Lightning map seattle11/11/2023 “The correlation we saw was very clear and significant, and it was very thrilling to see that it occurs in the three regions,” Efraim said. The three regions that experience the most superbolts - the Northeast Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea and the Altiplano - all have one thing in common: short gaps between lightning charging zones and surfaces. And a higher current means stronger lightning bolts. ![]() Storms close to the surface allow higher-energy bolts to form because, generally, a shorter distance means less electrical resistance and therefore a higher current. Instead, a smaller distance between the charging zone and land or water surface led to significantly more energized lightning. The researchers found that contrary to previous studies, aerosols did not have a significant effect on superbolt strength. They then looked for correlations between each of these factors and superbolt strength, gleaning insights into what causes stronger lightning - and what doesn’t. They used these lightning data to extract key properties from the storms’ environments, including land and water surface height, charging zone height, cloud top and base temperatures, and aerosol concentrations. To determine what causes superbolts to cluster over certain areas, Efraim and his co-authors needed to know the time, location and energy of select lightning strikes, which they obtained from a set of radio wave detectors. A global explanation of superbolt hotspots remained elusive. Past studies have explored whether superbolt strength could be affected by sea spray, shipping lane emissions, ocean salinity or even desert dust, but those studies were limited to regional bodies of water and could explain at most only part of the regional distribution of superbolts. Above the freezing line, in the upper reaches of the cloud, electrification takes place and generates the lightning’s “charging zone.” Efraim wondered whether changes in freezing line altitude, and subsequently charging zone height, could influence a storm’s ability to form superbolts. But for lightning to form, a cloud must straddle the line where the air temperature reaches 0 degrees Celsius (32 degrees Fahrenheit). Storm clouds often reach 12 to 18 kilometers (7.5 to 11 miles) in height, spanning a wide range of temperatures. The research was published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, AGU’s journal dedicated to advancing the understanding of Earth’s atmosphere and its interaction with other components of the Earth system. The new study provides the first explanation for the formation and distribution of superbolts over land and sea worldwide. "We wanted to know what makes these powerful superbolts more likely to form in some places as opposed to others," Efraim said. “Superbolts, even though they’re only a very, very tiny percentage of all lightning, they’re a magnificent phenomenon,” said Avichay Efraim, a physicist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and lead author of this study.Ī 2019 report found that superbolts tend to cluster over the Northeast Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea and the Altiplano in Peru and Bolivia, which is one of the tallest plateaus on Earth. While the average lightning strike contains around 300 million volts, superbolts are 1,000 times stronger and can cause major damage to infrastructure and ships, the authors say. Superbolts make up less than 1% of total lightning, but when they do strike, they pack a powerful punch. These conditions are responsible for superbolt “hotspots” above some oceans and tall mountains. ![]() WASHINGTON - Superbolts are more likely to strike the closer a storm cloud’s electrical charging zone is to the land or ocean’s surface, a new study finds. Liza Lester, +1 (202) 777-7494, (UTC-4 hours)Īvichay Efraim, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, (UTC+3 hours) When a storm's charging zone sits close to the Earth's surface, the resulting “superbolts” can be 1,000 times stronger than regular lightning. Scientists figured out what causes Earth’s strongest lightning This press release and accompanying multimedia are available online at: view moreĬredit: Efraim et al (2023), adapted from Holzworth et al. Superbolt strikes tend to cluster in regoins where storms' electrical charging zones are closest to the Earth's surface, according to a new study in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres. ![]() The three regions in polygons have the highest concentration of super-charged lightning making them superbolt hotspots. Global distribution of all superbolts from 2010-2018, with red points indicating the strongest lightning strokes.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply.AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |