A self-consistent upward leader propagation model

• The knowledge of the initiation and propagation of an upward movingconnecting leader in the presence of a downward moving lightning steppedleader is a must in the determination of the lateral attraction distance of alightning flash by any grounded structure. Even though different models that simulate this phenomenon are available in the literature, they do not take into account the latest developments in the physics of leader discharges. Theleader model proposed here simulates the advancement of positive upward leaders by appealing to the presently understood physics of that process.The model properly simulates the upward continuous progression of thepositive connecting leaders from its inception to the final connection withthe downward stepped leader (final jump). Thus, the main physical properties of upward leaders, namely the charge per unit length, the injected current, the channel gradient and the leader velocity are self-consistentlyobtained. The obtained results are compared with an altitude triggeredlightning experiment and there is good agreement between the modelpredictions and the measured leader current and the experimentally inferredspatial and temporal location of the final jump. It is also found that the usualassumption of constant charge per unit length, based on laboratoryexperiments, is not valid for lightning upward connecting leaders.

Ämnesord

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Elektroteknik och elektronik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Electrical Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Information Engineering (hsv//eng)

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Fysik (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Physical Sciences (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Computer simulation

Electric discharges

Electric lamps

Lightning

Lightning arresters

Mathematical models

Velocity measurement

Physics

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