How does lightning occur?
Lightning & nbsp; & mdash; this phenomenon, as a result of which an electric current flows through the air, explains Ekaterina Svechnikova, employee of the Laboratory of Nonlinear Physics of Natural Processes of the Federal Research Center of the Institute of Applied Physics of the Air ; Russian Academy of Sciences (IAP RAS) . Lightning forms in clouds, where, under the influence of the wind, water droplets and ice floes are electrified. Thus, an electric charge is obtained. The electrons accumulated in & nbsp; a place (with negative charge) tend to & nbsp; positively charged particles. Their & nbsp; movement and & nbsp; is called electric current, explains the physicist. At the same time, in the atmosphere, a column or channel of very heated air appears (with a temperature of 20,000-30,000 C, with a diameter of about 1 cm) through which a current flows like a wire. In heated air, molecules move and collide so often that they begin to glow like gas in a neon light. As a result, a person sees a 'zigzag' lightning.
How does thunder occur?
The hot air in the channel, which arose under the action of an electric current, quickly disperses in all directions, forming a strong gust of wind. A similar gust of wind, only in a reduced size, can be created by simply clapping your hands. When the palms close, the air is quickly expelled and & nbsp; diverges from & nbsp; from all sides. It is this sudden movement of the air that we & nbsp; and & nbsp; perceive as sound, that is, thunder. That & nbsp; is a person who sees lightning first, and & nbsp; then hears thunder, summarizes Svechnikova.
When do thunderstorms occur most often? & Nbsp; & gt; & gt; & gt;
Why can a person think that thunder and lightning are happening at the same time?
The appearance of lightning and thunder happens very quickly. It may even seem to a person that these phenomena are occurring simultaneously. However, the sound takes a while, about three seconds per & nbsp; every kilometer, to be heard, notes the physicist. The further a person is from the lightning, the longer the delay between the lightning and the sound of thunder. To estimate the approximate distance to & nbsp; lightning, you can count the seconds of & nbsp; flash to & nbsp; thunder and & nbsp; divided by & nbsp; three: the resulting number & mdash; distance in & nbsp; kilometers. If the thunder is heard in less than 6 to 10 seconds, the lightning has struck very closely. In such cases, a person should be especially careful, notes the scientist. When you are in a & nbsp; open area, you need to get away from & nbsp; large objects, which can get the following discharges.
How often and where Does lightning strike?
Every second there are about 40-50 lightning bolts, and only a quarter of all lightning strikes Earth, the rest strikes inside the cloud, says Svechnikova. In & nbsp; in some places more than 200 lightning strikes per square kilometer per year (for example, Lake Catatumbo in Venezuela), in & nbsp; other places lightning is much rarer. On average for the planet, lightning most often occurs in low latitudes, mainly in the coastal area, between land and ocean. Lightning activity is favored by updrafts in clouds, as it separates electrical charges faster.
What was the longest lightning bolt in history?
The longest lightning, according to the physicist, was observed in & nbsp; for 7.74 seconds and & nbsp; was registered in the & nbsp; Alps on the south of France in & nbsp; 2012 & nbsp; year. Lightning usually lasts much less: tenths of a second. During & nbsp; this time, the electric shock manages to cross the channel several times, said Svechnikova.
Can I & nbsp; create lightning in a & nbsp; laboratory environment?
Today, an active study of lightning and related processes is carried out both by theoretical methods and by creating artificial lightning under laboratory conditions, the scientist explains. For example, a short electric shock can be obtained in the Sprite Setup Room, which was created by IAP RAS staff to simulate lightning in the upper layers of Earth's atmosphere. Longer open-air artificial lightning is obtained at the Experimental Facility of the High Voltage Research Center of the All-Russian Electrotechnical Institute near Istra. Both facilities are unique and & nbsp; allow you to explore fundamental aspects of lightning physics, and & nbsp; also solve problems applied, for example, to protect airplanes against & nbsp; the consequences of a lightning strike.
How knowledge of the & nbsp; lightning help aviation?
A modern airliner meets & nbsp; lightning in & nbsp; on average every 2-3 thousand flight hours. Studying lightning discharges and their modeling under laboratory conditions provides insight into lightning development patterns, the physicist explains. This data helps design lightning protection for ground objects and aircraft. At the current level of development of science and technology, a thunderbolt in the liner does not present a great danger, notes the expert. In addition, research is underway on X-rays associated with lightning, which can affect surrounding objects. Staff at the Earth's Electromagnetic Environment Laboratory, IAP RAS, have developed a system for short-term prediction of lightning activity and other meteorological phenomena. On the site of & nbsp;, you can see, for example, in which places of the European part of Russia are most likely the appearance of lightning in the coming hours.