A statistical model for burst duration and time between bursts for WBHF atmospheric noise

A statistical analysis of wideband (1 MHz) HF burst noise was carried out after excision of narrowband interference. For a majority of the time the noise typically consists of a stationary noise background on which noise bursts of varying intensity and duration are superimposed. These characteristics are consistent with the known effects of lightning and are hypothesized to be due to over-the-horizon lightning discharges. A three-parameter renewal process model was found to provide a good statistical fit for both burst durations and time between bursts. This model is shown to correlate well with the known physics of lightning.<<ETX>>