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An unusual negative lightning flash was recorded at the Säntis Tower on June 15, 2012. The flash did not contain an initial continuous current typical of upward negative lightning, which is the most common type of event at the Säntis Tower. The flash contained four strokes, the last three of which were normal while the current associated with the first stroke resembled a Gaussian pulse with an unusually high peak value of 102.3 kA, a long risetime of 28.4 μs, and a pulsewidth of 53.8 μs, which was followed by an opposite polarity overshoot with a peak value of 8.5 kA. Our current records suggest the involvement of a long upward connecting positive leader in response to the approaching downward negative leader in the formation of this flash. Lightning location system (LLS) data indicate that a positive cloud-to-ground stroke occurred 1 ms prior to the first stroke of the flash. In this paper, we present a detailed description of the data associated with this event. Moreover, both a return stroke model and an M-component model are used to reproduce the far-field waveform of this bipolar stroke. The simulations result in a radiated electric field waveform that is similar to those of large bipolar events (LBEs) observed in winter thunderstorms in Japan. A sensitivity analysis of the used simulation models reveals that, by proper selection of the input parameters, all field waveform characteristics, except for the positive half-cycle width, can be made to fall in the range of LBE field characteristics reported in Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, lightning electric field waveforms related to notable power transmission-line faults in winter along the coastline of the Sea of Japan were examined. Most of the wave- forms of the observed electromagnetic field changes, which were more than five times as intense as an average negative return- stroke fields, are inferred to be associated with upward lightning discharges. Lightning discharges that produce such characteristic waveforms are termed ground-to-cloud flashes, and properties of the associated electric field waveforms are examined. These lightning discharges in winter distribute around the coastline of the Sea of Japan in different ways depending on their polarities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]