A group of scientists carried out studies with a laser on top of a mountain in Switzerland where there is a large metal telecommunication tower. This tower, according to the researchers, has a high occurrence of lightning, as it is a “lightning rod”, since it is in a high place and is made of metal. Therefore, this location was perfect for the group to test the possibility of deflecting the rays. Check the results of the study.
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This is what the new study by physicist Aurélien Houard concluded after some tests, see how the study and practical tests were carried out:
laser lightning rod
The Applied Optics laboratory of the French National Center for Scientific Research, in Paris, together with a group of scientists and physicist Aurélien Houard, conducted a study on how lasers could be useful to deflect lightning and rays.
For this, the group went to this telecommunication tower on a Swiss mountain and withstood hours of storm. While the storm was happening, they used several lasers with varying strengths to see if they could guide lightning away from the structure, as the tower is struck by lightning an additional 100 times during the year.
These occurrences can cause billions of dollars in damage to airports and launch pads, so the test is to see if it is possible to use these lasers in structures of this size and replace the protection against lightning known as the Franklin Rod, created in the 18th century by Benjamin Franklin.
Test results
The experiment took place during the summer of 2021 from the Santis mountain in northeastern Switzerland. Short, intense laser pulses were released into the clouds during a series of thunderstorms and successfully deflected four lightning strikes that were heading towards the tip of the tower. Another 12 lightning strikes hit the tower during periods of thunderstorms when the laser was inactive.
"These preliminary results should be confirmed by campaigns adding new settings," write Houard and colleagues.
“This work paves the way for new atmospheric applications of ultrashort lasers and represents an important step in the development of laser-based lightning protection for airports, launch pads or large infrastructure,” conclude Houard and colleagues.