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Errors in magnetic direction finding due to nonvertical lightning channels
Author(s) -
Uman M. A.,
Lin Y. T.,
Krider E. P.
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
radio science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.371
H-Index - 84
eISSN - 1944-799X
pISSN - 0048-6604
DOI - 10.1029/rs015i001p00035
Subject(s) - lightning (connector) , polarization (electrochemistry) , geodesy , channel (broadcasting) , tilt (camera) , magnetic field , geology , physics , remote sensing , meteorology , geometry , telecommunications , computer science , mathematics , power (physics) , chemistry , quantum mechanics
We present theory to show that errors in lightning magnetic direction finding due to nonvertical source orientations are minimized by detecting the field from the lowest possible channel section. For 99 cloud‐to‐ground lightning channels photographed in Arizona, 45 exhibited a bottom few hundred meters within about 8° of the vertical, the standard deviation of the distribution of lower‐channel tilt angles being about 18°. These experimental results, coupled with theory, suggest that if a wideband gated direction finder is used, polarization errors due to nonvertical sources can be kept less than 1° for lightning beyond 10 km.