Lightning attachment patterns and flight conditions experienced by the NASA F-106B airplane from 1980 to 1983

Fisher, Bruce D.; Plumer, J. A.

doi:10.2514/6.1984-466

Cited by 16 publications

(14 citation statements)

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“…Heinz Kasemir first proposed that lightning develops as a bidirectional and bipolar leader [ Kasemir , ]. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, analysis of aircraft‐initiated lightning observations supported this theory [ Fischer et al , ; Mazur , , ; Laroche et al , ]. Lightning Mapping Arrays (LMAs) are able to map lightning leader development by the triangulation of VHF emitted radiation during breakdown; however, a single source point is determined in each observation window [ Rison et al , ; Krehbiel et al , ; Thomas et al , ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Observations of bidirectional lightning leader initiation and development near positive leader channels

et al. 2016

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Based on the analysis of high‐speed optical and electric field change data, we present three observed cases in which a naturally occurring bidirectional lightning leader initiated and developed in virgin air near a previous established positive leader channel. Twice a new leader formed near an upward propagating positive leader that had initiated from a tower during an upward flash and once a new leader formed near a downward propagating positive leader prior to a positive cloud‐to‐ground return stroke. There were clear and consistent behavioral differences between the positive and negative leader ends of the newly formed bidirectional leader, and the positive end grew more slowly than the negative end in each case. In all three cases, the negative end of the bipolar leader connected with the previously formed positive leader channel creating a new positive leader branch. These rare observations show the bidirectional nature of naturally occurring lightning and suggest that positive leaders can gain branches by connection with newly formed bipolar leaders.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Observations of bidirectional lightning leader initiation and development near positive leader channels

et al. 2016

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“…Only research aircraft have carried electric field mills onboard, and these sensors are not routinarily used in aviation (Fisher & Plumer, 1984). Optical detectors onboard geostationary meteorological satellites (e.g., the Geostationary Lightning Mapper onboard the Geostationary weather satellites GEOS-16 and the Meteosat Third Generation Lightning Imager MTG-LI) are able to provide this information.…”

Section: Lightning Detection Prediction and Risk Reductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For that reason, electric field mills are a key component of the launch evaluation systems employed at NASA's Kennedy Space Flight Center. Only research aircraft have carried electric field mills onboard, and these sensors are not routinarily used in aviation (Fisher & Plumer, 1984).…”

Section: Lightning Detection Prediction and Risk Reductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…From an electrostatic perspective, lightning initiation from aircraft, or aircraft-triggered lightning (Moreau et al, 1992), can be explained using the bidirectional uncharged leader concept (Kasemir, 1950;Mazur, 1988;1989). This mechanism, responsible for about 90% of strikes, was verified using airborne data from the NASA F-106B (Fisher & Plumer, 1984) and FAA CV-580 (Reazer et al, 1987) campaigns. The sequence of events that precede a lightning strike is shown schematically in Figure 1: (1) the aircraft is polarized when exposed to atmospheric electric fields, resulting in the amplification of the local electric fields at its extremities; (2) a positive leader is triggered due to the lower inception and propagation thresholds for the positive polarity; (3) charge conservation forces the aircraft to more negative charge levels, further enhancing the local electric fields at the negatively charged extremities; (4) finally, the threshold for negative leader inception and propagation is reached, and a negative leader follows.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

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Aircraft Charging and its Influence on Triggered Lightning

et al. 2020

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This paper reports on a laboratory experiment to study the effect of vehicle net charge on the inception of a positive leader from an aircraft exposed to high atmospheric electric fields. The experiment models the first stage of aircraft-triggered lightning in which a positive leader typically develops from the vehicle and is shortly afterwards followed by a negative leader. This mechanism of lightning initiation amounts to around 90% of strikes to aircraft. Aircraft can acquire net charge levels of the order of a millicoulomb from a number of sources including corona emission, charged particles in the engine exhaust, and charge transfer by collisions with particles in the atmosphere. In addition, aircraft could potentially be artificially charged through controlled charge emission from the surface. Experiments were performed on a model aircraft with a 1m wingspan, which was suspended between two parallel electrodes in a 1.45m gap with voltage difference of a few hundred kilovolts applied across it. In this configuration, it is found that the breakdown field can vary by as much as 30% for the range of charging levels tested. The experimental results show agreement with an electrostatic model of leader initiation from aircraft, and the model indicates that the effect can be substantially stronger if additional negative charge is added to the aircraft. The results from this work suggest that flying uncharged is not optimal in terms of lightning avoidance and open up the possibility of developing risk-reduction strategies based on net charge control. Plain Language Summary Commercial aircraft are typically struck by lightning around onceper year, and the vast majority of these events are triggered by the aircraft itself. The lightning discharge originates on the surface of the aircraft in areas with sharp edges. Whether a discharge develops is in part due to the net electric charge of the aircraft, which can be acquired both naturally or artificially. Previous work has shown that it is theoretically possible to reduce the likelihood of a lightning strike occurring by manipulating the net charge of the aircraft. In this paper, the authors perform laboratory experiments to validate this hypothesis. These experiments demonstrate that the threshold for lightning could be increased by 30% by charging the aircraft negatively, which means that an aircraft could fly safely through ambient electric fields that are around 30% higher than those of an uncharged baseline. Theoretical estimates suggest that further improvement may be possible if the aircraft were charged to a more negative state than those tested. This work gives laboratory scale experimental evidence that it is possible to reduce the frequency of lightning strikes on aircraft by manipulating their charge and encourages further investigation of the proposed lightning strike risk reduction strategy.

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“…7 In that flight test program, an F-106B aircraft was flown through thunderstorms a total of 421 times. The aircraft received 176 direct strikes and 54 near misses.…”

Section: Estimate Of the Probability Of A Lightning Strike To The Galmentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimate of the probability of a lightning strike to the Galileo probe

Borucki

1985

Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets

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reaction layer thickness as long as the rate of burning during the pulse is fast enough. A plot of peak pressure vs reaction, layer thickness, also shown in Fig. 3, exhibits a remarkably good linearity.Experiments conducted at higher levels of K, but at comparable L*-range, have shown that the chuffing frequency is nearly the same, but that the peak pressure level increases with K (resembling the steady-state behavior of the rocket). The L*-K (or equivalent chamber pressure) boundary for transition from chuffing to stable combustion is similar to the ones identified by earlier workers. 6 ' 7 ConclusionsFrom the results of the experiments conducted to study the chuffing behavior in composite propellants, it can be concluded that the frequency of chuffing and the pressure amplitudes vary systematically with L*. The experiments have enabled the measurement of reaction layer thickness at different L* ranges. The level of L* seems to influence the reaction layer thickness, which gives rise to a definite pressure pulse for sufficiently low values of K. Any description of chuffing, therefore, must consider motor characteristics such as L* and K in addition to the condensed phase processes.

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Lightning attachment patterns and flight conditions experienced by the NASA F-106B airplane from 1980 to 1983

Cited by 16 publications

References 1 publication

Observations of bidirectional lightning leader initiation and development near positive leader channels

Observations of bidirectional lightning leader initiation and development near positive leader channels

Aircraft Charging and its Influence on Triggered Lightning

Estimate of the probability of a lightning strike to the Galileo probe

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