| Abstract: | Results of interferometric observations of cloud‐to‐ground flashes in Darwin (Australia) have been analyzed to investigate some features of the lightning phenomenon. Our study focused on comparison between multipoint and multiple negative cloud‐to‐ground flashes. The speed of leaders was estimated with submillisecond resolution for both multipoint and multiple strokes. Leaders preceding the first stroke in multiple‐stroke flashes progress in a stepped fashion, and their behavior exhibits the same features as leaders in multipoint flashes. The estimated average speed of the leaders is on the order of 105 m/s, and the mean step length is found to be 96 m with a mean pause time of 73 μs. The running time of the leader found from results of these observations has a mean value of 89 μs. The duration of UHF radiation bursts generated by leaders propagating along previously formed channels ranges from 0.2 to 55.3 ms with a mean value of 7.5 ms. By contrast, the duration of UHF radiation in leaders preceding multipoint strokes ranges from 21.1 to 90.6 ms with a mean value of 47.5 ms. The time intervals between strokes that strike at the same point as the previous stroke range from 22.5 to 330.6 ms with a mean value of 75.1 ms, while intervals between strokes in multipoint flashes range from 55.6 to 633.7 ms with a mean value of 149.1 ms. All leaders preceding multipoint strokes start in the same region inside the cloud. © 2001 Scripta Technica, Electr Eng Jpn, 134(4): 62–69, 2001 |
