Scientists have found a way to potentially prevent lightning strikes from damaging infrastructure or causing injuries and deaths, according to a report published Monday.
“Here we present the first demonstration that laser-induced filaments—formed in the sky by short and intense laser pulses—can guide lightning discharges over considerable distances,” researchers said in the paper’s abstract. “We believe that this experimental breakthrough will lead to progress in lightning protection and lightning physics.”
‘Virtual Lightning Rod’
A laser system is intended to function like a virtual lightning rod, Houard told SWNS.“A powerful laser aimed at the sky can create a virtual lightning rod and divert the path of lightning strikes,” he said. “The findings may pave the way for better lightning protection methods for critical infrastructure—such as power stations, airports and launchpads.”
The researchers set up a high-repetition-rate terawatt laser at the Santis mountain in northeastern Switzerland, near a telecommunication tower that is struck by lightning about 100 times a year.
Between July 21 and Sept. 30, 2021, researchers used the system to fire intense laser pulses at thunderclouds for a total of 6.3 hours of thunderstorm activity that occurred within 3 km of the telecommunication tower.
“The tower was hit by at least 16 lightning flashes, four of which ... occurred during laser activity,” the report reads.
The lasers were able to guide the four lighting strikes, but the two high-speed cameras set up by the researchers were only able to capture one of the events due to poorer weather in the other three events. The cameras showed that the lighting strike followed the laser path for most of the 50 meters.
“Although this research field has been very active for more than 20 years, this is the first field-result that experimentally demonstrates lightning guided by lasers,” researchers noted. “This work paves the way for new atmospheric applications of ultrashort lasers and represents an important step forward in the development of a laser based lightning protection for airports, launchpads or large infrastructures.”