Influence of aerosols on lightning activities in central eastern parts of China

Shi, Zheng; Wang, HaiChao; Tan, Yongbo; Li, Luying; Li, ChunSun

doi:10.1002/asl.957

Cited by 25 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 67 publications

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“…S1b). However, a lot of extremes are observed in the IGP and WCI which implies that the occurrence of surface heating leads to higher cloud-base heights and more ice-phase hydrometeors, resulting in more lightning in these regions, as also supported from previous studies (Price, 2009;Shindell et al, 2006).…”

Section: Spatial Distribution Of Lightning Propertiessupporting

confidence: 74%

“…From a climatic point of view, a series of studies in recent years have shown that thunderstorm severity, lightning and its various controlling factors have been increasing prominently in the recent decades, and this has been attributed to the greenhouse-gas-emission-induced surface warming effects both over India and across the globe. A study by Shindell et al (2006) reported that a minimum 10 % increase in lightning activity can be expected for every 1 • C increase due to global warming. Kandalgaonkar et al (2005) suggested that a 1 • C rise in surface temperature over India leads to a 20 %-40 % enhancement in average lightning flash density.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Lightning occurrences and intensity over the Indian region: long-term trends and future projections

Chakraborty

Basha

et al. 2021

Atmos. Chem. Phys.

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Abstract. Lightning activity constitute the major destructive component of thunderstorms over India. Hence, an understanding of the long-term variability in lightning occurrence and intensity and their interrelation with various causative factors is required. Long-term (1998–2014) Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite-based lightning observations depict the most frequent lightning occurrences along the Himalayan foothills, the Indo-Gangetic plains and coastal regions, while the intensity of these lightning strikes is found to be strongest along the coastal regions and in the Bay of Bengal. In addition, both of the abovementioned lightning properties show a very strong intensification (∼ 1 %–2.5 % annually) across all Indian regions during the 1998–2014 period with the maximum trends along the coasts. Accordingly, a detailed statistical dominance analysis is performed which reveals total column water vapor (TCWV) to be the dominant factor behind the intensification in lightning events, while instability, measured by the convective available potential energy (CAPE), and aerosol optical depth (AOD) jointly control the lightning frequency trends. An increase in surface temperatures has led to enhanced instability and, hence, stronger moisture transport to the upper-troposphere and lower-stratosphere regions, especially along the coasts. This transported moisture helps deplete the ozone concentration, leading to reduced temperatures and elevated equilibrium levels, which finally results in stronger and more frequent lightning events, as also evidenced by the trend analysis. Consequently, the relationships between lightning and its causative factors have been expressed in the form of multilinear regression equations, which are then employed in multiple global circulation models (GCMs) to understand the long-term impact of urbanization on lightning over the period from 1950 to 2100. The analysis reveals a uniform increase in lightning occurrence and intensity using both urbanization scenarios; however, accelerated growth is observed in the RCP8.5 projections after the year 2050, as also observed from the surface warming trends. As a result, lightning frequency and intensity values across the Indian region are expected to increase ∼ 10 %–25 % and 15 %–50 %, respectively, by the end of the century with the highest risk along the coasts; hence, this requires immediate attention from policymakers.

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Section: Spatial Distribution Of Lightning Propertiessupporting

confidence: 74%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lightning occurrences and intensity over the Indian region: long-term trends and future projections

Chakraborty

Basha

et al. 2021

Atmos. Chem. Phys.

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“…This may be explained by the joint effects of aerosol microphysical effects and aerosol radiative effects under conditions with high aerosol concentration, which may cause the insignificant relationship between lightning activity and aerosols or even suppress the lightning activity. This nonlinear relationship between lightning activity and aerosols was reported in many studies [6,40,59,60].…”

Section: Temporal Variations Of Total Aod and Cg Lightningsupporting

confidence: 58%

Cloud-to-Ground Lightning Response to Aerosol over Air-Polluted Urban Areas in China

et al. 2021

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The effect of aerosols on lightning has been noted in many studies, but much less is known about the long-term impacts in air-polluted urban areas of China. In this paper, 9-year data sets of cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning, aerosol optical depth (AOD), convective available potential energy (CAPE), and surface relative humidity (SRH) from ground-based observation and model reanalysis are analyzed over three air-polluted urban areas of China. Decreasing trends are found in the interannual variations of CG lightning density (unit: flashes km-2day-1) and total AOD over the three study regions during the study period. An apparent enhancement in CG lightning density is found under conditions with high AOD on the seasonal cycles over the three study regions. The joint effects of total AOD and thermodynamic factors (CAPE and SRH) on CG lightning density and the percentage of positive CG flashes (+ CG flashes/total CG flashes×100; PPCG; unit: %) are further analyzed. Results show that CG lighting density is higher under conditions with high total AOD, while PPCG is lower under conditions with low total AOD. CG lightning density is more sensitive to CAPE under conditions with high total AOD.

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“…(Perez-Inverson et al 2021). Other studies showed the positive correlation between relative humidity and lightning activity (Shi et al 2018(Shi et al , 2020. It was reported an increase in relative humidity of about 10% during COVID-19 lockdown period in Chennai (Singh and Tyagi 2021).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 88%

Association of pre-monsoon CG lightning activity and some surface pollutants in different Indian cities around the COVID-19 lockdown year 2020

Gole

Midya

2021

Proc.Indian Natl. Sci. Acad.

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In this paper, pre-monsoon (March -May) Cloud to Ground (CG) lightning activity over 6 mega cities (New Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad) in India is analysed with concentrations of four surface pollutants namely particulate matters (PM 2.5 , PM 10 ), Sulphur dioxide (SO 2 ) and Ozone for a period of 2018 to 2021 that includes the lockdown year 2020. Pollution greatly reduced with an enhancement of air quality in this year. Lightning data for the analysis is derived from the ground based lightning Network -Earth Networks Global Lightning Network (ENGLN). Among the mega cities, Kolkata faces most lightning whereas Mumbai receives the least. CG lightning flash counts significantly decrease in 2020 for Kolkata, Bengaluru, New Delhi and increase for Chennai, Hyderabad and Mumbai though the increase for the last two cities are very insignificant. This increase may be due to greater impact of meteorological factors on lightning than the pollutant concentrations. The lightning activity averaged over all the mega cities follows the trend of pollutant concentrations and average CG lightning flash counts go to minimum in the COVID-19 lockdown year 2020. Analysis also reveals that average seasonal CG lightning flash counts, average positive CG lightning flash counts and maximum peak CG currents show positive correlations with the concentration of all the four pollutants. The overall study shows that control of pollution may reduce the lightning activity in some lightning prone urban areas.

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Influence of aerosols on lightning activities in central eastern parts of China

Cited by 25 publications

References 67 publications

Lightning occurrences and intensity over the Indian region: long-term trends and future projections

Lightning occurrences and intensity over the Indian region: long-term trends and future projections

Cloud-to-Ground Lightning Response to Aerosol over Air-Polluted Urban Areas in China

Association of pre-monsoon CG lightning activity and some surface pollutants in different Indian cities around the COVID-19 lockdown year 2020

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