For the first time in the World, researchers at the GRAPES-3 muon telescope facility in Ooty, India have measured the electrical potential, size and height of a thundercloud.
Learning about the properties of thunderclouds can be useful in navigation of aircraft and in preventing short circuits.
The subatomic particle muon is similar to the electron, with an electric charge of −1e and a spin of 1/2, but with a much greater mass.
The GRAPES-3 experiment (or Gamma Ray Astronomy PeV EnergieS phase-3) is a collaboration of India’s Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Japan’s Osaka City University and Nagoya Women’s University.
GRAPES-3 is designed to study cosmic rays with an array of air shower detectors and a large area muon detector.