Lightning

Even though man continually attempts to understand the complex physics associated with cloud-to-ground and cloud-to-cloud (or intracloud) lightning, its existence precedes even the existence of life. In fact, some theorists contend that lightning was an integral part of whatever complex phenomena caused life to occur. In humankind, lightning has been a part of ancient cultures, like Greece, where Zeus would rain down bolts of lightning to demonstrate his wrath. Native American tribes believed the Thunderbird caused the phenomena by flashing its wings. However, Benjamin Franklin was the first to demonstrate that lightning was an electrical phenomenon in the 18th century. His now famous kite experiments proved that lightning was electrical in nature and they paved the way for his invention of the lightning rod to protect against the enormous damage that lightning can do, "Every year lightning causes 10,000 wildlands fires in the United States. Annual lightning damage to homes, utilities, and aviation is reported at over $100 million. Underreporting, and lack of a central data gathering system, indicates the figures are actually much higher. Some recent estimates reach $5 billion" (Cutlip 28).

Thunderstorms, a very common type of storm, are the weather phenomenon most associated with cloud-to-ground lightning. Because of the nature of thunderstorms, conditions prevail that begin to build up electrical charges inside of

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e dielectric material in a capacitor. The lightning flash occurs whenever the difference between the positive and negative charges (electrical potential) becomes great enough to overcome the air resistance. The causes a conductive path for current to flow between the two charges. This electrical potential can be as high as 100 million volts, "A lightning flash lasts for about 0.5 sec and is composed of a few strokes, which last for a few msec. A flash may discharge a charge as large as Q=100 C which was originally separated by a distance, on average, of 5 km, dissipating about 9x109Q2 divided by R = 109 � 1010 J of energy and generating an average power of about 109 � 1010 W. Since the global flash rate, which is distributed preferentially near the equator is about 100 flashes/sec, the total mean power generated globally by lightning is about 1011 � 1012 W. As a reference, the average power consumption of the United States is about 5 x 1011 W." (Valdivia 3). There are two divisions within cloud electrification theory, convection and precipitation. In reality, it is probably a combination of both which gives us a clearer understanding of the nature of lightning. The basic lightning bolt can be represented as a simple spar

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