Activity of cloud-to-ground lightning observed in Sri Lanka and in surrounding area of the Indian Ocean

Activity of cloud-to-ground lightning flashes observed during the monsoon thunderstorms over Sri Lanka with a lightning locating system consisting of two direction finders (DF) is presented. The Northeast monsoon produced over 884 cloud-to-ground flashes with a peak lightning rate of 96 flashes per hour whereas Southwest monsoon produced 3,294 flashes with a peak rate of 104 flashes per hour. A relative flash density maximum of 198 flashes per 28×28 km² was observed over Ratnapura area (6.68N, 80.40E). The percentage of positive flashes and average peak lightning current values for negative flashes are found to be 6.4% and 36 kA respectively for the Northeast monsoon period and 1.7% and 40 kA respectively for the Southwest monsoon period for the flashes that struck within 10-250 km range. No significant difference in average peak lightning current values were observed for the negative and positive flashes in both monsoons.

doi:10.4038/sljp.v2i0.177

Sri Lankan Journal of Physics, Vol.2 (2001) 13-19