A Global Overview of Lightning Near Tall Structures

Abstract

This study examines lightning activity from 2012 to 2023 around tall structures situated across diverse geographic settings based on data from the World Wide Lightning Location Network (WWLLN), with the aim of providing a global perspective on lightning incidence in their vicinity. Lightning stroke density was calculated within a 2 km radius of each structure and compared with that in a surrounding annular region extending from 2 to 10 km, enabling the identification of potential local enhancements in lightning activity. The results reveal diverse behaviours among the analysed sites. Increased lightning density near the structures is more likely to be observed under a specific combination of factors, primarily high effective heights (greater than 350 m) and low background lightning activity (around 0.6 strokes km −2 year −1 ). Under these conditions, local enhancements in lightning density become more evident. Taking advantage of the global coverage of WWLLN data, this study provides a consistent framework for identifying general trends in lightning incidence near tall structures on a worldwide scale.

Bibliographic Information