What Could Saturn's Lightning Do On Earth?

[Saul Trabal]

So, here's a question for you folks...

Saturn has a monster thunderstorm raging in its southern hemisphere whose lightning is 10,000 times stronger than Earth's. What kind of damage could this cause here? Could a lightning stroke that powerful be strong enough to destroy a city? The thunder itself must be so loud that it would destroy your eardrums!

You can view the thunderhead here:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cassini/multimedia/pia08410.html

 

[Dan Nichols]

As the old postcard cliché goes: "Having great time (on Saturn) Wish you were here!!!!"

 

[Rob Wadsworth]

An interesting question.
It would be best to consider all of the factors that make up lighting. Then, one would have to substitute/change the variables accordingly in order to calculate the joules of energy that are possible of a Saturn storm - which are continuous.

But there are factors they may make it impossible to determine with any degree of certainty. How many free electrons are trapped in its magnetic field? How much friction is inhibiting the condensation? How high are the wind speeds? How many electrons can dry ice/methane conduct or insulate? And many more...

Once the variables receive some substitution value for what is known of their properties on Earth; one must now consider how different they may be for Saturn. Saturn receives only a small portion of light compared to the Earth - and this one characteristic will skew all of the rest. How can one calculate this factor into this equation to know anything definitive?

We know that these huge Saturn electrical storms have potential for immense discharges - but has there been any reliable papers/studies written on the subject that provides any real data or conclusions?

I suppose once the amount of energy is calculated, then we cab say if Saturn's lightning would weld a couple of buildings together...

 

[Sarah Austin]

In order for that kind of storm to happen on earth is an incredible thing to think about. The whole atmosphere of earth would have to change so drastically. I'm not even sure all of us would still be around to witness it. I think the lightning factor would just be a small part of the problem if that was to ever occur.

I wonder how our sprites would compare to the storms on Saturn.

 

[Laura Duchesne]

I really wonder what these storms look like compared to our supercells on earth.

I'd imagine that if a storm of that magnitude were to happen on earth, there would be a lot of fires burning, given all that heat from such powerful strikes, and many other problems. And to think we thought our lightning is dangerous!