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Optical observation of needles in upward lightning flashes.


ABSTRACT: Why lightning sometimes has multiple discharges to ground is an unanswered question. Recently, the observation of small plasma structures on positive leaders re-ignited the search. These small plasma structures were observed as pulsing radio sources along the positive leader length and were named "needles". Needles may be the missing link in explaining why lightning flickers with multiple discharges, but this requires further confirmation. In this work we present the first optical observations of these intriguing plasma structures. Our high-speed videos show needles blinking in slow motion in a sequential mode. We show that they are formed at unsuccessful leader branches, are as bright as the lightning leaders, and report several other optical characteristics.

SUBMITTER: Saba MMF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7562907 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Optical observation of needles in upward lightning flashes.

Saba Marcelo M F MMF   de Paiva Amanda R AR   Concollato Luke C LC   Warner Tom A TA   Schumann Carina C  

Scientific reports 20201015 1


Why lightning sometimes has multiple discharges to ground is an unanswered question. Recently, the observation of small plasma structures on positive leaders re-ignited the search. These small plasma structures were observed as pulsing radio sources along the positive leader length and were named "needles". Needles may be the missing link in explaining why lightning flickers with multiple discharges, but this requires further confirmation. In this work we present the first optical observations o  ...[more]

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