Three-dimensional lightning characteristics relative to reflectivity and airflow structure in winter thunderstorm

Author

Nishihashi, Masahide ; Fujiwara, Chusei ; Kusunoki, Kenichi ; Yoshida, Sigeru ; Hayashi, Shin´ichiro ; Inoue, H. ; Arai, Ken-ichiro ; Shimose, Ken-ichi ; Kato, Ryota ; Saito, Sakuyoshi ; Sato, Eiichi ; Mashiko, Wataru ; Suzuki, Hajime

Author_Institution

Meteorol. Res. Inst., Tsukuba, Japan

fYear

2014

fDate

16-23 Aug. 2014

Firstpage

1

Lastpage

4

Abstract

A winter thunderstorm was observed in the Shonai area in the northern part of Japan on 30 November 2010. Data from three-dimensional lightning mapping system and two X-band Doppler radars were used to analyze the spatial-temporal relationship between winter lightning channel, reflectivity core, and airflow structure in the thunderclouds. A lightning leader propagating from a rim of echo region to the echo region with high reflectivity involving large vertical vorticity was visualized in 3D. This result indicates that strong updraft caused by airflow convergence in the precipitation system contributed to accumulate positive charges around -10°C level and enhance vertical vorticity by stretching on the convergence line.

Keywords

atmospheric precipitation; clouds; lightning; remote sensing by radar; thunderstorms; 3D lightning characteristics; 3D lightning mapping system; AD 2010 11 30; Japan; Shonai area; X-band Doppler radars; airflow structure; echo region; precipitation system; reflectivity core; reflectivity structure; thunderclouds; winter lightning channel; winter thunderstorm; Convergence; Doppler radar; Lightning; Reflectivity; Three-dimensional displays;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

General Assembly and Scientific Symposium (URSI GASS), 2014 XXXIth URSI

Conference_Location

Beijing

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/URSIGASS.2014.6929531

Filename

6929531