SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF TROPICAL LIGHTNING.

Abstract

Some characteristics of lightning over tropical landmasses which could be deduced from studies of
lightning flashes through aural ard visual observations, with the use of IIF lightning flash counters,
and, by recording noise bursts arising from flashes on magnetic tapes, level recorders and the cathode
ray oscilloscope are described and discussed. The median distance up to which thunder can be heard, the duration of thunder during the activity of a thundercloud, the number of thunders heard per hour, the duration of a lightning flash, the rate of flashing in thunderclouds, the number of cells
developed during the activity of a thundercloud, the percentage of ground flashes, etc., are dealt with in numerical terms. The structure of a noise burst arising from a lightning flash and its variation with growth and decay of the activity of a thundercloud, the number of pulses in the structure of a
noise burst, etc., are examined critically. Most of the physical paramettrs associated with lightning and ligIitning Buttes have a log-normal distribution. Differences in the characteristics of lightning as between temperate and tropical regions are brought out.