Electricfieldprofilesinthundercloud

Electricfieldprofilesinthunderclouds.Fourexamplesofballoonmeasurementsoftheverticalelectricfieldinthundercloudsarepresentedbycolorcurves,adaptedfromMarshalletal.(1995).AlsoshownisthecalculatedrunawaybreakdowncriticalelectricfieldEc,whichdecreaseswithheightbecauseofdecreasingairdensity.“L”denoteslightningdischarges.At6kmEc~105V/m(100kV/m)Eb~106V/m(1000kV/m)(conventionalbreakdownelectricfield)

Electric
field
profiles
in
thunderclouds.
Four
examples
of
balloon
measurements
of
the
vertical
electric
field
in
thunderclouds
are
presented
by
color
curves,
adapted
from
Marshall
et
al
.
(1995)
.
Also
shown
is
the
calculated
runaway
breakdown
critical
electric
field
E
c
,
which
decreases
with
height
because
of
decreasing
air
density.
“L”
denotes
lightning
discharges.
At
6
km
E
c
~
10
5
V/m
(100
kV/m)
E
b
~
10
6
V/m
(1000
kV/m)
(conventional
breakdown
electric
field)