Giant electrical discharges in the atmosphere - lightning - arise under the influence of streams of charged particles from space, the so-called cosmic rays, and the discharges themselves are accompanied by bursts of gamma radiation, established a group of scientists from the Lebedev Physical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (FIAN) under the leadership of Academician Alexander Gurevich.
The nature of lightning was unraveled back in 1749 by the American naturalist Benjamin Franklin, who established that lightning is electrical discharges between a thundercloud and the earth. Until now, scientists believed that when negative charges accumulate in a cloud, an electric field arises between it and the surface, and when it reaches a certain threshold energy, a "breakdown" occurs and an electrical discharge occurs - lightning.
"Everything would be great, but the calculated value of the threshold field is ten times higher than the actually observed value electric field, at which lightning occurs, "- said in an interview with RIA Novosti one of the members of Gurevich's research group - Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Kirill Zybin.
“We need some kind of seed for lightning; apparently, seed particles of sufficiently high energies are required. natural conditions such natural particles are cosmic rays, "the agency's source said.
He and his colleagues found out that a phenomenon called "runaway breakdown" is associated with the occurrence of lightning - an avalanche-like multiplication of fast electrons with energies of 0.1-10 megaelectronvolts in matter, which, in turn, is caused by the action of cosmic radiation. Streams of high-energy particles that penetrate the atmosphere supply "seed electrons", which provoke breakdown at fields ten times lower than the previous theory required.
“Of course, it’s impossible to say that lightning is a runaway breakdown. But they are connected. In ordinary discharges, such large energies in gamma quanta could not appear,” Zybin said.
According to him, the experimental verification of the theory causes great difficulties: under normal atmospheric conditions, the length of the "avalanche" that occurs during a breakdown reaches 50 meters.
"In this case, you have to build huge machines, apply very large fields. But such conditions are naturally realized in a thunderstorm atmosphere," he said.
Another effect associated with lightning is gamma flares. Lightning does not move evenly, but in jumps - "steps". Scientists have found that with each "step" gamma quanta are emitted with an energy of tens of megaelectronvolts.
According to Zybin, experiments are being carried out to study lightning in the "natural environment" at the high-altitude FIAN station in the Tien Shan.
"There are counters and gamma radiation is measured, and the counts go at very short intervals. It can be said unequivocally that in the absence of a thunderstorm, there are no signals, but when a thunderstorm begins, strong flares, gamma bursts begin, they correlate with radio pulses that are caused by thunderstorm processes, "- said the scientist.
He noted that the study of the mechanisms of lightning formation will make it possible to understand the recent times phenomena, in particular, giant high-altitude discharges between thunderclouds and the ionosphere ("sprite").
In the opinion of FIAN scientists, these studies provide new opportunities both in the analysis of climatic changes and in the mechanisms of influence on the atmosphere.
We often think that electricity is something that is generated only in power plants, and certainly not in the filaments of water clouds, which are so rarefied that you can easily stick your hand in them. However, there is electricity in the clouds, as there is even in the human body.
The nature of electricity
All bodies are made of atoms - from clouds and trees to the human body. Every atom has a nucleus that carries positively charged protons and neutral neutrons. An exception is the simplest hydrogen atom, in the nucleus of which there is no neutron, but only one proton.
Negatively charged electrons circulate around the nucleus. Positive and negative charges mutually attract, so electrons revolve around the nucleus of an atom, like bees around a sweet cake. The attraction between protons and electrons is due to electromagnetic forces. Therefore, electricity is present everywhere we look. As we can see, it is also contained in atoms.
Interesting fact:the nature of lightning lies in the electricity contained in the clouds.
Under normal conditions, the positive and negative charges of each atom balance each other, so bodies made of atoms usually do not carry any total charge - neither positive nor negative. As a result, contact with other objects does not cause an electrical discharge. But sometimes the balance of electric charges in bodies can be disturbed. You may be experiencing this yourself when you are at home on a cold winter day. The house is very dry and hot. You, shuffling with your bare feet, walk on the carpet. Imperceptibly for you, part of the electrons from your soles passed to the carpet atoms.
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Now you are carrying an electric charge, since the number of protons and electrons in your atoms is no longer balanced. Try now to grab the metal door handle. A spark will slip between you and her, and you will feel an electric shock. What happened is that your body, which does not have enough electrons to achieve electrical equilibrium, seeks to restore balance due to the forces of electromagnetic attraction. And it is being restored. Electrons flow between the hand and the doorknob, directed towards the hand. If the room was dark, you would see sparks. Light is visible because electrons, when jumping, emit light quanta. If the room is quiet, you will hear a slight crackling sound.
Electricity surrounds us everywhere and is contained in all bodies. In this sense, clouds are no exception. On the background blue sky they look very harmless. But just like you are in a room, they can carry an electrical charge. If so, beware! When the cloud regains its electrical balance within itself, a whole fireworks display.
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How does lightning appear?
Here's what happens: powerful air currents constantly circulate in a dark huge thundercloud, which push various particles together - grains of ocean salt, dust, and so on. Just like your soles are freed from electrons when rubbing against a carpet, and particles in a cloud are freed from electrons on collision, which jump onto other particles. This is how the redistribution of charges arises. Some particles that have lost their electrons have a positive charge, while others that have taken on extra electrons now have a negative charge.
For reasons that are not entirely clear, heavier particles are charged negatively and lighter ones positively. Thus, the heavier lower part of the cloud is charged negatively. The negatively charged lower part of the cloud repels electrons towards the earth, as charges of the same name are repelled. Thus, a positively charged part is formed under the cloud earth surface... Then, exactly according to the same principle, according to which a spark jumps between you and the doorknob, the same spark will jump between the cloud and the ground, only this is very large and powerful lightning. The electrons fly in a giant zigzag to the earth, finding their protons there. Instead of a barely audible crackle, there is a strong thunderclap.
The nature of lightning was unraveled back in 1749 by the American naturalist Benjamin Franklin, who established that lightning is electrical discharges between a thundercloud and the earth. Until now, scientists believed that when negative charges accumulate in a cloud, an electric field arises between it and the surface, and when it reaches a certain threshold energy, a "breakdown" occurs and an electrical discharge occurs - lightning. "Everything would be fine, but the calculated value of the threshold field is ten times higher than the actually observed value of the electric field at which lightning occurs," said Kirill Zybin, one of the members of Gurevich's research group, RAS Corresponding Member. "We need some kind of seed for lightning, apparently, seed particles of sufficiently high energies are required. Under natural conditions, such natural particles are cosmic rays," the agency's interlocutor said. He and his colleagues found out that a phenomenon called "runaway breakdown" is associated with the occurrence of lightning - an avalanche-like multiplication of fast electrons with energies of 0.1-10 megaelectronvolts in matter, which, in turn, is caused by the action of cosmic radiation. Streams of high-energy particles that penetrate the atmosphere supply "seed electrons", which provoke breakdown at fields ten times lower than the previous theory required. “Of course, it’s impossible to say that lightning is a runaway breakdown. But they are connected. In ordinary discharges, such large energies in gamma quanta could not appear,” Zybin said. According to him, the experimental verification of the theory causes great difficulties: under normal atmospheric conditions, the length of the "avalanche" that occurs during a breakdown reaches 50 meters. "In this case, you need to build huge machines, apply very large fields. But such conditions are naturally realized in a thunderstorm atmosphere," he said. Another effect associated with lightning is gamma flares. Lightning does not move evenly, but in jumps - "steps". Scientists have found that with each "step" gamma quanta are emitted with an energy of tens of megaelectronvolts. According to Zybin, experiments are being carried out to study lightning in the "natural environment" at the high-altitude FIAN station in the Tien Shan. "There are counters and gamma radiation is measured, and the counts go at very short intervals. It can be said unequivocally that in the absence of a thunderstorm, there are no signals, but when a thunderstorm begins, strong flares, gamma-ray bursts begin, they correlate with radio pulses that are caused by thunderstorm processes, "- said the scientist. He noted that the study of the mechanisms of lightning formation will make it possible to understand the phenomena discovered recently, in particular, the giant high-altitude discharges between thunderclouds and the ionosphere ("sprite"). In the opinion of FIAN scientists, these studies provide new opportunities both in the analysis of climatic changes and in the mechanisms of influence on the atmosphere. Lightning is a spark discharge of static electricity accumulated in thunderclouds. In contrast to the discharges generated at work and in everyday life, the electric charges accumulated in the clouds are incomparably greater. Therefore, the energy of the spark discharge - lightning and the currents arising in this case is very high and poses a great danger to humans, animals, buildings. Lightning is accompanied by a sound impulse - thunder. The combination of lightning and thunder is called a thunderstorm. Storm is an exceptionally beautiful natural phenomenon. As a rule, after a thunderstorm, the weather improves, the air becomes transparent, fresh and clean, saturated with ions formed during lightning discharges. Despite this, it must be remembered that a thunderstorm under certain conditions can pose a great danger to humans. Everyone should know the nature of a thunderstorm, the rules of behavior during a thunderstorm and methods of protection against lightning. Thunderstorm is a complex atmospheric process and its occurrence is caused by the formation of cumulonimbus clouds. Heavy cloudiness is a consequence of the significant instability of the atmosphere. Thunderstorms are characterized by strong winds, often intense rain "snow", sometimes with hail. Before the thunderstorm "in an hour, two" atmosphere pressure begins to fall rapidly, up to a sudden increase in wind, and then begins to rise. Thunderstorms can be divided into local, frontal, night, and in the mountains. Most often, a person is faced with local, or thermal thunderstorms. Water vapor in the ascending stream of warm air at a height condenses, while a lot of heat is released, and the ascending air flows are heated. Compared to the surrounding, the rising air is warmer, it increases in volume until it turns into a thundercloud. Large storm clouds contain ice crystals and water droplets. As a result of their crushing and friction with each other and with the air, positive and negative charges are formed, under the influence of which a strong electrostatic field "tension electrostatic field can reach 100 000 V / m ". And the potential difference between individual parts of the cloud, clouds or cloud and the earth reaches enormous values. When a critical electrical intensity is reached in the air, an avalanche-like ionization of the air occurs - a spark discharge of lightning. A frontal thunderstorm occurs when masses of cold air penetrate an area where warm weather prevails. Cold air displaces warm air, while the latter rises to an altitude of 5-7 km. Warm air layers invade inside vortices of various directions, a squall is formed, strong friction between air layers, which contributes to the accumulation of electrical charges. The length of a frontal thunderstorm can reach 100 km. Unlike local thunderstorms after frontal thunderstorms it usually gets colder. A night thunderstorm is associated with the cooling of the earth at night and the formation of eddy currents of the descending air. A thunderstorm in the mountains is explained by the difference in solar radiation to which the southern and northern slopes of the mountains are exposed. Night and mountain thunderstorms are short-lived and short-lived. Thunderstorm activity in different regions of our planet is different. World centers of thunderstorms: Java island - 220 thunderstorm frost a year; Equatorial Africa - 150; Southern Mexico - 142; Panama 132; Central Brazil - 106. Russia: Murmansk - 5; Arkhangelsk - 10; St. Petersburg - 15; Moscow - 20. As a rule, the farther south “for the northern hemisphere of the Earth” and northward “for the southern hemisphere of the Earth”, the higher the thunderstorm activity. Thunderstorms in the Arctic and Antarctic are very rare. Pi Earth there are 16 million thunderstorms a year. For every m2 of the earth's surface, there are 2-3 lightning strikes per year. Lightning strikes the ground most often from negatively charged clouds. By type, lightning is distinguished into: linear, pearl and ball. Pearl and ball lightning is quite rare. Their characteristics: a widespread line lightning, which any person encounters many times, looks like a branching line. The magnitude of the current in the linear lightning channel averages 60 - 170 kA, a lightning with a current of 290 kA was recorded. The average lightning has an energy of L0 kW / hour "900 MJ". The discharge develops in a few thousandths of a second; at such high currents, the air in the zone of the lightning channel almost instantly heats up to a temperature of 30,000 - 33,000 ° С. As a result, pressure will suddenly try, the air expands and a shock wave occurs, accompanied by a sound impulse - thunder. * Pearl lightning is a very rare and beautiful phenomenon. Appears immediately after linear lightning and disappears gradually. Most often, the discharge of pearl lightning follows the repaired path. The zipper is 12 m apart and resembles pearls strung on a string. Pearl lightning can be accompanied by exceptional sound effects. Ball lightning is also quite rare. For thousands of ordinary linear lightning, there are 2-3 ball. Ball lightning, as a rule, appears more often towards the end of a thunderstorm, less often after a thunderstorm. It can be in the form of a ball, ellipsoid, pear, disk, and even a chain of balls. Lightning color - red, yellow, orange-red. Sometimes lightning is dazzling white with very sharp outlines. The color is determined by the content of various substances in the air. The shape and color of the lightning may change during the discharge. It was not possible to measure the parameters of ball lightning and simulate it in laboratory conditions. Apparently, many observed unidentified flying objects "UFO" are similar in nature or close to ball lightning. Dangerous factors of influence of lightning: Line lightning. Due to the fact that lightning is characterized by large values \u200b\u200bof currents, voltages and discharge temperatures, its impact on a person, as a rule, leads to their death. On average, about 3000 people die from a lightning strike in the world annually, and there are cases of simultaneous defeat of several people. A lightning discharge follows the path of least electrical resistance: if you place two masts next to each other - a metal one and a bolt with a high wooden one, then the lightning will most likely strike the metal pole, although it is lower, because the electrical conductivity of the metal is higher; lightning also strikes clay and wet areas much more often than in dry and sandy areas, since the former have higher electrical conductivity; in the forest, lightning also acts selectively, falling, first of all, into such deciduous trees as oak, poplar, willow, ash, since they contain a lot of starch. Conifers - spruce, fir, larch and deciduous trees such as linden, walnuts, beech contain a lot of oils, therefore they have high electrical resistance, and lightning strikes them less often. Of 100 trees, lightning strikes: 27 percent of poplars; 20 percent pears; 12 percent lime; 8 percent spruce and only 0.5 percent cedar. In addition to affecting people and animals, linear lightning is quite often the cause of forest fires, as well as residential and industrial buildings, especially in rural areas. In this regard, it is necessary to take special protection against being struck by linear lightning. Ball lightning. If the nature of linear lightning is clear, and, consequently, its behavior is predictable, then the nature of ball lightning is still not clear. The danger of a person being struck by ball lightning, first of all, is connected precisely with the lack of methods and rules for protecting a person from it. In 1753, the Russian physicist Georg Wilhelm Richman, a colleague of M.V. Lomonosov, was killed by ball lightning during a thunderstorm while studying spark discharges in the atmosphere. There are many known deaths when meeting with ball lightning. A dramatic incident happened to a group of five Soviet climbers on August 17, 1978 in the Caucasus at an altitude of about 4000m, where they stopped on a clear, cold night for the night. A light yellow ball the size of a tennis ball flew into the tent towards the climbers. The balloon hovered over the sleeping bags in which the climbers were, and methodically, according to some plan of its own, entered the sleeping bags. Each such "visit" caused a desperate inhuman scream, people felt the strongest pain, as if they were being burned with an autogen, and they lost consciousness. They could not move their arms or legs. After the balloon "visited" each climber's sleeping bags several times, it disappeared. All climbers received many severe injuries. These were not burns, but precisely lacerated wounds: the muscles had been torn out in whole pieces, down to the bones. One of the climbers, Oleg Korovin, was killed by the balloon. At the same time, ball lightning did not touch any object in the tent, but only crippled people. The behavior of ball lightning is unpredictable. She suddenly appears anywhere, including in enclosed spaces. Cases of the appearance of ball lightning from a telephone receiver, electric razor, switch, socket, loudspeaker have been noticed. It often enters buildings through pipes, open windows and doors. Ball lightning sizes vary from several centimeters to several meters. Usually it easily hovers or rolls above the ground, sometimes it jumps. It reacts to wind, draft, ascending and moving air currents. However, a case has been noted when ball lightning did not react to the air flow. Ball lightning can appear without harming a person or a room, fly through a window and disappear from the room through open door or a chimney flying past a person. Any contact with it leads to severe injuries, burns, and in most cases, death. Wide lightning can explode. The resulting air wave can injure a person or lead to destruction in a building. There are known cases of lightning explosions in stoves, chimneys, which led to the destruction of the latter. The collected evidence on the behavior of ball myopia suggests that in most cases the explosions were not dangerous, with serious consequences occurring in 10 cases out of 100. It is believed that ball lightning has a temperature of about 5000 ° C and can cause a fire. `Rules of conduct during a thunderstorm: We see a flash of lightning almost instantly, as light travels at a speed of 300,000 km / s. The speed of sound propagation in air is approximately 344 m / s, that is, in about 3 seconds, sound travels 1 km. Lightning is dangerous when a burst of thunder immediately follows the flash, which means that a thundercloud is above you, and the danger of a lightning strike is most likely. Your actions before and during a thunderstorm should be overwintering: leave the house, close windows, doors and chimneys, make sure that there is no draft that can attract ball lightning. During a thunderstorm, do not heat the stove, since the smoke coming out of the chimney has a high electrical conductivity, and the likelihood of a lightning strike into the chimney towering above the roof increases; during thunderstorms, stay away from electrical wiring, antennas, windows, doors and anything else related to the external environment. Do not be located against a wall next to a tall tree; disconnect radios and televisions from the network, do not use electrical appliances and telephones “this is especially important for rural areas”; “And time for a walk to hide in the nearest building. A thunderstorm in the field is especially dangerous. When looking for a shelter, give preference to a large metal structure or a structure with a metal frame, a residential building or a fugue building protected by a lightning rod; if there is no way to hide in a building, there is no need to hide in small sheds, under lonely trees; do not stay on heights and open unprotected places, near metal or mesh fences, large metal objects, damp walls, lightning rod grounding; in the absence of shelter, lie on the ground, while preference should be given to dry sandy soil, remote from the reservoir; if a thunderstorm caught you in the forest, you need to dig in an area with low-growing trees. You cannot hide under tall trees, especially pines, oaks, poplars. It is better to be no more than 30 m from a separate tall tree. Pay attention - if there are any trees nearby, previously struck by a thunderstorm, split. Better to stay away from this place. The abundance of trees struck by lightning indicates that the soil in this area has a high electrical conductivity, and a lightning strike in the mud area of \u200b\u200bthe area is very likely during a thunderstorm, you cannot be on the water and near the water - swim, fish. It is necessary to move away from the beret, and in the mountains move away from the mountain ridges of sharp towering skips and peaks. When approaching a thunderstorm in the mountains, you need to go down as low as possible. Collect metal objects - climbing hooks, ice axes, pots in a backpack and lower them on a rope 20-30 m lower along the slope; during a thunderstorm, do not play sports in the open air, do not run, as it is believed that sweat and rapid movement "attracts" lightning; if you are caught by a thunderstorm on a bicycle or motorcycle, stop moving, leave them and wait out the thunderstorm at a distance of about 30 m from them; if a thunderstorm finds you in your car, do not leave it. Close the windows and lower the car antenna. Driving in a car during a thunderstorm is not recommended, since a thunderstorm is usually accompanied by a downpour, impairing visibility on the road, and a flash of lightning can blind and cause fear and, as a result, accidents; when meeting with ball lightning, do not show any activity towards it, if possible, remain calm and do not move. You do not need to approach her, touch her with anything, because explosion may occur. You should not run away from ball lightning, because this can entail it with the resulting air flow. Lightning protection: Lightning rods are an effective means of protection against lightning. The priority of the invention of a lightning rod belongs to the American Benjamin Franklin "1749". Somewhat later, in 1758, independently of him, the lightning rod was invented by M.V. Lomonosov. Lightning protection by installing lightning rods is based on the property of lightning to strike the highest and well-grounded metal structures. A lightning rod consists of three main parts: a lightning rod that receives a lightning strike; the current conductor connecting the lightning rod to the ground electrode through which the lightning current flows to the ground. By the type of mono-receivers, the most common are rod and cable. Lightning rods are divided into: single, double and multiple. A protection zone is formed in the vicinity of the lightning rod, that is, a space, and within the limits of which a structure or any other object is protected from a direct lightning strike. The degrees of protection in these areas are over 95 percent. This means that out of 100 lightning strikes on a protected object, less than 5 hits are possible, the rest of the strikes will be perceived by the lightning rod. The protection zone is limited by generatrices of two cones, one of which has a height h equal to the height of the lightning rod and a base radius R \u003d 0.75 h, and the other has a height of 0.8 h and a base radius of 1.5 h "with a radius of the base of the second cone R \u003d h protection efficiency is provided by 99 percent ”. Lightning rods of rod lightning rods are made of steel of any profile, usually round, with a cross section of at least 100mm2 and a length of at least 200mm. To protect against corrosion, oh is painted. Lightning rods of catenary wire lightning rods are made of metal cables with a diameter of about 7 mm. Current leads must withstand heating when very high lightning discharge currents flow for a short period of time, therefore they are made of metals with little resistance. The cross-section of current conductors in air should not be less than 48 mm2, and in the ground - 160 mm 2.Grounding conductors are essential element lightning protection. Their purpose is to provide a sufficiently low resistance to lightning current spreading in the ground. As an earthing switch, metal pipes, plates, coils of wire and nets, pieces (of predatory fittings. Lightning rods should be installed on heights), buried in the ground to a depth of 2 - 2.5 m, can be used, in order to shorten the path of lightning and increase the size of the protection zone. , projections on the roof, television antennas must be grounded with current conductors Metal drainpipes and ladders leading to the roof should preferably be connected to the conductor or grounded separately. A thunderstorm is an extremely beautiful natural phenomenon. As a rule, after a thunderstorm, the weather improves, the air becomes transparent, fresh and clean, saturated with ions formed during lightning discharges. A thunderstorm is a complex atmospheric process, and its occurrence is caused by the formation of cumulonimbus clouds. strong cloudiness is a consequence of significant instability of the atmosphere. a thunderstorm is characterized by strong winds, often intense rain (snow), sometimes with hail. before a thunderstorm (an hour or two before a thunderstorm), atmospheric pressure begins to drop rapidly until a sudden increase in wind, and then begins to rise. Thunderstorms can be divided into local, frontal, night, in the mountains. most often a person is faced with local or thermal thunderstorms. these thunderstorms occur only in hot weather with high atmospheric humidity. usually occur in the summer at midday or afternoon (12-16 hours). water vapor in the rising stream of warm air condenses at a height, while a lot of heat is released and the rising air streams are warmed up. the rising air is warmer compared to the surrounding air, it increases in volume until it turns into a thundercloud. ice crystals and water droplets constantly hover in large storm clouds. as a result of their crushing and friction between themselves and about the air, positive and negative charges are formed, under the influence of which a strong electrostatic field arises (the intensity of the electrostatic field can reach 100,000 V / m). and the difference in potentials between individual parts of a cloud, clouds or cloud and the earth reaches enormous magnitudes. upon reaching critical tension electric air an avalanche-like ionization of air occurs - a spark discharge of lightning. A frontal thunderstorm occurs when masses of cold air penetrate an area where warm weather prevails. cold air displaces warm air, while the latter rises to a height of 5-7 km. warm layers of air invade inside vortices of various directions, a squall is formed, strong friction between the layers of air, which contributes to the accumulation of electric charges. the length of a frontal thunderstorm can reach 100 km. unlike local thunderstorms after frontal thunderstorms it usually gets colder. Thunderstorm activity in different regions of our planet is different. world centers of thunderstorms: the island of Java - 220, equatorial Africa - 150, southern Mexico - 142, Panama - 132, central Brazil - 106 thunderstorm days a year. Russia: Murmansk - 5, Arkhangelsk - 10, St. Petersburg - 15, Moscow - 20 thunderstorm days a year. As a rule, the farther south (for the northern hemisphere of the Earth) and north (for the southern hemisphere of the Earth), the higher the thunderstorm activity. thunderstorms in the arctic and antarctic are very rare. there are 16 million thunderstorms on Earth every year. for every square kilometer of the Earth's surface, there are 2-3 lightning strikes per year. lightning strikes the ground most often from negatively charged clouds. Common line zipper, with which any person repeatedly meets, looks like a branching line. the magnitude of the current in the linear lightning channel is on average 60 - 170 kA, lightning with a current of 290 kA was recorded. the average lightning carries an energy of 250 kWh (900 MJ). energy is mainly realized in the form of light, heat and sound energy. The discharge develops in a few thousandths of a second; at such high currents, the air in the zone of the lightning channel almost instantly heats up to a temperature of 30,000-33,000 ° C. As a result, the pressure rises sharply, the air expands - a shock wave arises, accompanied by a sound pulse - thunder. Before and during a thunderstorm, occasionally in the dark on the tops of tall pointed objects (tops of trees, masts, tops of sharp rocks in the mountains, crosses of churches, lightning rods, sometimes in the mountains people have a glow on their heads, a raised hand or animals). the name "fires of saint elmo". this name was given in antiquity by sailors who watched the glow on the tops of the masts of sailing ships. The glow arises due to the fact that on tall pointed objects the intensity of the electric field created by the static electric charge of the cloud is especially high; As a result, air ionization begins, a glow discharge arises, and reddish tongues of glow appear, at times shortening and lengthening again. do not try to extinguish these lights as no burning. at high electric field strength, a bundle of glowing filaments may appear - a corona discharge, which is accompanied by hiss. Linear lightning can also occasionally occur in the absence of thunderclouds. it is not by chance that the saying arose - "out of the blue". pearl zipper a very rare and beautiful phenomenon. appears immediately after linear lightning and disappears gradually. predominantly the discharge of pearl lightning follows a linear path. the lightning looks like luminous balls, located at a distance of 7-12 m from each other, resembling pearls strung on a string. pearl lightning can be accompanied by significant sound effects. ball lightning is also quite rare. there are 2-3 ball lightning per thousand of ordinary linear lightning. ball lightning, as a rule, appears during a thunderstorm, more often towards its end, less often after a thunderstorm. occurs, but very rarely, in the complete absence of thunderstorms. can be in the form of a ball, ellipsoid, pear, disc, and even a chain of balls connected. lightning color - red, yellow, orange-red, surrounded by a luminous veil. sometimes the lightning is dazzling white with very sharp outlines. the color is determined by the content of various substances in the air. the shape and color of the lightning may change during the discharge. it was not possible to measure the parameters of ball lightning and simulate it in laboratory conditions. Apparently, many observed unidentified flying objects (UFOs) are similar in nature or close to ball lightning. you can read more about the nature of ball lightning
despite this, it must be remembered that a thunderstorm under certain conditions can pose a great danger to humans. everyone should know the nature of a thunderstorm, the rules of behavior during a thunderstorm and methods of protection against lightning.
a night thunderstorm is associated with the cooling of the earth at night and the formation of eddy currents of the rising air.
a thunderstorm in the mountains is explained by the difference in solar radiation to which the southern and northern slopes of the mountains are exposed. night and mountain thunderstorms are mild and short.
zippers differ in type by linear, pearl and ball. pearl and ball lightning is quite rare.