Digital Simulation of Thunder from Three-Dimensional Lightning

The physics of lightning and its resultant thunder have been investigated by many people, but we still don't have a full understanding of the governing processes. In this study, we have constructed a three-dimensional model of lightning using MATLAB$^{\mbox{{\textregistered}}}$ software, and used N-waves as postulated by Ribner and Roy to synthesize the resultant thunder signature. In addition, we have taken an FFT of the thunder signature, and compared the time-domain waveform and frequency spectrum to recordings of thunder taken over the summer of 2009. This analysis is done with the goal of further understanding the processes of thunder production.