In this paper, a numerical dart leader model has been implemented to understand the leader’s development and the corresponding electric field changes observed by the 3D Broadband Mapping And Polarization (BIMAP-3D) system. The model assumes the extending leader channel is equipotential and has a linear charge distribution induced by an ambient electric field. The charge distribution induced by the ambient field can be used to model the electric field change at the ground. We then find the ambient electric field which best fits the field change measurements at the two BIMAP stations. The estimated ambient electric field decreases in the direction of dart leader propagation. Our observations and modeling results are consistent with our earlier hypothesis that dart leader speed is proportional to the electric field at the leader tip. The model also supports our earlier analysis that leader speed variations near branch junctions were due to previous charge deposits near the junctions. The modeled tip electric field is generally lower than the breakdown field unless the pre-dart-leader channel has a significant temperature of ~3000 K. This is consistent with the fact that dart leaders typically do not form new branches into the virgin air. Furthermore, the tip field is generally close to the negative streamer stability field at ambient temperatures, explaining the nature of the narrow and well-defined channel structure. In addition to the charge distribution and the ambient and tip electric field, the development of the channel potential and current distribution are also presented. 

During the 2022 New Mexico monsoon season, we deployed two X-ray scintillation detectors, coupled with a 180 MHz data acquisition system to detect X-rays from natural lightning at the Langmuir Lab mountain-top facility, located at 3.3 km above mean sea level. Data acquisition was triggered by an electric field antenna calibrated to pick up lightning within a few km of the X-ray detectors. We report the energies of over 240 individual photons, ranging between 13 keV and 3.8 MeV, as registered by the LaBr3(Ce) scintillation detector. These detections were associated with four lightning flashes. Particularly, four stepped leaders and seven dart leaders produced energetic radiation. The reported photon energies allowed us to confirm that the X-ray energy distribution of natural stepped and dart leaders follows a power-law distribution with exponent ranging between 1.09 and 1.96, with stepped leaders having a harder spectrum. Characterization of the associated leaders and return strokes was done with four different electric field sensing antennas, which can measure a wide-range of time scales, from the static storm field to the fast change associated with dart leaders.

Simultaneous data from two interferometers separated by 16 km and synchronized within 100 ns was collected for a thunderstorm near Langmuir Lab on October 23, 2018. Analysis via triangulation followed by a least-squares fit to time of arrival across all six antennae produced a three-dimensional interferometer data set (3DINTF). Simultaneous Lightning Mapping Array (LMA) data enabled an independent calculation of 3DINTF accuracy, yielding a median location uncertainty of 200 m. This is the most accurate verified result to date for a two-station interferometer. The 3D data allowed profiling the velocity of multiple dart leaders and K leaders that followed the same channel. 3D velocities calculated from the in-cloud initiation site to ground ranged from 3x10^6 m/s to 20x10^6 m/s. Average velocity generally increased with subsequent leaders, consistent with increased conditioning of the channel. Also, all leaders showed a factor of two to three decrease in velocity as they proceeded over 15 km of channel. We speculate that the velocity decrease is consistent with energy lost in the reionization of the channel at the leader tip. This paper includes an appendix providing details of the triangulation technique used.