Estimation of charge distributions related with individual lightning discharges

Abstract

To investigate electric charge distributions in thunderclouds with high time resolution and for individual lighting flashes, VHF Broadband Digital Interferometers (VHF BDITF) and slow antennas are deployed during a field campaign in Darwin, Australia. VHF BDITFs enable us the estimation of locations of negative breakdown, and the lightning channels images inside and outside of thunderclouds. The source locations inside the cloud are equivalent to the positions of positive charges. Electric field changes captured by slow antennas may present the charge amounts, which cause lightning flashes. The combination of above two observations may give us the clear idea of charge distributions, which contribute individual lightning flashes. Both cloud and ground discharges in terms of charge distributions will be discusses in detail. © 2011 IEEE.