Researchers at the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) used an ultra-fast video camera to capturing the details of how a lightning rod works, in Sao Jose dos Campos, Sao Paulo. The study was published in Geophysical Research Letters (GRL), one of the most important scientific journals in the field.

The study was carried out by INPE physicist Marcelo Saba and meteorologist Diego Ramón, PhD student in space geophysics, in addition to the support of FAPESP (Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo).

The pictures were taken in Sao Jose dos Campos, South Carolina, when a negatively charged beam approached the earth at a speed of 370 km/s. Marcelo Saba explains that lightning rods come into action when lightning approaches the ground. “At the moment when the discharge was only a few tens of meters from the ground, several lightning rods and ledges of buildings located in the area produced upward positive discharges, competing for connection with downward lightning.”

A lightning arrester emits a positive charge, attracting lightning

An image taken just before impact was recorded 25 millionths of a second before impact. This shows how fast the interaction between the beam and the para-beam takes place. According to Saba, the ultra-fast camera recorded about 40,000 images per second.

It’s interesting to see how lightning rods radiate positive charges and the lightning appears to propagate in response to the charges, creating a kind of microfilament in the direction of the lightning rods. Despite the large number of lightning rods in the region, the captured lightning hit the furnace located on the roof of the building. “An accident at the installation left this site unprotected. And the impact of a current of 30,000 amperes caused impressive damage in it, ”commented the researcher.

The study, published in GRL, received a lot of publicity in a scientific journal. The image used as a highlight in this news release was featured on the cover of the latest issue of the magazine due to the rarity of the entry and its importance to lightning research.

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Source: Internet Library.

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