Characteristics of lightning activities in Potala Palace region of Tibet

The basic characteristics of lightning activity in the area was analyzed, according to 2012 full-year lightning data collected by a lightning detection network which located in the Potala Palace. The results show that, 12.17% of total lightning are positive lightning in the area; the average current intensity of positive lightning was 1.45 times of the negative lightning. Negative lightning with single return stroke accounted for 71.4% and the max number of return stroke was 7 which was much lower than Beijing. However, positive lightning with single return stroke occurred 96.6% and max number of return stroke was 2. The period between June and September is the main lightning activity season and July was the most 62.33% of lightning occurred at 18:00~22:00. The average lightning current intensity in the area was mainly between 10~20 kA.