The role of secondary recoil leaders in the formation of subsequent
return strokes
Abstract
Recoil leaders develop in lightning flash decayed channels. The
propagation of a recoil leader depends on its intensity and on the
conductivity of the decayed channel. When the recoil leader is strong
enough to propagate over the entire channel, a subsequent return stroke
happens. When the recoil leader is not intense enough, only a partial
reconstruction of the channel occurs, that is, only part of the decayed
channel is reionized. The present work aims to analyze the herein named
secondary recoil leader that originates near a previously formed recoil
leader. When these secondary recoil leaders develop and connect to
previous recoil leaders, they provide enough energy for the recoil
leader to reionize the whole decayed channel of the lightning flash.
High-speed videos analysis of upward lightning flashes shows that
secondary recoil leaders play an important role on the formation and
progression of dart leaders/subsequent return strokes.