Solar 27-day rotational period detected in wide-area lightning activity in Japan

Miyahara, Hiroko; Higuchi, Chika; Terasawa, T.; Kataoka, Ryuho; Sato, Mitsuteru; Takahashi, Yukihiro

doi:10.5194/angeo-35-583-2017

Cited by 10 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 27 publications

(35 reference statements)

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“…1). Similarly to the results of Miyahara et al (2017a), the signal was more significant at the maxima of the solar decadal cycles (3.5 SD) than at the minima (2.1 SD).…”

Section: Analysis Methodssupporting

confidence: 76%

“…Even in early autumn (September), the advance of this cold air mass causes frequent local updrafts in Kyoto and may dilute the 27-day signal propagated from lower latitudes. As discussed in Miyahara et al (2017a), the 27-day signal is apparent only in the component propagated from lower latitudes and is absent during the season of dominant activity of the Siberian air mass. The local draft increases the noise level of random lightning events, possibly lowering the significance level of the solar rotational cycle.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 91%

“…Previously, we analyzed the lightning data over the AD 1989-2015 period and found a significant 27-day periodicity in the summertime wide-area lightning activity in Japan, especially around the maxima of the 11-year solar cycles (Miyahara et al, 2017a). The signal was strongest at a spatial coverage of at least a few hundred thousand square kilometers (covering more than 15 prefectures).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

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Searching for the 27-day solar rotational cycle in lightning events recorded in old diaries in Kyoto from the 17th to 18th century

2017

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Abstract. A solar rotational period of approximately 27 days has been detected in cloud and lightning activities, although the mechanism of the sun–climate connection remains unclear. In previous studies, lightning activity in Japan showed a significant signal of the solar rotational period, especially around the maxima of the decadal solar cycles. Here we analyze the time series of lightning activity in the AD 1668–1767 period, extracted from old diaries in Kyoto, Japan, and search for the signal of solar rotational cycles. The 27-day cycles were detected in the lightning data and occurred only around the maxima of the decadal sunspot cycles. The signal disappeared during AD 1668–1715, which corresponds to the latter half of the Maunder Minimum when both radiative and magnetic disturbances were thought to have been weak. These findings provide insight into the connection between solar activity and the Earth's climate.

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“…1). Similarly to the results of Miyahara et al (2017a), the signal was more significant at the maxima of the solar decadal cycles (3.5 SD) than at the minima (2.1 SD).…”

Section: Analysis Methodssupporting

confidence: 76%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 91%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

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Searching for the 27-day solar rotational cycle in lightning events recorded in old diaries in Kyoto from the 17th to 18th century

2017

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“…The 27-day period has been detected in thunder and lightning activity, for example, in the records in England for AD 2000(Scott et al, 2014 and AD 2000-2007(Owens et al, 2015 and in Japan for AD 1991-1992and AD 1999-2001(Muraki et al, 2004. A relatively longer record of thunder and lightning activity since AD 1989 in Japan has also shown a signal of solar rotational period near the maxima of the solar decadal cycle (Miyahara et al, 2017a). It has also been suggested that cloud activities in tropical areas had a similar periodicity at the solar cycle maxima during the period of AD 1980-2003(Takahashi et al, 2010Hong et al, 2011); this may also be related to the solar rotation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Solar rotational cycle in lightning activity in Japan during the 18–19th centuries

et al. 2018

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Abstract. Thunderstorm and cloud activities sometimes show a 27-day period, and this has long been studied to uncover a possible important link to solar rotation. Because the 27-day variations in the solar forcing parameters such as solar ultraviolet and galactic cosmic rays become more prominent when the solar activity is high, it is expected that the signal of the 27-day period in meteorological phenomena may wax and wane according to the changes in the solar activity level. In this study, we examine in detail the intensity variations in the signal of the 27-day solar rotational period in thunder and lightning activity from the 18th to the 19th centuries based on 150-year-long records found in old diaries kept in Japan and discuss their relation with the solar activity levels. Such long records enable us to examine the signals of solar rotation at both high and low solar activity levels. We found that the signal of the solar rotational period in the thunder and lightning activity increases as the solar activity increases. In this study, we also discuss the possibility of the impact of the long-term climatological conditions on the signals of the 27-day period in thunder/lightning activities. Keywords. Meteorology and atmospheric dynamics (lightning)

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“…In addition to implications in the middle atmosphere, a discussion of possible of 27-day signatures in the troposphere came up recently, mostly in the context of convection and clouds (Takahashi et al, 2010;Hong et al, 2011;Miyahara et al, 2017;Hood, 2018), but also related to temperature (Hood, 2016). Even more than for the middle atmospheric effects, questions concerning the mechanisms behind the tropospheric signatures arise.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Indications for a potential synchronization between the phase evolution of the Madden-Julian oscillation and the solar 27-day cycle

Hoffmann¹,

Savigny²

2018

Preprint

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Abstract. The Madden-Julian oscillation (MJO) is a major source of intraseasonal variability in the troposphere. Recently, studies have indicated that also the solar 27-day variability could cause variability in the troposphere. Furthermore, it has been indicated that both sources could be linked, particularly, that the occurrence of strong MJO events could be modulated by the solar 27-day cycle. In this paper, we analyze whether the temporal evolution of the MJO phases could also be linked to the solar 27-day cycle. We basically count the occurrences of particular MJO phases as a function of time lag after the solar 27-day extrema in about 38 years of MJO data. Furthermore, we develop a quantification approach to measure the strength of such a possible relationship. and use this to compare the behavior for different atmospheric conditions and different datasets, among others. The significance of the results is estimated based on different variants of the Monte Carlo approach, which are also compared. We find indications for a synchronization between the MJO phase evolution and the solar 27-day cycle, which are most notable under certain conditions: MJO events with a strength greater than 0.5, during the easterly phase of the Quasi-biennial oscillation, and during boreal winter. The MJO appears to cycle through its 8 phases within 2 solar 27-day cycles. The phase relation between the MJO and the solar variation appears to be such that the MJO predominantly transitions from phase 8 to 1 or from phase 4 and 5 during the solar 27-day minimum. These results strongly depend on the used MJO index such that the synchronization is most clearly seen when using univariate indices like OMI in the analysis, but can hardly be seen with multivariate indices like RMM. A weaker dependence of the results on the underlying solar proxy is also observed. Although we think that these initial indications are already worth to be noted, we do not claim to unambiguously prove this relationship in the present study; neither in a statistical, nor in a causal sense. Instead, we challenge these initial findings ourselves in detail by varying underlying datasets and methods and critically discuss resulting open questions to lay a solid foundation for further research.

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Solar 27-day rotational period detected in wide-area lightning activity in Japan

Cited by 10 publications

References 27 publications

Searching for the 27-day solar rotational cycle in lightning events recorded in old diaries in Kyoto from the 17th to 18th century

Searching for the 27-day solar rotational cycle in lightning events recorded in old diaries in Kyoto from the 17th to 18th century

Solar rotational cycle in lightning activity in Japan during the 18–19th centuries

Indications for a potential synchronization between the phase evolution of the Madden-Julian oscillation and the solar 27-day cycle

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