Thunder-cell as Source of Energetic Protons

2020/09/30 by Aleš Berkopec, Berkopec, Aleš
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Engineering · Social Sciences · #Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics (physics.ao-ph) #Combustion and Detonation Processes #FOS: Physical sciences #Light effects on plants #Nuclear Issues and Defense

paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2009.14526

openalex publication_date 2020/09/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

In this article we present the following hypothesis: thunder-cell ejects highly energetic protons, each of which creates a tree-structure of weakly ionized trajectories that can develop into a lightning channel. The tree-structure and the channel have the same geometry so the mean free path of a proton corresponds to the average length of the channel between two successive nodes (branching points). We show this length is around 660 m in lower Earth atmosphere. Effects of Coulomb interaction and various outcomes of proton-nucleus reaction are taken into account. A prediction of CG/CC ratio that follows agrees well with the available data, but only measurements of lightning geometry can reveal whether the hypothesis is any closer to the correct explanation of the phenomenon.

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