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The effect of space charge produced by corona at ground level on lightning

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Article in Atmospheric Research · February 2015

DOI: 10.1016/j.atmosres.2014.07.018

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 Atmospheric Research 153 (2015) 74–86

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Atmospheric Research
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/atmos

The effect of space charge produced by corona at ground level on

lightning attachment to high objects
E.M. Bazelyan a, Yu.P. Raizer b, N.L. Aleksandrov c,⁎
a
Krzhizhanovskyy Power Engineering Institute, Moscow, Russia
b
Institute for Problems in Mechanics, Russian Academy of Science, Moscow, Russia
c
Department of Physical Mechanics, Moscow Institute of Physics & Technology, Dolgoprudny, Moscow region 141700, Russia

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The influence of the corona space charge layer created at ground level on lightning attachment to
Received 5 May 2013 high (20–100 m) slender objects is numerically studied. The shielding effect of corona space
Received in revised form 10 July 2014 charge produced near the object tip on the electric field at ground level is considered. The behavior
Accepted 11 July 2014 of a non-stationary streamer-free corona developed from ground irregularities in a time-varying
Available online 12 August 2014
thundercloud electric field is discussed. The initiation of an upward leader from the tip of a high
grounded object is simulated in the electric field created by a storm-cloud, approaching
Keywords: downward leader and space charge produced by corona at ground level and near the object tip.
Lightning attachment The corona space charge produced on the ground surface is shown to affect only slightly the
Glow streamer-free corona
inception of an upward connecting leader from the object when the local electric field near the
Upward connecting leader
object tip rises rapidly due to an approaching downward leader. The effect of neutral aerosol
Streamer initiation
particles on lightning attachment to high grounded slender objects is also small.
© 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction streamer flash followed by the formation of a connecting leader

The point of downward lightning stroke on a ground object is
controlled by the progression of a downward lightning leader
when it approaches the ground surface. In the fast rising electric
field of an approaching downward leader, an upward connecting
leader develops from the object, intersects the downward leader
and provides a conducting path to the object. In Aleksandrov
et al. (2001, 2002, 2005a, 2005b, 2005c, 2006), Bazelyan et al.
(2008, 2009) and Becerra (2013), non-stationary coronae
initiated from high grounded objects under thunderstorm
conditions and the influence of corona space charge on initiation
and steady progression of a connecting leader have been
numerically and analytically studied. The conditions were
determined when a glow streamer-free corona gives way to a
⁎ Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: bazelyan@eninnet.ru (E.M. Bazelyan), raizer@ipmnet.ru
(Y.P. Raizer), nick_aleksandrov@mail.ru (N.L. Aleksandrov).
in the streamer flash stem.
These studies considered the electric field created by the
thundercloud charge and by the charge distributed over the
channel of an approaching downward leader; the corona space
charge that could be created on small ground irregularities
(small objects, grass, bushes, trees, etc.) was not taken into
account. In real situations the space charge layer produced by
corona at ground level influences the spatial distribution of
electric field and can affect initiation and progression of an
upward connecting leader from high objects. In particular, this
effect was used to qualitatively explain the differences between
the photographs of lightning strikes to tall towers in Switzerland
and in South Africa by the differences in vegetation (Golde,
1978). The effect of the ground corona space charge layer on the
inception of upward lightning leaders from tall towers was
numerically simulated by Becerra et al. (2007). In this work, the
authors considered only the corona space charge produced at
ground level and neglected the space charge produced by corona
at the tip of towers. Under this assumption, it followed from the

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosres.2014.07.018
0169-8095/© 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
 E.M. Bazelyan et al. / Atmospheric Research 153 (2015) 74–86
calculations that the space charge layer developing from the
ground surface strongly affects the critical cloud electric field
required to initiate upward lightning leaders from high slender
structures. In addition, the value of this critical field turned out to
depend significantly on the density of neutral aerosol particles
that influence the ion mobility and consequently the develop-
ment of the corona space charge layer from ground.
Under thunderstorm conditions, a corona discharge occur-
ring at ground level and that initiated from the tip of a high
ground object (see Fig. 1) can affect each other. For instance, the
discharge is first initiated near the tip of a high grounded object
and the corona space charge formed could hinder corona
initiation from much smaller ground irregularities. And vice
versa, the corona space charge layer formed at ground level
could influence inception and progression of an upward
connecting leader from the ground object. Therefore, corona
discharges near the ground surface and at the tip of a high
ground object and their effect on lightning attachment to the
object must be considered self-consistently. The aim of this
work is to numerically study all these processes for high
(20–100 m) grounded slender objects. As opposed to the
previous simulations of the effect of ground corona space
charge, this work considers not only the charge produced at
ground level, but the space charge created by corona at the tip of
a high object as well.
Fig. 1. A schematic diagram of the corona space charge formed at ground level
and near the tip of a grounded rod in a thundercloud electric field.
75
2. The effect of space charge created by corona near high
object on electric field at ground level
A physical approach to simulating a non-stationary,
streamer-free, glow corona of positive polarity initiated from
grounded objects in an atmospheric electric field and algo-
rithms for a hemispherically-tipped electrode have been given
in Aleksandrov et al. (2001, 2002, 2005b, 2005c) and Bazelyan
et al. (2008). In this work, a corona discharge from a high
grounded slender object was considered in a time-varying
atmospheric electric field created by a cloud negative charge.
The corona processes was intensified in the electric field
produced by the charge of an approaching downward leader. In
this model, by analogy with previous computational models of
a streamer-free corona in long air gaps (Aleksandrov et al.,
2001, 2002, 2005a, 2005b, 2005c; Bazelyan et al., 2008, 2009;
Becerra, 2013), we did not consider the thin ionization zone
near the surface of the electrode tip. It was assumed that this
surface emits ions such that the electric field near a coronating
surface equals the onset corona field, Ecor. In the case of a
hemispherically-tipped rod with radius r0, this boundary
condition is expressed as
Eðr 0 Þ ¼ Ecor : ð1Þ
Experiments on a laboratory scale (see references in
Aleksandrov et al. (2005a, 2005b, 2005c)) and numerical
simulation (Morrow, 1997) of the processes in the ionization
zone of a positive corona have shown that this condition is
satisfied when the characteristic time of electric field variation
is ~10 ms or longer. For E(r0) b Ecor, the corona is not initiated
and maintained. The value of Ecor was determined for rods from
the empirical expression (Bazelyan et al. (2007))
!
0:054
Ecor ¼ 2780δ 1 þ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffi ; ð2Þ
r0 δ
where δ is the relative air density, Ecor is in kV m− 1 and r0 is
in m.
The development of the corona space charge was simulated
using the electrostatic equation for electric field,
div EðrÞ ¼ ρ=ε 0 ; ð3Þ
the balance equation for light molecular ions
∂nl
þ divðnl μ l EÞ ¼ −knl Na ; ð4Þ
∂t
the balance equation for aerosol ions
∂na
þ divðna μ a EÞ ¼ knl Na ; ð5Þ
∂t
and the balance equation for neutral aerosol particles
∂Na
¼ −knl Na : ð6Þ
∂t
Here, ρ = eΣnj is the space charge density, e is the elementary
charge, ε0 is the permittivity of vacuum, k is the rate coefficient
for conversion of light molecular ions with the number density nl
76 E.M. Bazelyan et al. / Atmospheric Research 153 (2015) 74–86
into aerosol ions with the number density na, and μl and μa
are the mobility of light ions and that of aerosol ions,
respectively. This simple kinetic scheme and the values of the
rate coefficient and of mobilities are similar to those suggested
by Chauzy and Rennela (1985): k = 1.6 × 10−12 m3 s−1, μl =
1.5 × 10−4 m2V−1 s−1 and μa = 2.3 × 10−6 m2 V−1 s−1. Here,
Na is the number density of neutral aerosol particles. In most
cases it was assumed that the value of Na at the beginning of
simulation is Na0 = 1011 m−3, the magnitude typical of an
urban area.
In Eqs. (4)–(6), the effect of wind was neglected. It was
shown by Bazelyan et al. (2009) that, in a thundercloud electric
field, even moderate wind velocities could lead to hundreds of
percent increase in the corona current. However, even strong
wind is not sufficient to influence the characteristics of a corona
intensified in the electric field of an approaching downward
leader. It was concluded that the occurrence of wind does not
affect the efficiency of lightning rods of ordinary height.
We used the simplifications suggested by Aleksandrov et al.
(2001, 2002) and Bazelyan et al. (2008) and assumed that the
shape of the space charge layers produced near the coronating
hemispherical tip remains hemispherical as the layers move
away from the electrode (see Fig. 2). Under this assumption,
the simulation model is one-dimensional and needs much
shorter computational time, as compared to a two-dimensional
description. As a result, a corona maintained near the small-
radius tips of grounded objects can be simulated for tens
seconds with computational time steps on a microsecond scale.
In addition, an immobile adaptive mesh was used to provide
sufficient computational accuracy. The thickness of the com-
putational hemispherical layers increased from Δr ≈ r0/10 to
Δr ≈ r/10, r being the outer radius of a given distant
computational layer. The computational time step was around
Δt = r0/(10μlEcor), the value that is an order of magnitude
shorter than the time it takes for light ions to cross the first
Fig. 2. A schematic diagram of the space charge layers formed above a
hemispherically-tipped grounded rod in a thundercloud electric field.
computational layer near the coronating surface. In particular,
the number of computational time steps taken to simulate a
corona from electrodes of radius r0 ~ 10−2 m was from 107 to
108 for simulation times from 10 to 100 s, typical times of
electric field variation at ground level during thunderstorms.
To shorten computational time, we used analytical expres-
sions for the electric field produced on the vertical axis directly
above the coronating electrode by the hemispherical space
charge layers and by their images in ground. For instance, the
charge distributed uniformly over a thin hemisphere of radius r
creates the electric field
!
Q r
EðzÞ ¼ 1þ p ffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
ffi for zNr ð7Þ
4πε o z2 r 2 þ z2
and
!
Q r
EðzÞ ¼ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi −1 for zbr ð8Þ
4πε o z2 r 2 þ z2
at the point located at the distance z directly above the
hemisphere center. Here, Q is the total charge of the hemi-
sphere. Computer simulation of a corona discharge was carried
out for various manners of temporal evolution of a thunder-
cloud electric field, E0(t).
Based on the computational model under consideration, the
evolution in time of the electric field during a thunderstorm was
calculated for different horizontal distances from a solitary
vertical grounded electrode and for various heights above
ground. The calculated results are shown in Fig. 3 for an
electrode 20 m in height and with tip radius of 0.02 m. It was
assumed that the thundercloud electric field at ground level rises
linearly up to 40 kV m−1 for 20 s and then is constant. To study
only the isolated effect of corona space charge on the spatial
distribution of electric field around the electrode, the charge
induced at the electrode top was taken into account, whereas
the charge distributed over its side surface was neglected.
Fig. 3 shows that, owing to the shielding effect of the corona
space charge layer produced near the electrode tip, the electric
field at small distances from the electrode is reduced by half.
Fig. 3. The evolution in time of the thundercloud electric field, E0(t), and electric
field at various horizontal distances, R, from the axis of a vertical electrode 20 m
in height and with tip radius of 2 × 10−2 m. Solid curves correspond to a height
of 6 m above ground and dash curve corresponds to R = 0 and ground level.
 E.M. Bazelyan et al. / Atmospheric Research 153 (2015) 74–86
Fig. 4. The evolution in time of the thundercloud electric field, E0(t), and electric
field in the corona space charge layer at ground level and various horizontal
distances, R, from a vertical electrode 100 m in height and with tip radius of
2 × 10−2 m.
The effect does not depend on the height above ground and
becomes less profound at distances from the electrode that are
comparable with the electrode height.
An increase in the electrode height leads to an increase in
the corona current. For instance, our calculations showed that
the peak corona current increased from 195 μA to 1.39 mA
when the electrode height was increased from 20 to 100 m. In
spite of the increase in the corona current, the local electric field
at ground level changed only slightly; its peak value remained
to be close to 30 kV m−1 (see Fig. 4). A weak dependence of the
local electric field at ground level on the electrode height is
associated with two opposite factors. On the one hand, the
corona space charge injected into the atmosphere from the top
of a higher object is larger; on the other hand, this space charge
turns out to be at longer distance from the ground surface and
hence its effect at ground level is somewhat compensated.
Fig. 5 shows the temporal evolution of the corona current
and radius of the space charge “cloud” developing from
an electrode 100 m in height and with tip radius of 0.02 m
when the thundercloud electric field rises in time as E0(t) =
E0max[1 − exp(− t/T)] with E0max = 40 kV m−1 and T = 6.7 s.
Fig. 5. The evolution in time (1) of the corona current and (2) of the radius of
the space charge “cloud” developing from an electrode 100 m in height and
with tip radius of 0.02 m. The thundercloud electric field rises in time as E0(t) =
E0max[1 − exp(−t/T)], where E0max = 40 kV m−1 and T = 6.7 s.
77
In this case, the space charge “cloud” of radius 200 m and total
charge 25 mC was formed above the electrode by the instant
t = 30 s. This space charge and its image in the ground form a
double electrical layer in which, by analogy with a plane
“capacitor”, electric field is almost uniform (see Fig. 6). The
vertical electric field profiles remain uniform for heights in
the range 0–40 m as the horizontal distance from the
electrode increases from zero to the distances comparable
with its height. Here, even such a high corona space charge
injected into the atmosphere from the electrode top can lead
only to a small effect on the electric field at ground level; this
field decreases by 37% near the electrode and by 25% at a
distance of 100 m from it.
From the calculations, it may be concluded that a high
grounded structure and the corona space charge developed
from its tip can affect the local electric field at ground level only
in the immediate vicinity of the structure; that is, the presence
of a high grounded structure do not influence strongly the
initiation of a corona discharge near small ground irregularities
and production of the corona space charge layer at ground
level.
3. Space charge layer produced from ground irregularities
Corona discharge is initiated near ground irregularities
when a thundercloud electric field near the ground surface
exceeds some threshold value, E0cor. After a time, individual
space charge “clouds” extending from numerous coronating
points unite into one plane space charge layer (see Fig. 7). This
layer is similar to the layer created by a perfect emitting plane
that is the simplest model for corona at ground level.
In this model, a plane space charge layer has its image in the
ground. The layer and its image form a plane “capacitor”.
Electric field at the upper boundary of the layer is equal to an
ambient electric field, E0, whereas electric field on the emitting
surface is stabilized at the level E0cor. Here, the corona space
charge injected into the gap from unit area is (Bazelyan et al.,
2008; 2014)
σ ðt Þ ¼ ε0 ½E0 ðt Þ−E0cor  ð9Þ
Fig. 6. The vertical profiles of the thundercloud electric field, E0(t), and electric
field at various horizontal distances (R = 0 and R = 100 m) from a vertical
electrode 100 m in height and with tip radius of 0.02 m. The thundercloud
electric field rises in time as E0(t) = E0max[1 − exp(−t/T)], where E0max =
40 kV m−1 and T = 6.7 s. The curves correspond to the instant t = 30 s.
78 E.M. Bazelyan et al. / Atmospheric Research 153 (2015) 74–86
Fig. 7. A schematic diagram of the space charge layer formed above a multi-
point system in a thundercloud electric field E0.
and the corona current density is written as
dσ dE ðt Þ
jðt Þ ¼ ¼ ε0 0 :
dt dt
In this model, the value of j is independent of the geometry
and dimensions of corona sources and of the ion mobility. It
follows from Eq. (10) that the corona current density (i) is also
independent of time when the discharge is maintained in a
linearly rising thundercloud electric field E0 and (ii) collapses
for E0 = const.
In Bazelyan et al. (2014), based on numerical and analytical
approaches, it was studied how the properties of a corona
discharge occurring near a real multi-point system tend to
those of a discharge described by the model of a perfect
emitting plane. The system under consideration consisted of a
large number of identical vertical grounded electrodes distrib-
uted uniformly over concentric circles such that the distance
between adjacent electrodes was approximately the same (see
Fig. 8). The ambient electric field was assumed (i) to rise
linearly from zero to a value of E0m at 0 b t b tm and (ii) to be E0m
at t N tm.
It was shown by Bazelyan et al. (2014) that the thunder-
cloud electric field, E0cor, required for initiation of a corona
discharge in a multi-point system increases with decreasing
distance between the coronating points. This effect is due to the
shielding of an external electric field near a given electrode by
Fig. 8. The distribution of electrodes over the ground surface.
the charges of surrounding electrodes. The properties of the
multi-point coronating system asymptotically tended to those
of a perfect emitting plane with the surface electric field that is
equal to the corona onset atmospheric electric field, Е0cor.
According to the calculations (Bazelyan et al., 2014), the model
of an emitting plane and Eqs. (9) and (10) are acceptable when
the individual space charge layers developing from different
coronating points reach each other and form a unite plane
layer. The time it takes for the formation of the united layer
depends on the height of the coronating electrodes and on the
distance between them; in particular, this time elongates with
increasing distance between electrodes.
The similarity between the behavior of the corona current
for a real multi-point system and that of the corona current for
the model of an emitting plane allows the use of this simple
model for qualitative estimation of the corona properties for
real ground systems with numerous corona sources.
4. The effect of space charge layer created by corona at
ground level on vertical electric field profile and lightning
attachment to high objects
The corona space charge layer developing from ground
irregularities affects the vertical electric field profile above the
ð10Þ ground (Standler and Winn, 1979; Chauzy and Rennela, 1985)
and could influence lightning attachment to high objects via
changing the conditions for initiation and steady development
of an upward connecting leader from the object tip in the
electric field of an approaching downward leader. To study this
effect, we calculated electric field profiles above the ground for
various manners of the temporal evolution of E0. Corona from
ground irregularities was described with the model of an
emitting plane. We solved numerically Eqs. (3)–(6) in an 1D
approximation.
Fig. 9(a) shows the evolution in time of the calculated
electric field at different altitudes above ground when the
thundercloud electric field rises linearly in time up to E0max =
60 kV m−1 for tm = 30 s and then is kept constant. Similar
results are shown in Fig. 9(b) when the thundercloud
electric field varies as E0(t) = E0max[1 − exp(− t/T )] at
E0max = 60 kV m− 1 and T = 10 s. Here, it was assumed that
Е0cor = 1.65 kV m− 1 and the effect of aerosol particles was
neglected assuming Na0 = 0.
In Biagi et al. (2011), it was suggested to approximate
vertical space charge density profiles in the corona space
charge layer as
ρðzÞ ¼ ρðz ¼ 0Þ expð−z=dÞ; ð11Þ
where
ρðz ¼ 0Þ ¼ ε 0 ðE0 –Eðz ¼ 0ÞÞ=d;
z is the height and d is the rate of space charge density decrease
with height (e-folding length). This corresponds to the vertical
electric field profile
EðzÞ ¼ E0 – expð−z=dÞðE0 –Eðz ¼ 0ÞÞ: ð12Þ
From measurements of ground-level electric field, it was
obtained that the values of d range from 67 to 200 m and the
 E.M. Bazelyan et al. / Atmospheric Research 153 (2015) 74–86
Fig. 9. The evolution in time of the electric field at different altitudes above
ground. The arrows indicate the instants at which the top boundary of the space
charge layer reaches the corresponding altitudes. (a) The thundercloud electric
field (dash curve) rises linearly in time up to E0max = 60 kV m−1 for tm = 30 s
and then is kept constant. (b) The thundercloud electric field (dash curve) rises
as E0(t) = E0max[1 − exp(−t/T)] at E0max = 60 kV m−1 and T = 10 s.
values of E0 range from 20 to 60 kV m−1 (Biagi et al., 2011).
We used the data presented in Fig. 9 for E0 increasing up to
60 kV m−1 to check whether or not our calculated results are
described by Eqs. (11) and (12). For this purpose, the ratio
P ¼ ðE0 –EðzÞÞ=ðE0 −Eðz ¼ 0ÞÞ
was plotted as a function of z in a semi-logarithmic scale (see
Fig. 10(a) and (b)). This ratio equals ρ(z)/ρ(z = 0) when
Eq. (11) is true. The curves in Fig. 10(a) and (b) must be straight
lines if Eqs. (11) and (12) are valid. The analysis of these results
shows that these equations approximate our data reasonably
for not-too-high altitudes when the values of P decrease by a
factor of three. In this case, the length d varies with time in the
range that is close to that inferred for d in (Biagi et al., 2011). At
higher altitudes, the calculated ratio P tends to zero with
increasing rate. The reason is that in real situations, above the
upper space charge layer boundary located at the altitude Z(t),
the corona space charge is absent and the local electric field is
independent of z and equals the cloud electric field, E0. Inside
the space charge layer, the field E(z) reaches E0 and the ratio P
decreases to zero at the finite altitude, Z(t), as opposed to
Eq. (12) according to which E(z) tends to E0 only at z → ∞.
79
Fig. 10. The ratio P as a function of height. (a) The thundercloud electric field rises
linearly in time up to E0max = 60 kV m−1 for tm = 30 s and then is kept constant.
(b) The thundercloud electric field rises as E0(t) = E0max[1 − exp(−t/T)] at
E0max = 60 kV m−1 and T = 10 s.
The following conclusions could be drawn from the results
presented in Figs. 9 and 10. Electric field is not disturbed and
equals E0(t) above the upper boundary of the space charge
layer produced by corona near ground irregularities. Vertical
electric field distribution in the interior of the layer depends on
the manner of the evolution of E0(t). When E0 steadily increases
in time, a local electric field at a given point in the layer
increases in time at d2E0/dt2 N 0 and decreases in time at d2E0/
dt2 b 0. In particular, the local electric field in the layer always
decreases in time for E0(t) = E0max[1 − exp(−t/T)] (see
Fig. 9(b)) or for E0 = const (see Fig. 9(a)). When E0 rises
linearly in time, d2E0/dt2 = 0 and the local electric field in the
layer is independent of time (see Fig. 9(a)). It follows from the
calculated results that, due to the space charge layer produced
by corona at ground level, the total electric field can be
decreased several times at practically important altitudes
between 10 and 30 m at which the tips of grounded objects
are frequently located. This decrease in electric field could
affect the initiation and development of a connecting upward
leader from vertical objects of height from 10 to 30 m.
To estimate the effect of corona space charge layer produced
at ground level on lightning attachment to high grounded
objects, it is required to consider the sequence of discharge
processes occurring near the object tip in a thundercloud
80 E.M. Bazelyan et al. / Atmospheric Research 153 (2015) 74–86
electric field that is enhanced by an approaching downward
leader. Firstly, a glow streamer-free corona is initiated near the
tip of an object in an ambient electric field. Then, a streamer-
free corona gives way to corona streamers followed by the
initiation of an upward connecting leader; in a thundercloud
electric field, streamers are initiated only when the ambient
electric field is rapidly enhanced by the charge of a downward
lightning leader (Bazelyan et al., 2008). The condition for
streamer initiation is satisfied when the streamer-free corona
current reaches some critical value, icr, that is dependent on the
radius of curvature of the coronating object tip, r0. In the
computational 1D model, the condition for streamer initiation
corresponds to the displacement of the point of maximum
electric field from the object tip into the gap. The value of icr
could be estimated from the expression (Bazelyan et al., 2008)
2
icr ≈ 8πε0 μ i r 0 Ecor ; ð13Þ
where μ i is the ion mobility. From Eq. (13), we have icr ≈ 10−2 A
for μ i = 1.5 × 10−4 m2 V−1 s−1 and r0 = 0.02 cm.
According to available observations and theoretical estima-
tion of the energy required to heat the gas in the stem of a
streamer flash, a leader is formed in atmospheric pressure air
only when the voltage drop along the streamer zone, ΔUst, is
sufficiently high (Bazelyan and Raizer, 1998):
ΔU st ≥400 kV: ð14Þ
In this case, the gas temperature in the stem increases up to
5000–6000 K, the values required for maintaining ionization in
the leader channel with relatively small electric fields. The
energy input required for such gas heating is reached when the
length of a streamer branch is 0.9–1 m and the voltage drop
along this branch is 400 kV or higher (Bazelyan and Raizer,
1998).
Using these criteria, we studied numerically the role of the
corona space charge layer formed at ground level on streamer
and upward leader initiation near the tip of a high electrode. For
this purpose, a glow streamer-free corona was simulated near a
hemispherically-tipped grounded electrode based on a numer-
ical solution of Eqs. (3)–(5) under the assumption Na = 0.
Formation of the corona space charge layer at ground level was
described by Eq. (10), whereas the development of this layer
was simulated in the 1D approximation using Eqs. (3)–(5). The
corona current and injected space charge from the electrode tip
depended strongly on an ambient electric field.
In the absence of the space charge created by corona near
ground irregularities, the peak thundercloud electric field
reached 60 kV m−1 by the time t = 10 s. At this instant the
corona space charge injected into the atmosphere from the tip
of a vertical ground electrode of height H = 20 m was 1.8 mC
and the corona current was 435 μA. Due to the space charge
layer produced by corona at ground level, the peak electric field
near the electrode tip was decreased to around 20 kV m−1. As a
result, the injected space charge and corona current from the
tip by t = 10 s were decreased by a factor of 7.3 and by a factor
of 8.1, respectively. But, in both cases, the values of the corona
current were less than the threshold value icr at which
streamers are initiated by around two orders of magnitude. It
may be concluded from these calculations that the space charge
layer produced by corona at ground level does not play a
noticeable role in streamer initiation from the tips of grounded
structures of moderate height.
The approach of a downward leader to a high grounded
object led to an intensification of the discharge processes near
the object tip over a time interval of around 15 ms (see Fig. 11).
(In this time interval, the corona current would remain almost
constant in the absence of a downward leader.) However, in
this case the development of a counter discharge was
practically independent of the initial corona discharge. In
particular, streamers were initiated at the same instant, no
matter whether the production of the corona space charge near
ground irregularities was taken into account or was neglected.
The calculations were carried out for a downward leader
descending vertically with a velocity of 2 × 105 m s−1 at a
horizontal distance of 60 m from a vertical electrode of
height H = 20 m. It was assumed that the charge per unit
leader channel length is fixed and is equal to 0.5 mC m− 1;
this value corresponds to medium values of lightning
discharge current. In the absence of the ground corona
space charge layer, streamers and a connecting leader were
initiated at E0 = 60 kV m− 1 when the downward leader
descended down to an altitude of 210 m above ground.
Taking into account the effect of the space charge layer
produced at ground level, a connecting leader was initiated
from the electrode at the instant when the downward leader
was at an altitude of 185 m. The obtained 12% decrease in
this altitude does not seem to be important because some
parameters of a lightning discharge vary statistically and are
poorly understood. Similar calculations were also made for
other horizontal distances between the rod and downward
leader. The calculated results changed only slightly (less
than 10%) when this distance varied from 0 to 100 m.
In the case of much higher grounded objects, the corona
space charge produced at ground level also affects noticeably
Fig. 11. The evolution in time of the corona current from an electrode 2 × 10−2 m
in radius and 20 m in height in the combined electric field of a thundercloud and
approaching downward leader. Calculations were carried out (1) when
neglecting the effect of the corona space charge produced at ground level and
(2) when taking into account this effect. The thundercloud electric field rises
linearly to 60 kV m−1 for 10 s and then is constant. The leader is initiated at a
height of 3 km at t = 10 s and descends with a velocity of 2 × 105 m s−1 at a
horizontal distance of 60 m from the electrode; the leader charge is distributed
uniformly along the channel with a linear density of 0.5 mC m−1. The time is
reckoned from the leader start. Horizontal line shows the current corresponding
to the start of a streamer flash. Dotted lines correspond to the calculations in the
absence of downward leader.
 E.M. Bazelyan et al. / Atmospheric Research 153 (2015) 74–86
the properties of corona from the object tip. However, this
effect is not very important for the condition of streamer
initiation when a downward leader approaches such an object.
Indeed, Fig. 12 shows the calculated evolution in time of
the corona current from an electrode 2 × 10−2 m in radius and
100 m in height in a slowly rising thundercloud electric field. It
was assumed that the thundercloud electric field rises linearly
to 60 kV m−1 for 30 s and that a corona is initiated at ground
level when this field reaches 1.65 kV m−1. Calculations were
carried out when considering or neglecting production of
corona space charge from ground irregularities. In the absence
of the space charge produced at ground level, the corona
current from the electrode tip increased linearly in time and
reached 2 mA by the time t = 30 s. Development of the corona
space charge layer from ground irregularities led to a decrease
in electric field at heights from ground up to 100 m such that
the height-average electric field was 25 kV m−1 at t = 30 s (see
Fig. 9(a)). In this case, the corona current from the object tip
was decreased almost by an order of magnitude.
Such a great change in the corona current from the 100 m
tall electrode does not affect strongly the conditions for
streamer initiation followed by upward leader inception from
the electrode tip in the electric field of an approaching
downward leader. Fig. 13 shows that the corona current
calculated when taking into account the corona space charge
produced at ground and the corona current calculated when
neglecting this effect became closer to each other as the
downward leader approached the electrode. The height of the
downward leader tip at the instant at which the corona current
reached the critical value corresponding to streamer initiation
turned out to be 545 m in the first case and 620 m in the latter
case, respectively. This difference does not seem to lead to a
large change in the number of lightning strikes to the electrode.
5. The effect of neutral aerosol particle density
The effect of neutral aerosol particle density is reduced to
the effect of ion mobility on corona current and other corona
properties. In the model used (see Section 2), we considered
the movement of ions emitted by a coronating surface.
Fig. 12. The evolution in time of the corona current from an electrode 100 m in
height and with tip radius 2 × 10−2 m in the thundercloud electric field that
rises linearly to 60 kV m−1 for 30 s. Curves 1 and 2 correspond, respectively, to
the calculations in which the effect of the space charge layer produced by
corona at ground level was neglected and taken into account.
81
Fig. 13. The evolution in time of the corona current from an electrode 100 m in
height and with tip radius 2 × 10−2 m in the combined electric field of a
thundercloud and approaching downward leader. Calculations were carried
out (1) when neglecting the effect of the corona space charge produced at
ground level and (2) when taking into account this effect. The thundercloud
electric field rises linearly to 60 kV m−1 for 30 s and then is constant. The
leader is initiated at a height of 3 km at t = 10 s and descends with a velocity of
2 × 105 m s−1 at a horizontal distance of 300 m from the electrode; the leader
charge is distributed uniformly along the channel with a linear density of
0.5 mC m−1. The time is reckoned from the leader start.
Condition (1) controls the rate of ion emission that determines
corona current. At every instant the total emitted charge is such
that its electric field compensates for the change of electric field
on the coronating surface (i) due to an increase in an ambient
electric field, E0, and (ii) due to the change in location of the
corona space charge that has already been injected into the
atmosphere.
The effect of ion mobility on the current of a non-stationary
streamer-free corona has been studied in different one-
dimensional geometries (Bazelyan et al., 2008). It was shown
that this effect is most pronounced for a spherical electrode, is
less important for long coaxial cylindrical conductors and is
absent in the limiting case when a coronating system can be
simulated by an emitting plane unbounded surface (see
Eq. (10)). Such an emitting surface is an asymptotic approxi-
mation for a multi-electrode coronating system (Bazelyan et al.,
2014).
In the general case corona current is governed by the rate of
ion emission and depends on ion mobility that affects the
location of the corona space charge and, consequently, electric
field produced by this charge near the coronating surface.
However, the situation is different in the case of an emitting
plane surface. Here, from the Gauss theorem, a plane uniformly
charged layer produces the electric field E(σ+) = σ/(2ε0) outside
of its volume, where σ is the charge per unit area of the layer.
Image of the layer in the ground has a charge density of (−σ)
and produces a similar (in magnitude) electric field, E(σ−). The
field E(σ) is directed along the normal to the boundary surface
from the layer at σ N 0 and in the opposite direction at σ b 0 (see
Fig. 14). The total electric field outside of the layers is an algebraic
sum of E(σ+), E(σ−) and a thundercloud electric field, E0. In
particular, two charged layers of opposite polarities produce a
zero electric field above them, whereas the total electric field on
the coronating surface is
 
Epl ¼ E0 þ E σ þ þ Eðσ − Þ ¼ E0 −σ=ε 0 : ð15Þ
82 E.M. Bazelyan et al. / Atmospheric Research 153 (2015) 74–86

Fig. 14. A schematic diagram of the space charge layers formed near the
coronating ground surface in a thundercloud electric field E0.
Fig. 15. Evolution in time of the corona current from a solitary vertical grounded
electrode 5 m in height and with tip radius of 2 × 10−2 m. Thundercloud
electric field rises linearly to E0m = 40 kV m−1 for 60 s and then remains
constant. Curve 1 corresponds to the ion mobility μ = 1.5 × 10−4 m2 V−1 s−1
From Eq. (15) and the boundary condition Epl = E0cor, we and curve 2 corresponds to μ = 1.5 × 10−5 m2 V−1 s−1.
have Eq. (9) and hence Eq. (10). The total electric field produced
by the charged layer and by its image in the ground surface is
independent of the distance from the layer. As a result, the
urban areas (Calvo et al., 2013). It takes tens seconds for light ion
injected corona space charge and corona current turn out to be
attachment to neutral aerosol particles to form heavy aerosol
independent of ion mobility (see Eqs. (9) and (10)).
ions. Consequently to study the effect of aerosol particles on a
In this work, we studied the effect of ion mobility on the
corona discharge it is necessary to simulate its properties for a
corona current from a solitary grounded rod and from a multi-
long period of time. In this case, it is required to take into
rod system that had been described in more detail elsewhere
account not only the loss of neutral aerosol particles in a given
(Bazelyan et al., 2014). This system consisted of a large number
volume due to attachment of light ions, but the generation of
of identical vertical grounded electrodes distributed uniformly
neutral aerosols in this volume due to convective transport
over concentric circles such that the distance between adjacent
or diffusion. The latter effect is difficult to simulate self-
electrodes was approximately the same (see Fig. 8). The ambient
consistently and, as a rule, it is simulated by introducing
electric field was assumed (i) to rise linearly from zero to a value
turbulent diffusion with an effective coefficient of 1 m2 s−1
of E0m at 0 b t b tm and (ii) to be E0m at t N tm. Calculations were
(see, for instance, Qie et al. (1994), Becerra et al. (2007)). In this
made for the ion mobility μ = 1.5 × 10−4 m2 V−1 s−1 (light
work, to estimate the role of the transport of neutral aerosol
ions) and for the mobility decreased by an order of magnitude,
particles, calculations were made when neglecting this trans-
μ = 1.5 × 10−5 m2 V−1 s−1 (simulation of the effect of heavy
port (see Eq. (6)) or when assuming that the density of neutral
ions).
aerosol particles, Na, remains constant (instead of solving
Fig. 15 shows the evolution in time of the corona current
Eq. (6)).
from a solitary vertical electrode 2 × 10−2 m in radius and 5 m
in height in a thundercloud electric field with E0m = 40 kV m−1
and tm = 60 s. Here, a decrease of the ion mobility by an
order of magnitude led to a decrease in the peak corona current
at t = 60 s by a factor of 8.5.
Fig. 16 shows similar results obtained for a multi-electrode
system with the same electrode dimensions and a distance
of 5 m between electrodes. Here, the effect of ion mobility is
important only at the beginning of the process when the
individual space charge layers from different electrodes
have not reached each other and have not formed a united
quasi-plane space charge layer. After the formation of a
united layer, the difference between curves 1 and 2 was less
than 20% and the corona current was close to that calculated
from Eq. (10). This confirms the conclusion made by
Bazelyan et al. (2014) that the corona properties of a
multi-point system are similar to the properties of a plane
surface that emits ions into the atmosphere. Therefore, the Fig. 16. Evolution in time of the corona current from a vertical grounded
effect of ion mobility on the corona properties is expected to electrode of electrode 5 m in height and with tip radius of 2 × 10−2 m. The
be small for multi-electrode coronating systems when a electrode is surrounded by 30,300 similar electrodes distributed uniformly
united space charge layer has time to be formed. Clearly the around it over 100 concentric circles. The distance between the electrodes is
5 m. Thundercloud electric field rises linearly to E0m = 40 kV m−1 for 60 s
same is expected for the effect of neutral aerosol particles. and then remains constant. Calculations were carried out with (1) μ =
The density of neutral aerosol particles varies from 1.5 × 10− 4 m2 V− 1 s−1 and (2) μ = 1.5 × 10−5 m2 V−1 s−1. Curve 3
around 5 × 109 m−3 in clean rural areas to 1011 m−3 in polluted corresponds to the calculations for an emitting plane using Eq. (10).
 E.M. Bazelyan et al. / Atmospheric Research 153 (2015) 74–86
Fig. 17. Evolution in time of the corona current from the central vertical
grounded electrode in a multi-electrode system. The curves correspond to the
same parameters of the system and thundercloud electric field as those in
Fig. 16. Calculations were carried out (1) when neglecting aerosol ions or
considering these ions for Na(t = 0) = 1011 m−3 (2) with Eq. (6) (no aerosol
neutral particle generation in a given volume) and (3) under the
assumption Na = 1011 m−3 = const.
Fig. 17 shows the corona current calculated for the central
electrode in a multi-electrode system when neglecting aerosol
particles or taking them into account for Na(t = 0) = 1011 m−3.
As expected, the effect of neutral aerosol particles on the corona
current in a multi-electrode system was small. Therefore, it is
reasonable to neglect this effect when considering the corona
current from irregularities on the ground surface under
thunderstorm conditions.
The situation is different for the corona current from a
solitary electrode. Here, the effect of neutral aerosol particles on
the corona current becomes more profound with increasing
duration of the corona discharge near the electrode tip (see
Fig. 18). The discharge current decreases several times when
the discharge duration increases up to hundreds seconds. The
density of aerosol ions, na, is sufficiently high in the vicinity (at
a distance of 1 m or closer) of the coronating electrode tip
(see Fig. 19). In this region, the value of na can be two
orders of magnitude higher than the density of neutral
Fig. 18. Ratio of the peak corona current calculated when neglecting aerosol
particles to that calculated when taking into account aerosol particles as a
function of the time tm it takes to reach these peak values. Calculations
were made for a solitary vertical grounded electrode 100 m in height and with
tip radius of 2 × 10−2 m. Thundercloud electric field rises linearly to E0m =
40 kV m−1 at 0 b t b tm and remains constant at t N tm. Curve 1 corresponds to
the neglect of neutral aerosol particle generation in a given volume and curve 2
corresponds to the assumption Na = 1011 m−3 = const.
83
Fig. 19. The radial profiles of the densities for (1, 2) light and (3) aerosol ions
directly above the tip of an electrode 100 m in height and with tip radius
2 × 10−2 m in a thundercloud electric field that rises linearly to 40 kV m−1 for
60 s. The curves correspond to the instant t = 60 s at (1) Na0 = 0 and (2, 3)
Na0 = 1011 m−3 under the assumption that Na = const.
aerosols, Na, when the calculations are made under the
assumption Na = const.
Thus, the formation of aerosol ions leads to a large decrease
in the corona current from the tip of a solitary electrode in a
thundercloud electric field. However, this does not affect
noticeably the instant of initiation of an upward connecting
leader from the electrode tip when the thundercloud electric
field is enhanced by an approaching downward leader. To
initiate an upward leader, the corona current must be
additionally increased at least by an order of magnitude. The
current increases in the fast rising electric field produced by the
charge of an approaching downward leader that develops for a
time interval of 15–30 ms. Additional aerosol ions have no time
to be formed for such a short period of time. As a result, the
corona current increases in time almost in the same manner
and the current (~10 mA) required for streamer initiation is
reached at the same instant, regardless of the density of aerosol
neutral particles (see Fig. 20). It is worth noting that streamer
Fig. 20. The evolution in time of the corona current from an electrode 100 m in
height and with tip radius 2 × 10−2 m in the combined electric field of a
thundercloud and approaching downward leader. Calculations were carried
out (1) for Na0 = 0 and (2) for Na0 = 1011 m−3 under the assumption that Na =
const. The thundercloud electric field rises linearly to 60 kV m−1 for 60 s and
then is constant. The leader is initiated at a height of 3 km at t = 10 s and
descends with a velocity of 2 × 105 m s−1 at a horizontal distance of 200 m from
the electrode; the leader charge is distributed uniformly along the channel with
a linear density of 0.5 mC m−1. The time is reckoned from the leader start.
84 E.M. Bazelyan et al. / Atmospheric Research 153 (2015) 74–86
initiation is inevitably followed by the formation of an upward
connecting leader under the conditions studied.
It follows from the calculated results that the presence of
neutral aerosol particles does not affect strongly (i) the
properties of a corona from small ground irregularities and
(ii) initiation of an upward connecting leader from a high
grounded object in the electric field of an approaching
downward leader is small. Formation of aerosol ions affects
the development of the space charge layer produced at ground
level. However, according to our calculated results, the corona
space charge produced at ground cannot compete with the
space charge produced near the tip of a high grounded
structure when considering lightning attachment to this
structure. It may be concluded that, as opposed to the results
obtained by Becerra et al. (2007), the effect of neutral aerosol
particles on lightning attachment to tall grounded slender
objects is small.
6. About streamer initiation near rod surface in 1D and
2D models
In this work and previous our works (Aleksandrov et al.,
2001, 2002, 2005a, 2005b, 2005c, 2006; Bazelyan et al., 2008,
2009), we used an 1D model of a glow non-stationary corona to
simulate a spatial electric field redistribution near the tip of a
high grounded object due to corona space charge injection in
the atmosphere. The obtained data were used to analyze
conditions for streamer initiation followed by the start of a
viable upward leader from the object in a thundercloud electric
field that is intensified by an approaching downward leader. It is
necessary to reconsider this approach in connection with a
recent paper by Becerra (2013) who carried out a 2D simulation
of a glow corona at the tip of a high object and analyzed the
errors introduced by an 1D model into corona simulation and
calculation of the conditions for streamer initiation from the
object in the combined electric field of a cloud and approaching
downward leader. In Becerra (2013), it was concluded that (i) in
an 1D model, there is a large overestimation of the corona space
charge injected into the gap in a thundercloud electric field and
(ii) 1D calculations strongly overestimate the effect of glow
corona at the tip of a rod on the initiation of streamers and
upward connecting leaders. The latter effect is, according to
Becerra (2013), due to the fact that streamers and upward
leaders first are initiated from the rod body (at a distance of 1 m
or shorter from the rod tip) where a glow corona does not occur
prior to streamers.
The conclusion by Becerra (2013) that the effect of corona
space charge on lightning attachment is small contradicts field
observations. It is well known that the corona space charge
affects drastically the initiation of an upward leader from high
tall grounded objects. Indeed, in classical triggered lightning
experiments under thunderstorm conditions, a lightning
discharge has a ~70% chance to be launched from a grounded
(with wire) ascending rocket that reaches an altitude of
200–300 m (Rakov and Uman, 2003), although the time of
rocket flight does not exceed several seconds. At the same time,
it takes many hours to launch an upward lightning discharge
from the tips of fixed grounded objects of a similar height. Here,
the only explanation is the effect of corona space charge near
the tips of grounded objects and the absence of this effect in the
case of fast ascending rockets that “run away” from the corona
space charge produced at the rocket tips.
Comparison of our 1D calculation with the 2D calculation
indeed shows a noticeable (60–80% in some cases) overestima-
tion of the corona space charge injected into the atmosphere in a
thundercloud electric field. However, this overestimation does
not seem to be too important when considering the condition
for the transition from a glow corona to streamers. This
condition is that the corona current reaches the critical value,
icr, that is given by Eq. (13) for a spherical coronating electrode
(Bazelyan et al., 2008). From Eq. (13), the value of icr is around
10 mA for typical magnitudes of the radius of object tips, r0, the
mobility of dominant ions, μ I, and the onset corona field, Ecor.
Even for extremely high grounded objects, such an intense glow
corona can occur only when a thundercloud electric field is
enhanced by an approaching downward leader. During the
descent of this leader (10–20 ms), the ions injected into the
atmosphere by the leader field have no time to go far away from
a hemispherical tip and are located in the vicinity (at a distance
of ~1 m or shorter) of the tip where the corona space charge is
close in shape to a hemispherical layer and is well described by
an 1D model. This is the reason that the 1D model and 2D model
give close results (430 and 530 m, respectively) for the height of
the tip of a downward leader at the instant at which streamers
are initiated from the tip of a 60 m tall grounded rod (Becerra,
2013). It may be concluded that the difference between the
results of the 1D model and 2D model is not large when
considering discharge processes near the rod tip.
Let us consider the statement by Becerra (2013) that
streamers first are initiated from the rod body rather than
from the rod tip. According to Becerra (2013), streamers are
initiated from a 60 m tall rod when the tip of a downward
leader with a prospective return stroke current of 30 kA
descends down to a height of 1140 m and the vertical electric
field at the ground is enhanced by the leader to E0 ≈ 5 kV m–1.
It is assumed that this field is not shielded by the corona space
charge and therefore is efficiently increased on the body of the
rod due to the charge that is induced on the rod surface.
Our numerical calculation with the charge simulation
method (Malik, 1989) showed that in this case the electric
field is increased by a factor of KE = E(r0)/E0 = 500–600 on the
side surface at a distance of 0.2–1 m from the rod tip. The
calculation was made for a rod 60 m in height and with tip
radius of r0 = 0.02 m. This field increase is sufficient to ignite a
discharge when taking into account the additional effect of a
shielded thundercloud electric field. The question is what
discharge processes develop in this case.
Some doubts are cast upon the statement by Becerra (2013)
that, under the conditions considered, the discharge processes
occurring near the rod body are streamers that can be
transformed into an upward leader. To clarify this point, we
estimate the conditions under which a glow corona gives way
to streamers or streamers are initiated without glow corona on
the rod body not far from the rod tip. It follows from our
calculations with the charge simulation method that the radial
electric field distribution around the rod body at a distance of
0.2–1 m from the rod tip is close to the distribution of the
electric field produced near an infinite cylindrical conductor of
the same radius and with the same surface charge.
The critical linear (per unit length) corona current at which
a glow corona gives way to streamers in the cylindrical
 E.M. Bazelyan et al. / Atmospheric Research 153 (2015) 74–86
geometry (coaxial cylindrical electrodes or a solitary cylindrical
conductor) is written as (Bazelyan et al., 2008)
2
Icr ¼ 2πε0 μEcor : ð16Þ
From Eq. (16), we have Icr ≈ 0.1 A m− 1 for Ecor = 4 ×
10 V m− 1, a typical value of the corona onset field.
6 geometry. Therefore, it is invalid to make conclusions about
To initiate streamers from the rod body prior to glow
corona, the linear corona current, I, must exceed Icr even at the
beginning of the discharge processes at t = 0. Let us estimate
the value of I(t = 0). In our model, the electric field on the
coronating surface is stabilized at the level Ecor in spite of the
growth of an ambient electric field and development of the
previously formed corona space charge. The surface field
stabilization is maintained due to charge emission from the
coronating surface. The rate of emission controls the corona
current. Corona space charge is absent in the atmosphere at the
instant of corona onset. Therefore, a possible variation in the
surface charge density, σsuf, could be associated only with a
change in the thundercloud electric field E0 enhanced on the
rod surface up to E(r0) = KEE0. In this case, we have from the
electrostatic equations
dσ suf dEðr 0 Þ dE
¼ ε0 ¼ ε0 K E 0 : ð17Þ
dt dt dt
To stabilize the surface electric field at the level Ecor, the
surplus charge must be transferred from the rod surface into
the atmosphere. This process provides the corresponding
corona current. Then, the discharge linear current at the instant
of corona onset, I0, flowing from the side surface of a rod of
radius r0 is
dσ tip dE
I0 ¼ 2πr 0 ¼ 2πε0 r 0 K E 0 : ð18Þ
dt dt
Substituting Eq. (18) into Eq. (16), we obtain the condition
that streamers are initiated from the side surface of a rod prior
to glow corona:
 
dE0 dE0 μ E2
≥ ¼ cor : ð19Þ
dt dt cr r0 K E
From Eq. (19), we have (dE0/dt)cr = 200 kV m−1 ms−1 for
KE =500, r0 = 0.02 m, μ = 1.5 × 10−4 m2 V−1 s−1 and Ecor = 4
× 106 V m−1. These values of KE, r0, μ and Ecor are typical and
close to those used by Becerra (2013).
In Becerra (2013), it was assumed that streamers are
initiated on the body of a 60 m tall rod prior to a glow corona
at the instant when the tip of an approaching downward
leader is at a height of 1140 m. At this instant the rate of rise
of the electric field at the ground level is close to dE0/dt =
2 kV m− 1 ms− 1, two orders of magnitude lower than that
required for streamer initiation. Consequently, streamers
cannot be initiated in this case from the body of the rod prior
to a glow corona and the effect of corona space charge is
necessary to take into account when considering streamer
ignition even from the rod body.
To justify his estimation of the conditions for streamer
initiation, Becerra (2013) used the measured critical rate of rise
of the applied voltage at which there is a spark breakdown in
85
wire-to-plane and wire-to-wire air gaps (Uhlig, 1956). This is
inadmissible for the following reasons. Discharge processes in a
volume are controlled by the local electric field rather than
by the applied voltage. The relationship between the electric
field in the discharge gap and applied voltage depends on
electrode radius, distance between the electrodes and their
discharge processes near a vertical grounded rod under
thunderstorm conditions using the observations in labora-
tory gaps with quite different electrode geometry and
dimensions.
It may be concluded that there are no serious reasons to
believe that 1D calculations overestimate strongly the effect of
glow corona at the tip of a rod on the initiation of streamers and
upward connecting leaders, as opposed to the conclusion made
by Becerra (2013). For the same reason, in this work, we
considered streamer initiation only from the rod tip and did not
consider this process from the rod body.
7. Conclusions
A corona discharge from the tip of a high (20–100 m)
grounded slender object was numerically simulated in a
thundercloud electric field that could be enhanced by the
charge of an approaching downward leader. Calculations
showed that a corona discharge initiated from the tip of a
high object does not influence noticeably electric field and
production of the corona space charge layer at ground level.
The space charge produced by corona from ground
irregularities can lead to a several times decrease in the electric
field near the tip of a vertical ground object 10–30 m in height.
This leads to a noticeable decrease in the current of a glow
corona from the object tip. But, when a downward leader
approaches the object, streamer initiation from its tip followed
by the initiation of an upward connecting leader is not affected
by the corona space charge produced at ground level. It may be
concluded that the production of space charge near ground
irregularities is not important for lightning attachment to high
objects because corona processes near the object tip turn out
to be much more significant during the phase when all
discharge processes are intensified by an approaching down-
ward leader.
The effect of neutral aerosol particles on lightning attach-
ment to high grounded slender objects is also negligible. The
presence of neutral aerosol particles could affect discharge
processes only via the formation of aerosol ions with low
mobility. In this case, the time it takes for the corona space
charge layer produced at ground level to reach the tip of a
high object becomes longer. However, the effect of this space
charge layer on the initiation of an upward connecting
leader from high objects is small and consequently aerosol
particles do not play an important role in lightning
attachment.
The electric field of an approaching downward leader
causes an intensification of a glow corona that has been ignited
near the tip of a vertical grounded rod in a thundercloud
electric field. Streamers and consequently an upward
connecting leader first are initiated from the rod tip rather
than from the rod body, even though the shielding corona
space charge is absent near the body surface.
86 E.M. Bazelyan et al. / Atmospheric Research 153 (2015) 74–86
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