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How the atmosphere ionizes?
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* Lightning propagates as a progressive plasma. The first step in this process is the development of small, oppositely charged areas in the cloud, shown above in the gray circles, with negative charge at one end and positive charge at the other. These regions can be only millimeters apart or several kilometers apart. The distance is only relative to the potential electrical difference created between the charged regions.
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* Electrons in the negative region are drawn electrostatically to the closest positive point in the general direction of the main positive region of the cloud, resulting in electrical breakdown of the air in this ion-rich environment (Step #1).
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* As the electrons move, a plasma channel forms in their wake as other electrons move down the electron channel. This process causes a great deal of heat to occur and hail to melt rapidly, initiating the sulfate reforming process discussed earlier, and more O-2 and SO3 to form as a result of the heat in the reforming process.
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* As this occurs the electrons leave the O-2 and add to the forming plasma and this is how we eventually end-up with 100's of thousands of volts. This process is similar to a Townsend Discharge in its effects.
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* At this point the electrons move to the next positive point and if there are two of equal potential, the electrons will branch into two arms or leaders (Step #2).
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* If, as this occurs, there is no positive potential available, the leader will stop as seen at Step #4. However, in Step #3 and #4 these leaders still produce more O-2 and electrons in the process, building the overall negative potential.
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* This process continues until all the positive potential is satisfied with electrons.
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* This process applies to all lightning plasmas, except "ball lightning" which is a special case that will be explained separately.
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* Once the lightning leader reaches the positive region at the far end, or the ground, the plasma acts like a zero-resistance wire, conducting all the electrons from the cloud to the positive potential region (ground). Multiple discharges can occur at this stage because with each discharge, more O-2 and electrons are produced. It is the subsequent melting of hail that causes this to occur. A plasma is a very greedy conductor and moves electrons at near the speed of light, causing a coronal discharge.
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* This is the reason that science currently cannot detect a charge large enough to cause lightning in a thunderstorm - because it is only present for a very short duration as the lightning discharge is occurring. It isn't present after the positive ions are satisfied with new electrons.
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* One other reason we see lightning as a steady stream is because of a phenomenon called the persistence of vision, similar to shining a light in your eye and you continue to see the light after it has been turned off.
Discharge
When the electric field becomes strong enough, an electrical discharge (the bolt of lightning) occurs within clouds or between clouds and the ground. During the strike, successive portions of air become a conductive discharge channel as the electrons and positive ions of air molecules are pulled away from each other and forced to flow in opposite directions.
The electrical discharge rapidly superheats the discharge channel, causing the air to expand rapidly and produce a shock wave heard as thunder. The rolling and gradually dissipating rumble of thunder is caused by the time delay of sound coming from different portions of a long stroke.[23]
Gurevich's runaway breakdown theory
A theory of lightning initiation, known as the "runaway breakdown theory", proposed by Aleksandr Gurevich[24] of the Lebedev Physical Institute in 1992 suggests that lightning strikes are triggered by cosmic rays which ionize atoms, releasing electrons that are accelerated by the electric fields, ionizing other air molecules and making the air conductive by a runaway breakdown, then "seeding" a lightning strike
Extracted from Wikipedia.org
