An experimental study of positive leaders initiating rocket-triggered lightning

Willett, J. C.; Davis, Donald R.; Laroche, Pierre

doi:10.1016/s0169-8095(99)00008-3

Cited by 79 publications

(114 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Moreover, these criteria cannot take into account the effect of asymmetries, complex geometries or surrounding objects since they have been derived for simple rods or conductors only. In addition, the existing leader inception criteria do not consider the difference between unstable leaders (precursors) and self-propagating leaders, which have been identified in rocket triggered experiments [74][75][76]. On top of this, the existing leader initiation criteria have not been able to bring light to a conclusive discussion on the efficiency of the new technologies on lightning protection such as the Early Streamer Emission devices (ESE) [30] and the Dissipation Array Systems (DAS) [31].…”

Section: The Context Of This Thesismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…c. Parameters directly taken from laboratory experiments: the main physical properties of the upward leaders, namely the charge per unit length or the leader channel potential gradient, are taken from leaders obtained in laboratory long air gaps [46][47][48][49]. Nevertheless, the leader formation conditions under natural lightning are believed to be considerably different compared with those in the laboratory under switching voltages [76]. For this reason it is not proper to use values taken from laboratory experiments and directly extrapolate them to describe physical properties of upward connecting leaders.…”

Section: The Context Of This Thesismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This is partly due to the several experiments conducted at instrumented tall towers [44,61,[80][81][82][83][84][85][86] and to the use of rocket triggered lightning techniques [74][75][76], and partly due to the improvement in theoretical leader inception and propagation models [54][55][56][57][58][59]. From the experimental perspective, different experiments with natural and triggering lightning have provided valuable information about the physical properties of upward and downward leaders under natural conditions.…”

Section: The Context Of This Thesismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The proposed model is applied to predict the background electric field required to initiate an upward leader from a lightning rod and from one corner of a rectangular building. The estimations of the leader model are compared with other existing leader inception criteria and with the results of a triggered lightning experiment [76]. Furthermore, a simplified algorithm is introduced to facilitate the use of the model by any engineer or designer to evaluate the initiation of upward lightning leaders from any grounded structure.…”

Section: The Context Of This Thesismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The inception of the upward leader usually takes place when the rocket is at an altitude of 200 to 300 m [1]. As the rocket ascends, several current pulses are usually measured before the inception of the selfpropagating upward leader [74][75][76]. This current pulses are attributed to unstable aborted leaders (precursors) launched from the tip of the triggering rocket, which stop propagating after some few meters.…”

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Attachment of lightning flashes to grounded structures

Becerra¹

2010

Lightning Protection

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Section: The Context Of This Thesismentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Context Of This Thesismentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Context Of This Thesismentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Context Of This Thesismentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Attachment of lightning flashes to grounded structures

Becerra¹

2010

Lightning Protection

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A model for the evaluation of the electric field associated with the lightning-triggering rocket wire and its corona

Smorgonskiy

Egüz

Rachidi

et al. 2015

J. Geophys. Res. Atmos.

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In this paper, we analyze the electric field at ground level during the first stage of triggered lightning experiments, i.e., during the rocket ascent and prior to the lightning initiation. At distances of some tens of meters from the triggering wire, the electric field decreases significantly, while at distances of several hundred meters, there is only a very small decrease of the electric field. Two effects determine the level of the electric field reduction: the corona layer at ground level and the corona sheath around the triggering wire. We present an analytical solution based on the charge simulation method to study the phenomenon. The model is validated by comparing its results to those obtained by numerical simulations using the finite element method. A ground space charge layer and a corona sheath around the rocket‐triggered lightning wire are included in the simulation. It is shown that, depending on the charge distribution, the change of the sign of the electric field is correctly predicted by our model. The obtained reductions of the electric field are consistent with simulations and experiments presented in the literature. Moreover, the proposed analytical solution is faster, and it allows studying the influence of several parameters simultaneously, i.e., the radius of the corona sheath and the space charge layer parameters. The described analytical model allows the estimation of the corona sheath radius if the parameters of the space charge layer are known from experiment.

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Characterization of initial current pulses in negative rocket‐triggered lightning with sensitive magnetic sensor

Zhang

Jiang

et al. 2016

Radio Science

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We report the new measurement of initial current pulses in rocket‐triggered lightning with a broadband magnetic sensor at 78 m distance. The high sensitivity of our sensor makes it possible to detect weak ripple deflections (as low as 0.4 A) that are not readily resolved in the typical measurements of channel‐base current in rocket‐triggered lightning experiments. The discernible magnetic pulses within 1 ms after the inception of a sustained upward positive leader from the triggering wire can be classified into impulsive pulses and ripple pulses according to the discernibility of separation between individual pulses. The time scale (usually >20 µs) of ripple pulses is substantially longer than the leading impulsive pulses (with time scales typically <10 µs), and the amplitude is significantly reduced, whereas there is no considerable difference in the interpulse pulse. Along with our previous finding on the burst of magnetic pulses during the initial continuous current in rocket‐triggered lightning, the new measurements suggest that the stepwise propagation might be a persistent feature for the upward positive leader in rocket‐triggered lightning, and the stepping of positive leader early in triggered lightning could be characterized with the observation of ripple pulses. The precedence of impulsive magnetic pulse measured at 78 m range relative to the arrival of corresponding current pulse at the channel base indicates that the ionization wave launched by individual stepping of positive leader propagates downward along the triggering wire at a mean velocity of 1.23 × 108 m/s to 2.25 × 108 m/s.

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An experimental study of positive leaders initiating rocket-triggered lightning

Cited by 79 publications

References 22 publications

Attachment of lightning flashes to grounded structures

Attachment of lightning flashes to grounded structures

A model for the evaluation of the electric field associated with the lightning-triggering rocket wire and its corona

Characterization of initial current pulses in negative rocket‐triggered lightning with sensitive magnetic sensor

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