Nitric oxide production by simulated lightning: Dependence on current, energy, and pressure

Wang, Y.; DeSilva, A.W.; Goldenbaum, G. C.; Dickerson, R. R.

doi:10.1029/98jd01356

Cited by 158 publications

(201 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…But as long as the increased instantaneous DE is due to aboveaverage peak currents, we would also expect that the respective flashes have LNO x production P above average, since high current flashes also produce more LNO x . This is also an almost linear effect, as shown in Wang et al (1998). Thus, the observed discrepancy between FRD and NO 2 TSCD remains more or less the same, as both effects (the increase in DE, thus the decrease in FRD, and the increase in PE due to high-current flashes) cancel each other out largely.…”

Section: Wwllnsupporting

confidence: 52%

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Direct satellite observation of lightning-produced NOx

2010

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Abstract.Lightning is an important source of NO x in the free troposphere, especially in the tropics, with strong impact on ozone production. However, estimates of lightning NO x (LNO x ) production efficiency (LNO x per flash) are still quite uncertain.In this study we present a systematic analysis of NO 2 column densities from SCIAMACHY measurements over active thunderstorms, as detected by the World-Wide Lightning Location Network (WWLLN), where the WWLLN detection efficiency was estimated using the flash climatology of the satellite lightning sensors LIS/OTD. Only events with high lightning activity are considered, where corrected WWLLN flash rate densities inside the satellite pixel within the last hour are above 1 /km 2 /h. For typical SCIAMACHY ground pixels of 30 × 60 km 2 , this threshold corresponds to 1800 flashes over the last hour, which, for literature estimates of lightning NO x production, should result in clearly enhanced NO 2 column densities.From 2004-2008, we find 287 coincidences of SCIA-MACHY measurements and high WWLLN flash rate densities. For some of these events, a clear enhancement of column densities of NO 2 could be observed, indeed. But overall, the measured column densities are below the expected values by more than one order of magnitude, and in most of the cases, no enhanced NO 2 could be found at all.Our results are in contradiction to the currently accepted range of LNO x production per flash of 15 (2-40) × 10 25 molec/flash. This probably partly results from the specific conditions for the events under investigation, i.e. events of high lightning activity in the morning (local time) and mostly (for 162 out of 287 events) over ocean.Within the detected coincidences, the highest NO 2 column densities were observed around the US Eastcoast. This might Correspondence to: S. Beirle (steffen.beirle@mpic.de) be partly due to interference with ground sources of NO x being uplifted by the convective systems. However, it could also indicate that flashes in this region are particularly productive.We conclude that current estimates of LNO x production might be biased high for two reasons. First, we observe a high variability of NO 2 for coincident lightning events. This high variability can easily cause a publication bias, since studies reporting on high NO x production have likely been published, while studies finding no or low amounts of NO x might have been rejected as errorneous or not significant. Second, many estimates of LNO x production in literature have been performed over the US, which is probably not representative for global lightning.

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Section: Wwllnsupporting

confidence: 52%

“…As a consequence of the Zel'dovich mechanism, PE increases with energy and peak current (Wang et al, 1998). Flashes of low peak current are thus less productive concerning LNO x .…”

Section: Factors Determining Pementioning

confidence: 99%

Direct satellite observation of lightning-produced NOx

2010

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“…Study P Range Method Levy et al (1996) 4.0 3.0-5.0 Top-down from aircraft NO x observations Ridley et al (1996) n.a. 2.0-5.0 Extrapolation of New Mexico storm production Price et al (1997a) 12.2 5.0-20.0 Bottom-up from ISCCP cloud climatology Price et al (1997b) 13.2 5.0-25.0 Constraints from atmospheric electricity Wang et al (1998) n.a. 2.5-8.3 Bottom-up from laboratory measurements Huntrieser et al (1998) 4.0 0.3-22.0 Extrapolation of LINOX storm production Nesbitt et al (2000) n.a.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimates of lightning NOx production from GOME satellite observations

et al. 2005

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Abstract. Tropospheric NO 2 column retrievals from the Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME) satellite spectrometer are used to quantify the source strength and 3-D distribution of lightning produced nitrogen oxides (NO x =NO+NO 2 ). A sharp increase of NO 2 is observed at convective cloud tops with increasing cloud top height, consistent with a power-law behaviour with power 5±2. Convective production of clouds with the same cloud height are found to produce NO 2 with a ratio 1.6/1 for continents compared to oceans. This relation between cloud properties and NO 2 is used to construct a 10:30 local time global lightning NO 2 production map for 1997. An extensive statistical comparison is conducted to investigate the capability of the TM3 chemistry transport model to reproduce observed patterns of lightning NO 2 in time and space. This comparison uses the averaging kernel to relate modelled profiles of NO 2 to observed NO 2 columns. It exploits a masking scheme to minimise the interference of other NO x sources on the observed total columns. Simulations are performed with two lightning parameterizations, one relating convective preciptation (CP scheme) to lightning flash distributions, and the other relating the fifth power of the cloud top height (H5 scheme) to lightning distributions. The satellite-retrieved NO 2 fields show significant correlations with the simulated lightning contribution to the NO 2 concentrations for both parameterizations. Over tropical continents modelled lightning NO 2 shows remarkable quantitative agreement with observations. Over the oceans however, the two model lightning parameterizations overestimate the retrieved NO 2 attributed to lightning. Possible explanations for these overestimations are discussed. The ratio between satellite-retrieved NO 2 and modelled lightning NO 2 is used to rescale the original modelled lightning NO x production. Eight estimates of the lightning NO x production in 1997 are obtained from spatial and temporal correCorrespondence to: K. F. Boersma (boersma@knmi.nl) lation methods, from cloud-free and cloud-covered observations, and from two different lightning parameterizations. Accounting for a wide variety of random and possible systematic errors, we estimate the global NO x production from lightning to be in the range 1.1-6.4 Tg N in 1997.

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“…The radius of the cylinder is taken from the area of high pressure due to thermal expansion. This area only reaches one to two centimeters across, so the radius of the cylinder is set at 0.01 m. A numerical simulation by Wang et al (1998) gave NO x production levels similar to experimental results when setting the radius of the leader core equal to this value. r = 0.01 m gives a cross-sectional area of 3.14 × 10 −4 m 2 , and a volume of 3.14 m 3 .…”

Section: Calculationsmentioning

confidence: 90%

Possible catalytic effects of ice particles on the production of NOx by lightning discharges

Peterson

Beasley

2011

Atmos. Chem. Phys.

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Abstract.It is well known that lightning produces NO x as a result of the high temperatures in discharge channels. Since most viable proposed electrification mechanisms involve ice crystals, it is reasonable to assume that lightning discharge channels frequently pass through fields of ice particles of various kinds. We address the question of whether ice crystals may serve as catalysts for the production of NO x by lightning discharges. If so, and if the effect is large, it would need to be taken into account in estimates of global NO x production by lightning. In this theoretical study, we make a series of plausible assumptions about the temperature and concentration of reactant species in the environment of discharges and we postulate a mechanism by which ice crystals are able to adsorb nitrogen atoms. We then compare production rates between uncatalyzed and catalyzed reactions at 2000 K, 3000 K, and 4000 K, which are reasonable temperatures in lightning channels as they cool down. Ice crystal catalysis is expected to produce 2.7 times more NO than if ice crystals were not present. Catalyzed NO production rates are greater at 2000 K, whereas uncatalyzed production rates are greater at 4000 K. Thus, temperatures that favor rapid NO production without ice crystals adsorbing nitrogen atoms are unfavorable for NO production in the presence of ice crystals, and vice versa. The density of atmospheric ice crystals is much larger at 10 km where intracloud (IC) flashes peak than at 5 km where cloud to ground (CG) flashes peak, thus catalytic processes are expected to be more important for IC flashes than CG flashes, perhaps explaining a portion of the discrepancy in IC and CG production rates.

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Nitric oxide production by simulated lightning: Dependence on current, energy, and pressure

Cited by 158 publications

References 29 publications

Direct satellite observation of lightning-produced NO<sub>x</sub>

Direct satellite observation of lightning-produced NO<sub>x</sub>

Estimates of lightning NO<sub>x</sub> production from GOME satellite observations

Possible catalytic effects of ice particles on the production of NO<sub>x</sub> by lightning discharges

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Nitric oxide production by simulated lightning: Dependence on current, energy, and pressure

Cited by 158 publications

References 29 publications

Direct satellite observation of lightning-produced NO&lt;sub&gt;x&lt;/sub&gt;

Direct satellite observation of lightning-produced NO&lt;sub&gt;x&lt;/sub&gt;

Estimates of lightning NO&lt;sub&gt;x&lt;/sub&gt; production from GOME satellite observations

Possible catalytic effects of ice particles on the production of NO&lt;sub&gt;x&lt;/sub&gt; by lightning discharges

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Product

Resources

About

Direct satellite observation of lightning-produced NO<sub>x</sub>

Direct satellite observation of lightning-produced NO<sub>x</sub>

Estimates of lightning NO<sub>x</sub> production from GOME satellite observations

Possible catalytic effects of ice particles on the production of NO<sub>x</sub> by lightning discharges