A Review of Atmospheric Electricity Research in China from 2019 to 2022

Atmospheric electricity is composed of a series of electric phenomena in the atmosphere.Significant advances in atmospheric electricity research conducted in China have been achieved in recent years.In this paper,the research progress on atmospheric electricity achieved in China during 2019-22 is reviewed focusing on the following aspects:(1)lightning detection and location techniques,(2)thunderstorm electricity,(3)lightning forecasting methods and techniques,(4)physical processes of lightning discharge,(5)high energy emissions and effects of thunderstorms on the upper atmosphere,and(6)the effect of aerosol on lightning.

Progresses in the Atmospheric Electricity Researches in China during 2006-2010

Atmospheric electricity is composed of a wide range of electric phenomena in the troposphere, strato- sphere, and even lower ionosphere. Research progress on atmospheric electricity in the past 5 years in China are briefly reviewed here. This research area has been greatly expanded through rocket-triggered lightning experiments and the increased use of high spatio-temporal resolution techniques for the detection and location of lightning. The main results described in this review are summarized in the following five aspects： （1） processes and parameters inferred from rocket-triggered lightning, （2） lightning physics and ef- fects （observations and theoretical study）, （3） lightning activities associated with different thunderstorms, （4） charge structure of thunderstorms （observations and simulation）, and （5） the VHF/UHF lightning location techniques and discharge channel mapping.

A Review of Atmospheric Electricity Research in China

The importance of atmospheric electricity research has been increasingly recognized in recent decades. Research on atmospheric electricity has been actively conducted since the 1980 s in China. Lightning physics and its effects, as important branches of atmospheric electricity, have received more attention because of their significance both in scientific research and lightning protection applications. This paper reviews atmospheric electricity research based primarily on ground-based field experiments at different regions in China in the last decade. The results described in this review include physics and effects of lightning, rocket-triggered lightning and its physical processes of discharge, thunderstorm electricity on the Tibetan Plateau and its surrounding areas, lightning activity associated with severe convective storms, the effect and response of lightning to climate change, numerical simulation of thunderstorm electrification and lightning discharge, lightning detection and location techniques, and transient luminous events above thunderstorms.

A Review of Advances in Lightning Observations during the Past Decade in Guangdong, China

This paper reviews recent advances in understanding the physical processes of artificially triggered light- ning and natural lightning as well as the progress in testing lightning protection technologies, based on a series of lightning field campaigns jointly conducted by the Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences and Guangdong Meteorological Bureau since 2006. During the decade-long series of lightning field experi- ments, the technology of rocket-wire artificially triggered lightning has been improved, and has successfully triggered 94 lightning flashes. Through direct lightning current waveform measurements, an average return stroke peak current of 16 kA was obtained. The phenomenon that the downward leader connects to the lateral surface of the upward leader in the attachment process was discovered, and the speed of the upward leader during the connection process being significantly greater than that of the downward leader was re- vealed. The characteristics of several return strokes in cloud-to-ground lighting have also been unveiled, and the mechanism causing damage to lightning protection devices （i.e., ground potential rise within the rated current） was established. The performance of three lightning monitoring systems in Guangdong Province has also been quantitatively assessed.