Scientists Close In On Source Of X-rays In Lightning

July 16, 2008

University of Florida and Florida Institute of Technology engineering researchers have narrowed the search for the source of X-rays emitted by lightning, a feat that could one day help predict where lightning will strike.

Engineering researchers have narrowed the search for the source of X-rays emitted by lightning, a feat that could one day help predict where lightning will strike. (Credit: iStockphoto/Shane Shaw)

“From a practical point of view, if we are going to ever be able to predict when and where lightning will strike, we need to first understand how lightning moves from one place to the other,” said Joseph Dwyer, a professor in the department of physics and space sciences at FIT. “At present, we do not have a good handle on this. X-rays are giving us a close-up view of what is happening inside the lightning as it moves.”

An article detailing the UF and FIT team’s findings recently appeared in the online edition of Geophysical Research Letters, published by the American Geophysical Union.

The researchers used an array of electric field and X-ray detectors at a UF/FIT-operated lightning research facility in North Florida to hunt the source of X-rays emitted by lightning strokes. Their main conclusion: As the lightning comes down from the cloud toward the ground in 30- to 160-foot stages known as “steps” in a “step leader” process, the X-rays shoot out just below each step, mere millionths of a second after the step completes.

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Posted in Environmental, More Stuff, Nature