THUNDER STORM ELECTRIFICATION

CHARGE GENERATION

All clouds are electrified to some degree.

Electrical discharge produces electric field that exceed the dielectric
break down of cloudy air ( 1MVm-1 ) resulting in an initial intra cloud
( between two points in the same cloud ) lighting discharge.
Magnitude of charge varies between 10- 100c to few nano columb.
- ve charge is distributed ( main charging zone ) lies between the
temperature range from -100c to -200c.
The +ve charge is distributed most widely above -ve charge.
Majority of thunder storms occur in cold clouds.
Thunder storms follows due to heavy precipitation in the cloud in
the form of graupel or hail stones.
When graupel or hail stone ( called as rimer ) falls through a cloud
it is -vely charged due to the collision with small cloud particles
( droplets or ice ), in the main charging zone.
These cloud particles then acquire +ve charge & moves upwards
due to up draft causing wide spread distribution of +ve charge over
-ve charge.
Magnitude of charge/collision is 10 fc.
Type of charge attained by a rimer depends on
Temperature
Liquid water content of the cloud.
Relative rate of growth from vapour phase of the rimer & ice
crystal.
If rimer grows slowly in size w-r-t the ice crystal, it acquires a -ve
charge & the ice crystal, an equivalent +ve charge.
Latent heat released by the rimer as it freezes will raise the
surface T of the rimer , above the ambient T, the rate of growth of
rimer will be less than that of ice crystals in the cloud.
Consequently, when ice crystals rebounds from the rimer, it carries a
+ve charge, while an equivalent -ve charge is carried by the rimer.
+ve ions moves faster through ice than -ve ions.
During vapour deposition, +ve ions will move faster towards the
interior producing a -ve charge on the surface.
During collision, materials are mixed & -ve charge will be transferred
to the particle with a slow growth rate.
LIGHTNING & THUNDER
Due to the separation of electric charges, an electric field is
developed whose intensity increases & exceeds up to the limit where
the medium ( air ) will break down.
The dielectric break down will assume the shape of lightning flash
that may be classified as
___________________________________________________________________________

Cloud flashes
Ground flash
( with in the clouds, between the clouds, ( Between
cloud & ground ) between cloud & air)

Stepped leader is the ground flash that charge the earth -vely
in the form of discharge which originates from the lower main
-ve charge centre. This takes place in discrete steps.
Each step lasts for 1s, during which the stepped leader
advances through 50m & the time interval between steps is 50s.
Stepped leader is intiated by a local discharge between the small
pocket of +ve charge at the base of a thunder cloud & the
lower part of -vely charged region.
Discharge releases electrons that were previously attached to the
precipitation particles in the -vely charged region.
These free electrons neutralise the small pocket of +ve charge
that may be present below the main charging zone & then move
toward the ground.
As the -vely charged stepped leader approaches the ground, it
induces +ve charges on the ground, especially on protruding
objects, & when it is 10 -100m from the ground, a discharge moves
up from the ground to meet it.
After contact is made between the stepped leader & the upward
connecting discharge, large number of electrons flow to the
ground & a highly luminous & visible lightning stroke propagates
upwards in a continuous fashion from the ground to the cloud
along the path followed by the stepped leader.
This flow of electrons ( return stroke ) is responsible for the bright
channel of light that is observed as lighting stroke.
Since stroke moves upwards quickly ( in about 100 s ), the whole
return stroke channel appears to the eye to brighten
simultaneously.
After the downward flow of electrons both the return stroke &
the ground, to which it is linked, remain +vely charged in
response to the remainder of the -ve charge in the main
charging zone.
The first stroke which carries a current of 30,000A is followed by
subsequent strokes along the same channel,l provided that
additional electrons are supplied to the top of the previous stroke
with in about 0.1s of the cessation of current.
Additional electrons are supplied to the channel by so called K or J
streamers, which connect the top of the previous stroke to
progressively more distant region of the vely charged area of the
cloud.
A -vely charged leader, called the dart leader, then moves
continuously downward to the earth along the main path of the
first stroke channel & deposits further electrons to the ground.
The dart leader is followed by another visible return stroke to
the cloud.
 First stroke of a flash generally has many downward directed
branches, because the stepped leader is strongly branched,
subsequent strokes usually show no branching because they
follow only the main channel of the first stroke.
Most lightning flashes contain 3 or 4 strokes, separated in time by
50ms which can remove 20c = or more charge from the lower
region of a thunder cloud.
The charge generating mechanisms with in the cloud must then
Repolish the charge before another stroke can occur.This can be
done in less than 10s.
Most flashes to mountain tops & top buildings are initiated by
stepped leaders that start near the top of the building, move
upward & branch toward the base of a cloud.
Lightning rod protects tall structures from damage by routing the
strokes to the ground through the rod & down conductors rather
than through the structure itself.
A lightning discharge consists of a single, slowly moving spark or
leader that travels between the +vely & the -vely charged
regions in a few tenths of a second. It produces a low but
continuous luminosity in the cloud up on which may be super
imposed several brighter pulses, each lasting about 1ms.
Tropical thunder storms produce about 10 cloud discharges for
every ground discharge, but in T latitudes the frequencies of the
2 types of discharge are similar.
Return stroke increases the T of the channel to 30,000K in short
time that the air has no time to expand. So pressure increases
to 10 100 atm.
High pressure channel then expands rapidly in to the surrounding
air & creates a very powerful shock wave ( which travels faster
than sound) & farther out, a sound wave that is heard as
thunder.
Thunder is also produced by stepped & dart leaders, but it is
much weaker than that from return strokes.
Thunder cannot be heard beyond 25km from a lightning
discharge.
At great distances, thunder passes over an observers head
because it is generally refracted upward due to the decrease of
T with height.
Most lighting flashes carry -ve charge to the ground, about 10% of
the lightning flashes in mid-latitude thunderstorms carry a +ve
charge to the ground.
These flashes carry largest peak currents & charge transfers. They
originate from the horizontal displacement by wind shear of +ve
charge in the upper regions of a thunder storm or in some
cases, from the main charge centres in a thunder storm being
inverted from normal.