Rocket and balloon observations of electric field in two thunderstorms

Instruments that measure the intense electric field strengths in thunderclouds (∼100 kV m−1) are designed to minimize the production of ions by small electrical discharges (coronas) emanating from the instruments themselves. The nearby charge of these ions would unpredictably disturb the natural field of the cloud. In an attempt to assess this disturbance, two different instruments (one carried by a rocket and one carried by a balloon) were launched on two occasions into thunderstorms. In spite of differing trajectories, the soundings were similar, which gives us some confidence in both instruments. In addition, the measurements revealed some interesting features of the two storms. Each storm appeared to have six significant and distinct regions of charge. The balloon soundings also revealed that lightning flashes temporarily increased the electric field strength above the thunderclouds (at altitudes from 9.7 to 14.3 km) by amounts up to 10 kV m−1, after which the fields decayed away in 50 to 125 s. One pair of ascent and descent rocket soundings, separated in time by a maximum of 60 s and horizontally by 1 to 3 km, showed little change in the thunderstorm electric field between ground and 7.5 km altitude.

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