Small ice crystals and the climatology of lightning
Sherwood, SC ; Phillips, Vaughan LU
and Wettlaufer, JS
(2006)
In Geophysical Research Letters
33(5).
p.05804-05804
- Abstract
- [1] Vigorous debate still surrounds the cloud electrification process and unexplained regional variations in lightning activity. Here, we show that climatological maxima in lightning activity are associated with small effective diameter D-e of ice crystals near cumulonimbus cloud tops. This relationship, unlike lightning's more well-known relationship with cloud top height, is consistent over land and ocean. Since multiple studies indicate that D-e is reduced by atmospheric aerosol, this relationship strengthens previous suggestions of a role for aerosols as well as dynamics in electrification. Moreover, the angular distribution of backscattered radiance shows that modest (similar to 10%) D-e decreases reflect large (similar to 2x)... (More)
- [1] Vigorous debate still surrounds the cloud electrification process and unexplained regional variations in lightning activity. Here, we show that climatological maxima in lightning activity are associated with small effective diameter D-e of ice crystals near cumulonimbus cloud tops. This relationship, unlike lightning's more well-known relationship with cloud top height, is consistent over land and ocean. Since multiple studies indicate that D-e is reduced by atmospheric aerosol, this relationship strengthens previous suggestions of a role for aerosols as well as dynamics in electrification. Moreover, the angular distribution of backscattered radiance shows that modest (similar to 10%) D-e decreases reflect large (similar to 2x) increases in the number of small (< similar to 30 mu m) particles N, a finding supported by cloud model simulations. Both relationships provide an important new test of cloud microphysics and/or electrification models. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/4587561
- author
- Sherwood, SC
; Phillips, Vaughan
LU
and Wettlaufer, JS
- publishing date
- 2006
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- in
- Geophysical Research Letters
- volume
- 33
- issue
- 5
- pages
- 05804 - 05804
- publisher
- American Geophysical Union (AGU)
- external identifiers
-
- wos:000236269100006
- scopus:33646377880
- ISSN
- 1944-8007
- DOI
- 10.1029/2005GL025242
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- no
- id
- 6586fba0-3e1a-4646-8705-054ce3dc4531 (old id 4587561)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 16:01:37
- date last changed
- 2022-03-22 07:43:39
@article{6586fba0-3e1a-4646-8705-054ce3dc4531,
abstract = {{[1] Vigorous debate still surrounds the cloud electrification process and unexplained regional variations in lightning activity. Here, we show that climatological maxima in lightning activity are associated with small effective diameter D-e of ice crystals near cumulonimbus cloud tops. This relationship, unlike lightning's more well-known relationship with cloud top height, is consistent over land and ocean. Since multiple studies indicate that D-e is reduced by atmospheric aerosol, this relationship strengthens previous suggestions of a role for aerosols as well as dynamics in electrification. Moreover, the angular distribution of backscattered radiance shows that modest (similar to 10%) D-e decreases reflect large (similar to 2x) increases in the number of small (< similar to 30 mu m) particles N, a finding supported by cloud model simulations. Both relationships provide an important new test of cloud microphysics and/or electrification models.}},
author = {{Sherwood, SC and Phillips, Vaughan and Wettlaufer, JS}},
issn = {{1944-8007}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{5}},
pages = {{05804--05804}},
publisher = {{American Geophysical Union (AGU)}},
series = {{Geophysical Research Letters}},
title = {{Small ice crystals and the climatology of lightning}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2005GL025242}},
doi = {{10.1029/2005GL025242}},
volume = {{33}},
year = {{2006}},
}