Air mass factor calculations for GOME measurements of lightning-produced NO2 Original Research Article

The quantification of lightning-produced nitrogen oxide is difficult as the NOx-measurement must be concurrent with the thunderstorm. Also the interpretation of the measurements is complicated by the inhomogeneity of the clouds. Currently, the global NOx-production by lightning is estimated to be 2–20 TgN/a. This study analyses the possibility of the detection of NO2-production by thunderstorms via satellite. Lightning can be detected by NASA/NASDA-satellite project Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS). The European satellite spectrometer Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME) can be used for the coincident NO2-measurements. For a quantitative analysis of NO2 measurements, the air mass factor (AMF) is needed. AMF are calculated using the radiative transfer model SCIATRAN and indicate the sensitivity of GOME for NO2 produced by flashes. The results of the AMF calculations show, that the sensitivity of GOME is largest at the top of a thundercloud, where most of the flash produced NOx is released. The measurement is insensitive to NO2 under the thundercloud. For a quantitative analysis, the height of the cloud is needed, but the dependencies of the sensitivity to the height of the NO2 outside the cloud and the cloud particles density are negligible.