Glow corona discharges and their effect on lightning attachment: Revisited

Abstract

Previous studies in the literature have suggested that glow corona discharges could be potentially used to control the frequency of lightning flashes to grounded objects. Such studies use simplified one-dimensional corona drift models or basic empirical equations derived from high voltage experiments to assess the effect of glow corona on the initiation of both streamers and upward connecting leaders under the influence of a descending lightning leader. In order to revisit the theoretical basis of these studies, a two-dimensional glow corona drift model has been implemented together with a self-consistent upward leader inception and propagation model -SLIM-. A 60 m tall lightning rod is used as a study case. It is found that the shielding effect of the glow corona space charge has been strongly overestimated in the literature. Furthermore, it is shown that streamers under the influence of a descending leader are initiated significantly earlier from the cylindrical body rather than from the corona-emitting area of the rod. Considering the effective shielding potential of glow corona, it is also shown that the presence of glow corona reduces the downward lightning attractiveness of 60 m tall lightning rods by less than 15%. This result shows that the efficiency of lightning rods is not strongly influenced by the generation of glow corona as opposed to the suggestions of previous studies.