Corona current and space charge during a thunderstorm

Abstract

In this work two important differences between the expected behavior of the corona current as a function of the electric field when measured in the laboratory and under natural thunderstorm conditions are reported. The first difference is related to a non-linear increase of the corona current when the natural electric field increases. The second is a delay observed between the corona current and the electric field. To explain this behavior a hypothesis is proposed: The wind removes the space charge produced by the corona electrode increasing the corona current. The removed space charge is detected by the electric field sensor decreasing the measured electric field. Both corona current and the natural electric field were recorded in Bogota Colombia, in the time period July to November, 2011. From the recorded data, 22 thunderstorms were selected to be reported. Additionally, the influence of the corona space charge on an electric field mill was studied under laboratory conditions.