HR: 1340h
AN: AE23A-0836    [Abstracts]
TI: Investigations of Physical Details in Developing Lightning Flashes
AU: * Tidwell, W
EM: tidwa@rhodes.edu
AF: Department of Physics Rhodes College, 2000 N. Parkway, Memphis, TN 38112 United States
AU: Marshall, T C
EM: marshall@olemiss.edu
AF: Department of Physics and Astronomy University of Mississippi, P. O. Box 1848, University, MS 38677-1848 United States
AU: Stolzenburg, M
EM: mstolzen@phy.olemiss.edu
AF: Department of Physics and Astronomy University of Mississippi, P. O. Box 1848, University, MS 38677-1848 United States
AU: Maggio, C R
EM: crmaggio@phy.olemiss.edu
AF: Department of Physics and Astronomy University of Mississippi, P. O. Box 1848, University, MS 38677-1848 United States
AU: Stanley, M
EM: stanleym@lanl.gov
AF: Los Alamos National Laboratory, P. O. Box 1663, Los Alamos, NM 87545 United States
AU: Rison, W
EM: rison@arctic.nmt.edu
AF: Langmuir Laboratory, Geophysical Research Center, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, NM 87801 United States
AU: Krehbiel, P R
EM: krehbiel@ibis.nmt.edu
AF: Langmuir Laboratory, Geophysical Research Center, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, NM 87801 United States
AU: Thomas, R J
EM: thomas@nmt.edu
AF: Langmuir Laboratory, Geophysical Research Center, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, NM 87801 United States
AU: Hamlin, T
EM: thamlin@zeus.nmt.edu
AF: Langmuir Laboratory, Geophysical Research Center, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, NM 87801 United States
AB: The goal of this presentation is to investigate the physical details of a lightning flash, as determined by comparing data from three different lightning sensors. The sensors are a Lightning Mapping Array (LMA), a logarithmic radio frequency receiver (LogRF), and a flat plate antenna for sensing electric field changes, referred to as a `fast' antenna (FA) because of its short (100 microsecond) decay time constant. The LMA locates impulsive events in successive 100 microsecond time windows, while the FA and LogRF detect impulsive and more continuous events of the developing lightning flash. The data from these instruments are characterized by time, amplitude or power, and, for the LMA, position. FA and LogRF sensors have long been used in lightning studies while the newer LMA shows how the flash develops in space and time. In this presentation, we will compare the amplitudes of the FA and the LogRF events to each other and to the power of the associated LMA events. We will examine situations in which only one or two of the sensors are detecting radiation from a lightning flash. We will also investigate where the FA and LogRF events occur in the time-resolved LMA picture of a flash. By these comparisons we hope to gain new insights into the physics of a developing flash.
DE: 3324 Lightning
DE: 3360 Remote sensing
DE: 3304 Atmospheric electricity
SC: Atmospheric and Space Electricity [AE]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting