Volcanic lightning reproduced in lab

[DrLeftover]

Don't do this at home. Corrado Cimarelli makes his own volcanoes that spout ash vertically at hundreds of metres a second.

The Italian is studying the awesome sight of lightning that is often observed in eruption plumes.

His "lab volcano" allows him to recreate and study the processes that give rise to the necessary electrical conditions.

The hope eventually is to learn something about the nature of volcanoes purely from their lightning behaviour.

“The lightning can tell us a lot about the structure of the eruption plume and the ash particle sizes within it,” Dr Cimarelli told BBC News.

Such information could give an indication of whether a particular eruption was likely to pose a risk to aviation, he added.

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-27220909

 

[Jazzy]

Very interesting indeed.

 

[Evil Eye]

Playing with fire

Interesting indeed.