Observed one-dimensional return stroke propagation speeds in the bottom 170 m of a rocket-triggered lightning channel

The return‐stroke propagation speeds of five strokes from a seven‐stroke triggered lightning flash are measured, with a 2 ns sampling interval, using a vertical array of photodiodes. Various methods for determining the reference point to be tracked are explored, and the speed is seen to vary over ne...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geophysical research letters 2004-08, Vol.31 (16), p.L16107.1-n/a
Main Authors: Olsen III, R. C., Jordan, D. M., Rakov, V. A., Uman, M. A., Grimes, N.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Arrays
Channels
Earth, ocean, space
Exact sciences and technology
Lightning
Photodiodes
Return strokes (lightning)
Sampling
Strokes
Triggered lightning
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The return‐stroke propagation speeds of five strokes from a seven‐stroke triggered lightning flash are measured, with a 2 ns sampling interval, using a vertical array of photodiodes. Various methods for determining the reference point to be tracked are explored, and the speed is seen to vary over nearly an order of magnitude depending upon which method is chosen. The speeds are generally in agreement with the values found in the literature. The return‐stroke speed appears to increase with height and then decrease with height in four of the five strokes examined.
ISSN:0094-8276
1944-8007
DOI:10.1029/2004GL020187