In order to reproduce the lightning discharge channels with high resolution

we put forward a novel direction of arrive（DOA） estimation method to locate lightning VHF radiations

which is called lightning VHF delay-sum DOA estimation method. Based on spectral analysis to the array receiving signals

a narrow band signal was designed to extract the interested frequency range from VHF data. Combined with the delay-sum imaging method

the extracted signals can be used to reconstruct the temporal and spatial development of lightning discharge with a high resolution. The proposed method can restrain the effect of electromagnetic noises effectively

and focus on the incidence direction of radiation source automatically. Numerical simulations were conducted for testing the presented method and investigating the relationship between location accuracy and noise-signal ratio

meanwhile

and the method was compared to the conventional interferometry method. The results show that the VHF delay-sum DOA estimation method has better antinoise ability than the interferometry method. In order to further validate the proposed method

field experiments were carried out with a set of lightning observation system. Finally

the application of VHF delay-sum DOA estimation method in locating an intracloud lightning and a cloud-to-ground lightning were presented. The two flashes were observed in the summer of 2016. The results show that this method performs well in rebuilding temporal and spatial structure of lightning discharge channels. Combined with the measured electric field

the development processes of the flashes are analyzed.