INTRACLOUD LIGHTNING DISCHARGES IN THE LOWER PART OF THUNDERCLOUD

From analysis of observational data of thunderstorms in Gansu,China,it was deduced that the electric structure of thunderclouds in this region is often positive charge in the upper,main negative in the middle layer and another positive charge,large in magnitude and extensive in dimension,in the lower part.Intra- cloud discharges often take place between the main negative charge and lower positive charge instead of upper. Case analysis of 6 intracloud discharges in two storms on August 3 and 4,1986 shows that the centers of these discharges and the dipole moments destroyed were at the altitude of 3.8—6 km msl(7.6—-13.5℃)and 18— 40 C km,respectively.

Analysis of the Initial Stage Intracloud Lightning Using the Pulse Location Technique Based on the Fast Electric Field Change

Academy of Sciences,Beijing 100029 2 Lanzhou University,Lanzhou 730000 3 Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences,Lanzhou 730000 4 Nanjing University of Information Science＆Technology,Nanjing 210044 Using both fast and slow electric field change sensors and field mill,multi-station observations on lightning flashes over China inland plateau areas were conducted during the summer of 2004.All of the stations were synchronized by GPS with a time-resolution of±50 ns.Using the different time of arrival（DTOA）and based on the fast electric field change sensor,a lightning radiation location technique was developed.Radiation pulses in the initial stages of five intracloud（IC）lightning discharges which occurred on 20 August were analyzed.The results indicate that the technique developed could effectively locate the lightning radiation sources.Furthermore,the lightning discharges were compared with the Doppler radar data.The results show that the radiation sources were well associated with the storm development.When the storm was at the mature stage with an echo top of about 10.9 km,the radiation sources ranged from 5.2 to 8.3 km above mean sea level;when the storm gradually became weaker,with echo top of about 7.9 km,the radiation sources ranged from 3.0 to 5.9 km.In particular,one of the IC lightning discharges ranged from 3.0 to 4.9 km during the dissipation stage of the storm.The results also indicate that the radiation sources were closely associated with the high reflectivity region（25–50 dBZ）of the storm,which,to some extent,demonstrates the reliability of the location results,thereby showing that multi-station observations of fast electric field change sensors could be a useful tool for monitoring the storm development.Location errors from radiation sources were also compared with the radar data and the results of a simple simulation.It was found that the errors were getting smaller when the radiation sources approached the center of the detection network, and vice versa.Compared with the limited experimental observations,the simulation results were found capable of effectively reflecting the location errors.

Temporal and Spatial Distribution of Lightning Activity in Ulanqab City

From January 2020 to December 2021,Ulanqab Meteorological Bureau of Inner Mongolia used VLF/LF lightning locator to carry out three-dimensional lightning monitoring in Ulanqab City,and compared with ADTD lightning location data in the same period.The results show that both VLF/LF lightning locator and ADTD lightning locator had excellent monitoring ability for lightning during flood season in Ulanqab.VLF/LF lightning locator was slightly superior to ADTD lightning locator in observation accuracy,the observation ability of low-current cloud-to-ground lightning,intracloud lightning observation and so on.There were obvious temporal and spatial characteristics of cloud-to-ground lightning during flood season in Ulanqab,and there was a certain correlation between the areas where lightning appeared frequently and surface water.Intracloud lightning was mainly concentrated at a height of 1-7 km.Negative cloud-to-ground lightning accounted for about 75%of total cloud-to-ground lightning,and negative intracloud lightning accounted for 39%of total intracloud lightning.

Evolution of the Total Lightning Activity in a Leading-Line and Trailing Stratiform Mesoscale Convective System over Beijing

Data from the Beijing SAFIR 3000 lightning detection system and Doppler radar provided some insights into the three-dimensional lightning structure and evolution of a leading-line and trailing-stratiform （LLTS） mesoscale convective system （MCS） over Beijing on 31 July 2007. Most of the lightning in the LLTS-MCS was intracloud （IC） lightning, while the mean ratio of positive cloud-to-ground （＋CG） lightning to –CG lightning was 1：4, which was higher than the average value from previous studies. The majority of CG lightning occurred in the convective region of the radar echo, particularly at the leading edge of the front. Little IC lightning and little ＋CG lightning occurred in the stratiform region. The distribution of the CG lightning indicated that the storm had a tilted dipole structure given the wind shear or the tripole charge structure. During the storm’s development, most of the IC lightning occurred at an altitude of ～9.5 km; the lightning rate reached its maximum at 10.5 km, the altitude of IC lightning in the mature stage of the storm. When the thunderstorm began to dissipate, the altitude of the IC lightning decreased gradually. The spatial distribution of lightning was well correlated with the rainfall on the ground, although the peak value of rainfall appeared 75 min later than the peak lightning rate.