Plateau Meteorology

Plateau Meteorology >

2015 , Vol. 34 >Issue 2: 534 - 545

DOI: https://doi.org/10.7522/j.issn.1000-0534.2013.00193

Simulation of Three-Dimensional Fractal Structure of Lightning in a Thunderstorm Model

  • GUO Fengxia ,
  • WANG Haoliang ,
  • SUN Jing ,
  • WU Xin ,
  • LIANG Mengxue
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  • Collaborative Innovation Center on Forecast and Evaluation of Meteorological Disasters, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing 210044, China;2. Key Laboratory for Aerosol-Cloud-Precipitation of China Meteorological Administration, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing 210044, China;3. Hubei Key Laboratory for Heavy Rain Monitoring and Warning Research, Institute of Heavy Rain, China Meteorological Administration, Wuhan 430074, China

Received date: 2013-08-21

  Online published: 2015-04-28

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Abstract

The lightning parameterization proposed by Mansell has been improved in threshold value for initiation and the redistribution of induced charge on channel, and then it is introduced into a three-dimensional dynamic-electrification coupled model in order to improve the simulation capacity to electrical activity of the cloud model. The simulation of a thunderstorm storm during Severe Thunderstorm Electrification and Precipitation Study (STEPS) and an ideal thunderstorm in mid-latitude region reveal the lightning simulated by the model, which includes a new lightning parameterization, is in good agreement with the observed result in development character and geometric construction of discharge. And the simulation result shows: the type and polarity of flash is depend on the charge structure and the position of initiation point, negative CG flashes occur only when a lower positive charge center exists below the main negative charge region, and the initiation points of negative CG flash are all with a high negative potential. The sedimentation of induced charge on lightning channel will change the charge of hydrometeors nearby the channel, and it plays an important role in the formation of complex charge distribution. The CG flash and the IC flash channels simulated from the lightning model have the fractal feature with fractal dimension of 1.47 and 1.69 respectively. Sensitivity analysis to threshold value for initiation shows that the effect of the increase of threshold value for initiation is to increase the time required to produce the first flash and to decrease the total number of flash. The first flash time is earliest when the breakeven threshold is used. The ratio of IC flash and CG flash is lesser when use uniform breakdown threshold (100 kV, 150 kV, 200 kV) than breakeven threshold and it best closes the observation result when breakeven threshold is used.

Key words： Thunderstorm model; Lightning parameteri; Lighting fractal str; Induced charge; Charge structure

Cite this article

GUO Fengxia , WANG Haoliang , SUN Jing , WU Xin , LIANG Mengxue . Simulation of Three-Dimensional Fractal Structure of Lightning in a Thunderstorm Model[J]. Plateau Meteorology, 2015 , 34(2) : 534 -545 . DOI: 10.7522/j.issn.1000-0534.2013.00193

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