NO signatures from lightning flashes

Stith, Jeffrey L.; Dye, J. E.; Ridley, B. A.; Laroche, Pierre; Defer, Éric; Baumann, Karsten; Hübler, G.; Zerr, Ryan J.; Venticinque, Martin A.

doi:10.1029/1999jd900174

Cited by 58 publications

(65 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Values reported in the literature for the NO x produced per cloud-to-ground lightning flash vary considerably, for instance 6.7×10 26 molecules flash −1 (Price et al, 1997), 1.25-12.5×10 25 molecules flash −1 (Stith et al, 1999), or 8.1×10 25 molecules flash −1 (Huntrieser et al, 2002). DeCaria et al (2000) estimated that 3×10 26 molecules CGflash −1 are carried by the downdrafts.…”

Section: Confirmation Of the Anthropogenic Origin Of The No Xmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rapid intercontinental air pollution transport associated with a meteorological bomb

Stohl

Huntrieser²,

Richter

et al. 2003

Atmos. Chem. Phys.

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Abstract.Intercontinental transport (ICT) of trace substances normally occurs on timescales ranging from a few days to several weeks. In this paper an extraordinary episode in November 2001 is presented, where pollution transport across the North Atlantic took only about one day. The transport mechanism, termed here an intercontinental pollution express highway because of the high wind speeds, was exceptional, as it involved an explosively generated cyclone, a so-called meteorological "bomb". To the authors' knowledge, this is the first study describing pollution transport in a bomb. The discovery of this event was based on tracer transport model calculations and satellite measurements of NO 2 , a species with a relatively short lifetime in the atmosphere, which could be transported that far only because of the high wind speeds produced by the bomb. A 15-year transport climatology shows that intercontinental express highways are about four times more frequent in winter than in summer, in agreement with bomb climatologies. The climatology furthermore suggests that intercontinental express highways may be important for the budget of short-lived substances in the remote troposphere. For instance, for a substance with a lifetime of 1 day, express highways may be responsible for about two thirds of the total ICT. We roughly estimate that express highways connecting North America with Europe enhance the average NO x mixing ratios over Europe, due to North American emissions, by about 2-3 pptv in winter.

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Section: Confirmation Of the Anthropogenic Origin Of The No Xmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rapid intercontinental air pollution transport associated with a meteorological bomb

Stohl

Huntrieser²,

Richter

et al. 2003

Atmos. Chem. Phys.

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“…Analyses of observation campaigns have also demonstrated lightning contributions to the ozone and NO x concentrations over the middle US (e.g. : Ridley et al, 1994;Jaegle et al, 1998;Stith et al, 1999;DeCaria et al, 2000DeCaria et al, , 2005, the East Coast of the US (Hudman et al, 2007) and over the downwind Atlantic region (e.g. : Brunner et al, 1998: Brunner et al, , 2001Liu et al, 1999;Thompson et al, 1999;Jeker et al, 2000;Crawford et al, 2000;Allen et al, 2000) in summer and fall.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lightning NO<sub>x</sub> emissions over the USA constrained by TES ozone observations and the GEOS-Chem model

et al. 2010

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Abstract. Improved estimates of NO x from lightning sources are required to understand tropospheric NO x and ozone distributions, the oxidising capacity of the troposphere and corresponding feedbacks between chemistry and climate change. In this paper, we report new satellite ozone observations from the Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) instrument that can be used to test and constrain the parameterization of the lightning source of NO x in global models. Using the National Lightning Detection (NLDN) and the Long Range Lightning Detection Network (LRLDN) data as well as the HYPSLIT transport and dispersion model, we show that TES provides direct observations of ozone enhanced layers downwind of convective events over the USA in July 2006. We find that the GEOS-Chem global chemistry-transport model with a parameterization based on cloud top height, scaled regionally and monthly to OTD/LIS (Optical Transient Detector/Lightning Imaging Sensor) climatology, captures the ozone enhancements seen by TES. We show that the model's ability to reproduce the location of the enhancements is due to the fact that this model reproduces the pattern of the convective events occurrence on a daily basis during the summer of 2006 over the USA, even though it does not well represent the relative distribution of lightning intensities. However, this model with a value of 6 Tg N/yr for the lightning source (i.e.: with a mean production of 260 moles NO/Flash over the USA in summer) underestimates the intensities of the ozone enhancements seen by TES. By imposing a production of 520 moles NO/Flash for lightning occurring in midlatitudes, which better agrees with the values proposed by the most recent studies, we deCorrespondence to: L. Jourdain (line.jourdain@cnrs-orleans.fr) crease the bias between TES and GEOS-Chem ozone over the USA in July 2006 by 40%. However, our conclusion on the strength of the lightning source of NO x is limited by the fact that the contribution from the stratosphere is underestimated in the GEOS-Chem simulations.

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“…LINOX, EULINOX and STERAO) (Luke et al, 1992;Ridley et al, 1994;Poulida et al, 1996;Ridley et al, 1996;Huntrieser et al, 1998;Höller et al, 1999;Stith et al, 1999;Dye et al, 2000;Huntrieser et al, 2002) and partly in the subtropics (e.g. CRYSTAL-FACE) (Ridley et al, 2004), see also overview in Schumann and Huntrieser (2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lightning-produced NO<sub>x</sub> over Brazil during TROCCINOX: airborne measurements in tropical and subtropical thunderstorms and the importance of mesoscale convective systems

et al. 2007

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Abstract. During the TROCCINOX field experiments in February-March 2004 and February 2005, airborne in situ measurements of NO, NO y , CO, and O 3 mixing ratios and the J(NO 2 ) photolysis rate were carried out in the anvil outflow of thunderstorms over southern Brazil. Both tropical and subtropical thunderstorms were investigated, depending on the location of the South Atlantic convergence zone. Tropical air masses were discriminated from subtropical ones according to the higher equivalent potential temperature ( e ) in the lower and mid troposphere, the higher CO mixing ratio in the mid troposphere, and the lower wind velocity in the upper troposphere within the Bolivian High (north of the subtropical jet stream). During thunderstorm anvil penetrations, typically at 20-40 km horizontal scales, NO x mixing ratios were distinctly enhanced and the absolute mixing ratios varied between 0.2-1.6 nmol mol −1 on average. This enhancement was mainly attributed to NO x production by lightning and partly due to upward transport from the NO x -richer boundary layer. In addition, CO mixing ratios were occasionally enhanced, indicating upward transport from the boundary layer. For the first time, the composition of the anvil outflow from a large, long-lived mesoscale convective system (MCS) advected from northern Argentina and Uruguay was investigated in more detail. Over a horizontal scale of about 400 km, NO x , CO and O 3 absolute mixing ratios were significantly enhanced in these air masses in the range of 0.6-1.1, 110-140 and 60-70 nmol mol −1 , respectively. AnalysesCorrespondence to: H. Huntrieser (heidi.huntrieser@dlr.de) from trace gas correlations and a Lagrangian particle dispersion model indicate that polluted air masses, probably from the Buenos Aires urban area and from biomass burning regions, were uplifted by the MCS. Ozone was distinctly enhanced in the aged MCS outflow, due to photochemical production and entrainment of O 3 -rich air masses from the upper troposphere -lower stratosphere region. The aged MCS outflow was transported to the north, ascended and circulated, driven by the Bolivian High over the Amazon basin. In the observed case, the O 3 -rich MCS outflow remained over the continent and did not contribute to the South Atlantic ozone maximum.

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NO signatures from lightning flashes

Cited by 58 publications

References 14 publications

Rapid intercontinental air pollution transport associated with a meteorological bomb

Rapid intercontinental air pollution transport associated with a meteorological bomb

Lightning NO<sub>x</sub> emissions over the USA constrained by TES ozone observations and the GEOS-Chem model

Lightning-produced NO<sub>x</sub> over Brazil during TROCCINOX: airborne measurements in tropical and subtropical thunderstorms and the importance of mesoscale convective systems

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NO signatures from lightning flashes

Cited by 58 publications

References 14 publications

Rapid intercontinental air pollution transport associated with a meteorological bomb

Rapid intercontinental air pollution transport associated with a meteorological bomb

Lightning NO&lt;sub&gt;x&lt;/sub&gt; emissions over the USA constrained by TES ozone observations and the GEOS-Chem model

Lightning-produced NO&lt;sub&gt;x&lt;/sub&gt; over Brazil during TROCCINOX: airborne measurements in tropical and subtropical thunderstorms and the importance of mesoscale convective systems

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Product

Resources

About

Lightning NO<sub>x</sub> emissions over the USA constrained by TES ozone observations and the GEOS-Chem model

Lightning-produced NO<sub>x</sub> over Brazil during TROCCINOX: airborne measurements in tropical and subtropical thunderstorms and the importance of mesoscale convective systems