Lightning path simulation based on the stepped leader: Electrical conductivity effects

A numerical simulation for the stepped leader path in the earth atmosphere has been developed to study the influence of the tropospheric electric conductivity on the lightning behaviour. This model is based on the assumption that the leader path follows the gradient of the electric potential. In the model, the charge configuration (amount of charge and location), the variation of the atmospheric conductivity, the charge deposited along the leader channel and the charge at the leader tip are considered. A perfectly conducting ground surface and a curl-free electric field assumption are considered too. The result of the simulation is that the inclusion of an atmospheric conductivity of exponentially increasing value with height alters the percentage of positive cloud-to-ground flashes compared to that percentage obtained assuming a constant conductivity profile. A higher amount of positive flashes occur for high altitude (low latitude) clouds even in the case of little horizontal displacement between the positive and the negative dipole charges in the cloud, that is, with no significant wind shear in the horizontal wind. The simulation has shown that positive lightning, the most dangerous kind, can occur in clear air at great distances from the thundercloud, with safety risk implications.