The 29 June 2000 Supercell Observed during STEPS. Part II: Lightning and Charge Structure

2005 ◽  
Vol 62 (12) ◽  
pp. 4151-4177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyle C. Wiens ◽  
Steven A. Rutledge ◽  
Sarah A. Tessendorf
Keyword(s):  
Positive Charge ◽  
Lightning Activity ◽  
Structure Evolution ◽  
Severe Thunderstorm ◽  
Charge Structure ◽  
Flash Rate ◽  
Lightning Detection ◽  
Mapping Array ◽  
Total Lightning ◽  
Mexico Tech

Abstract This second part of a two-part study examines the lightning and charge structure evolution of the 29 June 2000 tornadic supercell observed during the Severe Thunderstorm Electrification and Precipitation Study (STEPS). Data from the National Lightning Detection Network and the New Mexico Tech Lightning Mapping Array (LMA) are used to quantify the total and cloud-to-ground (CG) flash rates. Additionally, the LMA data are used to infer gross charge structure and to determine the origin locations and charge regions involved in the CG flashes. The total flash rate reached nearly 300 min−1 and was well correlated with radar-inferred updraft and graupel echo volumes. Intracloud flashes accounted for 95%–100% of the total lightning activity during any given minute. Nearly 90% of the CG flashes delivered a positive charge to ground (+CGs). The charge structure during the first 20 min of this storm consisted of a midlevel negative charge overlying lower positive charge with no evidence of an upper positive charge. The charge structure in the later (severe) phase was more complex but maintained what could be roughly described as an inverted tripole, dominated by a deep midlevel (5–9 km MSL) region of positive charge. The storm produced only two CG flashes (both positive) in the first 2 h of lightning activity, both of which occurred during a brief surge in updraft and hail production. Frequent +CG flashes began nearly coincident with dramatic increases in storm updraft, hail production, total flash rate, and the formation of an F1 tornado. The +CG flashes tended to cluster in or just downwind of the heaviest precipitation, which usually contained hail. The +CG flashes all originated between 5 and 9 km MSL, centered at 6.8 km (−10°C), and tapped LMA-inferred positive charge both in the precipitation core and (more often) in weaker reflectivity extending downwind. All but one of the −CG flashes originated from >9 km MSL and tended to strike near the precipitation core.

Lightning Activity in a Hail-Producing Storm Observed with Phased-Array Radar

2011 ◽  
Vol 139 (6) ◽  
pp. 1809-1825 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Emersic ◽  
P. L. Heinselman ◽  
D. R. MacGorman ◽  
E. C. Bruning
Keyword(s):  
Phased Array ◽  
Velocity Structure ◽  
Negative Charge ◽  
Positive Charge ◽  
Lightning Activity ◽  
Mature Stage ◽  
Charge Structure ◽  
Phased Array Radar ◽  
Lightning Detection ◽  
Mapping Array

Abstract This study examined lightning activity relative to the rapidly evolving kinematics of a hail-producing storm on 15 August 2006. Data were provided by the National Weather Radar Testbed Phased-Array Radar, the Oklahoma Lightning Mapping Array, and the National Lightning Detection Network. This analysis is the first to compare the electrical characteristics of a hail-producing storm with the reflectivity and radial velocity structure at temporal resolutions of less than 1 min. Total flash rates increased to approximately 220 min−1 as the storm’s updraft first intensified, leveled off during its first mature stage, and then decreased for 2–3 min despite the simultaneous development of another updraft surge. This reduction in flash rate occurred as wet hail formed in the new updraft and was likely related to the wet growth; wet growth is not conducive to hydrometeor charging and probably contributed to the formation of a “lightning hole” without a mesocyclone. Total flash rates subsequently increased to approximately 450 min−1 as storm volume and inferred graupel volume increased, and then decreased as the storm dissipated. The vertical charge structure in the storm initially formed a positive tripole (midlevel negative charge between upper and lower positive charges). The charge structure in the second updraft surge consisted of a negative charge above a deep midlevel positive charge, a reversal consistent with the effects of large liquid water contents on hydrometeor charge polarity in laboratory experiments. Prior to the second updraft surge, the storm produced two cloud-to-ground flashes, both lowering the usual negative charge to ground. Shortly before hail likely reached ground, the storm produced four cloud-to-ground flashes, all lowering the positive charge. Episodes of high singlet VHF sources were observed at approximately 13–15 km during the initial formation and later intensification of the storm’s updraft.

Radar and Lightning Observations of Normal and Inverted Polarity Multicellular Storms from STEPS

2007 ◽  
Vol 135 (11) ◽  
pp. 3682-3706 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah A. Tessendorf ◽  
Steven A. Rutledge ◽  
Kyle C. Wiens
Keyword(s):  
Los Alamos ◽  
Severe Thunderstorm ◽  
Charge Structure ◽  
Array Data ◽  
Lightning Detection ◽  
Normal Polarity ◽  
Mapping Array ◽  
Intracloud Discharges ◽  
Cg Lightning

Abstract This study discusses radar and lightning observations of two multicellular storms observed during the Severe Thunderstorm Electrification and Precipitation Study. The Lightning Mapping Array data indicated that the charge structure of the 19 June 2000 storm was consistent with a normal polarity tripole, while the 22 June 2000 storm exhibited an overall inverted tripolar charge structure. The 19 June storm consisted of weaker convection and produced little to no hail and moderate total flash rates peaking between 80 and 120 min−1. The cells in the 22 June 2000 storm were much more vigorous, exhibited strong, broad updrafts, and produced large quantities of hail, as well as extraordinary total flash rates as high as 500 min−1. The National Lightning Detection Network (NLDN) indicated that the 19 June storm produced mostly negative cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning, while the 22 June storm produced predominantly positive CG lightning, peaking at 10 min−1 just after two cells merged. However, the Los Alamos Sferic Array indicated that many of the positive CG strokes reported by the NLDN in the 22 June storm were intracloud discharges known as narrow bipolar events. Negative CG lightning was also observed in the 22 June storm, but typically came to ground beneath an inverted dipole in the storm anvil.

scholarly journals Numerically Simulated Electrification and Lightning of the 29 June 2000 STEPS Supercell Storm

2006 ◽  
Vol 134 (10) ◽  
pp. 2734-2757 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristin M. Kuhlman ◽  
Conrad L. Ziegler ◽  
Edward R. Mansell ◽  
Donald R. MacGorman ◽  
Jerry M. Straka
Keyword(s):  
Mass Flux ◽  
Cloud Model ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Cloud Water ◽  
Severe Thunderstorm ◽  
Charge Structure ◽  
Flash Rate ◽  
Supercell Storm ◽  
Mapping Array ◽  
Cloud To Ground Lightning

Abstract A three-dimensional dynamic cloud model incorporating airflow dynamics, microphysics, and thunderstorm electrification mechanisms is used to simulate the first 3 h of the 29 June 2000 supercell from the Severe Thunderstorm Electrification and Precipitation Study (STEPS). The 29 June storm produced large flash rates, predominately positive cloud-to-ground lightning, large hail, and an F1 tornado. Four different simulations of the storm are made, each one using a different noninductive (NI) charging parameterization. The charge structure, and thus lightning polarity, of the simulated storm is sensitive to the treatment of cloud water dependence in the different NI charging schemes. The results from the simulations are compared with observations from STEPS, including balloon-borne electric field meter soundings and flash locations from the Lightning Mapping Array. For two of the parameterizations, the observed “inverted” tripolar charge structure is well approximated by the model. The polarity of the ground flashes is opposite that of the lowest charge region of the inverted tripole in both the observed storm and the simulations. Total flash rate is well correlated with graupel volume, updraft volume, and updraft mass flux. However, there is little correlation between total flash rate and maximum updraft speed. Based on the correlations found in both the observed and simulated storm, the total flash rate appears to be most representative of overall storm intensity.

An Electrical and Polarimetric Analysis of the Overland Reintensification of Tropical Storm Erin (2007)

2014 ◽  
Vol 142 (6) ◽  
pp. 2321-2344 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erica M. Griffin ◽  
Terry J. Schuur ◽  
Donald R. MacGorman ◽  
Matthew R. Kumjian ◽  
Alexandre O. Fierro
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Cyclones ◽  
Inner Core ◽  
Open Water ◽  
Tropical Storm ◽  
Sea Level Pressure ◽  
Core Convection ◽  
Lightning Detection ◽  
Mapping Array ◽  
Total Lightning ◽  
Abundant Data

Abstract While passing over central Oklahoma on 18–19 August 2007, the remnants of Tropical Storm Erin unexpectedly reintensified and developed an eyelike feature that was clearly discernable in Weather Surveillance Radar-1988 Doppler (WSR-88D) imagery. During this brief reintensification period, Erin traversed a region of dense surface and remote sensing observation networks that provided abundant data of high spatial and temporal resolution. This study analyzes data from the polarimetric KOUN S-band radar, total lightning data from the Oklahoma Lightning Mapping Array, and ground-flash lightning data from the National Lightning Detection Network. Erin’s reintensification was atypical since it occurred well inland and was accompanied by stronger maximum sustained winds and gusts (25 and 37 m s−1, respectively) and lower minimum sea level pressure (1001.3 hPa) than while over water. Radar observations reveal several similarities to those documented in mature tropical cyclones over open water, including outward-sloping eyewall convection, near 0-dBZ reflectivities within the eye, and relatively large updraft velocities in the eyewall as inferred from single-Doppler winds and ZDR columns. Deep, electrified convection near the center of circulation preceded the formation of Erin’s eye, with maximum lightning activity occurring prior to and during reintensification. The results show that inner-core convection may have played a role in the reinvigoration of the storm.

Thermodynamic Contribution to Lightning Activity in the Fourth Chimney

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Earle Williams ◽  
Diego Enore ◽  
Enrique Mattos ◽  
Yen-Jung Joanne Wu
Keyword(s):  
Convective Available Potential Energy ◽  
Lightning Activity ◽  
South Pacific Convergence Zone ◽  
Convergence Zone ◽  
Lightning Flash ◽  
Schumann Resonance ◽  
Flash Rate ◽  
Zonal Wavenumber ◽  
Usual Behavior ◽  
Total Lightning

<p>Lightning activity over oceans is normally greatly suppressed in comparison with continents.  The most conspicuous region of enhanced lightning activity over open ocean is found in the equatorial Pacific (150 W) in many global lightning climatologies (OTD, LIS, WWLLN, GLD360, RHESSI, Schumann resonance Q-bursts) and is associated with the South Pacific Convergence Zone (SPCZ).  This oceanic lightning anomaly completes the zonal wavenumber-4 structure of continent-based lightning maxima (with nominal 90-degree longitudinal separation between sources), and so is appropriately named “the fourth chimney”.  This region is now under continuous surveillance by the Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) on the GOES-17 satellite (at 137 W).  This total lightning activity is compared with Convective Available Potential Energy (CAPE) from ERA-5 reanalysis.  These CAPE values are correlated with values extracted from thermodynamic soundings at proximal stations Atuona, Rikitea and Tahiti.  The shape of the regional climatology of CAPE resembles that of the SPCZ and is oblique to the equator.  The total lightning flash rate is positively correlated with CAPE, and lightning locations are found preferentially in regions of elevated CAPE on individual days.  The diurnal variation of total lightning for January exceeds a factor-of-two and shows a phase at odds with the usual behavior of oceanic lightning near continents.</p>

scholarly journals Revisiting Lightning Activity and Parameterization Using Geostationary Satellite Observations

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (19) ◽  
pp. 3866
Author(s):  
Xin Zhang ◽  
Yan Yin ◽  
Julia Kukulies ◽  
Yang Li ◽  
Xiang Kuang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Robust Statistics ◽  
Detection Efficiency ◽  
Lightning Activity ◽  
Power Relationship ◽  
Lightning Flash ◽  
Flash Rate ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Total Lightning ◽  
The Tropics ◽  
The Relationship

The Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) on the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite 16 (GOES-16) detects total lightning continuously, with a high spatial resolution and detection efficiency. Coincident data from the GLM and the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) are used to explore the correlation between the cloud top properties and flash activity across the continental United States (CONUS) sector from May to September 2020. A large number of collocated infrared (IR) brightness temperature (TBB), cloud top height (CTH) and lightning data provides robust statistics. Overall, the likelihood of lightning occurrence and high flash density is higher if the TBB is colder than 225 K. The higher CTH is observed to be correlated with a larger flash rate, a smaller flash size, stronger updraft, and larger optical energy. Furthermore, the cloud top updraft velocity (w) is estimated based on the decreasing rate of TBB, but it is smaller than the updraft velocity of the convective core. As a result, the relationship between CTH and lightning flash rate is investigated independently of w over the continental, oceanic and coastal regimes in the tropics and mid-latitudes. When the CTH is higher than 12 km, the flash rates of oceanic lightning are 38% smaller than those of both coastal and continental lightning. In addition, it should be noted that more studies are necessary to examine why the oceanic lightning with low clouds (CTH < 8 km) has higher flash rates than lightning over land and coast. Finally, the exponents of derived power relationship between CTH and lightning flash rate are smaller than four, which is underestimated due to the GLM detection efficiency and the difference between IR CTH and 20 dBZ CTH. The results from combining the ABI and GLM products suggest that merging multiple satellite datasets could benefit both lightning activity and parameterization studies, although the parallax corrections should be considered.

A Lightning Data Assimilation Technique for Mesoscale Forecast Models

2007 ◽  
Vol 135 (5) ◽  
pp. 1732-1748 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward R. Mansell ◽  
Conrad L. Ziegler ◽  
Donald R. MacGorman
Keyword(s):  
Mesoscale Model ◽  
Initial Conditions ◽  
Deep Convection ◽  
Cold Pool ◽  
Cold Pools ◽  
Heating And Cooling ◽  
Lightning Detection ◽  
Forecast Models ◽  
Mapping Array ◽  
Total Lightning

Abstract Lightning observations have been assimilated into a mesoscale model for improvement of forecast initial conditions. Data are used from the National Lightning Detection Network (cloud-to-ground lightning detection) and a Lightning Mapping Array (total lightning detection) that was installed in western Kansas–eastern Colorado. The assimilation method uses lightning as a proxy for the presence or absence of deep convection. During assimilation, lightning data are used to control the Kain–Fritsch (KF) convection parameterization scheme. The KF scheme can be forced to try to produce convection where lightning indicated storms, and, conversely, can optionally be prevented from producing spurious convection where no lightning was observed. Up to 1 g kg−1 of water vapor may be added to the boundary layer when the KF convection is too weak. The method does not employ any lightning–rainfall relationships, but rather allows the KF scheme to generate heating and cooling rates from its modeled convection. The method could therefore easily be used for real-time assimilation of any source of lightning observations. For the case study, the lightning assimilation was successful in generating cold pools that were present in the surface observations at initialization of the forecast. The resulting forecast showed considerably more skill than the control forecast, especially in the first few hours as convection was triggered by the propagation of the cold pool boundary.

scholarly journals Analysis of Thundersnow Storms over Northern Colorado

2015 ◽  
Vol 30 (6) ◽  
pp. 1469-1490 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew R. Kumjian ◽  
Wiebke Deierling
Keyword(s):  
Electrical Properties ◽  
Electric Fields ◽  
Warm Season ◽  
Radar Data ◽  
Lightning Detection ◽  
Northern Colorado ◽  
Lightning Discharges ◽  
Mapping Array ◽  
Total Lightning ◽  
Convective Cells

ABSTRACT Lightning flashes during snowstorms occur infrequently compared to warm-season convection. The rarity of such thundersnow events poses an additional hazard because the lightning is unexpected. Because cloud electrification in thundersnow storms leads to relatively few lightning discharges, studying thundersnow events may offer insights into mechanisms for charging and possible thresholds required for lightning discharges. Observations of four northern Colorado thundersnow events that occurred during the 2012/13 winter are presented. Four thundersnow events in one season strongly disagrees with previous climatologies that used surface reports, implying thundersnow may be more common than previously thought. Total lightning information from the Colorado Lightning Mapping Array and data from conterminous United States lightning detection networks are examined to investigate the snowstorms’ electrical properties and to compare them to typical warm-season thunderstorms. Data from polarimetric WSR-88Ds near Denver, Colorado, and Cheyenne, Wyoming, are used to reveal the storms’ microphysical structure and determine operationally relevant signatures related to storm electrification. Most lightning occurred within convective cells containing graupel and pristine ice. However, one flash occurred in a stratiform snowband, apparently triggered by a tower. Depolarization streaks were observed in the radar data prior to the flash, indicating electric fields strong enough to orient pristine ice crystals. Direct comparisons of similar lightning- and nonlightning-producing convective cells reveal that though both cells likely produced graupel, the lightning-producing cell had larger values of specific differential phase and polarimetric radar–derived ice mass. Compared to warm-season thunderstorms, the analyzed thundersnow storms had similar electrical properties but lower flash rates and smaller vertical depths, suggesting they are weaker, ordinary thunderstorms lacking any warm (&gt;0°C) cloud depth.

scholarly journals The Timing of Cloud-to-Ground Lightning Relative to Total Lightning Activity

2011 ◽  
Vol 139 (12) ◽  
pp. 3871-3886 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald R. MacGorman ◽  
Ivy R. Apostolakopoulos ◽  
Nicole R. Lund ◽  
Nicholas W. S. Demetriades ◽  
Martin J. Murphy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Lightning Activity ◽  
High Plains ◽  
Very High Frequency ◽  
North Texas ◽  
Lightning Detection ◽  
Lower Charge ◽  
Cloud To Ground Lightning ◽  
Total Lightning ◽  
Very High ◽  
Mapping Systems

Abstract The first flash produced by a storm usually does not strike ground, but little has been published concerning the time after the first flash before a cloud-to-ground flash occurs, particularly for a variety of climatological regions. To begin addressing this issue, this study analyzed data from very-high-frequency (VHF) lightning mapping systems, which detect flashes of all types, and from the U.S. National Lightning Detection Network (NLDN), which identifies flash type and detects roughly 90% of cloud-to-ground flashes overall. VHF mapping data were analyzed from three regions: north Texas, Oklahoma, and the high plains of Colorado, Kansas, and Nebraska. The percentage of storms in which a cloud-to-ground flash was detected in the first minute of lightning activity varied from 0% in the high plains to 10%–20% in Oklahoma and north Texas. The distribution of delays to the first cloud-to-ground flash varied similarly. In Oklahoma and north Texas, 50% of storms produced a cloud-to-ground flash within 5–10 min, and roughly 10% failed to produce a cloud-to-ground flash within 1 h. In the high plains, however, it required 30 min for 50% of storms to have produced a cloud-to-ground flash, and 20% produced no ground flash within 1 h. The authors suggest that the reason high plains storms take longer to produce cloud-to-ground lightning is because the formation of the lower charge needed to produce most cloud-to-ground flashes is inhibited either by delaying the formation of precipitation in the mid- and lower levels of storms or by many of the storms having an inverted-polarity electrical structure.

Radar and Lightning Observations of the 3 June 2000 Electrically Inverted Storm from STEPS

2007 ◽  
Vol 135 (11) ◽  
pp. 3665-3681 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah A. Tessendorf ◽  
Kyle C. Wiens ◽  
Steven A. Rutledge
Keyword(s):  
Negative Charge ◽  
Positive Charge ◽  
Convective Storm ◽  
Severe Thunderstorm ◽  
Mapping Array ◽  
Total Lack ◽  
Upper Level ◽  
Electrical Bias ◽  
Low Precipitation ◽  
Cg Lightning

Abstract This study addresses the kinematic, microphysical, and electrical evolution of an isolated convective storm observed on 3 June 2000 during the Severe Thunderstorm Electrification and Precipitation Study field campaign. Doppler-derived vertical velocities, radar reflectivity, hydrometeor classifications from polarimetric radar, and Lightning Mapping Array (LMA) charge structures are examined over a nearly 3-h period. This storm, characterized as a low-precipitation supercell, produced modest amounts of hail, determined by fuzzy-logic hydrometeor classification as mostly small (&lt;2 cm) hail, with one surface report of large (≥2 cm) hail. Doppler-derived updraft speeds peaked between 20 and 25 m s−1, and reflectivity was never greater than 60 dBZ. The most striking feature of this storm was its total lack of cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning. Though this storm was electrically active, with maximum flash rates near 30 per minute, no CG flashes of either polarity were detected. The charge structure inferred from the LMA observations was consistent with an inverted dipole, defined as having a midlevel positive charge region below upper-level negative charge. Inverted charge structures have typically been considered conducive to producing positive CG lightning; however, the 3 June storm appeared to lack the lower negative charge layer below the inverted dipole that is thought to provide the downward electrical bias necessary for positive CG lightning.

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