Glossary of surface technology

Lightning discharge

Lightning discharges follow as a compensation of different charge centres when the voltage between them becomes too great.

They describe an electrical discharge at high gas pressure that occurs between the thundercloud and the ground.

In a channel of lightning, the current intensity can be up to 10,000 A. The plasma and the neutral gas in the lightning channel heat up extremely due to the current flow. The resultant instantaneous extension of the channel of lightning produces the thunder. Recently it was found that lightning discharge also takes place between clouds and the ionosphere.

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