Ozone production during thunderstorms, measured by the absorption of ultraviolet radiation from lightning

Abstract

The only spectrum of a single lightning flash containing the short-wave ozone absorption cutoff has been obtained. An analysis of this absorption in the 2850-A region indicates that a few tenths of a millimeter (0.01–0.05 cm) of ozone existed between the slitless spectrograph and the flash occurring at a distance of 0.85 km. This value is one order of magnitude greater than the clear air value. An experiment is suggested to determine whether the ozone exists in a mantle around the lightning channel and, hence, is produced by lightning, or whether it is evenly distributed in the intervening path and, hence, is produced by thunderstorm-induced corona.