Aircraft Triggered Lightning Caused by Winter Thunderclouds in the Hokuriku Coast, Japan -A Case Study of a Lightning Strike to Aircraft below the Cloud Base-

Abstract

A case of aircraft triggered lightning, which occurred below the cloud base, was observed at Komatsu Airbase along the coast of the Sea of Japan during the intensive observation period using Doppler radar. The aircraft triggered lightning was accompanied by winter thunderclouds with graupel precipitation in the dissipating stage. The aircraft triggered lightning was initiated by a bi-directional leader. Lightning channels from the aircraft propagated simultaneously both upward and downward with return strokes. The surface electrical field was relatively weak (10 kV/m) compared with that of natural CG lightning.