Modelling and simulation of thunderstorm electric field

As the complexities and difficulties of the direct sounding experiment, the paper conducts a calculated and simulating research on the electric field, which is generated by thunderstorm. In accordance with the data of the detection of an air electric field, the authors established China's inland plateau thunderstorm charge distribution model by software Ansoft Maxwell 3D field simulator and then simulated the electric field around the thunderstorm. The analysis results show that the electric field of clouds surrounding is a continuous and slowly changing process, but it changes violently at the interface of the clouds and the atmosphere. Usually, the maximum change of electric field occurs at the interface between different charges areas in the thunderstorm, it will interfere with the normal operation of sounding sensor. According to the research, the maximum change of electric field value in this model is nearly 50 kV/m. So it is necessary to add a special protection of the sounding sensor to protect it avoiding the damage of high level electric field and the corona current.