Seasonal variation of cloud‐to‐ground lightning flash characteristics in the coastal area of the Sea of Japan

Hojo, Junichi; Ishii, Masaru; Kawamura, Tatsuo; Suzuki, Fukumune; Komuro, Hiroshi; Shiogama, Makoto

doi:10.1029/jd094id11p13207

Cited by 54 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Over time, both the fraction and maximal magnitude of strong currents of both polarities increase. Similar trends have been observed over the east coast of the United States (Orville et al, 1987) and over the Sea of Japan (Hojo et al, 1989). The zoom-in window (Fig.…”

Section: Distributions Of Peak Currentssupporting

confidence: 63%

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Lightning characteristics over the eastern coast of the Mediterranean during different synoptic systems

Ami

Altaratz

Yair

et al. 2015

Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. Thunderstorm activity takes place in the easternMediterranean mainly through the boreal fall and winter seasons during synoptic systems of Red Sea Trough (RST), Red Sea Trough that closed a low over the sea (RST-CL), and Cyprus Low (during fall -FCL and winter -WCL). In this work we used the Israeli Lightning Location System ground strokes data set, between October 2004 and December 2010, for studying the properties of lightning strokes and their link to the thermodynamic conditions in each synoptic system.It is shown that lightning activity dominates over sea during WCL and FCL systems (with maximum values of 1.5 in WCL, and 2.2 km −2 day −1 in FCL) and have a dominant component over land during the RST and RST-CL days. The stronger instability (high Convective Available Potential Energy (CAPE) values of 762 ± 457 J kg −1 ) during RST-CL days together with the higher altitude of the clouds' mixedphase region (3.6 ± 0.3 km), result in a slightly higher density of ground strokes during this system but a lower fraction of positive ground strokes (3 ± 0.5 %). In general the fraction of positive strokes was found to be inversely correlated with the sea surface temperature: it increases from 1.2 % in early fall to 17.7 % in late winter, during FCL and WCL days. This change could be linked to the variation in the charge center's vertical location during those months.The diurnal cycle in the lightning activity was examined for each synoptic system. During WCL conditions, no preferred times were found through the day, as it relates to the random passage timing of the frontal systems over the study region. During the fall systems (FCL and RST-CL) there is a peak in lightning activity during the morning hours, probably related to the enhanced convection driven by the convergence between the eastern land breeze and the western synoptic winds. The distributions of peak currents in FCL and WCL systems also change from fall to winter and include more strong negative and positive strokes toward the end of the winter.

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Section: Distributions Of Peak Currentssupporting

confidence: 63%

“…The fraction increases from 1.2 ± 1 % in early fall (FCL) to 17 ± 7 % in late winter (WCL). A higher fraction of positive strokes during winter storms was observed in previous studies over this region (Yair et al, 1998) and studies conducted worldwide (e.g., Hojo et al,1989;Ezcurra et al, 2002;Finke and Hauf, 1996).…”

Section: Fraction Of Positive Strokesmentioning

confidence: 62%

Lightning characteristics over the eastern coast of the Mediterranean during different synoptic systems

Ami

Altaratz

Yair

et al. 2015

Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci.

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“…Also, we found that the percentage of +CG lightning (P (+)) for the observation areas close to the sea (8.6-11.9%) was higher than for those far from the sea (6.5-8.0%). Compared with the P (+) in Tibetan Plateau (16%) [Qie et al, 2002], Lanzhou (9.2%) [Qie et al, 1991], and Beijing (10.9%) [Zhang et al, 2010] in the northern part of China, or in the Japan sea coast in winter (50-60%) [Hojo et al, 1989], the P (+) in the PRD region was lower. The high percentage (>90%) of ÀCG lightning suggests that the thunderstorm cloud structure in the PRD region was dipolar (the top and bottom of the thunderstorm clouds were mainly of positive charge and negative charge).…”

Section: General Physical Properties Of Lightning In Prdmentioning

confidence: 99%

Physical and observable characteristics of cloud‐to‐ground lightning over the Pearl River Delta region of South China

et al. 2014

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Cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning characteristic parameters deduced from the lightning location system (LLS) for five differing microenvironmental areas relative to megacity, city, municipal town, hilly suburban area, and mountainous rural area conditions were examined in our 2009-2011 Pearl River Delta (PRD) study. Our LLS data analysis showed that there were high variation of lightning characteristics and phenomenal changes among these areas. As a supplement to the usual study of physical characteristics, an observation-based methodology had been developed to study the lightning behavior, while the respective thunderstorms were traversing through these observation areas. Special features and phenomenal changes related to the lightning characteristic parameters, such as observable lightning stroke days (OLSDs) and observable lightning stroke frequency and density for an OLSD, were also addressed. Microenvironmental variation due to change in topography, degree of urbanization, urban effect, and thunderstorm strength was found to affect the spatial distribution of lightning stroke and the severity of lightning activities over the observation areas. This approach increases our understanding of lightning in subtropical China. It also tells us more about the behavior of lightning while the thunderstorm traverses through an observation area. This information is lacking in previous studies.

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“…In 1995-97, the smallest percentage (6.5%) was observed in July 1995, and the largest (about 25%) in January 1996 (Orville and Huffines 1999). In the coastal area of the Sea of Japan, the percentage of positive flashes reached a maximum of 60% in December (Hojo et al 1989). In France, a maximum percentage of positive flashes of 44% was observed in February (Le Boulch and Plantier 1990).…”

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confidence: 99%

A Review of Positive and Bipolar Lightning Discharges

Rakov¹

2003

Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society

141

102

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Characteristics of lightning discharges that transport either positive charge or both positive and negative charges to the ground are reviewed. These are termed positive and bipolar lightning discharges, respectively. Different types of positive and bipolar lightning are discussed. Although positive lightning discharges account for 10% or less of global cloud-to-ground lightning activity, there are five situations that appear to be conducive to the more frequent occurrence of positive lightning. These situations include 1) the dissipating stage of an individual thunderstorm, 2) winter thunderstorms, 3) trailing stratiform regions of mesoscale convective systems, 4) some severe storms, and 5) thunderclouds formed over forest fires or contaminated by smoke. The highest directly measured lightning currents (near 300 kA) and the largest charge transfers (hundreds of coulombs or more) are thought to be associated with positive lightning. Two types of impulsive positive current waveforms have been observed. One type is characterized by rise times of the order of 10 μs, comparable to those for first strokes in negative lightning, and the other type is characterized by considerably longer rise times, up to hundreds of microseconds. The latter waveforms are apparently associated with very long, 1–2 km, upward negative connecting leaders. The positive return-stroke speed is of the order of 108 m s−1. Positive flashes are usually composed of a single stroke. Positive return strokes often appear to be preceded by significant in-cloud discharge activity, then followed by continuing currents, and involve long horizontal channels. In contrast to negative leaders, which are always optically stepped when they propagate in virgin air, positive leaders seem to be able to move either continuously or in a stepped fashion. The reported percentage of bipolar flashes in summer storms ranges from 6% to 14% and from 5% to 33% in winter storms. Bipolar lightning discharges are usually initiated by upward leaders from tall objects. It appears that positive and negative charge sources in the cloud are tapped by different upward branches of the bipolar-lightning channel.

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Seasonal variation of cloud‐to‐ground lightning flash characteristics in the coastal area of the Sea of Japan

Cited by 54 publications

References 12 publications

Lightning characteristics over the eastern coast of the Mediterranean during different synoptic systems

Lightning characteristics over the eastern coast of the Mediterranean during different synoptic systems

Physical and observable characteristics of cloud‐to‐ground lightning over the Pearl River Delta region of South China

A Review of Positive and Bipolar Lightning Discharges

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