Lightning and Energetic Radiation
A special issue of Atmosphere (ISSN 2073-4433). This special issue belongs to the section "Meteorology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 1 June 2026 | Viewed by 30
Special Issue Editors
Interests: atmospheric electrical discharges and discharge chemistry; energetic radiation; lightning; thunderstorms; sparks; high voltage; lightning protection; ElectroMagnetic Compatibility (EMC); testing; ElectroStatic Discharges (ESD)
Interests: lightning physics; physics of electrical discharges; lightning protection; electromagnetic field theory
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Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Exactly 100 years ago, Nobel laureate C.T.R. Wilson predicted the occurrence of runaway electrons in atmospheric electrical discharges in our atmosphere. Over the next 75 years, many researchers attempted to determine whether thunderstorms or lightning produced such energetic radiation, with mixed results. However, over the past two decades, the number of papers in this field has increased. It is now established that electrical discharges generate energetic radiation in gases at atmospheric pressure. Yet the precise mechanism for the production of high-energy runaway electrons responsible for the X-ray emissions from these discharges and their energy spectral properties are not understood.
The aim of this Special Issue is to update current research in electrical discharges and energetic radiation. Accordingly, the Special Issue will cover all areas of electrical discharges in high-pressure gases, including modeling, simulations, field measurements, laboratory measurements, and reviews.
Hopefully, this Special Issue will gather some review articles describing different aspects of this important phenomenon, which will not only summarize previous work but also show new directions.
Dr. Mahbubur Rahman
Guest Editor
Prof. Dr. Vernon Cooray
Co-Guest Editor
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Keywords
- lightning
- thunderstorms
- energetic radiation
- X-rays
- gamma rays
- terrestrial gamma-ray flashes
- runaway electron
- laboratory sparks
- streamers
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