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| Titel |
High lightning activity in maritime clouds near Mexico |
| VerfasserIn |
B. Kucienska, G. B. Raga, R. Romero-Centeno |
| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
Englisch
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| ISSN |
1680-7316
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| Digitales Dokument |
URL |
| Erschienen |
In: Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics ; 12, no. 17 ; Nr. 12, no. 17 (2012-09-10), S.8055-8072 |
| Datensatznummer |
250011434
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| Publikation (Nr.) |
 copernicus.org/acp-12-8055-2012.pdf |
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| Zusammenfassung |
| Lightning activity detected by the World Wide Lightning Location Network
(WWLLN) over oceanic regions adjacent to Mexico is often as high as that
observed over the continent. In order to explore the possible causes of the
observed high flash density over those regions, the relationships between
lightning, rainfall, vertical hydrometeor profiles, latent heating, wind
variability and aerosol optical depth are analyzed. The characteristics of
lightning and precipitation over four oceanic zones adjacent to Mexican
coastlines are contrasted against those over the continent. The number of
flashes per rainfall over some coastal maritime regions is found to be
higher than over the continent. The largest number of flashes per rainfall
is observed during the biomass burning season. In addition, we compare two
smaller areas of the Tropical Pacific Ocean: one located within the
Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone and characterized by high rainfall and weak
lightning activity and the other one influenced by a continental wind jet
and characterized by high rainfall and strong lightning activity. During the
rainy season, the monthly distribution of lightning within the region
influenced by the continental wind jet is contrary to that of rainfall.
Moreover, the monthly variability of lightning is very similar to the
variability of the meridional wind component and it is also related to the
variability of aerosol optical depth. The analysis suggests that the high
lightning activity observed over coastal Pacific region is linked to the
continental cloud condensation nuclei advected over the ocean. Analysis of
daily observations indicates that the greatest lightning density is observed
for moderate values of the aerosol optical depth, between 0.2 and 0.35. |
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