Fl

ashe
sands
tr
ike
s
LI
GHNI
NGBOL
TS
Cert
ai
npr ominentstru
cture
softenatt
rac
tfreque
ntli
ghtni
ngstr
ikes
. TheCNTo weri
nTor ontoisst
ruckmany
t
imeseverysumme r
.
Thebest
-studi
eda ndunderst
oodformofl i
ghtni
ngiscloudt
og r
ou nd(CG)lig
htni
ng.
Al t
hou ghmor e
common, i
ntr
a -
cloud(IC)andcloud-t
o-c
loud(CC)fl
ashesar
everyd if
fi
cul
ttost
udygi
vent herear
eno
"phy
sic
al"point
st omonitorins
idethecl
ouds.Als
o,gi
ventheveryl
o wprobabi
li
tyofl
ight
ni ngst
ri
kingthe
samepointre
peatedlyandconsi
stent
ly
,sci
enti
fi
cinqu
iryisdi
ff
icu
ltev e
ninarea
sofhighCGf req
uency.

Al
i
ght
nings
tr
ikef
romc
lou
dtog
rou
ndi
ntheMoj
aveDe
ser
t,Ca
li
for
nia

Anintr
a-c
loudfl
ash.
Ali
ght
ningf
la
shwi
thi
nthec
lou
dil
l
umi
nat
est
hee
nti
rec
lou
d.
Li
ghtni
nglea
d e
rs

Ado
wnwa
rdl
ead
ert
rav
elst
owa
rdse
art
h,br
anc
hinga
sitg
oes
.

Light
nings tri
kecausedbythec onnectionoft woleaders
, posit
iveshowni nblueandne gati
veinr ed
Inapr ocessnotwe ll
und e
rstood,abidirecti
onalchannelofi oni
zeda i
r,cal
leda" l
eade
r",isinit
iat
edbe t
we en
opposite
ly-charg
edr eg
ionsinat hundercloud.Leadersar
ee l
ectr
ica
ll
yc onducti
v ec
hannelsofi onizedg a
st hat
propagatethrough,orareotherwiseattra
c t
edto,regi
onswi thac harg
eoppos iteofthatofthel eadertip.The
negat
ivee ndoft hebidi
rect
ional l
eaderfi
llsapositi
vecharg eregi
on,al
s ocal
ledawe l
l,i
nsidethec loudwhi le
theposit
ivee ndfil
l
sane gat
ivec harg
ewe ll.Leader
sof t
ens pli
t,f
ormingbr anchesinatree-l
i
k epattern.[
49]In
addit
ion,ne gat
iv
ea ndsomepos iti
veleade r
strave
l i
nad i
sc onti
nuousfa s
hion,inaprocesscall
e d"stepping".
Ther esu
ltingjer
kymo veme ntoft heleaderscanber ea
dil
yobs e
rvedins l
ow-mot i
onv i
deosofl i
ghtning
fla
shes.

Iti
spos s
ibl
eforonee ndoft hel
eadertofi
ll
theopposit
ely
-charg
e dwe llenti
rel
ywhiletheotherendisst
il
l
act
ive.Whent hi
sha ppens,t
heleaderendwhichfi
l
ledthewe l
lma ypr opagateout
sideofthethu nder
cl
ouda nd
res
ulti
ne it
herac l
ou d-t
o-ai
rfla
shorac l
oud-t
o-gr
ou ndfl
ash.Inat ypicalcl
oud-t
o-groundfl
a s
h, abi
dir
ect
ional
l
e a
derini
tia
tesbetwe e
nt hema i
nnegati
veandlowerposit
iv
ec har
ger egionsinathund e
rcl
oud .Theweaker
posi
tiv
ec har
ger e
gioni sfi
l
ledquic
klybythenegat
ivelea
derwhicht henpr opagat
estowardthe
i
nd uct
ive
ly-
cha r
gedg round.

Thepositi
vel
yandne gat
ivelycharge
dleade r
sproce
e di
noppos i
tedi
rect
ions,posit
iv
eupwardswit
hinthecloud
andnegati
vetowardsthee a
rth.Bothionicchannel
sproceed,
inthei
rrespecti
ved i
re
cti
ons,i
nanumbe rof
succ
essi
vespurts
.Eachle ader"pool
s"ionsa tt
hele
a di
ngti
ps,shoot
ingou toneormor enewle
ader
s,
mome nt
a r
il
ypooli
nga gaintoconc e
ntrat
ec har
gedions,t
henshooti
ngou tanotherl
eader
.Thenegat
ivele
ad e
r
cont
inuestopropag
a t
ea nds pl
itasi
thead sdownward,oft
enspeedi
ngupa si
tg e
tscl
osert
otheEarth'
ssurfac
e.

About90% ofionicchannell
e ngt
hsbetween"pools
"areappr
oxi
ma t
el
y45m( 148ft
)inle
ngt
h.[
50]The
est
abl
is
hme ntoftheionicchannelta
kesacompa r
ati
vel
ylongamountoft
ime(hundr
edsofmill
is
econds)i
n
compari
sontotheresul
tingdi
s cha
rge,whic
hoccurswit
hinafewdozenmi
crose
conds.Theel
ect
ri
ccurre
nt
neede
dtoe st
abl
ishthechannel,measure
dinthetensorhundr
edsofampere
s,i
sd wa
rfedbys
ubsequent
cur
rent
sd u
ringtheactua
l di
sc
ha rg
e.

Ini
ti
ationoftheli
ghtni
ngleaderisnotwellunderstood.Thee lec
tri
cfi
eldstrengthwi t
hinthet hunder
cloudis
nottypic
all
ylar
geenou g
ht oi
niti
atethi
sprocessb yitsel
f.
[5
1 ]Manyh y
pothe s
e shavebe e
npr opos e
d.One
hypothesi
spost
ulat
esthatshowersofrela
ti
vist
ice l
ec t
ronsarecreat
edbyc osmi craysandaret henacce
lerat
ed
tohighervel
oci
ti
esviaaprocesscall
edrunawaybr eakdown. Astheserel
ati
visti
celectr
onsc ol
lideandionize
neutr
al a
irmole
cule
s,theyini
ti
atelea
d e
rformation. Anotherh y
pothes
isinvol
v eslocal
lyenhanc e
de l
ect
r i
cfi
elds
bei
ngf ormednearel
ong at
edwa t
erdrople
tsoric ecrysta
ls.
[
5 2]Per
cola
tionthe ory
, e
speci
all
yf orthecaseo
L
OfREM IPS