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lightning

College students smile with open and closed boxes with tech equipment, labeled HELEN
Posted inNews

Students Launch Balloon-Borne Payloads into Thunderstorms

Katherine Kornei, Science Writer by Katherine Kornei 28 January 202019 January 2023

The High Energy Lightning Emission Network project hopes to detect elusive bursts of light and particles called terrestrial gamma ray flashes.

Model of cloud development, charge evolution, and cloud-to-ground lightning initiation in Hokuriku winter clouds
Posted inEditors' Highlights

Microphysics and Positive Lightning in Hokuriku Winter Clouds

by Minghua Zhang 27 December 20199 March 2023

The microphysics of the frequent, and frequently positive, lightning of Hokuriku winter clouds was investigated by systematic, in situ observation of individual precipitation particle type and charge.

Brown smoke billows from the Willow Fire in Payson, Ariz., in 2004, fueling the formation of a towering pyrocumulonimbus system above
Posted inNews

What Do You Get When You Cross a Thunderstorm with a Wildfire?

Jenessa Duncombe, Staff Writer by Jenessa Duncombe 27 December 201914 March 2023

Lightning, fire vortices, and black hail are some of the frightening features of fire-fueled storms, which may become more common in the future.

Posted inEditors' Highlights

High Resolution Imaging of Ionosphere by Lightning

by V. Pasko 14 December 20185 July 2022

The three-dimensional distribution of electron density in the Earth’s ionosphere could be obtained using the broadband radiation of naturally occurring lightning discharges.

Posted inEditors' Highlights

What Makes a Terrestrial Gamma-Ray Flash in Thunderclouds?

by Minghua Zhang 13 November 201810 March 2023

Two lightning flashes were observed in the same location: One produced a bright gamma-ray flash with about 1000 counts per millisecond, but the other did not.

Posted inEditors' Highlights

Polarization Measurements Probe the Physics of Lightning

by Minghua Zhang 31 October 20185 January 2022

A new measurement capability can detect the polarization of the radio frequency wave of lightning sources, which reveals different forms of lightning breakdown processes.

This active storm near Batesville, Texas, produced frequent cloud-to-ground lightning.
Posted inScience Updates

Lightning: A New Essential Climate Variable

by V. Aich, R. Holzworth, S. J. Goodman, Y. Kuleshov, C. Price and E. Williams 7 September 201813 February 2023

Lightning is a symptom and a cause of climate change. A recently established task team is working to make lightning data available and useful for climate science and service applications.

Aragats Research Station
Posted inScience Updates

High-Energy Processes in Earth’s Atmosphere and Lightning

by A. A. Chilingarian 9 July 201810 March 2023

Thunderstorms and Elementary Particle Acceleration (TEPA-2017) Symposium; Nor Amberd, Armenia, 2–6 October 2017

View from the International Space Station of lightning in Tropical Cyclone Bansi as it travels over the Indian Ocean in 2015.
Posted inScience Updates

Monitoring Tropical Cyclones with Lightning and Satellite Data

by N. N. Solorzano, J. N. Thomas and C. Bracy 19 February 201831 March 2023

A new storm-following tool continually watches for lightning over the open ocean. Combined with satellite microwave data, the new real-time observations will improve forecasts of tropical cyclones.

Lightning bolt striking a field
Posted inNews

New Model Predicts Lightning Strikes; Alert System to Follow

Kimberly M. S. Cartier, News Writing and Production Intern for Eos.org by Kimberly M. S. Cartier 11 December 201723 February 2023

Data from thousands of past storms help guide a new forecast model that predicts where and when lightning may hit.

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