Data for the Study "Characteristics and Charge Structures of Large-Current Negative Cloud-to-Ground Flashes"

Negative cloud-to-ground lightning flashes with large peak currents can cause serious damage to buildings and systems on the ground. This study investigates such strong flashes with peak currents above 100 kA, focusing on their discharge characteristics and the cloud charge structures that support their formation. Results show that these strong lightning flashes tend to cover larger areas, last longer, produce more strokes, have faster downward leaders, and follow simpler lightning paths. They often occur in a three-layer cloud charge structure, where the middle negative charge region is more active and wider than the lower positive region, and comparable to the upper positive region. These strong flashes can be classified as classical or hybrid type. Compared to strong classical flashes, strong hybrid flashes tend to start at higher altitudes, cover larger regions, and tend to have their strongest stroke first. Interestingly, strong classical flashes tend to discharge less before the first stroke than typical-current counterparts, while strong hybrid flashes tend to show more activity than their typical-current counterparts on average.