Statistical Analysis of Lightning Electric Field Measured Under Equatorial Region Condition

Abstract Lightning can be described as transient high current electric discharges usually within few tens of kilometers resulting from the atmospheric climate condition. Lightning are due to the electrostatic field (slow field changes), radiated field (fast field changes) and magnetic fields associated with the motion of charges. The various lightning parameters such as electric current, charge transfer, as required for analysis of atmospheric electricity research can be extracted from the measurement of lightning field components. Lightning characteristics and their statistical information are the foundation for the design of lightning protection system as well as for the calculation of lightning radiated fields. In this paper, the characteristics of electric fields generated by negative cloud-to-ground lightning discharges in south of Malaysia are analyzed. A total of 220 cloud-to-ground lightning discharge from 5 different thunderstorm events (each event lasts for about 4-5 hours) were investigated. The findings of the statistical results showed that 7% of the flashes were single stroke flashes, and the maximum number of strokes recorded was 14 multiple strokes per flash. A preliminary breakdown signature in more than 95% of the flashes can be identified. The maximum and minimum of preliminary breakdown time duration of the observed lightning signals were 38 ms and 490 us, respectively.

[1]  Zulkurnain Abdul-Malek,et al.  Investigation of Short Base Line Lightning Detection System by Using Time of Arrival Method , 2012, ISI.

[2]  Vernon Cooray,et al.  Properties of preliminary breakdown processes in Scandinavian lightning , 2008 .

[3]  Vernon Cooray,et al.  What directs a lightning flash towards ground , 2000 .

[4]  Vernon Cooray,et al.  Comparison of preliminary breakdown pulses observed in Sweden and in Sri Lanka , 1998 .

[5]  Vernon Cooray,et al.  Radiation field pulses associated with the initiation of positive cloud to ground lightning flashes , 2004 .

[6]  Vernon Cooray,et al.  On the characteristics of some radiation fields from lightning and their possible origin in positive ground flashes , 1982 .

[7]  Vernon Cooray,et al.  Characteristics of narrow bipolar pulses observed in Malaysia , 2010 .

[8]  N. Kitagawa,et al.  A comparison of intracloud and cloud-to-ground lightning discharges , 1960 .

[9]  Tomoo Ushio,et al.  Electric fields of initial breakdown in positive ground flash , 1998 .

[10]  E. Philip Krider,et al.  Submicrosecond risetimes in lightning return-stroke fields , 1980 .

[11]  D. J. Malan,et al.  Preliminary discharge processes in lightning flashes to ground , 1957 .

[12]  Vernon Cooray,et al.  Comparative study on preliminary breakdown pulse trains observed in Johor, Malaysia and Florida, USA , 2012 .

[13]  Zulkurnain Abdul-Malek,et al.  Simulation of Lightning Flash in Time of Arrival (TOA) Method by Using Three Broadband Antennas , 2011, 2011 UKSim 5th European Symposium on Computer Modeling and Simulation.