Unusual plasma formations produced by positive streamers entering the
cloud of negatively charged water droplets
Abstract
Kostinskiy et al. (2015a), using a high-speed infrared (2.5-5.5 μm)
camera, discovered the so-called unusual plasma formations (UPFs) in
artificial clouds of charged water droplets. UPFs had complex morphology
including both streamer-like regions and hot channel segments. They were
observed both in the presence and in the absence of hot leader channels
developing from the grounded plane toward the cloud. In this paper,
which is aimed at revealing the genesis of UPFs, we present two UPFs
that occurred inside the initial corona streamer burst of positive
polarity emitted from the grounded plane, prior to the formation (or in
the absence) of associated hot leader channel. These streamer bursts
developed at speeds of 5 to 7 x 10^5 m/s over 1 to 1.5 m in
apparently clear air before entering the negatively-charged cloud and
producing UPFs at its periphery. Hot channel segments within UPFs were
formed in very short times of the order of 1 μs or less. It is not clear
if the UPFs were caused solely by the enhanced electric field near the
charged cloud boundary or other factors also played a role. Occurrence
of UPFs may be a necessary component of any lightning initiation
mechanism (Kostinskiy et al., 2020; Iudin et al., 2021).