A lightning initiation mechanism: application to a thunderstorm electrification model

Robert Solomon; Claudia Adamo; Marcia Baker

doi:10.1016/S1631-0705(02)01415-9

Mécanismes physiques du nuage d'orage et de l'éclair/The physics of thundercloud and lightning discharge

A lightning initiation mechanism: application to a thunderstorm electrification model
[Un mécanisme de déclenchement de l'éclair : application à la modélisation du nuage d'orage]

Robert Solomon ¹ ; Claudia Adamo ² ; Marcia Baker ³

¹ Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of Wisconsin, 1225 W Dayton, Madison, WI 53706, USA
² Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate (ISAC)-CNR, Italy
³ Department of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-1310, USA

Comptes Rendus. Physique, Volume 3 (2002) no. 10, pp. 1325-1333.

Résumé
Abstract

L'utilisation des modèles numériques à considérablement augmenté notre compréhension des processus électriques et microphysiques dans les nuages électrisés. Nous utilisons un modèle 1.5D du nuage d'orage, développé par l'Université de Washington, dans lequel on introduit un mécanisme de déclenchement de l'éclair par es électrons « runaway ». Il apparaı̂t que ce mécanisme peut modifier de manière significative le développement de l'électrisation dans le nuage ainsi modélisé, et conduire à des profils verticaux de champ électrique calculé très similaires à ceux observés expérimentalement.

The use of numerical models has greatly increased our understanding of the electrical and microphysical process within electrified clouds. We use the University of Washington, 1.5-dimensional thunderstorm model to examine the effects of including a runaway electron based lightning initiation mechanism. We find that this mechanism can significantly alter the electrification history of modeled storms and produce vertical electric field profiles that are very similar to those of observed storms.

Publié le : 2002-11-12

DOI : 10.1016/S1631-0705(02)01415-9

Keywords: numerical model, thunderstorm electrification, lightning initiation, runaway electrons
Mot clés : modèle numérique, électrification d'orage, déclenchement de foudre, électrons runaway

Affiliations des auteurs :

Robert Solomon ¹ ; Claudia Adamo ² ; Marcia Baker ³

¹ Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of Wisconsin, 1225 W Dayton, Madison, WI 53706, USA
² Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate (ISAC)-CNR, Italy
³ Department of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-1310, USA

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     title = {A lightning initiation mechanism: application to a thunderstorm electrification model},
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     year = {2002},
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Robert Solomon; Claudia Adamo; Marcia Baker. A lightning initiation mechanism: application to a thunderstorm electrification model. Comptes Rendus. Physique, Volume 3 (2002) no. 10, pp. 1325-1333. doi : 10.1016/S1631-0705(02)01415-9. https://comptes-rendus.academie-sciences.fr/physique/articles/10.1016/S1631-0705(02)01415-9/

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