Electric Shocks and Kiteboarding

[ricki]

Originally Posted by splatnikganglion

That statement isn't quite correct because I believe you're thinking of a magnetic field which is used in a dynamo. The conductor doesn't need to be moving through a differentially charged field (electric) for current to flow through it, think of a wire connected to a battery.

Now, in this case there is a potential difference between cloud and ground (like you said) and the motion is probably important because of static charge being accumulated through friction with the air.

Either way, this phenomenon is extremely interesting and super scary. Seems like a rider is just begging to induce a lightning strike if they don't drop the kite and come in immediately.

I stand corrected, there is no magnetic field. I've been looking into a bit more and it seems to be even more involved than I thought originally. Stay tuned more to come.