What causes Intracloud lightning?
Lightning discharges may occur between areas of cloud without contacting the ground. When it occurs between two separate clouds, it is known as cloud-to-cloud (CC) or inter-cloud lightning; when it occurs between areas of differing electric potential within a single cloud, it is known as intra-cloud (IC) lightning.
What does Sheet lightning look like?
Sheet lightning, also known as intra-cloud lightning, refers to lightning within a cloud that lights up as a ‘sheet’ of luminosity during the flash. The lightning itself can’t be seen by a spectator, so it appears as a flash, or sheet of light.
What are the 3 different types of lightning?
There are three common types of lightning: cloud to ground, cloud to cloud and cloud to air. Cloud to ground lightning is the most dangerous. The ground is mainly consisted of positively charged particles while the bottom of violent storm clouds have negative charged particles.
What Colour is lightning?
The distinctive blue-white color of lightning is caused by light emitted as the electrons drop back to their original energy states. Seen from above, lightning storms also produce less well-known emissions of blue or red light above the clouds, known as jets and sprites.
Do different types of lightning produce different amounts of NO x?
The new evidence suggests that the two types of lightning produce approximately the same amount of NO x per flash on average. But since most lightning is intracloud, this suggests a great deal more NO x is produced and remains higher in the atmosphere.
What is the temperature of lightning in the atmosphere?
…of the cloud, as in intracloud lightning, and between the cloud and the positively charged ground, as in cloud-to-ground lightning. The passage of the lightning through the air heats it to above 30,000 K (29,725 °C, or 53,540 °F), causing a large increase in pressure.
What is the temperature of a lightning bolt?
Laboratory and field experiments have revealed that the core of some lightning bolts reaches 30,000 Kelvin (53,540 ºF), a temperature hot enough to instantly melt sand and break oxygen and nitrogen molecules into individual atoms.
What happens to lightning when it hits the ground?
…of the cloud, as in intracloud lightning, and between the cloud and the positively charged ground, as in cloud-to-ground lightning. The passage of the lightning through the air heats it to above 30,000 K (29,725 °C, or 53,540 °F), causing a large increase in pressure. This produces a powerful shock…