The peak electromagnetic power radiated by lightning return strokes

Abstract

Estimates of the peak electromagnetic (EM) power radiated by return strokes have been made by integrating the Poynting vector of measured fields over an imaginary hemispherical surface that is centered on the lightning source, assuming that ground losses are negligible. Values of the peak EM power from first and subsequent strokes have means and standard deviations of 2 + or - 2 x 10 to the 10th and 3 + or - 4 x 10 to the 9th W, respectively. The average EM power that is radiated by subsequent strokes, at the time of the field peak, is about 2 orders of magnitude larger than the optical power that is radiated by these strokes in the wavelength interval from 0.4 to 1.1 micron; hence an upper limit to the radiative efficiency of a subsequent stroke is of the order of 1 percent or less at this time.