Stony Brook University study shows how electricity in ice crystals generates lightning
A lightning storm over Shirley on July 12, 2017. Credit: T.J. Lambui
Researchers at Stony Brook University may have captured lightning in a bottle — or at least explained one of the theories of how it is created.
Working with researchers in Spain and China, Stony Brook physicists helped simulate experiments that show the way lightning forms as electricity is conducted through ice.
Experts hope that the study of the origin of lightning could better explain what causes thunderstorms and additional research could help meteorologists better forecast the storms.
The Stony Brook experiment was led by a doctoral student, Anthony Mannino, 26, of Ronkonkoma, under physics professor Marivi Fernandez-Serra and the core faculty at Stony Brook's Institute for Advanced Computational Science.
"I think more information is better and this provides more information onto the origins of lightning," Mannino said. "I hope that someone will take this work and be inspired to do more studies. We’d be thrilled if this could turn into something to better predict thunderstorms and protect people more effectively."
The study published last month in the journal Nature Physics explains how ice can produce electricity, similar to what occurs with lightning in the atmosphere. Experiments between ice and electricity were conducted in Barcelona, Spain, and Mannino ran physics simulations using quantum mechanical equations through Stony Brook’s SeaWulf supercomputer.
The study showed how ice can conduct electricity when it bends or is deformed, Mannino said, with collisions between ice particles producing electricity in clouds that ultimately form lightning, he said.
Thunderstorms are formed through strong updrafts in clouds above 50,000 feet in the atmosphere when water vapors develop ice crystals, creating a charge buildup in the clouds, said Nelson Vaz, warning coordination meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Upton.
A charge separation similar to static electricity between ice crystals eventually leads to lightning, Vaz said, noting there needs to be more study on why the charge separation occurs.
Meteorologists can monitor radar of thunderstorms developing and measure the amount of ice particles or soft hail in clouds, but identifying lightning strikes is hard to predict, Vaz said.
"It’s still not a perfect science to predict a lightning strike here or developing in the next few minutes," Vaz said. "If that can be better diagnosed and understood, it can help with the ability to predict lightning with more accuracy."
Predicting lightning could help local officials and emergency management coordinators better manage large outdoor gatherings on Long Island and in the tristate area, Vaz said.
Lightning generally occurs during warmer months and the summer when warm air and humidity can be drawn into the atmosphere to create storms, Vaz said.
"Any type of research can make more skillful forecasts to help if there’s a large event outdoors," Vaz said. "Lightning is the biggest concern for the safe evacuation of an event and hopefully this can provide a higher forecast and probability and more informed decisions by emergency management. Any type of research can help in better forecasts for these hazards."
John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.
