Article
Version 1
Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed
Origin of the Fine Scale Tortuosity in Sparks and Lightning Channels
Version 1
: Received: 14 April 2018 / Approved: 18 April 2018 / Online: 18 April 2018 (06:21:29 CEST)
A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.
Cooray, V. Origin of the Fine Scale Tortuosity in Sparks and Lightning Channels. Atmosphere 2018, 9, 205. Cooray, V. Origin of the Fine Scale Tortuosity in Sparks and Lightning Channels. Atmosphere 2018, 9, 205.
Abstract
Physical reason for the small scale tortuosity observed in sparks and lightning channels is unknown at present. In this paper it is suggested that the small scale tortuosity of the discharge channels is caused by the natural tendency for subsequent leader streamer bursts to avoid each other but at the same time to align as much as possible along the direction of the background electric field. This process will give rise to a discharge channel that re-orients in space during each streamer burst creating the small scale tortuosity.
Keywords
lightning; spark discharges; tortuosity; streamer bursts; leaders
Subject
Environmental and Earth Sciences, Atmospheric Science and Meteorology
Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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