Supported by the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research (STEP) project, a research team from the Key Laboratory of Middle Atmosphere and Global Environment Observation of the Institute of Atmospheric Physics at Chinese Academy of Sciences has carried out the Thunderstorms and Lightning Observation Experiment in Lhasa (about 3650 meter above sea level) over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) for two consecutive summers.
The team started this year's observation campaign on July 2, aiming to study the special tripolar charge structure of thunderstorms over TP and related lightning discharge. In total, the team had observed 25 thunderstorms over the downtown area of Lhasa before wrapping up the campaign on August 21.
Lightning interferometric mapping system (Image by WANG Yafeng)
High-speed video (Image by SUN Zhuling)
Mounting electric field mill and automatic weather station. (Image by LI Fengquan)
Animated high-speed video image of an intra-cloud lightning. (Video recorded by IAP)
Researchers from the Institute of Atmospheric Physics revealed how positive ground lightning strikes the area so far away from its origin.
Lightning is the result of strong convection. It can effectively indicate the upward motion and the microphysical processes of cold clouds in thunderstorms. Chinese researchers have improved the accuracy of short-term forecasts for convective rainfall using lightning data.
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