Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Incidence of lightning
- 3 Electrical structure of lightning-producing clouds
- 4 Downward negative lightning discharges to ground
- 5 Positive and bipolar lightning discharges to ground
- 6 Upward lightning initiated by ground-based objects
- 7 Artificial initiation (triggering) of lightning by ground-based activity
- 8 Winter lightning in Japan
- 9 Cloud discharges
- 10 Lightning and airborne vehicles
- 11 Thunder
- 12 Modeling of lightning processes
- 13 The distant lightning electromagnetic environment: atmospherics, Schumann resonances, and whistlers
- 14 Lightning effects in the middle and upper atmosphere
- 15 Lightning effects on the chemistry of the atmosphere
- 16 Extraterrestrial lightning
- 17 Lightning locating systems
- 18 Deleterious effects of lightning and protective techniques
- 19 Lightning hazards to humans and animals
- 20 Ball lightning, bead lightning, and other unusual discharges
- Appendix: Books on lightning and related subjects
- Index
11 - Thunder
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2013
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Incidence of lightning
- 3 Electrical structure of lightning-producing clouds
- 4 Downward negative lightning discharges to ground
- 5 Positive and bipolar lightning discharges to ground
- 6 Upward lightning initiated by ground-based objects
- 7 Artificial initiation (triggering) of lightning by ground-based activity
- 8 Winter lightning in Japan
- 9 Cloud discharges
- 10 Lightning and airborne vehicles
- 11 Thunder
- 12 Modeling of lightning processes
- 13 The distant lightning electromagnetic environment: atmospherics, Schumann resonances, and whistlers
- 14 Lightning effects in the middle and upper atmosphere
- 15 Lightning effects on the chemistry of the atmosphere
- 16 Extraterrestrial lightning
- 17 Lightning locating systems
- 18 Deleterious effects of lightning and protective techniques
- 19 Lightning hazards to humans and animals
- 20 Ball lightning, bead lightning, and other unusual discharges
- Appendix: Books on lightning and related subjects
- Index
Summary
First let me talk with this philosopher – what is the cause of thunder?
W. Shakespeare, King LearIntroduction
Thunder can be defined as the acoustic emission associated with a lightning discharge. It appears that all impulsive processes in both cloud-to-ground and cloud flashes, including M-component-type processes (Section 4.9), produce thunder. The significant part of the thunder spectrum extends from a few hertz or less to a few kilohertz. It is the general view that audible thunder (above 20 Hz or so) is a series of degenerated shock waves produced by the gas dynamic expansion of various portions of the rapidly heated lightning channel, while infrasonic thunder (approximately 20 Hz and below) is associated with the sudden contraction of a relatively large volume of the thundercloud when lightning rapidly removes the charge from that volume.
Observations
There have been remarkably few measurements of the properties of thunder in the two decades or more since the detailed experiments of the groups from Rice University, Texas (e.g., Few et al. 1967; Few 1968, 1969a; Teer 1972, 1973; Few and Teer 1974) and from the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (e.g., Holmes et al. 1971a; McCrory 1971). The most significant observations, including recent measurements of the acoustic signatures of rocket-triggered lightning (Depasse 1994), are reviewed below in this section.
- Type
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- LightningPhysics and Effects, pp. 374 - 393Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2003
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