Global frequency and distribution of lightning as observed from space by the Optical Transient Detector
Hugh J. Christian,Richard J. Blakeslee,Dennis J. Boccippio,William L. Boeck,Dennis E. Buechler,Kevin T. Driscoll,Steven J. Goodman,John Hall,William J. Koshak,Douglas M. Mach,M. F. Stewart +10 more
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TLDR
In this article, the authors used the OTD measurements to construct lightning climatology maps that demonstrate the geographical and seasonal distribution of lightning activity for the globe, and found that lightning occurs mainly over land areas, with an average land/ocean ratio of 10:1.Abstract:
of uncertainty for the OTD global totals represents primarily the uncertainty (and variability) in the flash detection efficiency of the instrument The OTD measurements have been used to construct lightning climatology maps that demonstrate the geographical and seasonal distribution of lightning activity for the globe An analysis of this annual lightning distribution confirms that lightning occurs mainly over land areas, with an average land/ocean ratio of 10:1 The Congo basin, which stands out year-round, shows a peak mean annual flash density of 80 fl km 2 yr 1 in Rwanda, and includes an area of over 3 million km 2 exhibiting flash densities greater than 30 fl km 2 yr 1 (the flash density of central Florida) Lightning is predominant in the northern Atlantic and western Pacific Ocean basins year-round where instability is produced from cold air passing over warm ocean water Lightning is less frequent in the eastern tropical Pacific and Indian Ocean basins where the air mass is warmer A dominant Northern Hemisphere summer peak occurs in the annual cycle, and evidence is found for a tropically driven semiannual cycle INDEX TERMS: 3304 Meteorology and Atmospheric Dynamics: Atmospheric electricity; 3309 Meteorology and Atmospheric Dynamics: Climatology (1620); 3324 Meteorology and Atmospheric Dynamics: Lightning; 3394 Meteorology and Atmospheric Dynamics: Instruments and techniques;read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
Radiative emission and energy deposition in transient luminous events
Cheng Ling Kuo,Cheng Ling Kuo,A. Chen,J. K. Chou,L. Y. Tsai,Rue-Ron Hsu,Han Tzong Su,Harald U. Frey,Stephen B. Mende,Yukihiro Takahashi,Lou-Chuang Lee +10 more
TL;DR: In this article, Chen et al. reported the computed radiative emission and energy precipitation of the TLEs in the upper atmosphere and found that for sprites, halos and elves the spatially averaged brightness are 1.5, 0.3 and 0.17 MR, and the energy deposition is 22, 14 and 19MJ per event.
Journal ArticleDOI
The influence of topography on the cloud-to-ground lightning density in South Brazil
TL;DR: A comparative analysis between cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning density and terrain parameters (altitude and terrain slope) in South Brazil is presented in this paper, which suggests that terrain slope has more influence than altitude on the thunderstorm occurrence and lightning activity.
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Holocene fire activity during low-natural flammability periods reveals scale-dependent cultural human-fire relationships in Europe
Elisabeth Dietze,Martin Theuerkauf,Karolina Bloom,Achim Brauer,Walter Dörfler,Ingo Feeser,Angelica Feurdean,Laura Gedminienė,Thomas Giesecke,Susanne Jahns,Monika Karpińska-Kołaczek,Piotr Kołaczek,Mariusz Lamentowicz,Małgorzata Latałowa,Katarzyna Marcisz,Milena Obremska,Anna Pędziszewska,Anneli Poska,Kira Rehfeld,Migle Stančikaitė,Normunds Stivrins,Normunds Stivrins,Joanna Święta-Musznicka,Marta Szal,Jüri Vassiljev,Siim Veski,Agnieszka Wacnik,Dawid Weisbrodt,Julian Wiethold,Boris Vannière,Michał Słowiński +30 more
TL;DR: In this article, the authors analyzed human-fire relationships throughout the Holocene and discussed how and to what extent human-driven fires affected the landscape transformation in the Central European Lowlands (CEL).
Journal ArticleDOI
Halos generated by negative cloud-to-ground lightning
Harald U. Frey,Stephen B. Mende,Steven A. Cummer,Jingbo Li,Toru Adachi,Hiroshi Fukunishi,Yukihiro Takahashi,A. Chen,Rue-Ron Hsu,Han Tzong Su,Y. S. Chang +10 more
TL;DR: In this article, the Imager for Sprites and Upper Atmospheric Lightning (ISUAL) on the FORMOSAT-2 spacecraft observes Transient Luminous Events (TLE) like sprites, elves, and halos from space.
Journal ArticleDOI
Lightning Applications in Weather and Climate Research
TL;DR: For example, the authors showed that higher surface temperatures produce more lightning, but future changes will depend on what happens to the vertical temperature profile in the troposphere, as well as changes in water balance, and even aerosol loading of the atmosphere.
References
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Performance Assessment of the Optical Transient Detector and Lightning Imaging Sensor. Part I: Predicted Diurnal Variability
TL;DR: In this article, the effective LIS thresholds, expressed as radiances emitted normal to cloud top, are 4.0 ± 0.7 and 7.6 ± 3.3 μJ sr−1 m−2 for night and local noon.