Volcanic thunderstorm reproduced in the laboratory

German geologists have created a model of a volcano, during an eruption produces lightning. This is not a toy for curious kids, and one of the ways to assess the risk faced by the aircraft flying over the recently thrown up fire mountain.
The first mention of this phenomenon occurs in Pliny the Younger in the story about the eruption of Vesuvius in 79. The exact cause of lightning is difficult to call. Scientists suggest that the ejected from the crater of the ash particles, colliding, rubbing against each other and thereby creating an electric charge. It is this process and tried to recreate Corrado Cimarelli from the Munich Ludwig — Maximilian University (Germany) and his colleagues.
        

They used the ash of the recent eruptions, including the famous Icelandic volcano, whose name Eyjafjallajökull, which in 2010 the planes of European airlines has not worked for a few weeks. The ashes are placed in the pipe under pressure of 100 atmospheres, where brought through the nozzle into a large tank with air under normal pressure, that is, reproduced the sudden release of compressed material from volcanic vents.



To think only! These small eruptions led to the formation of tiny lightning sparks, which was recorded by high speed videography. The smaller was particles of ash, the more lightning fixed camera.

Source: /users/413