On the electrostatic field created at ground level by a halo

TL;DR

This paper analyzes how halo activity influences ground-level electrostatic fields, showing that ionospheric screening causes exponential decay of the field and halos do not extend lightning detection range.

Contribution

It demonstrates through simulations and electrostatic theory that halos do not increase the detectable range of lightning electrostatic fields due to ionospheric screening effects.

Findings

Electrostatic field decays exponentially due to ionospheric screening

Halo activity does not extend the electrostatic field detectability range

Ionization near the ionosphere's lower edge reduces ground-level fields

Abstract

We investigate the effect of halo activity on the electrostatic field measured at ground level. We use electrostatic arguments as well as self-consistent simulations to show that, due to the screening charge in the ionosphere, the distant electrostatic field created by the uncompensated charge in a thundercloud decays exponentially rather than as the third power of the distance. Furthermore, significative ionization around the lower edge of the ionosphere slightly reduces the electrostatic field at ground level. We conclude that halos do not extend the range of detectability of lightning-induced electrostatic fields.