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Comment on the transmission-line model for computing radiation from lightningThe 'transmission-line' model is an approximation that is frequently used to relate the electric and magnetic fields radiated during lightning discharges to the currents that produce those fields. A principal prediction of this model is that the distant (radiation) fields are directly proportional to the current propagating along the lightning channel, multiplied by the velocity of propagation. This paper examines the derivation of this relationship and its implications in some detail. It is shown that the formulas commonly used to describe the transmission-line model cannot be correctly applied to many lightning processes. A correction factor is required that is significant when the channel is not oriented perpendicular to the line of sight to the observer, unless the propagation velocity is only a small fraction of the speed of light. An important implication of this more general version of the model is that the current and velocity decouple so that they could be separately determined by suitable, multistation measurements.
Document ID
19920043490
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Le Vine, D. M.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Willett, J. C.
(USAF, Phillips Laboratory, Hanscom AFB MA, United States)
Date Acquired
August 15, 2013
Publication Date
February 20, 1992
Publication Information
Publication: Journal of Geophysical Research
Volume: 97
ISSN: 0148-0227
Subject Category
Meteorology And Climatology
Accession Number
92A26114
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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