Cloud electrification is one of the oldest
unresolved puzzles in the atmospheric sciences. Though many mechanisms for
charge separation in clouds have been proposed, a quantitative understanding of
their respective contribution in a given meteorological situation is lacking.
Here we suggest and analyze a hitherto little discussed process. A qualitative
picture at the molecular level of the charge separation mechanism of lightning
in a thundercloud is proposed. It is based on two key physical/chemical natural
phenomena, namely, internal charge separation of the atmospheric
impurities/aerosols inside an atmospheric water cluster/droplet/ice particle
and the existence of liquid water layers on rimers (graupels and hailstones)
forming a layer of dipoles with H+ pointing out from the air-water
interface. Charge separation is achieved through strong collisions among ice
particles and water droplets with the rimers in the turbulence of the
thundercloud. This work would have significant contribution to cloud
electrification and lightning formation.
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