The Horizontal Extent of Cloud-to-Ground Lightning over the Kennedy Space Center

Cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning hampers air operations whether it is at a civilian airport or military installation. Military base weather stations are required to issue lightning warnings to protect military equipment and personnel. The issuance of warnings is based on a 5 nautical mile (n mi) distance criterion. This criterion appears to have evolved over time as a balance between safety and mission impact. The goal of this thesis is to challenge the 5 n mi lightning warning criteria by quantifying the distance that CG lightning travels. A secondary goal is to examine the characteristics of the peak current of CG lightning strokes to determine if a relationship exits between peak current, the distance a stroke travels, and the altitude of the origin point of the lightning stroke.