Spatial and temporal charac-teristics of VHF radiation source produced by lightning in supercell thunderstorms
Spatial and temporal characteristics of VHF radiation source produced by lightning in supercell thunderstorms

The three-dimensional temporal and spatial characteristics of VHF radiation events produced by lightning discharges in three supercell thunderstorms have been analyzed based on the data measured by the lightning mapping array system with high time and space resolution. The results indicate that lightning hole (lighting free region) with about 5–6 km in diameter or lighting ring (annular lighting free region) is associated with the strong updraft in thunderstorm. The lasting time of lightning holes is either short or long, being about 20 min in a tornado-producing thunderstorm. The lightning holes appear before the occurrence of tornado. The lightning hole is the most obvious during the occurrence of tornado and some self-existent lighting radiation events appear at a height of 15–16 km. The lightning channels of inter-cloud (IC) lightning discharge exhibit clockwise rotary structures and do not have clear bilevel structures in the vicinity of the tornado. The lightning holes are corresponding to the strong updraft region. The temporal and spatial distribution of lightning radiation events reveals the structure of strong updraft in supercell thunderstorms. Positive cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning discharges dominate in these thunderstorms and the peak of positive CG lightning flash rate appears, with the maximum of 6 per minute, after or before the occurrence of tornado.