Abstract
IT has long been known that the ordinary spark discharge between spherical electrodes exhibits numerous side-branches which are forked away from the positive pole. Similar branching, almost always directed downwards, is shown by lightning discharges between a thundercloud and the ground. For this reason it has been concluded that the direction of branching in a lightning flash is a criterion of the polarity of the discharge (Walter and Simpson). Simpson has examined some five hundred photographs of lightning and has concluded that at least 80 per cent of these pass from a positively charged cloud-base.
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References
Gen. Elect. Rev., vol. 34, 8.
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SCHONLAND, B., ALLIBONE, T. Branching of Lightning. Nature 128, 794–795 (1931). https://doi.org/10.1038/128794a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/128794a0
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