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Science 7 July 1978:
Vol. 201. no. 4350, pp. 9 - 16
DOI: 10.1126/science.201.4350.9
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Articles

An Unusual Lightning Flash at Kennedy Space Center

Martin A. Uman 1, William H. Beasley 1, James A. Tiller 1, Yung-Tao Lin 1, E. Philip Krider 2, Charles D. Weidmann 2, Paul R. Krehbiel 3, Marx Brook 3, Arthur A. Few Jr. 4, Jerry L. Bohannon 4, Carl L. Lennon 5, Horst A. Poehler 5, William Jafferis 5, Jesse R. Gulick 6, and James R. Nicholson 6

1 Electrical Engineering Department, University of Florida, Gainesville 32611
2 Institute of Atmospheric Physics, University of Arizona, Tucson 85721
3 Physics Department, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro 87801
4 Space Physics and Astronomy Department, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77001
5 Kennedy Space Center, Florida 32899
6 National Weather Service, Kennedy Space Center, Florida 32899

A lightning flash that struck the 150-meter weather tower at Kennedy Space Center was studied by several research groups using varioul techniques. The flash had unusually large peak currents and a stepped leader of relatively short duration. The charged regions neutralized by the three return strokes were located within a horizontal layer between heights of about 6 and 8 kilometers, where environmental temperatures were about –10° to –20°C. The charge source for the first return stroke coincided with a vertical shaft of precipitation inferred to have been graupel or hail. Charge sources for subsequent strokes were near the edge of the detectable precipitation echo. The overall channel length was about 10 kilometers. A Vertically oriented intracloud discharge occurred after the three return strokes.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Lightning Strike Fusion: Extreme Reduction and Metal-Silicate Liquid Immiscibility.
E. J. Essene, E. J. ESSENE, and D. C. FISHER (1986)
Science 234, 189-193
   Abstract »    PDF »
Daylight Time-Resolved Photographs of Lightning.
R. E. QRVILLE, G. G. LALA, and V. P. IDONE (1978)
Science 201, 59-61
   Abstract »    PDF »


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