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⇤ ← Revision 1 as of 2020-11-30 01:38:49
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Size: 1251
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| According to wikipedia, there are 240,000 lightning strikes per year, an average of 15 coulombs and 1 GJ each. That is 3.6 megacolombs per year, or 114 mA average. The average discharge voltage is 1GJ/15C = 67 MV, and the average power is 7.6 megawatts. The effective resistance is 240 M-ohm. | According to wikipedia, there are 240,000 lightning strikes per year, an average of 15 coulombs and 1 GJ each. That is 3.6 megacolombs per year, or 114 mA averaged over the year. The average discharge voltage is 1GJ/15C = 67 MV, and the average power is 7.6 megawatts. The effective resistance is 240 M-ohm averaged over the year. |
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| This may eliminate lighting storms globally, reduce UV shielding ozone, and reduce the formation of nitrogen fertilizers. YIKES. | This may eliminate lighting storms globally, reduce UV shielding ozone, and reduce the formation of natural nitrogen fertilizers. YIKES. |
Ionosphere Drainage
The launch loop may form a current drainage path from the conductive ionosphere to the ground.
According to wikipedia, there are 240,000 lightning strikes per year, an average of 15 coulombs and 1 GJ each. That is 3.6 megacolombs per year, or 114 mA averaged over the year. The average discharge voltage is 1GJ/15C = 67 MV, and the average power is 7.6 megawatts. The effective resistance is 240 M-ohm averaged over the year.
The conductivity of the atmosphere near the ground is 2e-10 mho-kilometers (5 G-ohm/km) in the daytime; at 80 km, it is 5e-2 mho-kilometers (20 ohm/km), and at 100 km, it is 20 mho-kilometers (0.05 ohm/km) . A layer from 100 to 110 km might have a sheet resistance of 0.005 ohms per square, although the Earth's magnetic field will likely create a very large Hall voltage for large currents. Still, for an average of a few hundred milliamps, a connection to the ionosphere anywhere is a connection to the entire layer, and a connection at the launch loop to ground (actually, to 0.2 ohm/meter seawater) will be a pretty good short to ground.
This may eliminate lighting storms globally, reduce UV shielding ozone, and reduce the formation of natural nitrogen fertilizers. YIKES.