
* The probability of being killed by lightning is 1 in 2,000,000. Each of us has the same chance of dying from falling out of bed.
* The probability of seeing ball lightning at least once in a lifetime is 1 in 10,000.
* People who were struck by lightning were considered marked by God. And if they died, they supposedly went straight to heaven. In ancient times, victims of lightning were buried at the place of death.

What should you do when lightning approaches?

In home

* Close all windows and doors.
* Unplug all electrical appliances. Do not touch them, including phones, during thunderstorms.
* Keep away from bathtubs, faucets and sinks as metal pipes can conduct electricity.
* If ball lightning has flown into the room, try to get out quickly and close the door on the other side. If you can't, at least freeze in place.

On the street

* Try to go into the house or car. Do not touch metal parts in the car. The car should not be parked under a tree: suddenly lightning will strike it and the tree will fall right on you.
* If there is no shelter, go out into the open and, bending over, snuggle up to the ground. But you can't just lie down!
* In the forest, it is better to hide under low bushes. NEVER stand under a free-standing tree.
* Avoid towers, fences, tall trees, telephone and electrical wires, bus stops.
* Stay away from bicycles, barbecues, other metal objects.
* Keep away from the lake, river or other bodies of water.
* Remove all metal from yourself.
* Do not stand in the crowd.
* If you are in an open area and you suddenly feel your hair stand on end, or hear a strange noise coming from objects (that means lightning is about to strike!), bend forward with your hands on your knees (but not on the ground). The legs should be together, the heels pressed against each other (if the legs do not touch, the discharge will pass through the body).
* If a thunderstorm caught you in a boat and you no longer have time to swim to the shore, bend down to the bottom of the boat, join your legs and cover your head and ears.