Data on streamer initiation from charged hydrometeors

This dataset contains data from a series of simulations of streamers Initiation from spherical and column hydrometeors in thundercloud fields. The corresponding simulation experiments are described in paper “Jinjin Hu, Yikai Ma, Xin Gao, and Ningyu Liu(2021) Study on Dominant Parameters Determining Streamer Initiation from Hydrometeors in Thundercloud Fields. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, doi: 10.1029/2021JD034936”. The simulation mainly investigated the three factors affecting streamers Initiation: the size of hydrometeors, the shape of hydrometeors (spherical and column), and the quantity of electric charge carried on the surface of hydrometeors (0pC, 180pC, 200pC, 300pC, 400pC). In addition, the simulation of streamers initiation at different initial electron densities is also studied. That is, this dataset includes two parts of simulated experimental data: one is the simulated data of spherical hydrometeors with different sizes and electric charges; the other is the simulated data of column hydrometeors with different sizes and electric charges. Based on the simulation results, the Meek criterion was used to analyze the lowest background electric field causing the streamers from spherical and column hydrometeors, and the condition of streamer initiation from spherical and column hydrometeors was compared. The main results of the simulation experiment are as follows:（1）A larger hydrometeor is more likely to initiate a streamer discharge at a lower ambient field for noncharged hydrometeors.（2）The charge on hydrometeor plays a prominent role when a charged hydrometeor has a smaller size, and it is easier to initiate a streamer in this case. (3) The charge on hydrometeor plays a dominant role in streamer initiation when hydrometeor is smaller, but hydrometeor shape becomes more important for larger hydrometeor.(4) Streamer discharge can be predicted by Meek number, but stable streamer can not be ensured.(5) Initial electron and ion pair density has little effects on the streamer initiation. Only the moments starting to form streamer discharge depend on the initial density.