Lightning and related phenomena in thunderstorms and squall linesDuring the past few years, cooperative research on storm electricity has yielded the following results of both basic and applied interest: (1) the intracloud to cloud-to-ground flashing ratio can be as great as 40:1; (2) as storm cells in a squall line dissipate, longer flashes become predominant; (3) there are two centers of lightning activity maxima that are vertically separated, the lower maximum at about 5 km and the upper at about 12 km. In addition, (4) storms produce lightning in their upper regions at a high rate; (5) lightning appears to be related in time to convective motions; (6) positive cloud-to-ground flashes occur in the severe stage of storms and in the later, well-developed stage of squall line storms; (7) mesoscale convective complexes have been observed to have cloud-to-ground flashing rates of more than 48/min; and (8) the electric field in anvils well away from the main storm core (more than 60 km) can be very high, more than 94 kV/m.
Document ID
19840035322
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Rust, W. D. (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Norman, OK, United States)
Taylor, W. L. (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Norman, OK, United States)
Macgorman, D. R. (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Norman, OK, United States)
Brandes, E. (NOAA, National Severe Storms Laboratory, Norman OK, United States)
Mazur, V. (Oklahoma, University Norman, OK, United States)
Arnold, R. (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Norman, OK, United States)
Marshall, T. (Mississippi, University University, MS, United States)
Christian, H. (NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL, United States)
Goodman, S. J. (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Norman, OK, United States)