In this study we explored the environmental conditions hypothesized to induce a dominant charge structure in thunderstorms in the province of Cordoba, Argentina, during the RELAMPAGO‐CACTI (Remote sensing of Electrification, Lightning, And Mesoscale/microscale Processes with Adaptive Ground Observations‐Clouds, Aerosols, Complex Terrain Interactions) field campaigns. Hypothesized environmental conditions are thought to be related to small warm cloud residence time and warm rain growth suppression, which lead to high cloud liquid water contents in the mixed‐phase zone, contributing to positive charging of graupel and anomalous charge structure storms. Data from radiosondes, a cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) ground‐based instrument and reanalysis were used to characterize the proximity inflow air of storms with anomalous and normal charge structures. Consistent with the initial hypothesis, anomalous storms had small warm cloud depth caused by dry low‐level humidity and low 0°C height. Anomalous storms were associated with lower CCN concentrations than normal storms, an opposite result to the initial expectation. High CAPE is not an important condition for the development of anomalous storms in Argentina, as no clear pattern could be found among the different parameters calculated for updraft proxy that would be consistent with the initial hypothesis.
A new automated method to retrieve charge layer polarity from flashes, named Chargepol, is presented in this paper. Using data from the NASA Lightning Mapping Array (LMA) deployed during the Remote sensing of Electrification, Lightning, And Mesoscale/microscale Processes with Adaptive Ground Observations (RELAMPAGO) field campaign in Cordoba, Argentina, from November 2018 to April 2019, this method estimates the polarity of vertical charge distributions and their altitudes and thicknesses (or vertical depth) using the very‐high frequency (VHF) source emissions detected by LMAs. When this method is applied to LMA data for extended periods of time, it is capable of inferring a storm's bulk electrical charge structure throughout its life cycle. This method reliably predicted the polarity of charge within which lightning flashes propagated and was validated in comparison to methods that require manual assignment of polarities via visual inspection of VHF lightning sources. Examples of normal and anomalous charge structures retrieved using Chargepol for storms in Central Argentina during RELAMPAGO are presented for the first time. Application of Chargepol to five months of LMA data in Central Argentina and several locations in the United States allowed for the characterization of the charge structure in these regions and for a reliable comparison using the same methodology. About 13.3% of Cordoba thunderstorms were defined by an anomalous charge structure, slightly higher than in Oklahoma (12.5%) and West Texas (11.1%), higher than Alabama (7.3%), and considerably lower than in Colorado (82.6%). Some of the Cordoba anomalous thunderstorms presented enhanced low‐level positive charge, a feature rarely if ever observed in Colorado thunderstorms.
more » « less- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10375300
- Publisher / Repository:
- DOI PREFIX: 10.1029
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Earth and Space Science
- Volume:
- 8
- Issue:
- 8
- ISSN:
- 2333-5084
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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Abstract During November 2018–April 2019, an 11-station very high frequency (VHF) Lightning Mapping Array (LMA) was deployed to Córdoba Province, Argentina. The purpose of the LMA was validation of the Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM), but the deployment was coordinated with two field campaigns. The LMA observed 2.9 million flashes (≥ five sources) during 163 days, and level-1 (VHF locations), level-2 (flashes classified), and level-3 (gridded products) datasets have been made public. The network’s performance allows scientifically useful analysis within 100 km when at least seven stations were active. Careful analysis beyond 100 km is also possible. The LMA dataset includes many examples of intense storms with extremely high flash rates (>1 s−1), electrical discharges in overshooting tops (OTs), as well as anomalously charged thunderstorms with low-altitude lightning. The modal flash altitude was 10 km, but many flashes occurred at very high altitude (15–20 km). There were also anomalous and stratiform flashes near 5–7 km in altitude. Most flashes were small (<50 km2 area). Comparisons with GLM on 14 and 20 December 2018 indicated that GLM most successfully detected larger flashes (i.e., more than 100 VHF sources), with detection efficiency (DE) up to 90%. However, GLM DE was reduced for flashes that were smaller or that occurred lower in the cloud (e.g., near 6-km altitude). GLM DE also was reduced during a period of OT electrical discharges. Overall, GLM DE was a strong function of thunderstorm evolution and the dominant characteristics of the lightning it produced.more » « less
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Some thunderstorms in Cordoba, Argentina, present a charge structure with an enhanced low-level positive charge layer, and practically nonexistent upper-level positive charge. Storms with these characteristics are uncommon in the United States, even when considering regions with a high frequency of anomalous charge structure storms such as Colorado. In this study, we explored the microphysical and kinematic conditions inferred by radar that led to storms with this unique low-level anomalous charge structure in Argentina, and compared them to conditions conducive for anomalous and normal charge structures. As high liquid water contents in the mixed-phase layer lead to positive charging of graupel and anomalous storms through the non-inductive charging mechanism, we explored radar parameters hypothesized to be associated with large cloud supercooled liquid water contents in the mixed-phase layer and anomalous storms, such as mass and volume of hail and high-density graupel, large reflectivity associated with the growth of rimed precipitation to hail size, and parameters that are proxies for strong updrafts such as echo-top and Zdr column heights. We found that anomalous storms had higher values of mass and volume of hail in multiple sub-layers of the mixed-phase zone and higher frequency of high reflectivity values. Low-level anomalous events had higher hail mass in the lower portion of the mixed-phase zone when compared to normal events. Weaker updraft proxies were found for low-level anomalous events due to the shallow nature of these events while there was no distinction between the updraft proxies of normal and anomalous storms.more » « less
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Abstract Global satellite studies show a maximum in deep convection and lightning downstream of the Andes in subtropical South America. The Remote sensing of Electrification, Lightning, And Mesoscale/microscale Processes with Adaptive Ground Observations (RELAMPAGO) field campaign was designed to investigate the physical processes that contribute to the rapid development of deep convection and mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) in Argentina. A lightning mapping array (LMA) was deployed to Argentina as part of RELAMPAGO to collect lightning observations from extreme storms in the region. This study combines lightning data from the LMA and the Geostationary Lightning Mapper onboard
GOES‐16 with 1‐km gridded radar data to examine the electrical characteristics of a variety of convective storms throughout their life cycle observed during RELAMPAGO. Results from the full campaign show 48% of flashes are associated with deep convection that occurs along the eastern edge of the Sierras de Córdoba (SDC) overnight. These flashes are 65 km2smaller on average compared to stratiform flashes, which occur most frequently 50–100 km east of the SDC in the early morning hours, consistent with the upscale growth of MCSs off the terrain. Analysis of the 13–14 December MCS shows that sharp increases in flash rates correspond to deep and wide convective cores that have high graupel and hail mass, 35‐dBZ volume, and ice water path. This work validates previous satellite studies of lightning in the region, but also provides higher spatial and temporal resolution information across the convective life cycle that has not been available in previous studies. -
Abstract. Deployed on the mountainous island of Corsica for thunderstormmonitoring purposes in the Mediterranean Basin, SAETTA is a network of 12 LMA(Lightning Mapping Array, designed by New Mexico Tech, USA) stations thatallows the 3-D mapping of very high-frequency (VHF) radiation emitted by cloud discharges in the60–66 MHz band. It works at high temporal (∼40 ns in each 80 µs time window) and spatial (tens of meters at best) resolutionwithin a range of about 350 km. Originally deployed in May 2014, SAETTA wascommissioned during the summer and autumn seasons and has now been permanentlyoperational since April 2016 until at least the end of 2020. We firstevaluate the performances of SAETTA through the radial, azimuthal, andaltitude errors of VHF source localization with the theoretical model ofThomas et al. (2004). We also compute on a 240 km × 240 km domainthe minimum altitude at which a VHF source can be detected by at least sixstations by taking into account the masking effect of the relief. We thenreport the 3-year observations on the same domain in terms of number oflightning days per square kilometer (i.e., total number of days during whichlightning has been detected in a given 1 km square pixel) and in terms oflightning days integrated across the domain. The lightning activity is firstmaximum in June because of daytime convection driven by solar energy input,but concentrates on a specific hot spot in July just above the intersectionof the three main valleys. This hot spot is probably due to the low-levelconvergence of moist air fluxes from sea breezes channeled by the threevalleys. Lightning activity increases again in September due to numeroussmall thunderstorms above the sea and to some high-precipitation events.Finally we report lightning observations of unusual high-altitude dischargesassociated with the mesoscale convective system of 8 June 2015. Most ofthem are small discharges on top of an intense convective core duringconvective surges. They are considered in the flash classification of Thomaset al. (2003) to be small–isolated and short–isolated flashes. The other high-altitude discharges, much less numerous, are long-range flashes that developthrough the stratiform region and suddenly undergo upward propagationstowards an uppermost thin layer of charge. This latter observation isapparently consistent with the recent conceptual model of Dye and Bansemer (2019) that explains such an upper-level layer of charge in the stratiformregion by the development of a non-riming ice collisional charging in amesoscale updraft.more » « less
