Return stroke velocity measurements in two triggered lightning flashes

Triggered lightning experiments at St. Privat d'Allier (France) enabled the three-dimensional return stroke velocity VRS and the electric current intensity, I, to be measured simultaneously for two multistroke triggered flashes. For the first strokes, VRS = 6.1 ± 1.5 107 m/s with Imax = 19.5 ± 1 kA and VRS = 6.1 ± 1 107 m/s with Imax = 8.2 ± 2.5 kA in reasonable agreement with current theory. For nine subsequent strokes with rise time shorter than 1.5 μs, Imax lies between 3.1 ± 0.9 and 16.6 ± 5 kA and VRS between 6.1 ± 1 and 17.4 ± 3 107 m/s. The latter values are 2 or 3 times higher than was predicted.

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