A Review of the Current Status and Potential for Lightning Damage Research

Abstract

This paper summarizes the current status of lightning damage research: the relationship between topography and lightning/lightning damage, the relationship between tree species and lightning damage, the damage mode for single-tree damage and collective damage, and the mechanisms of damage. Many of these studies have used traces on the trunk as the evidence for lightning damage. Thus, a fundamental problem of lightning damage research is researchers' reliance on the subjective judgment of trace to determine the occurrence of damage, and lightning damage research could progress by accurately identifying the point where lightning strikes. The proposed mechanism that causes a trunk scar is the electrical resistance of the wood materials, but this has not been verified. The mechanisms of smoke generation and ignition have been considered but not specified, and the mechanism of damage can be identified and verified by making the process of lightning strikes on trees clear. Some researchers have used a technology that accurately identifies the location of lightning strikes and records the process of lightning strikes. Widespread use of these technologies would be a breakthrough in lightning damage research.