Analysis of the Relationship Between the Morphological Characteristics of Lightning Channels and Turbulent Dynamics Based on the Localization of VHF Radiation Sources

Abstract

Lightning channel morphology depends on the thunderstorm cloud charge structure, which in turn is influenced by the thunderstorm dynamics. In this paper, based on three‐dimensional radiation source localization data from the Lightning Mapping Array and radar‐based data, our analysis shows that the overall morphology and detailed morphology of the lightning channel correspond to different eddy dissipation rate (EDR) characteristics. Lightning with complex channel morphology occurs in regions with large EDRs. In single lightning events, channels that extend directly within a certain height range without significant bifurcation and turning tend to propagate in the direction of decreasing EDRs, while channel bifurcations and turns usually occur in regions with large radial velocity gradients and large EDRs. This study shows the relationship between channel morphology and thunderstorm dynamics and provides a new method for the direct application of channel‐level localization data to understand thunderstorm dynamics characteristics.