NEWSLETTER ON ATMOSPHERIC ELECTRICITY 
http://amasci.com/tesla/ball.txt
   
   Vol. 5, No. 2
   November, 1994
   
      AMS COMMITTEE
      ON ATMOSPHERIC
      ELECTRICITY
   
      AGU COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL
      ATMOSPHERIC AND COMMISSION ON
      SPACE ELECTRICITY ATMOS. ELECTRICITY
      
<delete>
   
   INSTITUTE FOR HIGH TEMPERATURES (Russian Academy of Sciences,
   Izhorskaya, 13/19, Moscow, 127412, Russia)
   
   In the Yaroslavl State University, 6-8 of July, a conference was held
   devoted to problems of atmospheric electricity that include Ball
   Lightning (BL), St. Elmo's fire, aerometeors, electrically charged
   water drops and other long living plasma objects in the atmosphere.
   Participants from Russia, Ukraine, U.S.A., Belgium and Comores
   delivered 20 reports on these problems. Interesting results:

   Emelin S.E ., Semenov V.S. (Russia), Hassani A.K . (Co mores) (St.
   Petersburg University) delivered 3 reports on the formation of long
   lived (about 1-3 seconds) compact erosive plasma objects with the help
   of the erosion type plasma generator in PMMA. They managed to analyze
   the trace which persisted in these objects. The structure consisted of
   elastic composite thin threads (10-5 - 10-4 cm thick) that included
   chains of amorphous carbon and they came to the conclusion that a
   polymer BL model is applicable to this object.

   Klimov A.I . (Russia, Moscow Radio-Technical Institute) delivered a
   report on the formation of a long lived (about 1 second) compact
   plasma object with the help of the erosive type plasma generator in
   wax. When these objects were directed onto a cell with liquid nitrogen
   the whole surface became covered with threads (10-5-10-3 cm thick) of
   polymer that resembled lint. These objects had hydrodynamic properties
   analogous to BLs.

   Manykin E.A . (Russia, Kurchatov Institute of Nuclear Energy, Moscow)
   delivered a report on obtaining plasma fire balls in a magnetron
   arrangement in conditions analogous to those of a successful
   experiment in Ohtsuki. The elaborated theory of the plasma vortex in
   convection conditions explained the main properties of the phenomenon.
   Yakovlenko S.I . (Russia, Institute of General Physics of Russian
   Academy of Sciences) delivered a report on the over-cooled plasma.
   This plasma of Coulombic particles in special conditions will
   recombine very slowly, and there is the principal possibility to
   create such a plasma.

   Handel P.H . (University of Missouri, St. Louis, USA) delivered a
   report on the maser-caviton BL. It is based on the interpretation of
   BL as a plasma region, a caviton, fed by a large atmospheric maser - a
   large region of rotationally excited water molecules. The plasma
   caviton is a localized nonlinear quasi stationary electric field and
   plasma configuration in oscillation, also described as a soliton. The
   mechanism of transport of the maser energy to the caviton is under
   examination.

   Gaidukov N.I . (Russia, Orekhovo-Zuevo, Pedagogical Institute)
   delivered a report on the interaction of BL with the one motor and two
   motor airplain and with the one motor helicopter. The main idea is
   that BL is a ball of ideal liquid with corresponding boundary
   conditions. It helps to describe the interaction reasonably.
   Meseniashin A.I . (Russia, St. Petersburg, "Mekhanobr" Inst.)
   described a model according to which BL is a water bubble. He could
   explain several properties of BL such as the energy, ability to fly,
   the stability of form that make this theory worthy of special
   attention.

   Bychkov V.L . (Russia) delivered a report (in cooperation with Anvar
   Kh. Amirov ) on the statistical analysis of BL properties. A new
   approach was noted on the basis of the analysis of variance and
   parametric regression. A special report was devoted to polymer BL
   theory which, in its modern state, can explain many properties of BL
   and the results of the experiments with polymer structures that appear
   in gas discharges of different types of gas mixtures that contain
   polymer components or macro molecular organic additives. A connection
   was shown between this theory and the results of Gaidukov and
   Meseniashin .

   During the conference a new group was formed "The Russian Committee on
   Ball Lightning and Long Lived Plasma Formations in the Atmosphere".
   Its purpose is to coordinate activity of all investigators in this
   field of science in the countries of the former USSR and to improve on
   information exchange. Dr. V.L. Bychkov was elected its president, and
   professor A.I. Grigoriev and Dr. A.I. Klimov were elected to be vice
   presidents. An edition commitee headed by Anatoli I. Klimov has
   prepared for publication a book of experimental works "Ball Lightning
   in the Laboratory", Chemistry Publishers, Moscow, 1994.
   
UP TO:  Main Ball-Lightning Page
http://amasci.com/tesla/ballgtn.html