Ryazanov N.
Electrical Engineer, Director of Imkomtech LLC in Tomsk, Russia

Abstract
This article discusses the existing theories of lightning development and proposes a practically grounded hypothesis for the formation of thunderstorm lightning. Inside the cloud, there comes a moment when the intensity between the differently charged regions reaches a critical one, then a primary electric discharge occurs, and the rate of change in the intensity of the electric field in the formed “black lightning” reaches 10¹² – 10¹⁷ and more. Under the influence of such electric field strengths, primary channels of electrical breakdown appear, which form a tree-like structure of the discharge. This leads to the formation of more powerful electrical discharges, which in turn form “ignition” discharges for the development of even more powerful stages of the leader phase of the discharges. Each resulting discharge is accompanied by “black lightning”, a pulse of radio emission and gamma radiation.

Keywords: electric spark discharge, igniting pulse, electric field strength, gamma radiation, black lightning.