Global Impact of Lightning‐Produced Oxidants

Mao, J.; Zhao, Tianlang; Keller, Christoph A.; Wang, Xuan; McFarland, Patrick J.; Jenkins, Jena M.; Brune, William H.

doi:10.1029/2021gl095740

Cited by 13 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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As a long-distance discharge phenomenon in nature, lightning not only poses serious risks to human beings but causes wildfires as well, which in turn affect the evolution of species and ecosystems (He et al, 2022;Hessilt et al, 2022). Lightning is the only natural source of nitrogen oxides (NOx) in the troposphere which regulates the oxidation ability in the upper troposphere and modulates tropospheric chemistry (Brune et al, 2021;Mao et al, 2021).Lightning activity shows large spatial heterogeneity on the globe with several lightning chimney regions around the equator (

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

Significantly Increased Lightning Activity Over the Tibetan Plateau and Its Relation to Thunderstorm Genesis

Qie

Wei

et al. 2022

Geophysical Research Letters

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As a long-distance discharge phenomenon in nature, lightning not only poses serious risks to human beings but causes wildfires as well, which in turn affect the evolution of species and ecosystems (He et al., 2022;Hessilt et al., 2022). Lightning is the only natural source of nitrogen oxides (NOx) in the troposphere which regulates the oxidation ability in the upper troposphere and modulates tropospheric chemistry (Brune et al., 2021;Mao et al., 2021).Lightning activity shows large spatial heterogeneity on the globe with several lightning chimney regions around the equator (

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

Significantly Increased Lightning Activity Over the Tibetan Plateau and Its Relation to Thunderstorm Genesis

Qie

Wei

et al. 2022

Geophysical Research Letters

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As a long-distance discharge phenomenon in nature, lightning not only poses serious risks to human beings but causes wildfires as well, which in turn affect the evolution of species and ecosystems (He et al., 2022;Hessilt et al., 2022). Lightning is the only natural source of nitrogen oxides (NOx) in the troposphere which regulates the oxidation ability in the upper troposphere and modulates tropospheric chemistry (Brune et al., 2021;Mao et al., 2021).Lightning activity shows large spatial heterogeneity on the globe with several lightning chimney regions around the equator (

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“…In Earth's atmosphere, the production of NO affects ozone photochemistry (Crutzen 1970) and the lifetimes of a range of other gases, e.g. CO and nitrous oxide (N 2 O) (Rakov & Uman 2003;Brune et al 2021;Mao et al 2021). As the air cools rapidly, the abundances from the high-temperature reactions are 'frozen in' via the so-called Zel'dovich mechanism (Zeldovich et al 1947).…”

Section: Emissions Of No From Lightningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lightning-induced chemistry on tidally-locked Earth-like exoplanets

Braam

Palmer

Decin

et al. 2022

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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Determining the habitability and interpreting atmospheric spectra of exoplanets requires understanding their atmospheric physics and chemistry. We use a 3-D Coupled Climate-Chemistry Model, the Met Office Unified Model with the UK Chemistry and Aerosols framework, to study the emergence of lightning and its chemical impact on tidally-locked Earth-like exoplanets. We simulate the atmosphere of Proxima Centauri b orbiting in the Habitable Zone of its M-dwarf star, but the results apply to similar M-dwarf orbiting planets. Our chemical network includes the Chapman ozone reactions and hydrogen oxide (HOx=H+OH+HO2) and nitrogen oxide (NOx=NO+NO2) catalytic cycles. We find that photochemistry driven by stellar radiation (177–850 nm) supports a global ozone layer between 20–50 km. We parameterise lightning flashes as a function of cloud-top height and the resulting production of nitric oxide (NO) from the thermal decomposition of N2 and O2. Rapid dayside convection over and around the substellar point results in lightning flash rates of up to 0.16 flashes km−2yr−1, enriching the dayside atmosphere below altitudes of 20 km in NOx. Changes in dayside ozone are determined mainly by UV irradiance and the HOx catalytic cycle. ∼45 per cent of the planetary dayside surface remains at habitable temperatures (Tsurf > 273.15 K) and the ozone layer reduces surface UV radiation levels to 15 per cent. Dayside-nightside thermal gradients result in strong winds that subsequently advect NOx towards the nightside, where the absence of photochemistry allows NOx chemistry to involve reservoir species. Our study also emphasizes the need for accurate UV stellar spectra to understand the atmospheric chemistry of exoplanets.

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“…10.1029/2023JD039362 2 of 12 HO x based on a global modeling study (Mao et al, 2021). Altogether, these studies have concluded that LHO x generated in thunderstorms potentially account for 0.3%-16% of global OH and LHO x generated by a variety of electrical discharge types and strengths could create 2-4 orders of magnitude more HO x locally or regionally relative to other HO x sources.…”

mentioning

confidence: 94%

“…Subsequent laboratory experiments confirmed that this electrically generated HO x (LHO x ) was real, that it can be generated in both sparks and weak, invisible discharges called subvisible discharges, and it has a longer lifetime than expected in spark discharges (Jenkins et al., 2021). Additional studies have demonstrated prodigious LHO x production in corona discharges (Brune et al., 2022; Jenkins et al., 2022) and LHO x has also been found to be a possibly significant source of atmospheric HO x based on a global modeling study (Mao et al., 2021). Altogether, these studies have concluded that LHO x generated in thunderstorms potentially account for 0.3%–16% of global OH and LHO x generated by a variety of electrical discharge types and strengths could create 2–4 orders of magnitude more HO x locally or regionally relative to other HO x sources.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Temperature and Water Droplets on Production of Prodigious Hydrogen Oxides by Electrical Discharges

Jenkins,

Brune

2023

JGR Atmospheres

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Recently, electrical discharges have been identified as a potentially significant source of the atmosphere's most important oxidant, the hydroxyl radical. Measurements of hydroxyl, the closely related hydroperoxyl radical, and the nitrogen oxides from sparks and subvisible discharges were made in the laboratory under different environmental and electrical conditions representing those found in the troposphere. However, there were still several conditions not yet investigated that could impact hydroxyl and hydroperoxyl production in electrical discharges. In this study, the production of electrically generated hydroxyl and hydroperoxyl (LHOx) and nitrogen oxides (LNOx) was measured under three new conditions not tested previously, including lower pressure, different temperatures, and the presence of cloud droplet‐sized water droplets. In spark discharges, LHOx was mostly independent of pressure, increased with increasing temperature, and was unaffected by the water droplets. LNOx generation was independent of temperature from −10 to 40°C and the presence of water droplets, but increased 1.5‐fold with decreasing pressure. LNOx generation was also found to be sensitive to changes in spark intensity and air flow in the laboratory setup. Increasing temperature also made it more likely that a discharge was visible instead of subvisible, but did not impact LHOx production in subvisible discharges. Even under these new conditions, the laboratory results agree with results of LHOx from a field campaign, demonstrating the relevance of the laboratory experiments to the atmosphere.

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Global Impact of Lightning‐Produced Oxidants

Cited by 13 publications

References 55 publications

Significantly Increased Lightning Activity Over the Tibetan Plateau and Its Relation to Thunderstorm Genesis

Significantly Increased Lightning Activity Over the Tibetan Plateau and Its Relation to Thunderstorm Genesis

Lightning-induced chemistry on tidally-locked Earth-like exoplanets

Effect of Temperature and Water Droplets on Production of Prodigious Hydrogen Oxides by Electrical Discharges

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