Wrong Way Lightning
Posted on 24. Aug, 2009 by Stenberg-Tendys W.L. in Environment
Findings from a new study on upside down lightning have just been released. Known as gigantic jets, these rarely seen bolts of lightning have been witnessed reaching up to 90 kilometres above the storm itself.
The research team, led by Steven Cummer, of Duke University in North Carolina, were fortunate enough to capture rare footage, as a jet of lightning rose above the tropical storm Cristobal. Cameras have to be trained exactly on the jet, as they occur so quickly.
“Essentially nothing was known about the electrical nature of gigantic jets, we immediately started analyzing our data to understand what was going on,” Cummer said. They found the upward lightning carried 144 Coulombs of electrical charge. “This gigantic jet carried as much charge to the upper atmosphere as the very biggest cloud-to-ground lightning strokes about a hundred to a thousand times bigger than a typical lightning stroke,” Cummer said.
The charge travels further and faster because the thinner air between the clouds and the ionosphere provides less resistance.
The research team were able to gather clear proof, for the first time, that an electrical charge can move directly from the troposphere into the ionosphere, moving through two layers of Earth’s atmosphere. “Until now we didn’t know whether gigantic jets actually made electrical contact with the upper atmosphere to discharge the thunderstorm,” Cummer said.
Another lightning phenomena is what some refer to as sprites. They are a little known part of the global electric circuit. Red in colour, lightning-like flashes, they begin just above the great anvil clouds of large thunderstorm complexes and rise upwards into the ionosphere.
There have also been sightings, both by professionals and amateurs, of the other phenomenon known as blue jet lightning, ball lightning, elves and blue starters. Ball lightning is so rare, many scientists did not believe it even existed.
Stunned passengers and crew on a Qantas 707, flying through a thunderstorm, saw a ball of lightning enter the aircraft, move swiftly down the aisle and out through the back of the aircraft.
St. Elmo’s fire, or tornadic supercells, appear as fast moving streaks of light and can appear as violet sparks that bounce across the windscreen, or leading edges of an aircraft, accompanied by a distinct hissing or buzzing sound.
Anyone able to record any of these phenomena on video, are asked to report their findings.
