The characteristic of negative cloud-to-ground lightning with multiple return strokes

Abstract

A dataset consisting of 2331 negative cloud-to-ground (NCG) lighting flashes derived from the Oklahoma Lightning Mapping Array (OK-LMA) and the National Lightning Detection Network (NLDN) during 2010–2012 was used to analyze the multiplicity characteristic. The mean multiplicity of the NCG lightning was 2.40. The relationship between multiplicity and lightning initiation height showed that the NCG lightning with multiple return strokes (MRSs) preferred to be initiated below 6km, while the proportion of single return strokes (SRS) lightning was greater for those initiation heights above 6km. The spatiotemporal scales, the peak current of the first RS, and the maximum peak current all increased with increasing multiplicity.