The electrical environment of thunderstorm models and measurements

[摘要] A model describing a thunderstorm;;s interaction with the global electric circuit is presented. The model includes a thunderstorm, the surrounding atmospheric and ionospheric region, and the magnetically conjugate atmospheric and ionospheric region. The model is time-dependent, and includes lightning and thundercloud evolution. A method of using experimental data to more accurately simulate observed thunderstorms has been developed. Of the upward current generated by a thunderstorm, about 50% flows through the Earth;;s magnetosphere to the conjugate hemisphere. This percentage is fairly constant over the storm;;s active life, and varies little with storm size or structure. Infrequent lightning activity (less than one flash/minute) within a thunderstorm does not appear to greatly affect the thunderstorm;;s efficiency in transferring separated charge to the global circuit. Lightning does limit the magnitude of the electric fields and resulting currents within and below the storm.

[发布机构] Rice University