Numerical Simulation of Electric Field and Charge Structure within an Isolated Thunderstorm

Abstract

The study of electrical structure of thunderstorm is a deterministic factor in characterizing the behavior of lightning. It is impossible to measure the value of electric field at every point within the thunderstorm, even when the in situ measurements are made, they are done along the path of balloon-borne instruments or other methods employed in the measurement. The average data obtained from past measurements were employed in determining the electric field generated by the thunderstorm as observed along the horizontal distance using the cylindrical charge model. The data consisted of a screening charge layer firstly located “between” 1.8-2.0 km and later between 10.0-10.2 km respectively above the ground level (agl) to see the effect of positioning on the resultant computation. The lower positive charge center with radius ranging from 0.5 km to 2.0 km was placed at various heights between 2.0 and 6.0 km. This is to determine the effect of cloud base height on the resulting field profile. The main negative charge is accommodated between 4.0 and 7.5 km and the upper positive charge layer existed between 7.5- 10.0 km agl for a cloud base height of 2.0 km and 6.0- 9.5 km agl for a negative charge layer, 7.5- 11.0 km agl for upper positive charge with a cloud base of 4.0 km high. The resulting potential gradient (PG) profiles were obtained for spatial distribution with screening charge layer playing no active role in the thunderstorm electrification. The effects of wind shear due to increasing wind speed with height were also investigated to have a clear picture of the cloud charge dynamics; hence the vertical PG patterns produced by a moving thunderstorm for various cloud cell life-times were modeled. The results showed that a typical tropical thunderstorm can exhibit charge layer more than the normal tripolar structure, and the pocket of lower positive charge can be more than one or larger than the usual size. Wind shear was found to enhance lightning discharges at the surface of charge discontinuities.

Keywords: Potential gradient, Wind shear, Cloud charge, Lower positive charge center, Noninductive charging.