Development of a Field-Deployable Instrument for Characterizing Lightning in Thunderstorms

该项目将开发一个可现场部署的仪器系统，用于描述雷暴中闪电放电的特征。 美国不同的研究地点对这种仪器的需求越来越大，该系统将汇集几种已成功用于研究闪电和雷暴的技术。 该系统将确定风暴中闪电的三维结构和发展，包括单个闪电放电和闪电活动的整体序列。 这将使用（1）到达时间（TOA）系统来定位闪电放电的射频辐射源，揭示闪电通道的结构和发展，以及（2）时间分辨的电场变化测量，指示沿着通道的电荷转移量，从而指示放电的强度。 对大气静电场的额外测量将表征母体雷暴的总体电气状态。

This project will develop a field-deployable instrument system for characterizing lightning discharges in thunderstorms. Different U.S. research sites have an increasing need for such an instrument, and the system would bring together several techniques which have successfully been used to study lightning and thunderstorms. The system will determine the three-dimensional structure and development of lightning within a storm, both of individual lightning discharges and of the overall sequence of lightning activity. This is to be done using (1) a time-of-arrival (TOA) system for locating the sources of radio frequency radiation from the lightning discharges, revealing the structure and development of the lightning channels, and (2) time-resolved electric field change measurements, indicating the amounts of charge transfer along the channels, and therefore the strength of the discharge. Additional measurements of the atmospheric electrostatic field will characterize the overall electrical state of the parent thunderstorm.