Leader Studies with the Los Alamos Sferic Array


M J Heavner, D A Smith, and A R Jacobson


LAUR-01-4198

Conclusions


The electric field waveforms recorded by the Los Alamos Sferic Array are dominated by return stroke signatures. However, intense/fast step leader activity is observed in many records. Combined with FORTE observations heights of 4-5.5 km and velocities of 106 m/s are determined for these intense/fast step leader events. LASA is occasionally operated with longer records lengths (80 ms and 1 sec) for short periods of time. One of these long records has been presented and agrees with the traditional view of electrical activity associated with a multiple-stroke -CG. LASA has recorded millions of lightning electric field change waveforms, which include several different types of leader signatures. We are finalizing the automatic recognition of leader activity.


Bibliography


Links to:
Los Alamos National Laboratory