The Horizontal Distance of Cloud-to-Ground Lightning

Three-dimensional lightning data from the Lightning Detection and Ranging (LDAR) system at Kennedy Space Center were combined with cloud-to-ground stroke data from the National Lightning Detection Network (NLDN) from 1997 through the summer of 2001. The horizontal distance that lightning travels from a thunderstorm to the ground was examined for this time period and the characteristics of lightning were examined for the various distances and source regions of the lightning strokes. The primary characteristic was the peak current of the stroke based on the distance traveled from and altitude of the origin location, stratified by polarity of the ground stroke. This information leads to a better understanding of the mechanisms causing the variations in peak currents as well as providing additional information for forecasting safe distances from thunderstorms.