Herein, we compared data on the spatiotemporal distribution of lightning activity obtained from the World Wide Lightning Location Network (WWLLN) with that from the Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS). The WWLLN and LIS both suggest intense lightning activity over the central and southeastern Tibetan Plateau (TP) during May–September. Meanwhile, the WWLLN indicates relatively weak lightning activity over the northeastern TP, where the LIS suggests very intense lightning activity, and it also indicates a high-density lightning center over the southwestern TP, not suggested by the LIS. Furthermore, the WWLLN lightning peaks in August in terms of monthly variation and in late August in terms of ten-day variation, unlike the corresponding LIS lightning peaks of July and late June, respectively. Other observation data were also introduced into the comparison. The black body temperature (TBB) data from the Fengyun-2E geostationary satellite (as a proxy of deep convection) and thunderstorm day data support the spatial distribution of the WWLLN lightning more. Meanwhile, for seasonal variation, the TBB data is more analogous to the LIS data, while the cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning data from a local CG lightning location system is closer to the WWLLN data. It is speculated that the different WWLLN and LIS observation modes may cause their data to represent different dominant types of lightning, thereby leading to differences in the spatiotemporal distributions of their data. The results may further imply that there exist regional differences and seasonal variations in the electrical properties of thunderstorms over the TP.
Thunderstorm activity over the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau (QTP) has important climatic effects and disaster impacts. Using the thunderstorm feature dataset (TFD) established based on the black body temperature (TBB) and cloud classification (CLC) products of the Fengyun-2E (FY-2E) geostationary satellite, as well as the lightning data of the World Wide Lightning Location Network (WWLLN), the temporal and spatial distributions and some cloud properties of the thunderstorms over the QTP were analyzed. Approximately 93.9% and 82.7% of thunderstorms over the QTP occur from May to September and from 12 to 21 o’clock local time, and the corresponding peaks are in August and at 14:00, respectively. There are three centers featuring frequent thunderstorms in the southeast, south-central, and southwest regions of the QTP. The average thunderstorm cloud area (the region with TBB ≤ −32 °C) is 1.8 × 104 km2. Approximately 32.9% of thunderstorms have strong convective cells (SCCs) composed of areas with TBB ≤ −52 °C. The average number and area ratio of SCCs are 3.6 and 25.4%, respectively, and their spatial distribution is given. The average cloud area and the number and area ratio of SCCs of extreme-lightning thunderstorms (thunderstorms with the top 10% of lightning numbers) are approximately 30.0, 3.9, and 1.5 times those of normal thunderstorms. The spatial distribution of the thunderstorm activity is quite different from that of lightning activity given by the Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) and Optical Transient Detector (OTD) over the northeastern and southwestern QTP, which may mean that the convection intensity, cloud structure, and charge structure of the thunderstorms over the QTP are different between different regions and seasons.
Thunderstorm clouds yield lightning discharges and are often accompanied by damaging weather; therefore, they are important concerns for weather monitoring and forecasting. At present, the research on the thunderstorm activity in China is deficient; and available thunderstorm cloud datasets with high temporal-spatial resolution and big spatial coverage are rare. We established the thunderstorm feature dataset (TFD) by using the black body temperature (TBB) and the cloud classification (CLC) products from the Fengyun-2E (FY-2E) satellite and the lightning location data from the World-Wide Lightning Location Network (WWLLN). Thunderstorm cloud is defined in accordance with the criterion that at least one WWLLN lightning is in the area with TBB ≤ −32°C or its fitted ellipse. We obtained the parameters including time, location, structure, and lightning activities to prepare the TFD. This dataset extends from 2010 to 2018, with a temporal resolution of 1 hour and wide spatial coverage of the FY-2E full-disc observation area, especially including the mainland and adjacent sea areas of China. This TFD can play an important role in the study of thunderstorm activities.
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