Lightning Propagation Inside Thunderstorms

这笔拨款支持开发和使用新的气球载仪器，以确定雷雨云内闪电通道携带的电荷所产生的电力。其中一种仪器是电场变化计，它可以探测到其他方式无法观测到的电离波的存在。另一种是电场计，用于测量电场的垂直轮廓，电场提供了支持闪电传播的能量。测量结果与闪电的高分辨率地图进行了分析，这些地图来自一个由全球定位系统（GPS）定时连接在一起的甚高频接收器地面网络，称为闪电测绘阵列。利用气球观测、闪电阵列图和风暴结构雷达观测相结合，直接目标是了解闪电是如何产生的，闪电通道在云内传播需要多少电荷，以及闪电与空气运动和雷雨云降水的关系。长期目标是能够从雷暴产生的闪电的特征推断出雷暴的一些特性，包括有益和有害的影响。

This grant supports the development and use of new balloon-borne instruments to determine the electrical forces from charge carried by lightning channels inside thunderclouds. One of the instruments, an electric-field-change meter, detects the presence of ionizing waves that are not otherwise observable. Another, an electric field meter, measures the vertical profile of the electric field, which provides the energy to support the propagation of lightning. The measurements are analyzed in relation to high-resolution maps of lightning flashes obtained from a ground-based network of VHF receivers linked together by Global Positioning System (GPS) timing, called a lightning mapping array. Using the combination of balloon-borne observations, maps from the lightning array, and radar observations of storm structure, the immediate goals are to learn how lightning is initiated, how much electrical charge is required for the propagation of lightning channels inside clouds, and how lightning is related to the air motions and precipitation of thunderclouds. The long-term goal is to be able to deduce some of the properties of thunderstorms, including beneficial and damaging effects, from the characteristics of the lightning they produce.