The effect of electrical conductivity on the growth of the electric field in a thunderstorm

Z. Levin; W. D. Scott

doi:10.3402/tellusa.v27i5.10176

The effect of electrical conductivity on the growth of the electric field in a thunderstorm

Tellus

Volume 27 (1975): Issue 5

By: Z. Levin and W. D. Scott

Open Access

|Jan 1975

Abstract

The effect of the electrical conductivity on the electrical development of the cloud is investigated. By the use of a numerical model which couples the growth of the electric field and the precipitation development it is demonstrated that as long as the conductivity varies between values which are smaller than the fair weather conductivity and values of up to 100 times the fair weather conductivity, the polarization charging mechanism is powerful enough to generate fields large enough to create lightning.

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