On the electrostatic field created at ground level by a halo

Abstract

We investigate the effect of halo activity on the electrostatic field measured at ground level. We use electrostatic arguments as well as self-consistent simulations to show that, due to the screening charge in the ionosphere, the distant electrostatic field created by the uncompensated charge in a thundercloud decays exponentially rather than as the third power of the distance. Furthermore, significative ionization around the lower edge of the ionosphere slightly reduces the electrostatic field at ground level. We conclude that halos do not extend the range of detectability of lightning-induced electrostatic fields.

References in corpus (1)

• Review of recent results on streamer discharges and discussion of their relevance for sprites and lightning

Cited by in corpus (4)

• Modeling the chemical impact and the optical emissions produced by lightning-induced electromagnetic fields in the upper atmosphere: the case of halos and elves triggered by different lightning discharges
• Spectroscopic diagnostic of halos and elves detected from space-based photometers
• Global Occurrence and Chemical Impact of Stratospheric Blue Jets Modeled With WACCM4
• Three-dimensional modeling of lightning-induced electromagnetic pulses on Venus, Jupiter and Saturn