Engineering topics

Tiller, J. A.

Publications and source records attributed to Tiller, J. A..

7 records

NASA NTRS1979

Characterization of lightning return stroke electric and magnetic fields from simultaneous two-station measurements

The paper presents a characterization of Florida lightning return stroke electric and magnetic fields derived from simultaneous measurements of the fields at two separate stations, one station being within 15 km of the lightning, the other at either about 50 or 200 km from the lightning. Also presented are: (1) examples of correlated wave forms, (2) typical first and subsequent stroke wave forms over the distance range 1.0-200 km, and (3) the following statistical data from which the typical wave forms were derived: for electric field, rise time, initial peak value, ramp starting time, ramp slope, value at 170 microsec, ratio of value at 170 microsec to initial peak, zero-crossing time for 50 and 200 km wave forms; for magnetic fields, time of hump following initial peak, ratio of hump value to initial peak value, zero-crossing time for 50 and 200 km wave forms. Return stroke electric and magnetic field characteristics appear to be independent of location in Florida.

Lin, Y. T.↗

NASA NTRS1979

Lightning location and lower-ionospheric height determination from two-station magnetic field measurements

Wide band magnetic direction finding from two stations is used to determine lightning locations and ionospheric height during two nocturnal maritime thunderstorms near Florida. A comparison of calculated lightning locations with radar reflectivity data of the two storms indicates systematic direction-finding errors to be on the order of 1 deg. From the lightning locations and measured arrival times of the first and second sky waves, ionospheric reflecting heights for both sky waves were determined. The effective heights for the first and second sky waves may differ, leading to large errors in single-station determinations of ionospheric height, such as in the method described by Kinzer (1974). The distribution of peak electric fields for the strokes studied is shown to be in reasonable agreement with other determinations, indicating the reliability of the present measurements.

Mcdonald, T. B., III↗

NASA NTRS1978

An unusual lightning flash at Kennedy Space Center

A lightning flash that struck the 150-meter weather tower at Kennedy Space Center was studied by several research groups using various techniques. The flash had unusually large peak currents and a stepped leader of relatively short duration. The charged regions neutralized by the three return strokes were located within a horizontal layer between heights of about 6 and 8 kilometers, where environmental temperatures were about -10 to -20 C. The charge source for the first return stroke coincided with a vertical shaft of precipitation inferred to have been graupel or hail. Charge sources for subsequent strokes were near the edge of the detectable precipitation echo. The overall channel length was about 10 kilometers. A vertically oriented intracloud discharge occurred after the three return strokes.

Uman, M. A.↗

NASA NTRS1976

Effects of 200 km propagation on Florida lightning return stroke electric fields

The electric fields produced by lightning return strokes near Kennedy Space Center, Florida, have been measured simultaneously at distances of about 5 to 25 km and about 200 km. Detailed records of the first 12 microsec of waveforms from four strokes are presented, as well as data on the initial field risetimes for 58 first and 92 subsequent strokes. The mean field risetime measured between the 10 to 90% points was about 1 microsec at the close station and about 2 microsec at the distant one.

Uman, M. A.↗

NASA NTRS1976

Electric field statistics for close lightning return strokes near Gainesville, Florida

The salient properties of the electric field intensity from first and subsequent lightning return strokes in the 0-25 km distance range near Gainesville, Fla., are presented, including electric field wave shape versus distance, initial peak rise time versus distance, rise time histograms, initial peak magnitude versus distance, normalized (to 100 km) initial peak magnitude histograms, normalized initial peak magnitude versus rise time, ramp starting time versus distance, and field at 170 microsec versus distance. The mean normalized initial peak field for first return strokes was 9.9 V/m and for subsequent strokes, 5.7 V/m. The maximum measured values of normalized initial peak field were about 30 V/m. The largest field recorded at 170 microsec was about 25 kV/m generated by a first stroke within 0.5 km. Return strokes were found to lower a typical charge of the order of 1 C in 170 microsec.

Tiller, J. A.↗

NASA NTRS1975

Lightning properties in Florida thunderstorms from video tape records

From video-tape recordings of lightning flashes to ground in convective daytime storms at the NASA Kennedy Space Center, Florida, and near Ocala, Florida, statistical data are presented for the flash-time duration, the number of strokes per flash, the time between all strokes, and the time between strokes having spatially separate channels. A daytime video tape 'photograph' of a stepped leader is reproduced. Finally, statistical data are presented for 13 long horizontal lightning discharges occurring along a line of nocturnal thunderstorms near Gainesville, Florida. These discharges all propagated horizontally near the freezing level (4.5 km) at an apparent average velocity between 5600 and 11,000 m/s for a typical distance of 2 to 3 km. Eleven of the 13 horizontal discharges were preceded by or occurred within 16.7 ms of a glow in the cloud roughly 0.5 km above the horizontal channel.

Brantley, R. D.↗

NASA NTRS1975

Correlated electric and magnetic fields from lightning return strokes

The first broad band (1 kHz to 5 mHz) correlated measurements of electric and magnetic fields from close lightning return strokes are presented. Sample wave forms are shown for the distance range 2-200 km. The transmission line return stroke model is used to find a typical current wave shape and return stroke velocity from the experimental data, and theoretical curves are given of electric and magnetic field as a function of time for 1, 5, 10, and 100 km by using this typical current and velocity.

Uman, M. A.↗