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We have studied the temporal and spatial characteristics of preliminary breakdown (PB) pulses in 32 normal intracloud flashes recorded by a fast antenna lightning mapping array system called Fast Antenna Lightning Mapping Array. It was found that PB processes started with a stage of preliminary isolated pulses (PIPs) and followed by classic PB pulse (PBP) clusters. A typical PIP stage consists of two or three PIPs and on average lasts about 129 mu s. A typical PBP cluster consists of several narrow pulses (NPs) and one classic PBP and on average lasts about 193 mu s. During one PIP stage, the pulses occurring later usually have a lower altitude, indicating a kind of backward extension relative to the overall upward progression of PB process. On average, the horizontal and vertical extensions involved in a PIP stage are 60 and 216 m, respectively. In each PBP cluster, PBP is always located at the lowest height and behind its preceding NPs, while these NP locations could have various patterns in term of extension. On average, the overall horizontal and vertical extensions involved in a typical PBP cluster are 161 and 515 m, respectively. For both the PIP stage and PBP cluster, their vertical extensions are apparently longer than their horizontal extensions, reflecting a predominantly vertical channel of PB process. Based on the temporal and spatial characteristics of PB pulses, we have proposed a model to interpret how the PIPs, NPs, and PBPs are produced.

Plain Language Summary The preliminary breakdown (PB) process can radiate ample electromagnetic signals, as evidenced by the small- or large-amplitude pulses in the E-change waveforms. The overall locations of these pulses indicate that the PB processes in the normal intracloud flashes usually exhibit an obvious upward progression. So does each PB pulse correspond to an advancing (upward) progression? In this paper, we have examined the locations of the PB pulses in both small and large amplitude. It is interesting to find that many small-amplitude pulses appear to have a downward tendency, opposite to the overall upward progression of PB process. According to the temporal and spatial characteristics of the PB pulses, a common PB pulse progression pattern for intracloud flashes is proposed for the first time to interpret how each type of pulses at the PB stage is produced.