Initially, we looked at these huge OH and HO
2 signals found in the clouds and asked, What is wrong with our instrument?, said William Brune, a meteorologist at Penn State. We assumed there was noise in the instrument, so we removed the huge signals from the dataset and shelved them for later study.
The data were collected from an instrument on a plane flown above Colorado and Oklahoma; the instrument analyzed chemical changes thunderstorms and lightning make in the atmosphere.
The researchers determined the signals were really hydroxyl and hydroperoxyl and worked with colleagues to see if these signals could be reproduced by sparks and subvisible discharges in the laboratory. The team then performed a re-analysis of the thunderstorm and lightning dataset.
Lightning and subvisible discharges produce molecules that clean the atmosphere chemeurope.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from chemeurope.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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IMAGE: Nitrogen, oxygen and water vapor molecules are broken apart by lightning and associated weaker electrical discharges, generating the reactive gases NO, O3, HO2, and the atmosphere s cleanser, OH. view more
Credit: Jena Jenkins, Penn State
Lightning bolts break apart nitrogen and oxygen molecules in the atmosphere and create reactive chemicals that affect greenhouse gases. Now, a team of atmospheric chemists and lightning scientists have found that lightning bolts and, surprisingly, subvisible discharges that cannot be seen by cameras or the naked eye produce extreme amounts of the hydroxyl radical OH and hydroperoxyl radical HO2.
The hydroxyl radical is important in the atmosphere because it initiates chemical reactions and breaks down molecules like the greenhouse gas methane. OH is the main driver of many compositional changes in the atmosphere.