How could the voltage of a lightning bolt be measured at the ground?

Question

Are there instruments that could do this, or could measure the resistance from a lightning cloud to ground?

Answer 1

there is no equipment available to mease currents of that huge amount, they would be destroyed in the process. the amount of current is calculated by its devastating effect and the physical parameters of such a discharge. the voltage can also only be estimated for the same token, as is the resitance between a lightning cloud and the ground. there are experimental settings, which simulate the situation, but they are nowhere near reality. however, they serve a a simulation of a much greater natural event.

Answer 2

VOLTS in a lightning flash -  between 100 Million and 1 Billion

AMPS in a lighting flash - between 10,000 and 200,000

The average lightning flash would light a 100 watt light bulb for 3 months.

"Atmospheric electric fields have been measured for decades by electric field meters dubbed “field mills”. Traditional field mills employ a continuously rotating vane (rotor) electrically connected to ground potential. The grounded spinning rotor alternately shields and exposes sense electrodes from the electric field to be measured,

resulting in a modulation of induced electrical charge. A charge amplifier, or pair of charge amplifiers, convert  the modulated charge into an AC voltage. Further signal conditioning results in a low frequency (≤10 Hz) voltage proportional to the electric field."

"During fair weather, a potential difference of 200,000 to 500,000 Volts exists between the Earth's surface and the ionosphere, with a fair weather current of about 2x10-12 amperes/meter2. It is widely believed that this potential difference is due to the world-wide distribution of thunderstorms."

Answer 3

I'm not aware of any instruments that can read millions of volts and almost that many amps directly. there are indirect techniques that can be used.

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Answer 4

Yes you can there are instruments that can measure the voltage,current, and/or   resistance(impeadance;resistance in ohms)......Which lightning is a very high current so it will take the path of least resistance......It is measured through a (ground rod;earth rod) as Electrical Engineering Technician's call it;which in the weather field is known as a lightning rod....But the equipment such as the DVM's and VOM's for it is very expensive.....Because you have to have meters that handle up 200,000 volts and 20,000 amperes of current atleast.......