How is lightning measured

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Google Scholar. Gertenbach, Electronic Letters 9, 17 CrossRef Google Scholar. Berger, K. Eriksson, A. Prentice, S. Electra 22, C. While atmospheric physicists can approximate lightning bolt energy by measuring the electrical current and temperature of bolts as they occur, the numbers are usually approximations.

The team of Pasek and Hurst is the first to investigate the energy in lightning strikes by using geology "after-the-fact" research, rather than measuring energy during a strike. By conducting this lightning strike "archaeology," the researchers were able to measure the energy in a bolt of lightning that struck Florida sand thousands of years ago.

The results of their analysis were recently published in the journal Scientific Reports. The team collected more than fulgurites -- both recent and ancient -- from sand mines in Polk County, Fla. They analyzed the properties of the fulgurites, paying particular attention to the length and circumference of the glass cylinders because the amount energy released is revealed by these dimensions.

It's also the same as the kinetic energy a car has traveling about 60 mph. This means that the big lightning strikes are really big.