Synchronous observation research with lightning electric field time derivative and electric field change

Lightning electric field change (ΔE) and electric field derivative (dE/dt) measurement are important means to study lightning electromagnetic radiation and its propagation law. Although they have been used in lightning observation research, there are few reports on their correlation and difference in the former literatures. In this paper, the full-wave waveforms of two near distance negative cloud-to-ground lightning are measured by synchronous observation of lightning electric field change and electric field derivative. Through comparison, it is found that the integration of dE/dt pulse and direct acquisition of ΔE of the lighting waveforms are consistent within 100 μs after lightning return stroke. The difference is mainly manifested in the low-frequency component migration in the later stage of dE/dt integral waveform. The dE/dt pulses of initial breakdown, stepped leader, and dart leader are denser, and some discharge pulses cannot be distinguished on the ΔE waveform, which shows that the dE/dt measurement has a more effective lightning high-frequency radiation response in the limited dynamic range of data acquisition equipment, so it is more sensitive to the small-scale breakdown process such as the leaders. The dE/dt sensor can be an effective supplement to lightning electric field measurement.