Further Studies of the Phenomenology and Physics of the Lightning Discharge

这些调查人员将研究与闪电放电有关的一些主题，主要是使用他们开发的一种设施，在该设施中，火箭尾随的电线会导致闪电击中他们的观测设施。他们将研究闪电的特征，如连接过程(确定闪电将击中哪里的初始过程)以及当闪电击中附近位置时经常产生的向上未连接的放电。后者被认为是雷击附近的许多火灾和其他损害以及对人类造成伤害的原因。调查人员将测量附近雷击时接地结构中产生的电流，并将使用成像相机研究其仪器现场的放电过程。他们还将使用火箭触发的闪电来测量闪电产生的一氧化氮(NO)。NO是一种微量气体，会影响大气中的许多重要化学过程，包括臭氧的产生。此前对闪电产生的NO的全球重要性的估计有很大不同，从微小的来源到主要的来源，因此调查人员希望在闪电通道中使用直接测量来减少这种不确定性。他们的观测设施最近还发现了一种由火箭引发的闪电产生的X射线和其他高能辐射。他们将继续研究这种辐射的性质，这有望提供关于闪电能量学和击穿过程的新信息。他们还计划对国家闪电探测网络探测和定位闪电的能力进行评估，因为他们早期的一些研究表明，探测效率和位置存在差异，现在可以在他们的地点使用新的GPS计时进行准确研究。这项工作将涉及与国际科学家的广泛合作和积极的研究生教育计划。研究人员将继续主持高中科学活动，通过远程学习计划提供他们的研究，将他们的研究成果纳入闪电课程，并保持非常活跃的外展活动计划，向公众提供关于闪电的信息。他们预期结果的某些方面，特别是与向上的未连接排放相关的方面，与公共安全有着重要的联系。他们开发的设施将继续作为社区的重要联络点，并将有助于全国和世界各地许多调查人员的研究。

These investigators will study a number of topics related to the lightning discharge, primarily using a facility they have developed in which a wire trailed from a rocket causes lightning to strike their observing facility. They will study such features of lightning as the attachment process (the initial process that determines where lightning will strike) and upward unconnected discharges that are often produced when lightning strikes a nearby location. These latter discharges are thought to be responsible for many fires and other damage in the vicinity of lightning strikes, as well as injury to humans. The investigators will measure the currents in a grounded structure that are produced when lightning strikes nearby and will use imaging cameras to study the discharge process at their instrumented site. They also will use rocket-triggered lightning to measure nitric oxide (NO) production by lightning. NO is a trace gas that affects many important chemical processes in the atmosphere, including ozone production. Previous estimates of the global importance of NO production by lightning have varied substantially, from a minor to a major source, so the investigators hope to use direct measurements in the lightning channel to reduce this uncertainty. A recent additional discovery at their observing facility has been the production of X-rays and other energetic radiation produced by a rocket-triggered lightning. They will continue studies of the nature of this radiation, which promises to provide new information on the energetics of lightning and on the breakdown process. They also plan an evaluation of the ability of the National Lightning Detection Network to detect and locate lightning, because some of their earlier studies have suggested that there are discrepancies in detection efficiency and location that now can be studied accurately using new GPS timing at their site.The work will involve extensive collaboration with international scientists and an active program of graduate education. The investigators will continue to host events for high school science, make their research available through a distance-learning program, incorporate their research results into a course on lightning, and maintain a very active program of outreach activities that makes information about lightning available to the general public. Some aspects of their expected results, especially those associated with upward unconnected discharges, have important connections to public safety. The facility that they have developed will continue to serve as an important focal point for the community and will contribute to the research of many investigators throughout the country and the world.