An Analysis of Current and Electric Field Pulses Associated With Upward Negative Lightning Flashes Initiated from the S?ntis Tower

摘要

We present a study on the characteristics of current and electric field pulses associated with upward lightning flashes initiated from the instrumented S?ntis Tower in Switzerland. The electric field was measured 15 km from the tower. Upward flashes always begin with the initial stage composed of the upward-leader phase and the initial-continuous-current (ICC) phase. Four types of current pulses are identified and analyzed in the paper: (1) return-stroke pulses, which occur after the extinction of the ICC and are preceded by essentially no-current time intervals; (2) mixed-mode ICC pulses, defined as fast pulses superimposed on the ICC, which have characteristics very similar to those of return strokes and are believed to be associated with the reactivation of a decayed branch or the connection of a newly created channel to the ICC-carrying channel at relatively small junction heights; (3) “classical” M-component pulses superimposed on the continuing current following some return strokes; and (4) M-component-type ICC pulses, presumably associated with the reactivation of a decayed branch or the connection of a newly created channel to the ICC-carrying channel at relatively large junction heights. We consider a data set consisting of 9 return-stroke pulses, 70 mixed-mode ICC pulses, 11 classical M-component pulses, and 19 M-component-type ICC pulses (a total of 109 pulses). The salient characteristics of the current and field waveforms are analyzed. A new criterion is proposed to distinguish between mixed-mode and M-component-type pulses, which is based on the current waveform features. The characteristics of M-component-type pulses during the initial stage are found to be similar to those of classical M-component pulses occurring during the continuing current after some return strokes. It is also found that about 41% of mixed-mode ICC pulses were preceded by microsecond-scale pulses occurring in electric field records some hundreds of microseconds prior to the ons