Gigantic jet discharges evolve stepwise through the middle atmosphere

Oscar A. van der Velde; Joan Montanyà; Jesús A. López; Steven A. Cummer

doi:10.1038/s41467-019-12261-y

Nature Communications (Sep 2019)

Gigantic jet discharges evolve stepwise through the middle atmosphere

Oscar A. van der Velde,
Joan Montanyà,
Jesús A. López,
Steven A. Cummer

Affiliations

Oscar A. van der Velde: Lightning Research Group, Electrical Engineering Department, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya – BarcelonaTech, Colon 1
Joan Montanyà: Lightning Research Group, Electrical Engineering Department, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya – BarcelonaTech, Colon 1
Jesús A. López: Lightning Research Group, Electrical Engineering Department, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya – BarcelonaTech, Colon 1
Steven A. Cummer: Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Duke University

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-12261-y
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 10, no. 1
pp. 1 – 10

Abstract

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Gigantic jets, lightning discharges originating from tropical thunderstorms that can reach the base of the ionosphere at 90 km altitude, have not been captured using high-speed video cameras before. Here, the first such images are reported, showing a step-wise evolution of gigantic jets during their rising phase.

Published in Nature Communications

ISSN: 2041-1723 (Online)
Publisher: Nature Portfolio
Country of publisher: United Kingdom
LCC subjects: Science
Website: https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

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