Analysis Of Lightning Activity Research Articles

Анализ молниевой активности в Мурманской области в 2021 году

The article presents the results of the analysis of data on lightning discharges, registered in 2021 on the territory of the Murmansk region by the non-commercial lightning detection network Blitzortung. Despite the relatively low percentage of registered lightning discharges, the Blitzortung network is the only available source of information on lightning activity in the Murmansk region. The analysis of lightning activity in 2021 on the territory of the Murmansk region is carried out, data on the impact of lightning on the objects of the Kola Power System are presented.

Статистический анализ молниевой активности на территории Северного Кавказа

Statistical analysis of lightning activity in the North Caucasus and Stavropol Territory depending on orography is carried out. The statistical characteristics of lightning for the period 2009-2018 on the territory of 173056 km2 were analyzed.

Анализ молниевой активности на Кольском полуострове в 2019–2020 гг.

The article describes the operation principles of the “Blitzortung” —non-commercial low-cost lightning location network. At the beginning of 2019 five detectors of this network were installed on the Kola Peninsula and operated without interruption during 2019–2020 thunderstorm seasons. Analysis of lightning activity in the Murmansk region for this period are carried out, data on the impact of lightning on the elements of the Kolapower system are provided.

Numerical simulation of 23 June 2016 Yancheng City EF4 tornadic supercell and analysis of lightning activity

Based on the Weather Research Forecasting (WRF) model that features charging and discharging parameterization, relationships between tornado, hail and lightning were investigated for a tornado-producing (EF4 intensity) supercell thunderstorm over Yancheng City in Jiangsu Province, China, on 23 June 2016. Based on a sounding at 0800, there was a low lifting condensation level, substantial convective available potential energy (CAPE), and strong vertical wind shear near Yancheng City, which promote supercell development. At 1400, observations revealed that hail production and a dramatic increase of positive cloud-to-ground flash rates occurred simultaneously, maximizing five minutes later. The tornado occurred 30 min after the hail production. The time of minimum positive cloud-to-ground flash rates was 15 min later. The simulation indicated that the tornadic supercell moved eastward and that positive cloud-to-ground flash rates increased dramatically at 1400, the same as observed, but their maximum was 5 min later than observed. The simulated updraft volume peaked at 1425 and the simulated downdraft volume maximized 5 min later, when the mesocyclone formed. Simulated reflectivities showed no hook echo and horizontal winds for different height at mid-low levels had a different cyclonic shear at 1430, favorable to mesocyclone formation. Based on the simulated results, the region of positively charged graupel ascended resulting from the region of high liquid water content was lifted by the strong updraft, forming a mid-level strong positive charge region. A lower negative charge region formed by the inductive charging mechanism of collisions between graupel and droplets at the bottom of the cloud, conducive to positive cloud-to-ground flashes.

Lightning, overshooting top and hail characteristics for strong convective storms in Central Europe

Lightning activity in storms with overshooting tops and hail-producing storms over Central Europe is studied, in order to find typical lightning characteristics that can be useful in nowcasting of the severity of the storm and its ability to produce hail. The first part of the study gives the analysis of lightning activity in thunderstorms with overshooting tops (OT) for the warm part of the year (May–September) from 2009 to 2010 over central and southeastern Europe. Deep convective clouds with OT were detected in Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI) data, using methods based on the infrared window (IRW, 10.8μm) channel and absorption channels of water vapor (WV, 6.2μm) and ozone (O3, 9.7μm) in the form of brightness temperature differences. The locations and times of the detected OT were compared to the distribution and types of lightning strokes, which were provided by the LINET Lightning Location System. The results show that the spatial distribution of lightning generally coincides with the spatial distribution of the detected OT. The largest numbers of lightning strokes and OT were found in western Hungary, southeastern Austria, northeastern Slovenia and the northern Adriatic. The largest number of OT occurred between 1600 and 1800 UTC, whereas from 0600 to 1000 UTC OT detections were rather rare. Lightning activity showed a similar temporal distribution, with an increase in lightning activity evident at or close to the time of the OT detections. At the time of and close to the location of the OT, the lightning was found to occur well above the tropopause and was clearly related to the OT of cumulonimbus clouds.In the second part of the study, lightning characteristics are studied for 35 events of hail-producing thunderstorms over Croatia in the summer months (May to September), from 2008 to 2012. The lightning distribution, also registered by LINET, was compared to hail parameters based on measurements at the hailpad polygon. A polygon with dimensions of 30km×20km was located in the area of highest average number of days with hail occurrence in the continental part of Croatia. In a majority of the studied cases, the number of total lightning strokes sharply increased slightly before the beginning of hailfall. At the time the hailfall started there is a brief decrease in the number of lightning strokes, followed by a sharp increase shortly after. Additionally, larger hailstones with higher kinetic energy values appeared at the beginning of the hailshower. Microphysical properties of the cloud tops, investigated using MSG SEVIRI 3.9μm reflectivity, i.e. profiles of the effective radii of cloud particles vs. temperature, clearly verify the presence of strong updrafts associated with hail-producing clouds.