Return stroke peak current versus charge transfer in rocket‐triggered lightning

Abstract

We examined data on 117 return strokes in 31 rocket‐and‐wire‐triggered lightning flashes acquired during experiments conducted from 1999 through 2004 at the International Center for Lightning Research and Testing at Camp Blanding, Florida, in order to compare the peak currents of the lightning return strokes with the corresponding charges transferred during various time intervals within 1 ms after return stroke initiation. We find that the determination coefficient (R2) for lightning return stroke peak current versus the corresponding charge transfer decreases with increasing the duration of the charge transfer starting from return stroke onset. For example, R2 = 0.91 for a charge transfer duration of 50 μs after return stroke onset, R2 = 0.83 for a charge transfer duration of 400 μs, and R2 = 0.77 for a charge transfer duration of 1 ms. Our results support the view that (1) the charge deposited on the lower portion of the leader channel determines the current peak and that (2) the charge transferred at later times is increasingly unrelated to both the current peak and the charge deposited on the lower channel section. Additionally, we find that the relation between triggered‐lightning peak current and charge transfer to 50 μs in Florida is essentially the same as that for subsequent strokes in natural lightning in Switzerland, further confirming the view that triggered‐lightning strokes are very similar to subsequent strokes in natural lightning.