A five-year climatological lightning characteristics of linear mesoscale convective systems over North China

Liu, Dongxia; Sun, Mengjun; Su, Debin; Xu, Wenduo; Yu, Han; Chen, Yichen

doi:10.1016/j.atmosres.2021.105580

Cited by 11 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…Figure 3 shows hourly average mass concentration of PM 2.5 on 11 August 2017. The hourly average value of the observed PM 2.5 concentration before the thunderstorm initiation (more than 110 µg m −3 ) is much higher than the 3-year mean PM 2.5 concentration (69.4 ± 54.8 µg m −3 ) in the Beijing area (Liu et al, 2018). Therefore, the CCN concentration is selected as the P case which is consistent with observation.…”

Section: Design Of the Simulationssupporting

confidence: 72%

“…2, with surface-based convective available potential energy (CAPE) of 3937 J kg −1 at 00:00 UTC. The special terrain condition with mountains in the northwest and ocean in the southeast (Qie et al, 2020), as well as the heat island effect and elevated aerosol loading in the urban region (Zhang et al, 2013;Liu et al, 2018), likely enhanced the convection and was responsible for the occurrence of heavy rainfall and large hail as well as intensive lightning activity in the Beijing area. According to the surface-based automatic weather observation network in Beijing, the average rainfall in the urban area and the eastern region was 10-30 mm, locally exceeding 100 mm.…”

Section: Synoptic Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Aerosol effects on electrification and lightning discharges in a multicell thunderstorm simulated by the WRF-ELEC model

et al. 2021

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Abstract. To investigate the effects of aerosols on lightning activity, the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model with a two-moment bulk microphysical scheme and bulk lightning model was employed to simulate a multicell thunderstorm that occurred in the metropolitan Beijing area. The results suggest that under polluted conditions lightning activity is significantly enhanced during the developing and mature stages. Electrification and lightning discharges within the thunderstorm show characteristics distinguished by different aerosol conditions through microphysical processes. Elevated aerosol loading increases the cloud droplets numbers, the latent heat release, updraft and ice-phase particle number concentrations. More charges in the upper level are carried by ice particles and enhance the electrification process. A larger mean-mass radius of graupel particles further increases non-inductive charging due to more effective collisions. In the continental case where aerosol concentrations are low, less latent heat is released in the upper parts and, as a consequence, the updraft speed is weaker, leading to smaller concentrations of ice particles, lower charging rates and fewer lightning discharges.

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Section: Design Of the Simulationssupporting

confidence: 72%

Section: Synoptic Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Aerosol effects on electrification and lightning discharges in a multicell thunderstorm simulated by the WRF-ELEC model

et al. 2021

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“…Second, lightning was found to be the main natural source of NO x in the midupper troposphere over midlatitude continental regions . Frequent lightning activities were observed over Beijing area in summer. , In July, tropospheric NO x from lightning emissions in East China accounted for about 10% of anthropogenic emissions . During the lightning events at Mt.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vertical Differences of Nitrate Sources in Urban Boundary Layer Based on Tower Measurements

Fan

Zhang

Hong

et al. 2022

Environ. Sci. Technol. Lett.

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Reducing nitrogen oxide (NO x ) emissions is key to limiting fine particulate pollution globally. Nitrogen isotopes are powerful tools for exploring sources of atmospheric nitrate and its precursor NO x . This work performed simultaneous vertical measurements of nitrogen isotopes of nitrate (δ 15 N(NO 3 − )) at 8 and 260 m heights on a meteorological tower in Beijing. Although δ 15 N(NO 3 − ) of the two heights were close, a significant difference (P < 0.01) in the δ 15 N of nitrogen oxides (NO x ) was found in winter after considering the nitrogen isotope fractionation between NO x and the nitrate constrained by the oxygen anomaly (Δ 17 O) of nitrate. Combining the estimated δ 15 N of NO x and a Bayesian model, it was found that the proportion of coal combustion to nitrate aerosols was higher at 260 m (54% ± 9%) than that at the ground surface (31% ± 10%) in winter, suggesting that the air masses carrying coal-derived aerosols reached the upper air of Beijing through regional transport. In summer, the vertical variations of nitrate sources were not obvious. Our findings suggest that conventional ground-based observations may underestimate the contribution of coal combustion to atmospheric aerosols in the urban boundary layer as air pollutants are influenced by a combination of local emissions, meteorology, and regional transport.

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“…Deep convective systems occur frequently in China and its vicinity during the warm season, producing a wide range of severe weather phenomena, including heavy rainfall, lightning, hail, damaging winds and even tornadoes [1][2][3][4][5][6]. Deep convective precipitation affects hydrological processes and regional and global climate through redistribution of water and energy.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characteristics of Deep Convective Systems and Initiation during Warm Seasons over China and Its Vicinity

Liu

Chen³

et al. 2021

Remote Sensing

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The spatiotemporal statistical characteristics of warm-season deep convective systems, particularly deep convective systems initiation (DCSI), over China and its vicinity are investigated using Himawari-8 geostationary satellite measurements collected during April-September from 2016 to 2020. Based on a satellite brightness temperature multiple-threshold convection identification and tracking method, a total of 47593 deep convective systems with lifetimes of at least 3 h were identified in the region. There are three outstanding local maxima in the region, located in the southwestern, central and eastern Tibetan Plateau and Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, followed by a region of high convective activities in South China. Most convective systems are developed over the Tibetan Plateau, predominantly eastward-moving, while those developed in Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau and South China mostly move westward and southwestward. The DSCI occurrences become extremely active after the onset of the summer monsoon and tend to reach a maximum in July and August, with a diurnal peak at 11–13 LST in response to the enhanced solar heating and monsoon flows. Several DCSI hotspots are identified in the regions of inland mountains, tropical islands and coastal mountains during daytime, but in basins, plains and coastal areas during nighttime. DCSI over land and oceans exhibits significantly different sub-seasonal and diurnal variations. Oceanic DCSI has an ambiguous diurnal variation, although its sub-seasonal variation is similar to that over land. It is demonstrated that the high spatiotemporal resolution satellite dataset provides rich information for understanding the convective systems over China and vicinity, particularly the complex terrain and oceans where radar observations are sparse or none, which will help to improve the convective systems and initiation nowcasting.

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A five-year climatological lightning characteristics of linear mesoscale convective systems over North China

Cited by 11 publications

References 52 publications

Aerosol effects on electrification and lightning discharges in a multicell thunderstorm simulated by the WRF-ELEC model

Aerosol effects on electrification and lightning discharges in a multicell thunderstorm simulated by the WRF-ELEC model

Vertical Differences of Nitrate Sources in Urban Boundary Layer Based on Tower Measurements

Characteristics of Deep Convective Systems and Initiation during Warm Seasons over China and Its Vicinity

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