Note: When clicking on a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) number, you will be taken to an external site maintained by the publisher.
Some full text articles may not yet be available without a charge during the embargo (administrative interval).
What is a DOI Number?
Some links on this page may take you to non-federal websites. Their policies may differ from this site.
-
The application of empirical mode decomposition (EMD) in the analysis and processing of lightning electric field waveforms acquired by the low-frequency e-field detection array (LFEDA) in China has significantly improved the capabilities of the low-frequency/very-low-frequency (LF/VLF) time-of-arrival technique for studying the lightning discharge processes. However, the inherent mode mixing and the endpoint effect of EMD lead to certain problems, such as an inadequate noise reduction capability, the incorrect matching of multistation waveforms, and the inaccurate extraction of pulse information, which limit the further development of the LFEDA's positioning ability. To solve these problems, the advanced ensemble EMD (EEMD) technique is introduced into the analysis of LF/VLF lightning measurements, and a double-sided bidirectional mirror (DBM) extension method is proposed to overcome the endpoint effect of EMD. EEMD can effectively suppress mode mixing, and the DBM extension method proposed in this article can effectively suppress the endpoint effect, thus greatly improving the accuracy of a simulated signal after a 25-500-kHz bandpass filter. The resulting DBM_EEMD algorithm can be used in the LFEDA system to process and analyze the detected electric field signals to improve the system's lightning location capabilities, especially in terms of accurate extraction and location of weak signals from lightning discharges. In this article, a 3-D image of artificially triggered lightning obtained from an LF/VLF location system is reported for the first time, and methods for further improving the location capabilities of the LF/VLF lightning detection systems are discussed.more » « less
-
Abstract The production mechanism for terrestrial gamma ray flashes (TGFs) is not entirely understood, and details of the corresponding lightning activity and thunderstorm charge structure have yet to be fully characterized. Here we examine sub‐microsecond VHF (14–88 MHz) radio interferometer observations of a 247‐kA peak‐current EIP, or energetic in‐cloud pulse, a reliable radio signature of a subset of TGFs. The EIP consisted of three high‐amplitude sferic pulses lasting
≃ 60μ s in total, which peaked during the second (main) pulse. The EIP occurred during a normal‐polarity intracloud lightning flash that was highly unusual, in that the initial upward negative leader was particularly fast propagating and discharged a highly concentrated region of upper‐positive storm charge. The flash was initiated by a high‐power (46 kW) narrow bipolar event (NBE), and the EIP occurred about 3 ms later after≃ 3 km upward flash development. The EIP was preceded≃ 200μ s by a fast6 × 106 m/s upward negative breakdown and immediately preceded and accompanied by repeated sequences of fast (107 –108 m/s) downward then upward streamer events each lasting 10 to 20μ s, which repeatedly discharged a large volume of positive charge. Although the repeated streamer sequences appeared to be a characteristic feature of the EIP and were presumably involved in initiating it, the EIP sferic evolved independently of VHF‐producing activity, supporting the idea that the sferic was produced by relativistic discharge currents. Moreover, the relativistic currents during the main sferic pulse initiated a strong NBE‐like event comparable in VHF power (115 kW) to the highest‐power NBEs.