High-energy ions of cosmic radiation apparently contribute to the drawing of thunderstorms
On the ground there are 100 flashes per second. The cause of a thunderstorm is the charge separation within a cloud. So far, it was unclear how to achieve the electrical breakthrough field strong for air of 2.5 mV / m.
The cosmic radiation seems to be the council’s solution, it was explained why already in an electric field strength of 0.3 mV / m — that is only about a tenth of the electric breakdown field strength of the air and is in the range of present measured values — atmospheric electron laves and thus Flashes can occur. A clear experiment is still missing.
A wet air layer in land-near-near and a rough vertical temperature gradient in the atmosphere are factors that face the emergence of a thunderstorm. The rising of the wet warm air can a thunderstorm out. Because of the uphill in the clouds and the uneven distribution of ice and water in coarse high separate the electric charges — this is called contact or friction electrical. If the field thus constructed is strong enough for an electric breakthrough, so a spark suppression, a flash unloads — as far as the previous performance.
The entire released energy of a flash amounts to around 250 kWh. Only a part of it love to use as an electricity, the greater part is radiated.
Unfortunately she has a decisive blemish. For an electrical breakthrough of the air, a field strength of about 2.5 mV / m is necessary; A thermally released electron must absorb a kinetic energy on the middle free route, which is inversely proportional to the molecular weight density, which is sufficient for ionization of a nitrogen or oxygen molecule. As far as known, no researcher has ever detected such a rough electric field strength in a thunderstorm cloud, the measured values are between 0.1 and 0.4 mV / m. With charge separation in a cloud, the electric breakdown field strength required for a discharge reaches 2.5 mV / m?
The magazine New Scientist reported on the 7. May 2005 on page 30 of another approach; Accordingly, thunderstorms from high-energy ions of cosmic radiation, also called high radiation. "No one has held so far what’s going on here", Means Joe Dwyer, who researches the Technical University of Floridas in Melbourne. He hopes to be close to the solution of the problem. High-energy ray radiation radiated from flash (before the flash can be sampled) indicates the cosmic radiation as the cause of flashing.
If the electric field is stronger than the breakthrough field strength of 2.5 mV / m, the field ionizes the air spontaneously; The unidentified free electrons produce thermally. High-energy ions of cosmic radiation could exclude unloading in electric field thicknesses under 2.5 mV / m. If such a ion meets an air molecule, it can release this ionizing and again extremely energy-equal electrons. The electric field of the thunderstorm cloud further speeds up the electrons until they turn into an air molecule and ionize this. The result is an avalanche break.
The advantage of this explanation: It requires only one electric field strength of 0.3 mV / m — a value that is still contracted with the known quantities. Energy-equal electrons can radiate braking radiation when impacting matter; Braking radiation with photon energies of 10 megaelectron vehicles already observed other scientists via satellite (homemade gamma radiation in the earth’s atmosphere), which stalls the new approach.