"Version: 20161201"--Title page verso.

EPUB and Kindle versions includes embedded videos.

Includes bibliographical references.

Preface -- 1. The components of lightning -- 1.1. Features of lightning plasma -- 1.2. Lightning is more than a spark -- 1.3. Conditions for leader propagation -- 1.4. Lightning leaders in nature

2. Lightning leaders versus free-burning arcs -- 2.1. Similarities and differences -- 2.2. The E-I relationship, from the results of laboratory measurements and the modeling of free-burning arcs -- 2.3. The E-I relationship and the luminosity of leader channels

3. Physical concepts of a lightning leader model -- 3.1. The space charge leader concept based on cloud charge collection -- 3.2. The bi-directional, uncharged leader concept based on induced charges -- 3.3. Comparing the outputs of the two leader models

4. Verifying the concept of the bidirectional leader -- 4.1. How studying lightning strikes to aircraft has helped to solve the puzzle of lightning development -- 4.2. How does an aircraft trigger lightning? -- 4.3. Environmental conditions that lead to aircraft-triggered lightning

5. Defining the types of lightning -- 5.1. The visible features of lightning flashes -- 5.2. Defining the types of lightning using the bidirectional, bipolar leader concept

6. The electrostatic theory of lightning discharges -- 6.1. Cloud potential and induced charges of lightning -- 6.2. The relationship between the electric fields produced by leaders and return strokes -- 6.3. The relationship between lightning processes and space charges in thunderstorms -- 6.4. Applications and limitations of the electrostatic model

7. Lightning triggered by rockets with wire and by tall structures -- 7.1. The idea of artificially triggered lightning -- 7.2. Concept and features of the classic rocket-triggered lightning technique -- 7.3. Concept and features of the altitude-triggered lightning technique -- 7.4. Conditions required for triggering lightning with rocket-and-wire techniques -- 7.5. On leaders and return strokes in rocket-triggered lightning -- 7.6. Upward lightning triggered by tall ground structures -- 7.7. Features of positive and negative leaders determined from studies of triggered lightning

8. Understanding current cutoff in lightning -- 8.1. Definition and manifestation of current cutoff in different lightning events -- 8.2. The death of the leader in unbranched lightning channels -- 8.3. Current cutoff in branched leaders -- 8.4. Arc instability and current cutoff

9. The phenomenon of recoil leaders -- 9.1. The nature of recoil and dart leaders -- 9.2. The relationship between recoil leaders and M-events : cause and effect -- 9.3. The electrostatic model of an M-event that produces an M-component -- 9.4. The universal nature of M-events in lightning

10. The physical concept of recoil leader formation -- 10.1. The relationship between the internal electric field and current in lightning leaders -- 10.2. Current cutoff prior to the occurrence of recoil leaders -- 10.3. The development of recoil leaders -- 10.4. A proposed conceptual model of recoil leader formation -- 10.5. Conclusion

11. Some lightning protection issues viewed through the lens of lightning physics -- 11.1. Striking distance versus the parameters of downward leaders in lightning protection of ground installations -- 11.2. A physical model of leader interaction with a ground structure -- 11.3. On the hazardous effects of upward lightning to tall structures -- 11.4. Sharp-tipped versus blunt-tipped lightning rods -- 11.5. Lightning protection of aircraft

12. Lightning initiation--the most difficult issue of lightning physics -- 12.1. Hydrometeor theory of lightning initiation -- 12.2. The runaway theory of lightning initiation -- 12.3. Evidence supporting the hydrometeor theory of lightning initiation.

Principles of Lightning Physics presents and discusses the most up-to-date physical concepts that govern many lightning events in nature, including lightning interactions with man-made structures, at a level suitable for researchers, advanced students and well-educated lightning enthusiasts. The author's approach to understanding lightning--to seek out, and show what is common to all lightning flashes--is illustrated by an analysis of each type of lightning and the multitude of lightning-related features. The book examines the work that has gone into the development of new physical concepts, and provides critical evaluations of the existing understanding of the physics of lightning and the lexicon of terms and definitions presently used in lightning research.

Professional researchers and academics.

Also available in print.

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

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Vlad Mazur has been a physicist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/National Severe Storms Laboratory in Oklahoma since 1984. His research interests include lightning physics, lightning-aircraft interaction, computer simulation of lightning processes, interaction of lightning with ground structures, and lightning protection and its physical aspects. He was a pioneer of high-speed photography of lightning in the early 1990s.

Title from PDF title page (viewed on January 13, 2017).