Effect of pollution from Central American fires on cloud‐to‐ground lightning in May 1998

Murray, Natalie D.; Orville, Richard E.; Huffines, Gary R.

doi:10.1029/2000gl011656

Cited by 72 publications

(77 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…These reversed-polarity (1CG dominated) storms are most common in relatively dry environments with high cloud bases and shallow warm cloud depths (e.g., Carey and Buffalo 2007). Interestingly, large 1CG percentages have also been observed in thunderstorms that ingest smoke from wildfires during drought conditions (e.g., Vonnegut et al 1995;Lyons et al 1998b;Murray et al 2000;Lang and Rutledge 2006;Wang et al 2009). Smoke-enhanced 1CG has been observed in pyrocumulus clouds directly associated with the source fires (Vonnegut et al 1995) and in storms at long distances downwind from the source fires (Lyons et al 1998b).…”

Section: Case Study Of 13-14 May 2007mentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonal, Regional, and Storm-Scale Variability of Cloud-to-Ground Lightning Characteristics in Florida

Rudlosky

Fuelberg

2011

Monthly Weather Review

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Seasonal, regional, and storm-scale variations of cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning characteristics in Florida are presented. Strong positive CG (1CG) and negative CG (2CG) flashes (i.e., having large peak current) are emphasized since they often are associated with strong storms, structural damage, and wildfire ignitions. Although strong 2CG flashes are most common during the warm season (May-September) over the peninsula, the greatest proportion of strong 1CG flashes occurs during the cool season (October-April) over the panhandle. The warm season exhibits the smallest 1CG percentage but contains the greatest 1CG flash densities, due in part to more ambiguous 1CG reports (15-20 kA). The more frequent occurrence of ambiguous 1CG reports helps explain the unusually small average 1CG peak current during the warm season, whereas strong 1CG reports (.20 kA) appear to be responsible for the greater average warm season 1CG multiplicity. The 2CG flash density, multiplicity, and peak current appear to be directly related, exhibiting their greatest values during the warm season when deep storms are most common. A case study examines the atmospheric conditions and storm-scale processes associated with two distinct groups of storms on 13-14 May 2007. Although these groups of storms form in close proximity, several factors combine to produce predominately strong 1CG and 2CG flashes in the northern (south Georgia) and southern (north Florida) regions, respectively. Results suggest that heat and smoke very near preexisting wildfires are key ingredients in producing reversed-polarity (1CG dominated) storms that often ignite subsequent wildfires.

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Section: Case Study Of 13-14 May 2007mentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonal, Regional, and Storm-Scale Variability of Cloud-to-Ground Lightning Characteristics in Florida

Rudlosky

Fuelberg

2011

Monthly Weather Review

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“…There is evidence that thunderstorms entraining smoke from forest fires may exhibit enhanced positive cloud-to-ground lightning activity (Lyons et al, 1998;Murray et al, 2000). The aerosols and ice nuclei produced by the smoke (Hobbs and Radke, 1969;Hobbs and Locatelli, 1969) may be changing the cloud microphysical processes, which in turn may be altering the electrical characteristics of the storms (Williams et al, 1991).…”

Section: Lightning Climatology For 1994-95mentioning

confidence: 99%

Summer convection and lightning over the Mackenzie river basin and their Impacts during 1994 and 1995

Kochtubajda¹,

Stewart²,

Gyakum

et al. 2002

Atmosphere-Ocean

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“…This may enhance the liquid water content in the mixed-phase region and thereby also account for the enhanced percentages of positive ground flashes (Lyons et al 1998;Murray et al 2000;Williams et al 2005). The study site is situated in the Indo-Gangetic Basin (IGB) region, known for its very high aerosol concentrations owing to its unique topography, and for its high population and industrial density.…”

Section: Aod Measurementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of environmental conditions on inducing charge structures of thunderstorms over Eastern India

et al. 2014

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It is well known that environmental conditions like convective instability, aerosol loading, and availability of moisture content affect the polarity of charge structures of thunderstorms. The electrical characteristics of thunderstorms observed during the pre-monsoon season of year 2009, over Eastern India were studied to identify the effects of different environmental conditions on charge structures of thunderstorms occurring over this region. Electric field and Maxwell current data suggest that at least one of these thunderstorms had an inverted charge structure. Doppler RADAR, radiosonde, and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) data have been used to compare the microphysical and dynamical characteristics of these thunderstorms. The thermo dynamical structure observed by radiosonde during the day on which an inverted polarity thunderstorm was observed showed very high CAPE in the mixed-phase region compared to other thunderstorm days. Furthermore, the AOD peaked 1 day before this thunderstorm. The back trajectories of winds also suggest that the aerosols might have been transported from a desert region on that day. It has been proposed that the large ice nuclei concentration can produce dominant positive charge in the lower portion of the mixed-phase region by maintaining ice saturation.

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Effect of pollution from Central American fires on cloud‐to‐ground lightning in May 1998

Cited by 72 publications

References 7 publications

Seasonal, Regional, and Storm-Scale Variability of Cloud-to-Ground Lightning Characteristics in Florida

Seasonal, Regional, and Storm-Scale Variability of Cloud-to-Ground Lightning Characteristics in Florida

Summer convection and lightning over the Mackenzie river basin and their Impacts during 1994 and 1995

Effects of environmental conditions on inducing charge structures of thunderstorms over Eastern India

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