Physics Chat
Development of Ultra High-Speed Image Based Technology for the Study of Lightning and Lightning Interactions
Speaker: Meirion Hills ()
Date: Wednesday 26 February 2025
Time: 14:00
Venue: N/1.32
Lightning is a destructive and unpredictable phenomenon, causing damage to infrastructure, posing risks to life, and igniting over half of all uncontrolled wildfires in regions such as Canada and Australia. With currents that can reach 200 kA, temperatures exceeding 30,000 K, and a duration in the order of microseconds, lightning is notoriously difficult to study using conventional instrumentation. This presentation by PhD student Meirion Hills introduces a range of optical techniques, including atomic emission spectroscopy and high-speed imaging, to characterise lightning, allowing parameters such as temperature, energy, elemental composition and arc evolution to be calculated, in addition to discussing the high-voltage and high-current laboratories here at Cardiff University and the equipment available.