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Kinematic and Microphysical Control of Lightning Flash Rate over Northern AlabamaThe Deep Convective Clouds and Chemistry (DC3) experiment seeks to examine the relationship between deep convection and the production of nitrogen oxides (NO (sub x)) via lightning (LNO (sub x)). A critical step in estimating LNO (sub x) production in a cloud-resolving model (CRM) without explicit lightning is to estimate the flash rate from available model parameters that are statistically and physically correlated. As such, the objective of this study is to develop, improve and evaluate lightning flash rate parameterizations in a variety of meteorological environments and storm types using radar and lightning mapping array (LMA) observations taken over Northern Alabama from 2005-2012, including during DC3. UAH's Advanced Radar for Meteorological and Operational Research (ARMOR) and the Weather Surveillance Radar - 1988 Doppler (WSR 88D) located at Hytop (KHTX) comprises the dual-Doppler and polarimetric radar network, which has been in operation since 2004. The northern Alabama LMA (NA LMA) in conjunction with Vaisala's National Lightning Detection Network (NLDN) allow for a detailed depiction of total lightning during this period. This study will integrate ARMOR-KHTX dual Doppler/polarimetric radar and NA LMA lightning observations from past and ongoing studies, including the more recent DC3 results, over northern Alabama to form a large data set of 15-20 case days and over 20 individual storms, including both ordinary multicell and supercell convection. Several flash rate parameterizations will be developed and tested, including those based on 1) graupel/small hail volume; 2) graupel/small hail mass, and 3) convective updraft volume. Sensitivity of the flash rate parameterizations to storm intensity, storm morphology and environmental conditions will be explored.
Document ID
20150002890
Acquisition Source
Marshall Space Flight Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Carey, Lawrence D. (Alabama Univ. Huntsville, AL, United States)
Bain, Anthony L. (Alabama Univ. Huntsville, AL, United States)
Matthee, Retha (Alabama Univ. Huntsville, AL, United States)
Schultz, Christopher J. (NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL, United States)
Schultz, Elise V. (Alabama Univ. Huntsville, AL, United States)
Deierling, Wiebke (National Center for Atmospheric Research Boulder, CO, United States)
Petersen, Walter A. (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Date Acquired
March 13, 2015
Publication Date
January 4, 2015
Subject Category
Earth Resources And Remote Sensing
Geophysics
Meteorology And Climatology
Report/Patent Number
M14-3956
Meeting Information
Meeting: American Meteorological Society Annual Meeting
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Country: United States
Start Date: January 4, 2015
End Date: January 8, 2015
Sponsors: American Meteorological Society
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.

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