VHF and UHF Electromagnetic Radiation Produced by Streamers in Lightning

Abstract

AbstractIn this letter, we report simulation results of streamer propagation and collision that produce electromagnetic radiation in the very high frequency (VHF) and ultra high frequency (UHF) bands. The streamers are initiated in overbreakdown field conditions, 1.5Ekand2Ek, respectively, which may be found during the corona flash stage of negative leader stepping processes. We find that while streamer propagation produces stronger VHF radiation, the head‐on collision of streamers dominates UHF, and even higher‐frequency radiation. Analysis of the energy spectral densities obtained from different simulation cases shows that the total length and radii of colliding streamers, as well as the ambient field, are important parameters for the UHF radiation produced by streamer collisions. The larger those parameters are, the stronger UHF radiation produced. Finally, by comparing with the measured spectral magnitude of lightning field in the VHF range, it is found that there are probably 105–107 streamers involved during the lightning corona flash stage.