The thunder that everyone exclaimed was actually what we attracted ...

Naturally, the lives of lightning and lightning are strange and difficult to predict; and artificially leads lightning, which is the technology that makes thunder and lightning under know -how.

This article is reproduced from the "Gezhi Tao Tao forum" (ID: Selftalks)

Author: Jiang Rubin · Researcher at the Institute of Atmospheric Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences

Hello everyone, I am Jiang Rubin, from the Institute of Atmospheric Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. I am glad to have the opportunity to share with you the story and experience of dealing with thunderbolt today.

When it comes to thunder, everyone should be familiar with. Just like this picture, it often appears in the severe weather of the wind and rain. Everyone may have watched some Fairy -themed film and television dramas, of which thunder and lightning often associate with "crossing".

Why is this? I think it may be because punishments like "electric tuning" are the biggest pain that people can imagine. Therefore, in the imagination of the scenes of the end of the world, the world of the world, the image of the world is often accompanied by the image of the thunder. This shows to a certain extent that people's awe of thunder and lightning also shows that the harm of lightning and power is great and fierce.

In the ancient myths of the West, thunderbolt is often a representative of mysterious power. For example, Rayzu of ancient Taoism in my country, Lei Gong and Mother of many Asian countries, as well as Thor in Western mythology.

"Thunderstorm without evil"

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People are very natural for the awe and panic of lightning, because it does bring serious threats to all aspects of our lives, and even cause serious casualties. India, which is relatively low in lightning protection and the low awareness of lightning protection. In severe cases, hundreds of people may die due to lightning strikes in one month.

Everyone pays attention to the four people under this tree, do you feel a little scary? Of course, this video also reminds us again: During thunderstorms, do not avoid rain under the big tree.

March 2019 Liangshan Prefecture Forest Fire in Sichuan Province

Thunderbolt disaster is actually not the only way. At the end of March 2019, a severe forest fire occurred in Liangshan Prefecture, Sichuan Province, and 32 fire soldiers died in the fire. The culprit of this fire is lightning.

July 23 July 23 The Great Railway Traffic Accident

There is also a special heartache in July 23, which was particularly heartbroken. The trains rear -ended the trains that caused this shocking disaster. The cause behind this disaster is that the lightning strike leads to a serious failure of the equipment of the train operation control center.

Destruction and power distribution lines (upper left) chemical plants and oil depot explosions (upper right)

Broadcasting and communication interruption (lower left) Aerospace was strike by lightning (down right)

In addition, lightning can cause damage to the transmission line, leading to large -scale power outages in urban and rural areas; it can also ignite chemical materials and explode chemical plants and oil depots. The safety of national defense activities.

Speaking of which, I want to be depicted into a "lunatic" that thunderbolt may have been depicted in the hearts of everyone. Thunder and lightning seem to have an unforgivable "original crime", but after a more than ten years of interchange with Thunderbolt, I will always try to convey to the surrounding: Thunderbolt actually has the aspects of "sexuality".

Thunder's "another"

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At this time, everyone may be very scornful. I feel that I have seen a hypocritical image, and some people will say: Teacher Jiang, do you have Stockholm syndrome? Is its violent fantasies become its damn charm? I want to say that this is not the case. Next, I want to take everyone to understand the different aspects of Thunderbolt.

Miller Experiment

As a natural physical process, the history of thunder and lightning is actually longer than the life on the earth. The famous Miller experiment once simulated the original atmosphere of the early earth, put the original atmosphere in the glass bottle in the upper right corner of the picture for electric shock, and obtained some amino acids and other organic small molecules. Scientists speculated at the time that thunderbolt may play a very important role in the origin of the earth's life. Recent research explores the lightning lava generated on the surface of the lightning on the earth and found that it contains a large amount of active phosphorus and organic phosphoric acid salt molecules. This kind of substance is actually very important for the birth of life. For example, we can use the thunderbolt as the son -in -law to provide the most precious mud ball.

Pull the perspective back to daily life. We know that the atmospheric ionization layer is about 60 kilometers above our head. It is its reflection on the radio wave that enables the signal of broadcasting communication to be received from far away.

However, studies have found that the ionization layer will actually "leak power" to the earth. So everyone may worry, will this electricity leak light? If so, wouldn't our radio and communication career face the danger of paralysis? However, in fact, thunder and lightning against lightning and storms will silently "charge" the ionization layer and dynamically maintain the balance of ionizing layers and earth circuits.

In addition, in the process of penetrating the atmosphere, lightning allows the discharge channel to reach a high temperature of tens of thousands of degrees, which can be completely ionized by nitrogen and oxygen, thereby forming the nitrogen oxide we call Nourishing materials required for crop growth. At the same time, because the nitrogen oxides generated by lightning will enter the global nitrogen cycle, it will play a certain role in regulating global climate and environmental changes.

Therefore, while thunderstorm irrigation, thunder and lightning are also playing the role of nitrogen fixation. Maybe everyone will be curious, can it be able to develop green agriculture with lightning? Personally, I have a conservative attitude towards this.

In addition, lightning can also help us monitor and forecast strong convective weather, such as short -term strong rainfall. Why is this? Because the thunderbolt itself is born in the cloud system that is strong to the weather system, it contains very rich information about rain, snow, ice, and stroke of this flow field. By accurately detecting lightning and integrating relevant information into the numerical simulation forecast of the strong -flow weather system, it may improve its forecast effect.

In addition to useful, Thunderbolt can also be said to be a "artist". For a long time, it is generally believed that lightning can only occur in the stream layer within a dozen kilometers above the ground, and the flat flow layer from 50 kilometers above the flow layer, or even the middle layer of the flat stratosphere is considered to have no discharge activities.

In fact, the lightning radiation effect of the lightning activity of the stream layer will produce a strong electromagnetic radiation effect. The electromagnetic wave will be passed to and affects the heights of tens of kilometers or even hundred kilometers. Phenomenon. They have very interesting names, such as red elves, huge jets, blue jets, etc., as shown in the picture.

Let's take a look at the red elves shot with a black and white camera. The detailed process of its development, development, and discharge is like a firework blooming in high altitude, which is particularly beautiful and spectacular.

Speaking of which, I really hope that thunderbolt will have a brand new impression in everyone's hearts. In my eyes, lightning is very magnificent. I think this magnificent is not the so -called "evil flower". I tend to think that the errors caused by lightning, the disaster and even suffering are the result of inadvertentness. I especially hope that humans can become friends who live in harmony with thunder.

Then, this requires us to further understand the lightning, lightning, and approaching lightning, but this is not an easy task. Let's take a look at the characteristics of lightning and how difficult it is.

How did Lei lead to the ground?

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Generally speaking, the lightning we see at the naked eye is just a momentary discharge phenomenon, or a flash.

This is a lightning discharge process taken by high -speed cameras from the cloud to the ground. By slowing, we can see the discharge channel that winds up in the air. How fast is the development speed of this discharge channel? It is the order of 10 square meters per second, which means that it can run 100 kilometers or even farther away in 1 second.

When the channel hit the ground, the strong flash produced is actually speed and the direction of development. It can reach the speed of 1/3, so general high -speed cameras cannot even distinguish this process.

Naturally, thunder and lightning is actually weird and unpredictable. Although we know that thunderbolt will happen in the unproofed cloud system, where will it happen next second, and it is to hit our TV tower? Or hit a towering chimney? There is no way to predict, so this weird whereabouts have also brought difficulties to research.

We will think that if there is a way to allow lightning to occur at the specified time and place, can we make better research on it? Artificially attracting lightning is a technology that makes thunder and lightning under the control of controlled conditions, and it is also the research work that my research team has been engaged in in the past ten years.

How to do artificial lightning? First of all, there is a thunderstorm cloud that is charged. After the sky was full of charge that day, how can I lead it? This requires our leading thunder artifact -that is, a professional thunder rocket. From the picture, we see that its tail is fixed with a line axis, and the upper plate of the line shaft is a few hundred meters long fine steel wire.

The end of the steel wire is fixed on the ground. As the rocket rises, the wire is stretched quickly, forming a straight ground metal channel. However, the thunder rocket can actually fly to a height of several hundred meters, and the charged area of ​​thunderstorms or strong -to -line clouds is generally above a height of a few kilometers. How does this discharge bridge be built? This is due to the location of the Rockets, which means that the tip of the tip of the filament has an upward cutting -end discharge process. This discharge formed a plasma channel, and eventually built discharge between clouds and earth, and thunder was attracted.

Click on the video to experience the scene of "artificially attracting"

In July 2021, we carried out artificial lightning experiments in Shandong. Everyone pays attention to the process of seeing the small rocket dragging the tail flame up. At that time, the friends were also very excited. Everyone may think that this video is very cool, but for us, coolness is not an important thing, and the real research has just begun.

Why do you want to attract lightning?

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What do we want to do after the thunder is led? The most important thing is to explore what is the thunderbolt? What is the parameter of lightning discharge, the electromagnetic radiation it generates, and the law of development? This series of basic scientific issues that care about the physical nature of lightning electricity can be answered by artificial lightning.

This picture is a daiment current measurement waveform. It is like a thunderbolt's heartbeat frequency or the blood volume of the heart. It is a very important parameter.

We can also capture and shoot the graceful posture of its dancing in the atmosphere through a high -speed camera.

Of course, there is no way to capture high -speed cameras, we also have other artifacts, such as reconstructing the physical processes of lightning discharge through sensors and using radio frequency positioning. You can get this reconstructed, very beautiful lightning development images.

Through artificial lightning, we have achieved some new understanding of the physical process and phenomenon of lightning. Here is a brief example of an example: how it develops and transmits.

I involve two nouns of continuous transmission and step transmission. Let me briefly introduce it. Continuous transmission is easy to understand. It continues to develop the discharge channel forward; the step transmission is intermittently paused, jumping forward, pause, and one step forward to develop the discharge channel.

For a long time, we all believe that the so -called positive polar channels that gather positive ions in the channel are continuously transmitted, and the so -called negative polar channels of negative electrons in the channel are transmitted by steps. However, a small amount of observation evidence was later questioned.

Artificial lightning can answer this question well, for example, we can accurately obtain the current parameter of its discharge; we can also do electromagnetic radiation detection in different distances, different places, and different frequency bands; We can also carry out faster, higher -speed high -speed cameras. This systematically answer the positive polar channel actually objectively existing the characteristics of step transmission.

Speaking of which, everyone may feel very boring and even a little boring. What is the meaning of making these issues? What does this problem have to do with me? I could only answer with "where existence exists, we have to solve it" to answer. Until we discovered that the steps of the early channels can be used as a threatened signal for lightning strikes, predicting that lightning strikes will occur within a fast period of time.

By detecting a threatened signal, we may start the defense movement in advance to avoid the damage of lightning strikes. This technology has been in the R & D and testing stage, and it is especially hoped that in the future, it can really play a useful effect on reducing lightning disasters. In addition to exploring and researching scientific issues, artificial lightning can actually test lightning protection technology. In other words, whether our lightning protection technology is useful, it can be tested through a method of drawing lightning.

In the communication industry, the problem of lightning on the communication signal tower was very headache, so we commissioned us to do artificial lightning experiments.

Of course, the problem comes. The picture on the left is the setting of traditional artificial lightning, which is performed on the ground, and this experiment should lead the lightning to the 10 -story signal tower. Do we want to move the rocket platform to the top of the tower? Such a small space is obviously unrealistic. After a series of demonstrations and plans, we finally put forward the idea of ​​using the "bridge", that is, the "electricity" was broken first in the traditional solution. How to do it?

Just like the blue dotted line in the picture, we connect a nylon line that is insulated, and the discharge in this place will be cut off. So where does this electricity run? It can only go to the highest point next to the side to discharge, and naturally hit our signal tower. Let's take a look at this video.

Click on the video to experience the scene of "artificially attracting"

Thunder is the command

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Regarding the launch of artificial lightning experiments, I think everyone may have a very concerned question, that is, whether artificial lightning is safe.

I want to explain to you here that in fact, we are still relatively safe to do experiments. The introduction of lightning operations introduced earlier is completed in the control room. We also conducted relatively good lightning protection of the control room and adopted more thorough protection measures. By monitoring and prediction in advance, outdoor operations are generally prepared before thunderstorms. When thunderstorm weather, we will return to safe indoor operations.

But to be honest, artificially led lighting is actually a career that conspired with heaven, so it is also full of various uncertainty. For example, in the weather where it rains, we generally do not conduct observations. But once I encountered this kind of weather, the intensity of the rain suddenly became louder, and I heard a weak thunder.

For us, thunder is the command, so we can only rush to the field of thunder, hoping to catch up with the best time to attract thunder. Due to the conditions limit at the time, we can only use walking methods. The rain became very fierce, and the thunder changed from a weak stuffy thunder to a thunder, just like tearing in the ears, and at the same time, the flash of flash also appeared in front of our eyes.

Everyone can imagine that the scene at that time should be magnificent and tragic. If you really want to write a composition, I think the spirit or pride of dedication to science and life and death at any time will easily be rendered. But for me, is this true? I'm not very happy to interpret it like this.

Someone will ask, where do you come from the power of your life and bravery? In fact, I want to say that because we came halfway at the time, the cost of walking forward was the same.

For such a small scientific story, everyone may smile when everyone listens. But for us, there is actually another interpretation angle: that is, in fact, our understanding of lightning and thunderstorms is not enough. If we can do better and better monitor and predict it, this is this. This is The situation where the half -way is in danger and riding a tiger will not happen. In our scientific research work, this situation may affect data acquisition, but if similar situations occur in aerospace launch or military activities, the consequences will be unimaginable.

Therefore, there is still a long way to go to the research on lightning.We want to find out its laws and understand its true habits.Only in this way can we make better use of it, let it serve human beings with useful aspects, and minimize the harmful aspects.Only in this way can we change the idea of "making friends with thunder and lightning" from desire to reality.Of course, this is difficult and difficult.But my friends who studied thunderbolt would take this goal as a lifelong pursuit.

That's it for my speech, thank you!

Source: Selftalks

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