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Electric Field and Charge Structure in Lightning-Producing Clouds

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Book cover Lightning: Principles, Instruments and Applications

Abstract

This chapter gives an overview of typical charge structures observed with balloons inside mesoscale convective systems, supercells, and New Mexico mountain storms. Typical maximum electric field magnitudes, along with several extreme field values observed near lightning initiations, are presented in comparison to the theoretical values that are thought to be required for lightning initiation at various altitudes within active storms. The chapter emphasizes the physical effects that the electrical structure has on lightning initiation, lightning propagation, and lightning type, including a detailed discussion of the controlling effect that the electric potential has on the altitude of horizontal lightning channels and the existence or absence of preliminary breakdown. Some indications of the countereffects of lightning on electrical structures, particularly through deposition of charge and increased complexity of the charge structure are also described.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Mississippi, Mississippi, USA

    Maribeth Stolzenburg

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  1. Maribeth Stolzenburg
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  2. Thomas C. Marshall
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Physics Department, University of Munich, Am Coulombwall 1, 85748 Garching, Germany

    Hans Dieter Betz

  2. Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt, Institut für Physik der Atmosphäre, 82230 Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany

    Ulrich Schumann

  3. Physics Instrumentation and Sensing Department ONERA, 29 avenue de la Division Leclerc, BP 72, 92322 Chatillon, France

    Pierre Laroche

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Stolzenburg, M., Marshall, T.C. (2009). Electric Field and Charge Structure in Lightning-Producing Clouds. In: Betz, H.D., Schumann, U., Laroche, P. (eds) Lightning: Principles, Instruments and Applications. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9079-0_3

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