RECENT LIGHTNING RESEARCH IN SOUTH AFRICA WITH A SPECIAL FOCUS ON KERAUNOPATHOLOGY

Abstract

Historically, South Africa has always had a rich hi story in the field of lightning research. The South African Weather Service has sho wn that South Africa has a relatively high lightning ground flash density. Climatology researc h has shown that the lightning ground flash density is higher than was previously thought and s uggests that global lightning activity may increase in the future. Recent forensic pathology s tudies have shown a high lightning mortality rate for the region. In the field of electrical eng ineering, four mechanisms of lightning electrical injury have been identified. A fifth mechanism has been proposed and has been demonstrated in two papers emanating from the region. South Afri ca has always had a very active multidisciplinary lightning research community. Thi s paper will overview some current lightning research in the context of the region and will highlight challenges and propose some future lightning research directions.