Korea

ISBN 89-7300-1167. The name of Australia's most celebrated thoroughbred horse, Phar Lap, derives from the shared Zhuang and Thai word for lightning. Women of Korea: A History from Ancient Times to 1945, Ewha Womans University Press, 1976. The lightning bolt shape was a symbol of male humans among the Native Americans such as the Apache (a rhombus shape being a symbol for females) in the American Old West. ISBN 0-393-31681-5 Kim, et al. It is also distinguished from the "fork of lightning". Korea's Place in the Sun, Norton, 1997. The bolt of lightning in heraldry is distinguished from the lightning bolt and is shown as a zigzag with non-pointed ends.

Cumings, Bruce. Flash II (Barry Allen) and III (Wally West) were both granted their superspeed in accidents involving lightning. The two Koreas competed separately, however. The comic book character Billy Batson changed into the superhero Captain Marvel by saying the word "Shazam!", which called down a bolt of magic lightning to make the change. In the summer of 2002, the FIFA World Cup was hosted jointly by South Korea and Japan with 10 stadiums in each country. Various novels and role playing games with fantasy tint involves wizardry of lightning bolt, weapon embodying the power of lightning, etc. As of the 2006 Asian Games, South Korean officials have announced the countries shall compete in the same unified sporting teams as well. While this is usually typical of cartoons, it has also been employed by regular TV shows and movies.

A unified Korean team marched under the Unification Flag in the opening ceremonies of the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, and the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin but competed separately in sporting events. This has often also been spoofed, with the uttering of certain words or phrases causing flashes of lightning to appear outside of windows (and often scaring or disturbing some characters). A unified Korean team competed under the Unification Flag in 1991 in both the 41st World Table Tennis Championship in Chiba, Japan and in the 6th World Youth Soccer Championship in Lisbon, Portugal. It may herald a waking of a great evil or emergence of a crisis. At the time, North Korea boycotted the event on the grounds that it was not made co-host. and many other countries, lightning is often employed as an ominous, dramatic sign. South Korea hosted the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, giving the country an economic boost through increased tourism and greater world recognition. In movies and comics of the contemporary U.S.

Also, during this time, the world's first ironclad warships, the Geobukseon (or "Turtle ship") were invented. These two qualities make oak trees better grounded and more conductive than trees with shallow roots and closed cells. In the Joseon era, Korea advanced traditional arts and crafts, such as white celadon glazes, fine silk, and paper. Of all common trees the most frequently struck is the oak, this is due to the deep central root that goes beneath the tree and also the hollow water filled cells that run up and down the wood of the oak's trunk. During the Joseon period, Korean silk was considered by China to be the best in the world and Korean pottery made with blue-green celadon was highly valued in Japan. It is commonly thought that a tree standing alone is more frequently struck, though in some forested areas, lightning scars can be seen on almost every tree. The world's first self-striking water clock was invented in 1434 by Chang Yong-sil, who later developed an even more complicated water-dock with additional astronomical devices. Occasionally, a tree may explode completely, as in this Giant Sequoia struck in Geneva.

Hangul, one of the world's most scientifically phonetic written scripts, was created by King Sejong in 1443. If the damage is severe, the tree may not be able to recover, and decay sets in, eventually killing the tree. Though Koreans used wooden printing blocks by 751, this was a significant development in printing allowing continued use of the same type. In following seasons trees overgrow the damaged area and may cover it completely, leaving only a vertical scar. The world's first metal movable type was invented in Korea in 1232, before Johann Gutenberg developed metal letterset type (Cumings 1997: 65). Since sap is a poor conductor, its electrical resistance causes it to be heated explosively into steam, which blows off the bark outside the lightning's path. It served as the world's first astronomical tower for heavenly observations. Trees are frequent conductors of lightning to the ground (photo of a tree being struck by lightning).

One of the best known artifacts of Korea's history of science and technology is Cheomsongdae, a 9-meter high observatory built in 633. Fulgurites are evidence that lightning spreads out into branching channels when it strikes the ground. See also Korean cuisine. These are sometimes found under the sandy surfaces of beaches and golf courses, or in desert regions. Chili peppers are also commonly used in Korean cuisine, which has given it a reputation for being spicy. The heat of lightning which strikes loose soil or sandy regions of the ground may fuse the soil or sand into glass channels called fulgurites. Korean cuisine is known for its traditional dish called kimchi which uses a distinctive fermentation process of preserving vegetables. This is about five times hotter than the surface of the sun.

Festivities showcase vibrant colors, which are attributed to Mongolian influences; bright red, yellow, and green often mark traditional Korean motifs [5]. A bolt of lightning can reach temperatures approaching 28,000 kelvins (50,000 degrees Fahrenheit) in a split second. From the 10th century through to the end of the 19th century, the social status of a man's father and mother determined which civil service examination, if any, he could take but did not guarantee him a post. One such example is the destruction of the basement insulator of the 250-metre-high central mast of longwave transmitter Orlunda, which led to its collapse. Until the 10th century, a man's "bone rank" (determined by the rank of his father and his mother) defined his social status and what government post he would be appointed to. Hot lightning which lasts for more than a second can deposit immense energy, melting or carbonizing large objects. Until modern times, Koreans placed a lot of emphasis on hereditary status. There is sometimes spectacular and unconventional lightning damage.

Koreans valued scholarship and rewarded education and study of Chinese classic texts; Yangban boys were highly educated in Hanja. Due to the precision timing of this type of event, it is a rare (but documented) occurrence. Since the middle of the 20th century, however, Christianity has competed with Buddhism to be the dominant religious force in South Korea. This happens only when the heart is at its lowest electrical charge (the very lowest point that would be recorded in an EKG right before the heart recharges for its next beat) when the lightning strikes. Although about half of the population is non-religious, Confucian tradition has dominated Korean thought, along with contributions by Buddhism, Taoism, and Korean Shamanism. The EMP created by a nearby lightning strike can cause cardiac arrest. In 554, the Korean kingdom of Baekje sent doctors, herb and calendar specialists, and diviners to Japan, and in 602, Kwalluk, a Baekje monk, was dispatched to Japan to deliver books on astronomy calendar-making, geography, and divination. They are thought to be caused by the rupture of small capillaries under the skin, either from the current or from the shock wave.

According to Japanese records, Chinese knowledge and technology, including Chinese characters and the major classics, such as the Confucian Analects, were introduced to Japan by Korean scholars. The lightning often leaves skin burns in characteristic Lichtenberg figures, sometimes called lightning flowers; they may persist for hours or days, and are a useful indicator for medical examiners when trying to determine the cause of death. Muslims who arrive there by accident are so attracted by its character that they stay there forever and do not want to leave.". A complete physical examination by paramedics or physicians may reveal ruptured eardrums, and ocular cataracts may develop, sometimes more than a year after an otherwise uneventful recovery. As early as 845, Arab traders mentioned Korea saying, "Over the sea beyond China lies a mountainous country called 'Silla', rich in gold. Amnesia and confusion of varying duration often result as well. During the 7th and 8th centuries, land and sea trading networks connected Korea to Arabia. Either the electrical or the mechanical force can result in loss of consciousness, which is very common immediately after a strike.

In ancient Chinese texts, Korea is referred to as "Rivers and Mountains Embroidered on Silk" (錦繡江山) and "Eastern Nation of Decorum" (東方禮儀之國). The intense heat generated by a lightning strike can cause lung damage, and the chest can be damaged by the mechanical force of rapidly expanding heated air. Main article: Culture of Korea. Others incur myocardial infarction and various cardiac arrhythmias, either of which can be rapidly fatal as well. The combined population (including North and South Korea) of the Korean Peninsula is about 73,000,000 people. Many victims suffer immediate cardiac arrest and will not survive without prompt emergency care, which is safe to administer because the victim will not retain any electrical charge after the lightning has struck (of course, the helper could be struck by a separate bolt of lightning in the vicinity). Foreign workforce in South Korea is estimated at over half a million. The most critical injuries are to the circulatory system, the lungs, and the central nervous system.

(See also: Demographics of South Korea) The Korean Peninsula is populated almost exclusively by ethnic Koreans, although a significant minority of ethnic Chinese (about 20,000 [3]) exists in South Korea, and small communities of ethnic Chinese and Japanese are said to exist in North Korea ([4]). Ground strikes, in which the bolt lands near the victim and is conducted through the victim via his or her connection to the ground (such as through the feet), can cause great damage. Vast tidal flats are developing on the south and west coastline of the Korean Peninsula. Splash hits occur when lightning effectively bounces off a nearby object and strikes the victim en route to ground. In addition to the complex coastline, the western coast of the Korean peninsula has an extremely high tidal amplitude (at Incheon, around the middle of the western coast, it is as high as 9 m). Counterintuitively, if the victim's skin resistance is high enough, much of the current will flash around the skin or clothing to the ground, resulting in a surprisingly benign outcome. Its complicated coastline provides mild seas, and the resulting calm environment allows for safe navigation, fishing, and seaweed farming. In a direct hit the electrical charge strikes the victim first.

It is known as Dadohae in Korean. Lightning can incapacitate humans in 4 different ways:. The southern and southwestern coastline of the Korean Peninsula is a well-developed Lias coastline. While sudden death is common because of the huge voltage of a lightning strike, survivors often fare better than victims of other electrical injuries caused by a more prolonged application of lesser voltage. These rivers have vast flood plains and they provide an ideal environment for rice cultivation. Lightning injuries result from three factors: electrical damage, intense heat, and the mechanical energy which these generate. Important rivers running westward include the Yalu, Cheongcheon River, Daedong River, Han River, Geum River, and Yeongsan River. Nearly 2000 persons per year in the world are injured by lightning strikes, and between 25 to 33 % of those struck die.

Two exceptions are the southward-flowing Nakdong River and the Seomjin River. Several different types of devices, including lightning rods, lightning arresters, and electrical charge dissipaters, are used to prevent or safely redirect lightning strikes. Because the mountainous regions are biased toward the eastern part of the peninsula, the main rivers tend to flow to westwards. It is advisable to keep appendages away from any attached metallic components once inside (keys in ignition, etc.). The volcanic islands tend to be younger as one moves westward. A better location would be inside a vehicle (a crude type of Faraday cage). Ulleung-do and the Dok-do are volcanic islands in the Sea of Japan, whose composition is more feslic than Jeju. People have been struck in sheds, make shift shelters, etc.

Halla (1950 m). Contrary to popular notion, there is no 'safe' location outdoors. Jeju-do, situated off the south coastline of the Korean Peninsula, is a large volcanic island whose main mountain is Mt. Because people have been struck many kilometers away from a storm, seeking immediate and effective shelter when thunderstorms approach is an important part of lightning safety. As opposed to the old mountains on the mainland, some important islands in Korea were formed by volcanic activity in the recent Cenozoic. Thunderstorms are the primary source of lightning. They are developed along the tectonic line of Mesozoic orogeny and their directions are NW, NWW. However, recently the Cassini-Huygens mission fly-by of Venus detected no signs of lightning at all.

There are several lower, secondary mountain series whose direction is almost perpendicular to that of Baekdudaegan. Pioneer missions of the '70s and '80s, signals suggesting lightning may be present in the upper atmosphere were detected [10]. Some significant mountains include Sobaeksan (2,184 m), Baeksan (1,724 m), Geumgangsan (1,638 m), Seoraksan (1,708 m), Taebaeksan (1,567 m) and Jirisan (1,915 m). During the Soviet Venera and U.S. This series of mountains is named Beakdudaegan. Lightning on Venus is still a controversial subject after decades of study. To the south of Gaema Gowon, successive high mountains are located along the eastern coast of the Korean Peninsula. Lightning on Jupiter is estimated to be 100 times as powerful, but fifteen times less frequent, than that which occurs on Earth.

This highland was mainly raised during the Cenozoic orogeny and partly covered by volcanic matter. However, lightning has been observed within the atmospheres of other planets, such as Venus and Jupiter, and electrical discharges between Jupiter and Io often occur within the gas cloud sent out by Io's volcanos. Baekdu is a highland called Gaema Gowon. Lightning requires the electrical breakdown of gas, so lightning cannot exist in the vacuum of space. The southern extension of Mt. These bolts are typically very straight. The border with China runs through the mountain. The wire unwinds as the rocket climbs, making a convenient path for the lightning to use.

Baekdu (2744m, Changbaishan in chinese). It has also been triggered by launching rockets carrying spools of wire into thunderstorms. The highest mountain in Korea is Mt. Lightning struck the Apollo 12 soon after takeoff, and has struck soon after thermonuclear explosions. The southern part and western part of the Korean mainland have well developed plains, while the eastern and northern parts are mountainous. Lightning has been triggered directly by human activity in several instances. Notable islands include Jeju-do, Ulleung-do, and Dok-do. Because most of these strokes occur inside a cloud, we do not see many of the individual return strokes in a thunderstorm.

The Yellow Sea is to the west, the South China Sea is to the south, and the Sea of Japan (East Sea) is to the east of Korea. This is nothing more than the return stroke, the visible part of the lightning stroke. To the northwest, the Yalu River separates Korea from China and to the north, the Tumen River separates Korea from Russia. All lightning is streak lightning. It is bound by two countries and three seas. One theory about the cause of the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster is that the craft was struck by atmospheric lightning [9]. Korea is located on the Korean Peninsula in North-East Asia. Researchers have speculated that such forms of upper atmospheric lightning may play a role in the formation of the ozone layer.

Both states still officially retain the two separate national flags that they have used since their foundings in 1948. The jets lasted under a second, with shapes likened by the researchers to giant trees and carrots. While this flag may represent Korea at international sporting events, it is not the official flag of either North Korea or South Korea. On July 22, 2002, five gigantic jets between 60 and 70 km (35 to 45 miles) in length were observed over the South China Sea from Taiwan, reported in Nature [8]. Recently, in effort to promote reconciliation, the two Koreas have adopted a single Unification Flag. Lightning was initially observed travelling up at around 50,000 m/s in a similar way to a typical blue jet, but then divided in two and sped at 250,000 m/s to the ionosphere, where they spread out in a bright burst of light. Since the 1990s, with progressively liberal South Korean administrations, as well as the death of North Korean founder Kim Il-sung, the two sides have taken halting, symbolic steps towards cooperation, in international sporting events, reunification of separated family members, and tourism. The jet was located above a thunderstorm over the ocean, and lasted under a second.

Both Korean states proclaim eventual reunification as a goal, and a united Korea is very much a part of Korean ethno-cultural identity. On September 14, 2001, scientists at the Arecibo Observatory photographed a huge jet double the height of those previously observed, reaching around 80 km (50 miles) into the atmosphere. The two countries never signed a peace treaty. This refers to the process by which the light is generated; the excitation of nitrogen molecules due to electron collisions (the electrons having been energised by the electromagnetic pulse caused by a positive lightning bolt). This boundary was set as the demilitarized zone which constitutes the border between the two countries. Elves is a frivolous acronym for Emissions of Light and Very Low Frequency Perturbations From Electromagnetic Pulse Sources. After three devastating years of fighting, the war ended in a ceasefire agreement at approximately the same boundary, though South Korea gaining slightly more territory than it lost. Elves were first recorded on another shuttle mission, this time recorded off French Guiana on October 7, 1990.

Millions of Koreans died, and the United States waged a bombing campaign over North Korea that effectively destroyed most cities: "There were simply 'no more cities in North Korea'" (Cumings 1997: 298). Their colour was a puzzle for some time, but is now believed to be a red hue. and then Chinese intervention. They occur in the ionosphere 100 km (60 miles) above the ground over thunderstorms. The North Korean army invaded the South, prompting U.S. Elves often appear as a dim, flattened, expanding glow around 400 km (250 miles) in diameter that lasts for, typically, just one millisecond [7]. The Korean War began in June 1950 and lasted until 1953. They were first recorded on October 21, 1989, on a video taken from the space shuttle as it passed over Australia.

The politics of the Cold War resulted in the 1948 establishment of two separate governments. They are also brighter than sprites and, as implied by their name, are blue in colour. In 1945, in the aftermath of WWII, the United Nations developed plans for a trusteeship administration, the United States effectively began administering the peninsula south of the 38th parallel and the Soviet Union administering north. Blue jets differ from sprites in that they project from the top of the cumulonimbus above a thunderstorm, typically in a narrow cone, to the lowest levels of the ionosphere 40 to 50 km (25 to 30 miles) above the earth. The United States supported Korean nationalists who opposed Communism, funded and staffed the South Korean army, and influenced the United Nations to support the South Korean military (Cumings 1997). Research in 2004 by scientists from Tohoku University found that very low frequency emissions occur at the same time as the sprite, indicating that a discharge within the cloud may generate the sprites [6]. The Korean War resulted directly from the United States policy of Containment. Recent research [5] carried out at the University of Houston in 2002 indicates that some normal (negative) lightning discharges produce a sprite halo, the precursor of a sprite, and that every lightning bolt between cloud and ground attempts to produce a sprite or a sprite halo.

Main articles: Korean War, History of North Korea, History of South Korea, Korean reunification. Sprites were first photographed on July 6, 1989, by scientists from the University of Minnesota and named after the mischievous sprites in the plays of Shakespeare. Communism began to take hold in Korea, and Koreans who had fought along with Communist China gained power and fame. Sprites are preceded by a sprite halo that forms because of heating and ionisation less than 1 millisecond before the sprite. Koreans faced bitter divisions: former collaborators were widely mistrusted and hated by Koreans, yet they possessed the most experience and remained in power. Sprites usually occur in clusters of two or more simultaneous vertical discharges, typically extending from 65 to 75 km (40 to 47 miles) above the earth, with or without less intense filaments reaching above and below. The Soviet Union supported the North Korean government, which was also associated with Communist China; the United States was closely allied to South Korea, helping Koreans with experience under the Japanese occupation to gain power and suppress Communists. Sprites can occur up to 50 km from the location of the lightning strike, and with a time delay of up to 100 milliseconds.

With the defeat of Japan in 1945, the Japanese colonial government was immediately replaced with American and Soviet presence. They appear as luminous reddish-orange, neon-like flashes, last longer than normal lower stratospheric discharges (typically around 17 milliseconds), and are usually spawned by discharges of positive lightning between the cloud and the ground. Main article: Division of Korea. Sprites are now well-documented electrical discharges that occur high above the cumulonimbus cloud of an active thunderstorm. Anti-Japanese sentiment still runs strong in Korea, as a result of what Koreans see as continuing unrepentant actions. This has sometimes been called megalightning. Japanese occupation lasted until 1945 when it was defeated by the Allied Forces at the end of World War II. However, it is only in recent years that fuller investigations have been made.

Although statistics are difficult to verify, around 60,000 Korean laborers in Japan are known to have died between 1939 and 1945. Reports by scientists of strange lightning phenomena above storms date back to at least 1886. During the Pacific War (World War II), Koreans were used by Japanese to support the Japanese war effort; Koreans were conscripted into Japanese military, used as forced laborers, and as sex slaves, called "comfort women" (Cumings 1997). It is not the same as ball lightning. During the suppression of the independence movement in 1919, 7,000 Koreans were killed by Japanese police and soldiers. St Elmo's fire was correctly identified by Franklin as electrical in nature. The Japanese occupation built Shinto shrines in Korea.[1] replaced use of Korean with the Japanese language, and　obligated name-changes to Japanese family names.[2] Koreans resisted the colonization, which led to police actions, and economic exploitation. In fact, there are only a few pictures of it.

His death was followed by the full annexation of Korea in 1910 with the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty. Ball lightning is hardly ever seen. In 1909, the former Resident-General Ito Hirobumi was assassinated by a Korean nationalist An Jung-geun. The scientist Coleman was the first to propose this theory in 1993 in Weather, a publication of the Royal Meteorological Society. 1976). One theory that may account for this wider spectrum of observational evidence is the idea of combustion inside the low-velocity region of axisymmetric (spherical) vortex breakdown of a natural vortex (e.g., the 'Hill's spherical vortex'). In 1895, Empress Min of Korea was murdered by the Japanese under Miura Goro (Kim et al. Vertically linked fireballs have been reported.

Beginning in the 1870s, Japan began to force Korea away from China's sphere of influence. Fireballs have carved trenches in the peat swamps in Ireland. Main article: Korea under Japanese rule. Fireballs have been seen in tornadoes, and they have also split apart into two or more separate balls and recombined. The Yi dynasty of Joseon was perhaps the longest-lived actively ruling dynasty in East Asia, and one of the longest of continuously ruling royal dynasties in world history. The object was a glowing globular zone (the breakdown zone?) with a long, twisting, rope-like projection (the funnel?). Korea then enjoyed more than two centuries of peace before foreign troops again penetrated Korea's border in the second half of the 19th century. The photograph has appeared in the scientific journal Transactions of the Royal Society.

The Korean rulers agreed to recognize the legitimacy of the new Qing Dynasty emperors. A recent photograph by a Queensland ranger, Brett Porter, showed a fireball that was estimated to be 100 meters in diameter. However, in the 1620s and 1630s the Joseon dynasty was not able to defeat invading Manchu troops. The typical fireball diameter is usually standardised as 20–30 cm, but ball lightning several meters in diameter has been reported (Singer). With the help of Ming Chinese troops and the ironclad warships of Admiral Yi Sunsin, Joseon forces were able to push the Japanese back to Japan. Ball lightning field properties are more extensive than realised by many scientists not working in this field. During the late 1590s, Japan invaded Korea in two failed attempts, known together as the Seven-Year War, inflicting great destruction. Japanese research shows that ball lightning has been seen several times without any connection to stormy weather or lightning.

In 1392 Yi Seong-gye established the Joseon Dynasty, moving the capital to Hanseong (now Seoul). Any complete theory of ball lightning must be able to describe the wide range of reported properties, such as those described in Singer's book "The Nature of Ball Lightning" and also more contemporary research. Main article: Joseon Dynasty. Several theories have been advanced to describe ball lightning, with none being universally accepted. At this time a General named Yi Seong-gye distinguished himself by repelling Japanese pirates who were constantly stealing mainland technology from Korean and Chinese merchant ships. Some later experimenters have been able to briefly produce small luminous balls by igniting carbon-containing materials atop sparking Tesla Coils. Korea was at last able to forge political reform without mongol interference. There is some speculation that electrical breakdown and arcing of cotton and gutta-percha wire insulation used by Tesla may have been a contributing factor, since some theories of ball lightning require the involvement of carbonaceous materials.

In the 1340s, the Mongol Empire declined rapidly due to internal struggles. The engineer Nikola Tesla wrote, "I have succeeded in determining the mode of their formation and producing them artificially" (Electrical World and Engineer, 5 March 1904). Under the control of the Mongols, Goryeo participated two failed attempts of the Mongol invasions of Japan. Ball lightning has been described by eyewitnesses but rarely, if ever, recorded by meteorologists. As a result, a treaty was signed between the two kingdoms in favor of the Mongols. Some have been known to pass through windows and even dissipate with a bang. In 1238, the Mongols invaded Goryeo and laid the kingdom in ruins as resistance continued on and off for almost thirty years. Some make hissing or crackling noises or no noise at all.

This led to an uprising by military and forced some military officials to migrate to other areas. They can be fast moving, slow moving or nearly stationary. Conflict increased between civil and military officials in Goryeo as the latter were degraded and poorly paid. Ball lightning is described as a floating, illuminated ball that occurs during thunderstorms. In the 10th and 11th centuries, Goryeo continued to be plagued by attacks from Jurchen and Khitan tribes on the northern borders. [4]. Buddhism flourished throughout the peninsula. As a result, the lightning discharge appears to be silent.

During this period, laws were codified, and a civil service system was introduced. An observer may see nearby lightning, but the sound from the discharge is refracted over his head by a change in the temperature, and therefore the density, of the air around him. Many members of the Balhae ruling class joined the newly founded Goryeo, which established boundaries of Korea to a little more than where they exist today (See Gando region which is now occupied by the Chinese). Some cases of "heat lightning" can be explained by the refraction of sound by bodies of air with different densities. The kingdom of Goryeo (918 - 1392) replaced Silla. In Florida, heat lightning is often seen out over the water at night, the remnants of storms that formed during the day along a seabreeze front coming in from the opposite coast. In the 10th century Balhae was conquered by the Khitans. Heat lightning can be an early warning sign that thunderstorms are approaching.

Eventually, Balhae's territory would extend from the Sungari and Amur Rivers in northern Manchuria all the way down to the northern provinces of modern Korea. Heat lightning was named because it often occurs on hot summer nights. The general founded the state of Balhae (Bohai in Chinese) as the successor to Goguryeo and regained control of lost northern territory. Heat lightning (or, in the UK, "summer lightning") is nothing more than the faint flashes of lightning on the horizon from distant thunderstorms. After the fall of Goguryeo, General Dae Joyeong led a group of his people to the Jilin area in Manchuria. Most ground-to-cloud lightning occurs from tall buildings, mountains and towers. In the late 9th century, Unified Silla gave way to the brief Later Three Kingdoms period. Ground-to-cloud lightning is a lightning discharge between the ground and a cumulonimbus cloud from an upward-moving leader stroke.

Silla ("Unified Silla" hereon) thus came to control most of the Korean peninsula by the 8th century. Cloud-to-cloud or intercloud lightning is a somewhat rare type of discharge lightning between two or more completely separate cumulonimbus clouds. Silla eventually repulsed Tang from Goguryeo territory, although the northern part regrouped as Balhae. The last special type of cloud-to-ground lightning is staccato lightning, which is nothing more than a leader stroke with only one return stroke. Silla first annexed Gaya, then conquered Baekje and Goguryeo with Tang assistance. The winds will blow each successive return stroke slightly to one side of the previous return stoke, causing a ribbon effect. Silla was the least advanced of the Three Kingdoms, but had established a fierce military called the Hwarang. These occur in thunderstorms where there are high cross winds and multiple return strokes.

The Sui fall from power in China was partly due to Goguryeo. A third special type of cloud-to-ground lightning is ribbon lightning. Emperor Yang-ti of Sui, with one million troops, invaded Goguryeo, but in 612 AD, General Eulji Mundeok pushed the Chinese force into retreat. When the discharge fades it leaves behind a string of beads effect for a brief moment in the leader channel. Goguryeo was the most dominant power, but was at constant war with the Chinese Sui and Tang. This is a regular cloud-to-ground stroke that contains a higher intensity of luminosity. Sophisticated state organizations developed under Confucian and Buddhist paradigms. Another special type of cloud-to-ground lightning is bead lightning.

The three kingdoms Goguryeo, Silla, and Baekje (the latter two arising from the Samhan) competed with each other as minor statelets fell or merged with these regional powers. They are signs of an approaching storm nad are known colloquially as "bolts from the blue". In the north, the expanding Goguryeo united Buyeo, Okjeo, and Dongye in the former Gojoseon territory, and then destroyed the last Chinese commandery in 313 AD. These usually occur miles ahead of the main storm and will strike without warning on a sunny day. It was followed by Samhan, three loose confederacies, that variously claimed descent from Jin. In anvil-to-ground lightning, the leader stroke issues forth in a nearly horizontal direction till it veers toward the ground. Although very little is known about its political organization, bronze artifacts from the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC are found in the region. One special type of cloud-to-ground lightning is anvil-to-ground lightning, a form of positive lightning, since it emanates from the anvil top of a cumulonimbus cloud where the ice crystals are positively charged.

Korean and Chinese sources describe a state called Jin in southern Korea during this period. This is the second most common type of lightning. Three of those commanderies fell to Korean resistance after only a few decades. Cloud-to-ground lightning is a great lightning discharge between a cumulonimbus cloud and the ground initiated by the downward-moving leader stroke. In 108 BC, the Chinese Han dynasty defeated Gojoseon and installed four commanderies in northern Korea and Manchuria primarily as commercial outposts. Discharges of electricity in anvil crawlers travel up the sides of the cumulonimbus cloud branching out at the anvil top. Chinese records indicate conflict between Gojoseon and China in the 2nd century BC. Intracloud lightning is the most common type of lightning which occurs completely inside one cumulonimbus cloud, and is commonly called an anvil crawler.

Gojoseon cultural artifacts and walled cities are found throughout Korea and Manchuria. Some lightning strikes take on particular characteristics, and scientists and the public have given names to these various types of lightning. Gojoseon was founded in 2333 BC, according to the Dangun legend. Measured X-ray burst intensity also falls short, with results indicating particle energy 1/20th of the theory's value. There is archaeological evidence that people were living on the Korean peninsula around 700,000 years ago, during the Lower Paleolithic.^  The earliest known Korean pottery dates to around 7000 BC, and the Neolithic period begins around 6000 BC. Cosmic rays of sufficient energy strike the atmosphere on average only once per 50 seconds per square kilometre. Main article: History of Korea. Another issue is the amount of energy the theory states is required to initiate the breakdown.

In the Korean language, Korea as a whole is referred to as Chosŏn (조선) by North Korea and Han(-)guk (한국, "Han Nation") by South Korea. While there seems to be a strong correlation between gamma-ray events and lightning, there are insufficient events detected to account for the amount of lightning occurring across the planet. "Korea" derives from the Goryeo (고려) period of Korean history, which in turn referred to the ancient kingdom of Goguryeo (고구려). There are problems with the "runaway breakdown" theory, however. Main article: Names of Korea. Additionally, low-frequency radio emissions detected at ground level can detect lightning bolts from upwards of 4000 km away; combining these with gamma-ray burst events detected from above show overlapping positions and timing. . NASA's RHESSI satellite typically reports 50 gamma-ray events per day, and many of these are strong enough to fit the theory.

"Korea" may often refer to South Korea, or less commonly, North Korea individually. The presence of these high-energy events match and support the "runaway breakdown" theory, and were discovered through the examination of rocket-triggered lightning, and from satellite monitoring of natural lightning. South Korea is a capitalist liberal democracy. The X-ray bursts typically have a total duration of less than 100 microseconds and have energies extending up to nearly a few hundred keV. North Korea is a Communist state, often described as Stalinist and isolationist. It has been recently revealed that most lightning emits an intense burst of X-rays and/or gamma-rays which seem to be produced during the stepped-leader and dart-leader phases just before the stroke becomes visible. Korea was partitioned following World War II. This was initially considered a fringe theory, but is now becoming mainstream because of the lack of other theories.

The homogeneous ethnic group, the Koreans, speak a distinct language (Korean) and use the unique script hangul. These strike other air molecules, releasing more electrons which are accelerated by the storm's electric field, forming a chain reaction of long-trajectory electrons and creating a conductive plasma many tens of meters in length. It is situated on the Korean Peninsula in East Asia, bordering China to the northwest and Russia to the northeast. Cosmic rays strike an air molecule and release extremely energetic electrons having enhanced mean free paths of tens of centimeters. Korea refers to South Korea and North Korea together, which were a unified country until 1948. A theory by Alex Gurevich of the Lebedev Physical Institute in 1992 proposes that cosmic rays may provide the beginnings of what he called a runaway breakdown. EJ 376 894. While there remains a possibility that researchers are failing to encounter the small high-strength regions of the large clouds, the odds of this are diminishing as further measurements continue to fall short.

"The Arts and Literature of Korea." The Social Studies 79 (July-August 1988): 153-60. However, measurements inside storm clouds to date have failed to locate fields this strong, with typical fields being between 100 and 400 kilovolts per metre. Lee Sang-sup. To spontaneously ionise air and conduct electricity across it, an electric field of field strength of approximately 2500 kilovolts per metre is required. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1984. Many scientists think that positive and negative lightning in a cloud are actually bipolar lightning. A New History Of Korea. During the eighties, flight tests showed that aircraft can trigger a bipolar stepped leader when crossing charged cloud areas.

Lee Ki-baik. Such a polarised conductor would be able to maintain intense electric fields at its ends, supporting continued leader development in weak-background electric fields. 1, Fall 1986. This process provides a means for the positive leader to conduct away the net negative charge collected during development, allowing the leader system to act as an extending polarised conductor. Special Issue: "Korea: A Teacher's Guide." No. Heinz Kasemir first hypothesised that a lightning leader system actually develops in a bipolar fashion, with both a positive and a negative branching leader system connected at the system origin and containing a net zero charge. Focus On Asian Studies. An average bolt of positive lightning carries a current of 300 kiloamperes, transfers a charge of up to 300 coulombs, has a potential difference up to 1 gigavolt (a thousand million volts), dissipates enough energy to light a 100 watt lightbulb for up to 95 years, and lasts for tens or hundreds of milliseconds.

New York: Foreign Policy Association, 1984. It tends to occur more frequently in winter storms and at the end of a thunderstorm. The Two Koreas. Positive lightning has also been shown to trigger the occurrence of upper atmospheric lightning. Cumings, Bruce. Here is a page showing some pictures of positive lightning. EJ 368 177. At the present time, aircraft are not designed to withstand such strikes, since their existence was unknown at the time standards were set, and the dangers unappreciated until the destruction of a glider in 1999 [3].

"Korea in the Pacific Community." Social Education 52 (March 1988), 182. As a result of their power, positive lightning strikes are considerably more dangerous. Chun, Tuk Chu. During a positive lightning strike, huge quantities of ELF and VLF radio waves are generated. Research carried out after the discovery of positive lightning in the 1970s showed that positive lightning bolts are typically six to ten times more powerful than negative bolts, last around ten times longer, and can strike several kilometers or miles distant from the clouds. The overall effect is a discharge of positive charges to the ground.

It occurs when the stepped leader forms at the positively charged cloud tops, with the consequence that a negatively charged streamer issues from the ground. Positive lightning makes up less than 5 % of all lightning. An average bolt of negative lightning carries a current of 30 kiloamperes, transfers a charge of 5 coulombs, has a potential difference of about 100 megavolts and dissipates 500 megajoules (enough to light a 100 watt lightbulb for 2 months). This type of lightning is known as negative lightning because of the discharge of negative charge from the cloud, and accounts for over 95% of all lightning.

Photographs have been taken on which non-connected streamers are visible such as that shown on the right. It is possible for streamers to be sent out from several different objects simultaneously, with only one connecting with the leader and forming the discharge path. This discharge rapidly superheats the leader channel, causing the air to expand rapidly and produce a shock wave heard as thunder. Sometimes several strokes will travel up and down the same leader strike, causing a flickering effect.

Most lightning strikes usually last about a quarter of a second. This "return stroke" is the most luminous part of the strike, and is the part that is really visible. The region of high current propagates back up the positive stepped leader into the cloud. When the two leaders meet, the electric current greatly increases.

As it does so, a positively charged streamer is usually sent out from the positively charged ground or cloud. A bolt of lightning usually begins when an invisible negatively charged stepped leader stroke is sent out from the cloud. Lightning can also occur within the ash clouds from volcanic eruptions^[1],[2], or can be caused by violent forest fires which generate sufficient dust to create a static charge. This discharge starts as positive streamer and, if it develops as a positive leader, can eventually connect to the descending discharge from the cloud.

If the electric field is strong enough, a discharge can initiate from the ground. The electric field is higher on trees and tall buildings. When a charged step leader is near the ground, opposite charges appear on the ground and enhance the electric field. At the same time, electrical energy stored in the electric field flows radially inward into the conductive filament.

The conductive filament grows in length. During the strike, successive portions of air become conductive as the electrons and positive ions of air molecules are pulled away from each other and forced to flow in opposite directions (stepped channels called step leaders). It has been suggested by experimental evidence that these discharges are triggered by cosmic ray strikes which ionise atoms, releasing electrons that are accelerated by the electric fields, ionising other air molecules and making the air conductive by a runaway breakdown, then starting a lightning strike. When sufficient negatives and positives gather in this way, and when the electric field becomes sufficiently strong, an electrical discharge occurs within the clouds or between the clouds and the ground, producing the bolt.

Cumulonimbus clouds that do not produce enough ice crystals usually fail to produce enough charge separation to cause lightning. Cloud-to-ground lightning is less common. Cloud-to-cloud lightning can appear at this point. The positively charged crystals tend to rise to the top, causing the cloud top to build up a positive charge, and the negatively charged crystals and hailstones drop to the middle and bottom layers of the cloud, building up a negative charge.

Once charged, by whatever mechanism, work is performed as the opposite charges are driven apart and energy is stored in the electric fields between them. This mechanism has two components: the first is that falling droplets of ice and rain become electrically polarised as they fall through the atmosphere's natural electric field, and the second is that colliding ice particles become charged by electrostatic induction. The mechanism by which this happens is still the subject of research, but one widely accepted theory is the polarisation mechanism. The first process in the generation of lightning is the forcible separation of positive and negative charge carriers within a cloud or air.

Positive lightning does not generally fit the above pattern. This rapid restrike effect was probably known in antiquity, and the "strobe light" effect is often quite noticeable. In addition, lightning often contains a number of restrikes, separated by a much larger amount of time, 30 milliseconds being a typical value. It may persist for longer periods with lower current.

The main stroke travels at about 0.1 c (100 million feet per second) and has high current for 100 microseconds or so. Once the ground discharge meets the stepped leader, the circuit is closed, and the main stroke follows with much higher current. When the downward leader is quite close, a small discharge comes up from a grounded (usually tall) object because of the intensified electric field. This initial phase involves a small electric current and is almost invisible compared to the later effects.

An initial discharge, (or path of ionised air), called a "stepped leader", starts from the thundercloud and proceeds generally downward in a number of quick jumps, typical length 50 meters, but taking a relatively long time (200 milliseconds) to reach the ground. The following picture emerged:. Although causes were debated (and are today to some extent), research produced a wealth of new information about lightning phenomena, especially amounts of current and energy involved. The impetus for new research was from the field of power engineering: power transmission lines came into use, and engineers needed to know much more about lightning.

Although experiments from the time of Franklin showed that lightning was a discharge of static electricity, there was little improvement in theory for more than 150 years. His shoes were blown open, parts of his clothes singed, the engraver knocked out, the doorframe of the room split, and the door itself torn off its hinges. While the experiment was underway, a large ball lightning showed up, collided with Richmann's head, and killed him, leaving a red spot. He ran home with his engraver to capture the event for posterity.

He had created a set-up similar to Franklin's, and was attending a meeting of the Academy of Sciences when he heard thunder. The most well-known death during the spate of Franklin imitators was that of Professor Georg Richmann, of Saint Petersburg, Russia. However, experiments involving lightning are always risky and frequently fatal. As news of the experiment and its particulars spread, the experiment was met with attempts at replication.

However, in his autobiography (written 1771-1788, first published 1790), Franklin clearly states that he performed this experiment after those in France, which occurred weeks before his own experiment, without his prior knowledge as of 1752. The rain which had fallen during the storm had soaked the line and made it conductive.. As time passed, Franklin noticed the loose fibers on the string stretching out; he then brought his hand close to the key and a spark jumped the gap. On his end of the string he attached a key and tied it to a post with a silk thread.

During the next thunderstorm, which was in June 1752, he raised a kite, accompanied by his son as an assistant. Whilst waiting for completion of the spire, he got the idea of using a flying object, such as a kite, instead. The Franklin experiment is as follows:. Franklin usually gets the credit, as he was the first to suggest this experiment.