Implications of Multiple Corona Bursts in Lightning Processes for Radio
Frequency Interferometer Observations
Abstract
Recent observations from LOFAR indicate that multiple, spatially
distributed corona bursts can occur in lightning processes on the order
of 10 microseconds. The close proximity of the corona bursts in space
and time poses a great observation challenge for dedicated lightning
radio interferometers, typically with $<$100 m baselines.
This paper reports simulations to show the interferometry results that
would be obtained with a typical lightning interferometer for such a
lightning process. In particular, spatially-separated corona bursts at
fixed locations may be seen as a fast ($>10^7$ m/s)
propagating source for an instrument with resolution greater than the
spatial separation of the bursts. The implications and suggestions for
lightning interferometry studies are discussed in the paper.