We present time‐correlated ultra‐high‐speed video camera and electromagnetic field measurements of the attachment processes in a natural negative cloud‐to‐ground stroke. The video camera frame exposure time and pixel resolution were 740 ns and 0.91 m/pixel, respectively. The common streamer zone (CSZ) was first observed 2.52 µs preceding the first frame showing the return stroke (RS) in progress, when the upward and downward leader‐tips were 9.8 m apart. In the next frame, the two leaders were observed to have propagated toward each other within the CSZ, with their tips being 0.91 m apart. Our observations show with unprecedented precision/clarity that (a) the slow front in the field waveform is associated with the CSZ, and (b) the “proper” start of the RS is marked by the onset of the fast transition in the field waveform which occurs at the completion of the attachment processes (when the upward and downward leaders have merged).
We present sub‐microsecond‐scale, high‐speed video camera observations of three negative stepped leaders in cloud‐to‐ground flashes with return‐stroke peak currents (estimated by the U.S. National Lightning Detection Network) of −17, −104, and −228 kA. The camera frame exposure times for these observations were 1.8, 1.0, and 0.74 µs, respectively. The 0.74 µs exposure time is the shortest reported to date. We observed the temporal and spatial evolution of space leaders from their inception to their attachment to the pre‐existing leader channel (PELC). For stepped leaders that led to return strokes having higher peak currents, the space leaders appear to have incepted at farther median two‐dimensional distances from their respective PELC‐attachment points. These median distances were 6.1, 16.6, and 17.6 m, respectively, for the three strokes. Our observations indicate that space leader characteristics are likely influenced by stepped‐leader line‐charge‐density, which is expected to be higher in strokes with higher return‐stroke peak currents.
more » « less- Award ID(s):
- 1934066
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10362170
- Publisher / Repository:
- DOI PREFIX: 10.1029
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Geophysical Research Letters
- Volume:
- 48
- Issue:
- 16
- ISSN:
- 0094-8276
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
-
more » « less
Abstract -
more » « less
Abstract This study reports on spectroscopy results from a high‐speed optical spectrograph of two naturally occurring lightning return strokes. The two strokes occurred near Melbourne, FL and were from two separate flashes that were about 10 min apart and had National Lightning Detection Network (NLDN) peak currents of −19 and −63 kA. The larger peak current stroke was from a dart leader and was the last stroke in a 5 return stroke flash, while the −19 kA stroke originated from a stepped leader and was the only stroke in that flash. From the flash spectra, the return stroke channel temperature was calculated using the neutral lines of 715.7 nm (OI) and 777.4 nm (OI). In addition to the use of the neutral emission lines, the use of novel instrumentation and image processing techniques allowed the temperature to be calculated for nearly the entire visible channel (several km) and for long durations (several hundred μs). This enables temperature estimates on an unprecedented spatial and temporal scale, which show that the vertical temperature profile is not uniform across the channel. The lower altitudes are significantly hotter than higher altitudes near the time of the return stroke, with temperature gradients along the channel as large as 12,000 K/km. The rate of cooling of the channel is also initially 3–4 times larger at lower altitudes in comparison with the segments at higher altitudes. The stroke with the larger peak current shows larger maximum temperatures, larger temperature gradients along the channel, and also cools quicker.
-
Leaders of subsequent strokes in negative cloud-to-ground lightning are known to produce X-ray/gamma-ray emissions detectable at distances of a few kilometers or less from the lightning channel. These leaders usually develop in decayed but still warm channels of preceding strokes. We computed electric field waveforms at different points along the path of subsequent leader as those points are traversed by the leader tip. For a typical subsequent leader, the electric field peak is a few MV/m, which is sufficient for production of energetic radiation in a warm (reduced air density) channel. We examined the dependence of electric field peak on the leader model input parameters, including the prospective return-stroke peak current (a proxy for the leader tip potential) and leader propagation speed, and compared model predictions with measurements.more » « less
-
null (Ed.)Abstract Time-correlated high-speed video and electric field change data for 139 natural, negative cloud-to-ground (CG)-lightning flashes reveal 615 return strokes (RSs) and 29 upward-illumination (UI)-type strokes. Among 121 multi-stroke flashes, 56% visibly connected to more than one ground location for either a RS or UI-type stroke. The number of separate ground-stroke connection locations per CG flash averaged 1.74, with maximum 6. This study examines the 88 subsequent strokes that involved a subsequent stepped leader (SSL), either reaching ground or intercepting a former leader to ground, in 61 flashes. Two basic modes by which these SSLs begin are described and are termed dart - then - stepped leaders herein. One inception mode occurs when a dart leader deflects from the prior main channel and begins propagating as a stepped leader to ground. In these ‘divert’ mode cases, the relevant interstroke time from the prior RS in the channel to the SSL inception from that path is long, ranging from 105 to 204 ms in four visible cases. The alternative mode of SSL inception occurs when a dart leader reaches the end of a prior unsuccessful branch—of an earlier competing dart leader, stepped leader, or initial leader—then begins advancing as a stepped leader toward ground. In this more common ‘branch’ mode (85% of visible cases), there may be no portion of the subsequent RS channel that is shared with a prior RS channel. These two inception modes, and variations among them, can occur in different subsequent strokes of the same flash.more » « less
-
more » « less
Abstract The dissonant development of positive and negative lightning leaders is a central question in atmospheric electricity. It is also the likely root cause of other reported asymmetries between positive and negative lightning flashes, including the ones regarding: stroke multiplicity, recoil activity, leader velocities, and emission of energetic radiation. In an effort to contrast lightning leaders of different polarities, we highlight the staggering differences between two rocket‐triggered lightning flashes. The flash beginning with upward positive leaders exhibits an initial continuous current stage followed by multiple sequences of dart leaders and return strokes. On the other, in its opposite‐polarity counterpart, the upward development of negative leaders is by itself the entire flash. As a result, the flash with negative leaders is faster, briefer, transfers less charge to the ground, has lower currents, and smaller spatial extent. We conclude by presenting a discussion on the three fundamental leader propagation modes.
