The Characterization of Electric Field Pulses Observed in the Preliminary Breakdown Processes of Normal and Inverted Intracloud Flashes

We have studied the parameters of preliminary breakdown (PB) pulses in 395 normal and 319 inverted intracloud (IC) flashes observed in Gifu, Japan, and Ningxia, China, respectively, by using a low-frequency mapping system called fast antenna lightning mapping array (FALMA). These parameters are extracted from the first half of the PB pulses. It is found that compared to normal IC flashes, inverted IC flashes exhibited PB pulses with slower rise times (6.8 vs. 3.1 μs), wider half-peak widths (3.8 vs. 2.5 μs), longer zero-crossing times (26.2 vs. 14 μs), and extended fall times (4 vs. 3.2 μs). We further demonstrated that such discrepancies between normal and inverted IC flashes should not be caused by subjective factors, like noise threshold setting, or objective factors, like signal propagation distance. Based on this analysis, finally, we inferred that the discrepancies should be a reflection of the PB channel properties of normal and inverted IC flashes.