Preliminary results of lightning current measurements at the 356 m high Shenzhen Meteorological Gradient Tower in South China

The 356 m-high Shenzhen Meteorological Gradient Tower was built in 2016. While its main purpose is to monitor the vertical gradients of meteorological parameters near ground, the tower was also specially equipped to measure the current of lightning strokes to it during thunderstorms. In this paper, we first have an introduction of the configuration of lightning current measuring system on the tower, and then give a brief of preliminary results of current measurements with the system during the 2017 lightning campaign. The results showed that the lightning strokes to the Shenzhen Meteorological Gradient Tower were with much stronger peak currents than those reported in other area in the world.