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Some inferences on the role of lower positive charge region in facilitating different types of lightning
Author(s) -
Nag Amitabh,
Rakov Vladimir A.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2008gl036783
Subject(s) - lightning (connector) , electric field , charge (physics) , physics , flash (photography) , atmospheric electricity , electric charge , ground level , optics , power (physics) , quantum mechanics , architectural engineering , ground floor , engineering
It is generally thought that the lower positive charge region serves to enhance the electric field at the bottom of the main negative charge region and thereby facilitate the launching of a negatively‐charged leader toward ground. On the other hand, the presence of excessive lower positive charge region may prevent the occurrence of negative cloud‐to‐ground discharges by “blocking” the progression of descending negative leader from reaching ground and thus “converting” the potential cloud‐to‐ground flash to an intracloud (or cloud‐to‐air) one. Assuming that the preliminary breakdown pulse train is a manifestation of interaction of a downward‐extending negative leader channel with the lower positive charge region, we qualitatively examine the inferred dependence of lightning type on the magnitude of this charge region.