Electric field step in air gap streamer discharges

Electric field (E-field) in air gap streamer discharges under positive lightning impulse was measured by specifically developed integrated electro-optic sensors. An E-field step phenomenon was observed. The E-field firstly agreed with the Laplace field, then suddenly increased with a rise time of mu s. The occurrence probability of this phenomenon increased as the applied voltage increased. The discharge current waveforms and photos taken by a fast camera prove the E-field step was caused by the space net charge. From the E-step rise time and the corona area range, the average electron drift speed under the experiment situation was estimated about 0.2 x 10(6) - 0.6x 10(6) m/s. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3665633]