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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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
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Overview and early results of the Global Lightning and Sprite Measurements mission
Mitsuteru Sato,Tomoo Ushio,Takeshi Morimoto,Masayuki Kikuchi,Hiroshi Kikuchi,Toru Adachi,Makoto Suzuki,Atsushi Yamazaki,Yukihiro Takahashi,Umran S. Inan,Ivan Linscott,Ryohei Ishida,Yuji Sakamoto,Keisuke Yoshida,Yasuhide Hobara,T. Sano,Takumi Abe,M. Nakamura,H. Oda,Z. Kawasaki +19 more
TL;DR: The Japanese Experiment Module (JEM-GLIMS) is a space mission to conduct the nadir observations of lightning discharges and transient luminous events (TLEs) as mentioned in this paper.
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Where does Earth’s atmosphere get its energy?
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors compare the magnitude of the Sun to all other external (to the atmosphere) energy sources and show that the Sun is Earth's primary source of energy, a vast majority of which is provided by heat from the Earth's interior.
Journal ArticleDOI
Using Lightning Data to Better Understand and Predict Flash Floods in the Mediterranean
Colin Price,Yoav Yair,A. Mugnai,Kostas Lagouvardos,Maria Carmen Llasat,Silas Michaelides,Uri Dayan,Stefano Dietrich,F. Di Paola,Eli Galanti,Luis Garrote,N. Harats,D. Katsanos,M. Kohn,Vassiliki Kotroni,Montserrat Llasat-Botija,Barry Lynn,Luis Mediero,Efrat Morin,K. Nicolaides,Shahar Rozalis,K. Savvidou,Baruch Ziv +22 more
TL;DR: The European Union FP6 FLASH project was realized from 2006 to 2010, focusing on using lightning observations to better understand and predict convective storms that result in flash floods in the Mediterranean region.
Journal ArticleDOI
Lightning activity in the eastern Mediterranean region
TL;DR: In this paper, 20 days of lightning activity recorded during winter 2002-2003 in the Mediterranean region with significant rain accumulation in Greece were studied on the basis of the measurements of the UK Met Office long-range VLF sferics Arrival Time Difference (ATD) system and the spaceborne NASA Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) sensor onboard the Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM) satellite.
Journal ArticleDOI
A warm path for Gulf Stream - troposphere interactions
Luke Sheldon,Arnaud Czaja,Benoit Vanniere,Cyril J. Morcrette,Benoit Sohet,Mathieu Casado,Doug Smith +6 more
TL;DR: In this article, it is suggested that the Gulf Stream warm tongue is conducive to enhanced upward motion in cyclones because it helps maintain a high equivalent potential temperature of air parcels at low levels which favors deep ascent in the warm conveyor belt of cyclones.
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