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Lightning can occur between opposite charges within the thunderstorm cloud (intra-cloud lightning) or between opposite charges in the cloud and on the ground (cloud-to-ground lightning). Lightning is one of the oldest observed natural phenomena on earth.
- Damaging Winds Basics
Basic information about severe wind, from the NOAA National...
- Types
In the most common type of cloud-to-ground lightning (CG), a...
- Forecasting
Scientists make a probabilistic prediction of lightning...
- Detection
Currently, cloud-to-ground (CG) and intra-cloud (IC)...
- FAQ
The western mountains of the US also produce strong upward...
- Winter Weather Basics
What we do: NSSL researchers studied winter thunderstorms...
- Damaging Winds Basics
- Lightning Detection Networks
- Lightning Mapping Arrays
- Geostationary Lightning Mapper
- Other Lightning Sensors
Currently, cloud-to-ground (CG) and intra-cloud (IC) lightning flashes are detected and mapped in real-time by two different networks in the United States--the National Lightning Detection Network (NLDN), a system owned and operated by Vaisala Inc, and the Earth Networks Total Lightning Network. These two systems work by detecting radio waves (sfer...
Lightning Mapping Arraysprovide three-dimensional mapping of lightning channel segments near the array. Up to thousands of points can be mapped for an individual lightning flash to reveal its location and the development of its structure. Research LMA's exist in Oklahoma, the Texas Panhandle, northern Alabama, Washington D.C., Kennedy Space Center ...
The Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM)is an instrument on two weather satellites launched in 2016 and 2018 (GOES-16 and GOES-17) that map total lightning (in-cloud and cloud-to-ground) activity continuously day and night over the Americas and adjacent ocean regions. The GLM monitors the optical emissions of lightning which reach space, similar to...
Flashes have also been detected from space during the past few decades by other optical sensors which preceded the GLM - the Optical Transient Detector and the Lightning Imaging Sensor. The Optical Transient Detection was the experimental instrument launched in 1995 before the Lightning Imaging Sensor. The Lightning Imaging Sensor on the TRMM satel...
Cloud-to-ground lightning is divided into two different types of flashes depending on the charge in the cloud where the lightning originates. Thunder. Thunder is the sound made by a flash of lightning. As lightning passes through the air it heats the air quickly. This causes the air to expand rapidly and creates the sound wave we hear as thunder.
Types of Lightning. Intra-Cloud: The most common type of lightning. It happens completely inside the cloud, jumping between different charge regions in the cloud. Intra-cloud lightning is sometimes called sheet lightning because it lights up the sky with a 'sheet' of light.
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Jan 9, 2022 · The first detailed observations of lightning's emergence inside a cloud have exposed how electric fields grow strong enough to let bolts fly.
Dec 18, 2017 · Lightning can strike the ground, the air, or inside clouds, but there are roughly 5 to 10 times more cloud flashes than cloud-to-ground flashes. Discover the different types of lightning!
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There are two main types of lighting: intra-cloud lightning and cloud-to-ground lightning. Intra-cloud lightning is an electrical discharge between oppositely charged areas within the thunderstorm cloud. Cloud-to-ground lightning is a discharge between opposite charges in the cloud and on the ground. Cloud-to-ground lightning can either occur ...
