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The Physics of Lightning

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Abstract

An overview of the physics of cloud-to-ground lightning is given, including its initiation, propagation, and attachment to ground. Discharges artificially initiated (triggered) from natural thunderclouds using the rocket-and-wire technique are discussed with a view toward studying properties of natural lightning. Both conventional and runaway breakdown mechanisms of lightning initiation in thunderclouds are reviewed, as is the role of the lower positive charge region in facilitating different types of lightning. New observations of negative-leader stepping and its attachment to ground are compared to similar processes in long laboratory sparks. The mechanism and parameters of compact intracloud lightning discharges that are thought to be the most intense natural producers of HF-VHF (3–300 MHz) radiation on Earth are reviewed. The M-component mode of charge transfer to ground and its difference from the leader/return-stroke mode are discussed. Lightning interaction with the ionosphere and the production of energetic radiation (X-rays and gamma radiation) by cloud-to-ground leaders are considered.

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Acknowledgments

This paper is largely based on the Tutorial Lecture given by the author at the Thunderstorm Effects on the Atmosphere–Ionosphere System (TEA – IS) Summer School in Torremolinos, Malaga, Spain, June 17–22, 2012, funded by the European Science Foundation (ESF). The work was also supported in part by the U.S. National Science Foundation and DARPA. Yanan Zhu helped with preparation of the figures. Two anonymous reviewers provided useful comments.

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    V. A. Rakov

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Rakov, V.A. The Physics of Lightning. Surv Geophys 34, 701–729 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10712-013-9230-6

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