Optical lightning sensors like the Optical Transient Detector and Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) measure total lightning across large swaths of the globe with high detection efficiency. With two upcoming missions that employ these sensors—LIS on the International Space Station and the Geostationary Lightning Mapper on the GOES‐R satellite—there has been increased interest in what these measurements can reveal about lightning and thunderstorms in addition to total flash activity. Optical lightning imagers are capable of observing the characteristics of individual flashes that include their sizes, durations, and radiative energies. However, it is important to exercise caution when interpreting trends in optical flash measurements because they can be affected by the scene. This study uses coincident measurements from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite to examine the properties of LIS flashes and the surrounding cloud regions they illuminate. These combined measurements are used to assess to what extent optical flash characteristics can be used to make inferences about flash structure and energetics. Clouds illuminated by lightning over land and ocean regions that are otherwise similar based on TRMM measurements are identified. Even when LIS flashes occur in similar clouds and background radiances, oceanic flashes are still shown to be larger, brighter, longer lasting, more prone to horizontal propagation, and to contain more groups than their land‐based counterparts. This suggests that the optical trends noted in literature are not entirely the result of radiative transfer effects but rather stem from physical differences in the flashes.

A unique dataset of coincident high-altitude passive microwave and electric field observations taken by the NASA ER-2 aircraft is used to assess the feasibility of estimating electric fields above electrified clouds using ubiquitous global and multidecadal satellite products. Once applied to a global dataset, such a product would provide a unique approach for diagnosing and monitoring the current sources of the global electric circuit (GEC).In this study an algorithm has been developed that employs ice scattering signals from 37-and 85-GHz passive microwave observations to characterize the electric fields above clouds overflown by the ER-2 aircraft at nearly 20-km altitude. Electric field estimates produced by this passive microwave algorithm are then compared to electric field observations also taken by the aircraft to assess its potential future utility with satellite datasets. The algorithm is shown to estimate observed electric field strengths over intense convective clouds at least 71% (58%) of the time over land and 43% (40%) of the time over the ocean to within a factor of 2 from 85-GHz (37 GHz) passive microwave observations. Electric fields over weaker clouds can be estimated 58% (41%) of the time over land and 22% (8%) of the time over the ocean from 85-GHz (37 GHz) passive microwave observations. The accuracy of these estimates is limited by systematic errors in the observations along with other factors. Despite these sources of error, the algorithm can produce reasonable estimates of electric fields over carefully selected individual electrified clouds that differ from observations by less than 20 V m 21 for clouds that produce 200-400 V m 21 electric fields at 20 km.

Electrified clouds are known to play a major role in the Global Electric Circuit. These clouds produce upward currents which maintain the potential difference between Earth's surface and the upper atmosphere. In this study, model output from two simulations of the Community Earth System Model (CESM) are compared with conduction currents and other data derived from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite, including both the Lightning Imaging Sensor and Precipitation Radar. The intention is to determine CESM's skill at representing these microphysical and dynamical properties of clouds. Then, these cloud properties are used to develop a model parameterization to compute conduction currents from electrified clouds. Specifically, we evaluate the ability of global mean convective mass flux, ice water path, and convective precipitation to represent conduction current sources. Parameterizations using these variables yield derived global mean currents that agree well with the geographical patterns of TRMM currents. In addition, comparing the diurnal variations of modeled global mean current to the observed diurnal variations of electric potential gradient, root‐mean‐square (RMS) errors range between 6.5% and 8.1%, but the maximum occurs 4 to 6 h early in all three variables. Output currents derived from the model variables generally match well to the currents derived from TRMM, and the total global current estimates agree well with past studies. This suggests that cloud parameters are well suited for representing the global distribution and strength of currents in a global model framework.

Capsule summary MET is a community-based package of state-of-the-art tools to evaluate predictions of weather, climate, and other phenomena, with capabilities to display and analyze verification results via the METplus system.

A specialized satellite version of the passive microwave electric field retrieval algorithm (Peterson et al., 2015) is applied to observations from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) and Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) satellites to estimate the generator current for the Global Electric Circuit (GEC) and compute its temporal variability. By integrating retrieved Wilson currents from electrified clouds across the globe, we estimate a total mean current of between 1.4 kA (assuming the 7% fraction of electrified clouds producing downward currents measured by the ER‐2 is representative) to 1.6 kA (assuming all electrified clouds contribute to the GEC). These current estimates come from all types of convective weather without preference, including Electrified Shower Clouds (ESCs). The diurnal distribution of the retrieved generator current is in excellent agreement with the Carnegie curve (RMS difference: 1.7%). The temporal variability of the total mean generator current ranges from 110% on semi‐annual timescales (29% on an annual timescale) to 7.5% on decadal timescales with notable responses to the Madden‐Julian Oscillation and El Nino Southern Oscillation. The geographical distribution of current includes significant contributions from oceanic regions in addition to the land‐based tropical chimneys. The relative importance of the Americas and Asia chimneys compared to Africa is consistent with the best modern ground‐based observations and further highlights the importance of ESCs for the GEC.

This work analyzes different current source and conductivity parameterizations and their influence on the diurnal variation of the global electric circuit (GEC). The diurnal variations of the current source parameterizations obtained using electric field and conductivity measurements from plane overflights combined with global Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite data give generally good agreement with measured diurnal variation of the electric field at Vostok, Antarctica, where reference experimental measurements are performed. An approach employing 85 GHz passive microwave observations to infer currents within the GEC is compared and shows the best agreement in amplitude and phase with experimental measurements. To study the conductivity influence, GEC models solving the continuity equation in 3‐D are used to calculate atmospheric resistance using yearly averaged conductivity obtained from the global circulation model Community Earth System Model (CESM). Then, using current source parameterization combining mean currents and global counts of electrified clouds, if the exponential conductivity is substituted by the conductivity from CESM, the peak to peak diurnal variation of the ionospheric potential of the GEC decreases from 24% to 20%. The main reason for the change is the presence of clouds while effects of 222Rn ionization, aerosols, and topography are less pronounced. The simulated peak to peak diurnal variation of the electric field at Vostok is increased from 15% to 18% from the diurnal variation of the global current in the GEC if conductivity from CESM is used.

The Peterson et al. (2015, https://doi.org/10.1175/JTECH-D-14-00119.1) passive microwave electric field retrieval is applied to 15 years of Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite observations to estimate the amount of Wilson current supplied to the Global Electric Circuit from individual electrified cloud features (ECFs), which are identified as contiguous precipitating cloud regions that produce Wilson current. Current contributions from 37 million ECFs sampled by TRMM are used to examine the composition of the DC generator current. Thunderstorms are found to supply 61% of the total retrieved current, while electrified shower clouds provide the remaining 39%. ECFs over land contribute 38% of the total current, while the ocean contributions are divided between coastal oceanic regions (35%) and the open ocean (27%). The greatest share of the total TRMM-retrieved current comes large mesoscale features (>2 × 10 3 km 2 in area) and features that have peak 20-km electric fields in excess of 1 kVm À1 . This combination of extent and intensity leads to total currents greater than 10 A for a single ECF. The ranking of the tropical chimney regions by total current production is (1) the Americas (38%), (2) Asia (32%), and (3) Africa (15%). ECFs over the tropical Pacific Ocean contribute the remaining 15%. The Africa chimney is most prominent in total lightning activity but lags behind the others in total DC current due to a reduced frequency of electrified weather and weaker per-storm electric fields and Wilson currents compared to the other chimneys.Plain Language Summary Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite observations are used to estimate the amount of current each tropical electrified cloud provides to the Global Electric Circuit. Collecting these estimates more than a decade makes it possible to quantify the importance of various cloud types and the distinct "chimney" regions for the global circuit. The majority of the global generator current is supplied by thunderstorms (61%), while electrified shower clouds that do not produce lightning provide the remaining current (39%). Most of this current comes from large mesoscale storms that have electric fields at 20-km altitude greater than 1 kVmÀ1 and individual current contributions exceeding 1 A. Of the three tropical chimney regions-the Americas, Africa, and Asia-Africa produced the most lightning, but the least current. This is because there are few electrified shower clouds in Africa compared to the Americas and Asia, and Africa thunderstorms appear to generate weaker electric fields and Wilson currents than their American and Asian counterparts.

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