Transient atmospheric electric effects caused by a wire carried aloft by a mortar shell

Abstract

Introduction. The feasibility of triggering natural lightning under proper conditions of electrification has now been demonstrated a number of times [Newman et al., 1967]. By this technique the free end of a thin wire, paid out from a reel, is carried into the air by a small rocket fired from a ship. We prepared a similar, but land-based experiment, using 81-mm mortar shells to pull the wire. A site near Avon Park, Florida, was selected for the tests because of the high incidence of thunderstorms to be expected there [World Meteorological Organization, 1956].