Lightning Development over the Distinct Climate Regions of Uttarakhand, India

Abstract

Objectives: Lightning activity and its connections with meteorology and aerosol loading over Uttarakhand, with varying topography and climates, is studied using ISS Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) aboard international space station (ISS) data during the period 2018–2021. Methods: To understand the variation of lightning activity with meteorology and aerosol loading the correlation of lightning activity with different meteorological parameters such as surface temperature, convective available potential energy (CAPE), aerosol optical depth (AOD), and convective precipitation is studied. Findings: Very poor correlation is observed between lightning flash counts with the meteorological parameters. Annual variation of lightning activity over Uttarakhand shows maximum during the monsoon season (June–September) with a peak during the pre–monsoon season (March–May) month April. The high frequency of western disturbances defined as warm low-pressure systems associated with moisture originated over Mediterranean Sea travelling from west to east across the northern states are responsible for peak lightning activity during pre–monsoon month April and maximum lightning activity in the monsoon season is attributed to the monsoon convection. Novelty: The study made the spatio – temporal variation of lightning over Uttarakhand and also reveals the connection between lightning and different meteorological parameters in different climatic conditions of Uttarakhand which is first defining the importance of large-scale meteorological processes in the development of lightning in Uttarakhand. Keywords: Lightning; Meteorological Parameters; Aerosol optical depth and Convective Available Potential energy (CAPE)