Editors’ Highlights are summaries of recent papers by AGU’s journal editors.

Source: Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres

The early stages of lightning development occur within thunderclouds, evading detailed in situ measurements and optical observations. This provides challenges for understanding critical processes such as lightning initiation and associated gamma ray production. Previous studies have shown that lightning propagates in its initial stages through intermittent bursts of strong radio emissions and electromagnetic pulses, known as initial breakdown pulses (IBPs), which create distinct step-like patterns.

Pu and Cummer [2024] identify a new mode of initial lightning development: a continuous initial breakdown burst (CIBB) spanning several kilometers. This observation was made in two in-cloud lightning flashes that initiated at high altitudes above 9 kilometers utilizing a 30 to 250 megahertz (MHz) broadband lightning interferometer. CIBBs are found to differ from the stepwise IBPs in radio emission and propagation characteristics.

The importance of this work is that it combines measurements of strong electromagnetic pulses in different frequency regimes with a simultaneously measured high-resolution image of the dynamics of the process. This new finding sheds light on the physical conditions conducive to the development of a long and continuous negative streamer system inside thunderclouds, offering new insights into the atmospheric electrical breakdown and the dynamics of electrified clouds.

Citation: Pu, Y., & Cummer, S. A. (2024). Continuous initial breakdown development of in-cloud lightning flashes. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 129, e2024JD041302. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024JD041302

—Xiushu Qie, Editor, JGR: Atmospheres

Text © 2024. The authors. CC BY-NC-ND 3.0
Except where otherwise noted, images are subject to copyright. Any reuse without express permission from the copyright owner is prohibited.

Related