In situ ground-based mobile measurement of lightning events above central Europe

Abstract

Abstract. This article describes the equipment, and its advantages, used for in-situ ground measurements of thunderstorm phenomena using measuring cars. By using all-sky high-speed cameras, radio receivers, and electric field measurements, typical lightning discharges in the central Europe region have been characterized. Measurements of ionizing radiation during storms using a gamma spectrometer were also performed. At the ground level, no ionizing radiation originating in the storm cloud was detected even though during other experiments, using the same equipment at lower altitudes corresponding to the lower part of the storm clouds, ionizing radiation was detected. We showed that radio antennas with appropriately constructed receivers and all-sky high-speed cameras are devices that can significantly contribute to the understanding of processes taking place in the storm cloud during lightning discharges. On the contrary, measurements of the vertical electric field did not provide any new information about the processes occurring in the thunderclouds.

How can we simulate ionizing radiation at aviation altitudes from TGFs?

“…Measurements conducted in both the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic have led us to observe that the median duration of a lightning event exceeds 0.5 seconds [36]. This duration is notably longer than the values reported in existing literature (200-300 ms) [37] and 350 ms [38].…”

In situ ground-based mobile measurement of lightning events above central Europe

“…Lightning at 18:24:48 UTC was detected by a high-speed camera (see video, https://doi.org/10.5446/60389, Kakona, 2022a). According to the video, one of the lightning channels occurred almost directly above the measurement car, but the nearest lightning event detected by Blitzortung.org was at least 70 km away.…”

“…Figure 20 captures one frame from a video (https://doi. org/10.5446/60390, Kakona, 2022b) that shows (from T = +0.27 s to T = +0.40 s; https://av.tib.eu/media/60390#t=1: 11,1:22, last access: 1 January 2023) the positive side of a leader. When the current flowing through the leader begins to weaken, recoil leaders start to appear at its end (T = +0.38 s; https://av.tib.eu/media/60390#t=1:21,1:30, last access: 1 January 2023).…”

“…Figure10. The reader is advised to use the inset QR code or the following link to run the video: https://doi.org/10.5446/60389(Kakona, 2022a).…”

“…The videos are available at TIB: https://doi. org/10.5446/60389 (Kakona, 2022a), https://doi.org/10.5446/60390 (Kakona, 2022b), and https://doi.org/10.5446/60388 (Kakona, 2022c).…”