Lightning Measurement in Sarawak, Malaysia: First Results

Malaysia is one of the country with highest lightning activities in the world. Regrettably, studies on lightning characteristics is still lacking especially in the Eastern part of Malaysia, which is Sabah and Sarawak. In this study, the characteristics of electric field radiation recorded during lightning measurement campaign in Sarawak had been analyzed. The field measurement was done using parallel plate antenna attached with electronic buffer circuit. The data was recorded using a PicoScope and monitored in computer. Nineteen samples of negative first return strokes were successfully recorded during this measurement. Their electric fields waveform parameters namely peak amplitude, zero crossing time, zero to peak and 10%-90% rise time were thoroughly analyzed. All those values are 8% to 166% larger in comparison to the data obtained from lightning measurement done in the Peninsular Malaysia. It is suggested that various topology and meteorology pattern are among factors that contribute to the discrepancies.