Precipitation-associated depletion in point discharge current in thunderstorms

Abstract

The possibility of some change in the occurrence of point discharge current (PDC) during the rain spells was examined by its comparison with the values during the no-rain spells. The average picture obtained of these parameters suggests that for the same electric field in the two situations, PDC in rain was depleted. It is guessed that the depletion may perhaps be due to ion attachment of the falling charged precipitation elements near the ground surface.