Abstract
The electrification of thunderstorms is the result of charge transfer during interactions between cloud and precipitation particles1–4. Many laboratory studies with initially uncharged particles5–10 have shown that charge is transferred when ice crystals collide with soft hailstones, the charge magnitudes being highly dependent on cloud conditions. Here we describe laboratory experiments which show that the charge transferred during collisions of this type is adequate to account for thunderstorm electrification, but that the net charge transfer is limited, perhaps as a result of local corona breakdown. Light emission from the corona has now been detected. Relatively large charge transfers may occur during contact, but this charge remains essentially localized at the interacting surfaces long enough for corona discharge to cause some charge to return as the particles separate. These results indicate the need for revised charge transfer values in models of thunderstorm electrification.
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Keith, W., Saunders, C. Light emission from colliding ice particles. Nature 336, 362–364 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1038/336362a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/336362a0
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