Determination of precipitation rates and yields from lightning measurements

Latham, John; Blyth, Alan; Christian, H. J.; Deierling, Wiebke; Gadian, Alan

doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2003.11.009

Cited by 40 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 31 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Numerous studies have investigated the relationship between lightning and heavy precipitation, and, more specifically, between the volume of precipitable water and lightning flashes (or lightning strokes), and it was found to depend on climatology as well as on geographical location (e.g., Petersen and Rutledge, 1998 and references therein; Lang and Rutledge, 2002;Latham et al, 2004;Albrecht et al, 2011). However, the relationship between total lightning activity and ice mass appears to be more robust (Petersen et al, 2005;hereinafter PE05, Deierling et al, 2008;Formenton et al, 2013, hereinafter FO13).…”

Section: N Roberto Et Al: Multi-sensor Analysis Of Convective Activmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multi-sensor analysis of convective activity in central Italy during the HyMeX SOP 1.1

et al. 2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract.A multi-sensor analysis of convective precipitation events that occurred in central Italy in autumn 2012 during the HyMeX (Hydrological cycle in the Mediterranean experiment) Special Observation Period (SOP) 1.1 is presented. Various microphysical properties of liquid and solid hydrometeors are examined to assess their relationship with lightning activity. The instrumentation used consisted of a C-band dual-polarization weather radar, a 2-D video disdrometer, and the LINET lightning network. Results of Tmatrix simulation for graupel were used to (i) tune a fuzzy logic hydrometeor classification algorithm based on Liu and Chandrasekar (2000) for the detection of graupel from Cband dual-polarization radar measurements and (ii) to retrieve graupel ice water content. Graupel mass from radar measurements was related to lightning activity. Three significant case studies were analyzed and linear relations between the total mass of graupel and number of LINET strokes were found with different slopes depending on the nature of the convective event (such as updraft strength and freezing level height) and the radar observational geometry. A high coefficient of determination (R 2 = 0.856) and a slope in agreement with satellite measurements and model results for one of the case studies (15 October 2012) were found. Results confirm that one of the key features in the electrical charging of convective clouds is the ice content, although it is not the only one. Parameters of the gamma raindrop size distribution measured by a 2-D video disdrometer revealed the transition from a convective to a stratiform regime. The raindrop size spectra measured by a 2-D video disdrometer were used to partition rain into stratiform and convective classes. These results are further analyzed in relation to radar measurements and to the number of strokes. Lightning activity was not always recorded when the precipitation regime was classified as convective rain. High statistical scores were found for relationships relating lightning activity to graupel aloft.

show abstract

Section: N Roberto Et Al: Multi-sensor Analysis Of Convective Activmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multi-sensor analysis of convective activity in central Italy during the HyMeX SOP 1.1

et al. 2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Charge separation is necessary for the production of lightning in thunderstorms and occurs via the non-inductive charging mechanism (Reynolds et al, 1957;Latham et al, 2004). This postulates that light ice crystals in clouds that rise on convective updraughts collide with heavier, falling graupel and in doing so the two particle types become oppositely charged.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using cloud ice flux to parametrise large-scale lightning

et al. 2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract.Lightning is an important natural source of nitrogen oxide especially in the middle and upper troposphere. Hence, it is essential to represent lightning in chemistry transport and coupled chemistry-climate models. Using ERA-Interim meteorological reanalysis data we compare the lightning flash density distributions produced using several existing lightning parametrisations, as well as a new parametrisation developed on the basis of upward cloud ice flux at 440 hPa. The use of ice flux forms a link to the non-inductive charging mechanism of thunderstorms. Spatial and temporal distributions of lightning flash density are compared to tropical and subtropical observations for 2007-2011 from the Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) on the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite. The well-used lightning flash parametrisation based on cloud-top height has large biases but the derived annual total flash density has a better spatial correlation with the LIS observations than other existing parametrisations. A comparison of flash density simulated by the different schemes shows that the cloud-top height parametrisation has many more instances of moderate flash densities and fewer low and high extremes compared to the other parametrisations. Other studies in the literature have shown that this feature of the cloud-top height parametrisation is in contrast to lightning observations over certain regions. Our new ice flux parametrisation shows a clear improvement over all the existing parametrisations with lower root mean square errors (RMSEs) and better spatial correlations with the observations for distributions of annual total, and seasonal and interannual variations. The greatest improvement with the new parametrisation is a more realistic representation of the zonal distribution with a better balance between tropical and subtropical lightning flash estimates. The new parametrisation is appropriate for testing in chemistry transport and chemistry-climate models that use a lightning parametrisation.

show abstract

“…Baker et al [1999], Blyth et al [2001], and Deierling et al [2005 have presented what they termed flux hypothesis which suggests that the lightning frequency is roughly proportional to the product of the downward flux of solid precipitation and the upward mass flux of ice crystals at the top of the charging zone based on computations from lightning models [Baker et al, 1995] and field observations. Latham et al [2004] extended the hypothesis and lightning models to derive a direct rela-tionship between lightning frequency and precipitation rate. In addition, observations also indicate a close link between convective rainfall and lightning, both for individual (or ensemble) storms [Soula and Chauzy, 2001;Seity et al, 2001] and for long temporal and large spatial domains [e.g., Sheridan et al, 1997;Petersen and Rutledge, 1998;Soriano et al, 2001].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the relationships between lightning frequency and thundercloud parameters of regional precipitation systems

Zipser

Liu

et al. 2010

J. Geophys. Res.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

[1] Seasonal variations on lightning activity of precipitation systems over south China and Taiwan before and after the onset of Mei-Yu have been observed by the lightning imager sensor (LIS) on board the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite. Lightning storms before Mei-Yu onset show higher probability of lightning, higher flash rate, and larger radar reflectivity in the mixed-phase region than the Mei-Yu regime. However, the probability of lightning occurrence with the same threshold of maximum radar reflectivity or ice scattering signature is similar for land systems before and during Mei-Yu season. Oceanic systems show slightly lower probability of lightning even with the same thresholds. Relationships between a set of TRMM-observed parameters and LIS lightning frequency are further examined. For lightning systems over land, the total area of radar echo above 35 dBZ has a closer relationship with lightning flash rate at the temperature between −5°C and −15°C than other parameters. Area of lower radar reflectivity at colder temperature, e.g., area of 20 dBZ at −40°C, is also highly correlated with lightning frequency. The highest correlation between area of specific radar reflectivity and lightning frequency is found at lower temperatures when the oceanic lightning systems are examined.

show abstract

Determination of precipitation rates and yields from lightning measurements

Cited by 40 publications

References 31 publications

Multi-sensor analysis of convective activity in central Italy during the HyMeX SOP 1.1

Multi-sensor analysis of convective activity in central Italy during the HyMeX SOP 1.1

Using cloud ice flux to parametrise large-scale lightning

On the relationships between lightning frequency and thundercloud parameters of regional precipitation systems

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About