Electric Field Change and VHF Radiation during Lightning Initiation

Recent studies of lightning initiation [e.g., Marshall et al., JGR 2014; Marshall et al., AGU 2015] have shown that an initial electric field change (IEC) occurs for about 1 ms before the first initial breakdown (IB) pulse in most (and perhaps all) lightning flashes. The same studies indicate that the IEC itself begins after an event that radiates strongly in the VHF radio band; this event seems to be the real lightning initiation event [e.g., Rison et al., Nature Communications 2016]. During the summer of 2016 we used an array of E-change sensors and VHF sensors located in north Mississippi to obtain correlated data on the VHF lightning initiation event, the IEC, and the IB pulses of nearby lightning flashes. In this presentation we show examples of lightning initiation events and their subsequent IECs at multiple sensors. In addition, we show examples of the VHF radiation associated with IB pulses.