Mimicking a randomized control trial of wildfires, scientists use satellites to uncover the key role of vegetation dryness in wildfire risk, aiding wildfire management and preparedness in California.
lightning
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Simulating the Journey of Pollen in the Atmosphere
A new study couples an emission and transport scheme of pollen from vegetation, and explores pollen’s evolution in different atmospheric conditions and its impacts on clouds and precipitation.
Posted inNews
How to Bend Lightning with a Laser Beam
For the first time, scientists have redirected lightning using a laser beam. And that’s just the start of what’s possible.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Scientists Can Now Map Lightning in 3D
A new approach enables meter-scale localization of lightning strikes. And it’s already illuminating the basic physics of the phenomenon.
Posted inNews
New Crowdsourced Science Project Will Study Sprites
The NASA-funded project is asking sky gazers, storm chasers, and scientists to capture photos of sprites and other optical phenomena that flash above thunderclouds after a lightning strike.
Posted inNews
Salt Spray May Stifle Lightning over the Sea
New research suggests that sea-salt aerosols seed large raindrops that starve clouds of water needed to make lightning. But not all scientists are convinced it’s simply about salt spray.
Posted inNews
Gigantic Jet of Lightning Mapped over Oklahoma
The most powerful gigantic jet ever recorded fortuitously appeared over a sensor array in Oklahoma, enabling scientists to map the structure of the phenomenon for the first time.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Lightning in Alaskan Tundra Ignites Most Fires
Cloud-to-ground lightning is found to be the most important controller of wildfire occurrence in the Artic tundra of Alaska from 2001 to 2019.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Lightning Had Difficulty Forming in Early Earth’s Atmosphere
Lightning could have sparked the beginnings of life, but the primordial atmosphere might have made it more difficult for lightning to initiate.
Posted inNews
Cleaner Pandemic Air Led to Reduced Lightning Strikes Worldwide
As people stayed home during the COVID-19 lockdowns, air quality improved. But the improvement was accompanied by an unusual meteorological side effect: a decrease in lightning.