Drift of Space Charge Produced by Glow Corona During Thunderstorms

M. Becerra
ABB Corporate Research, Power Technologies, Electrical Apparatus and Diagnostics group, Västerås, Sweden
Publié en 2011

Glow corona discharges are generated from tall objects during thunderstorms previous to a lightning strike. These discharges generate space charge which can hinder the development of subsequent discharges.

In order to quantify the shielding effect of positive glow corona, a transient, two dimensional model of the drift of the space charge generated on the tip of tall objects under the thundercloud electric field is performed with COMSOL Multiphysics. The simulation allows estimating the current as well as the spatial distribution of the space charge generated by glow corona, as well as the evaluation of its shielding effect on the initiation of subsequent streamers.