TY - JOUR
T1 - Weekly cycle of lightning
T2 - Evidence of storm invigoration by pollution
AU - Bell, Thomas L.
AU - Rosenfeld, Daniel
AU - Kim, Kyu Myong
PY - 2009/12
Y1 - 2009/12
N2 - We have examined summertime 1998-2009 U.S. lightning data from the National Lightning Detection Network (NLDN) to look for weekly cycles in lightning activity. As was found by Bell et al. (2008) for rain over the southeast U.S., there is a significant weekly cycle in afternoon lightning activity that peaks in the middle of the week there. The weekly cycle appears to be reduced over population centers. Lightning activity peaks on weekends over waters near the SE U.S. The statistical significance of weekly cycles over the western half of the country is generally small. We found no evidence of a weekly cycle of synoptic-scale forcing that might explain these patterns. The lightning behavior is entirely consistent with the explanation suggested by Bell et al. (2008) for the cycles in rainfall and other atmospheric data from the SE U.S., that aerosols can cause storms to intensify in humid, convectively unstable environments.
AB - We have examined summertime 1998-2009 U.S. lightning data from the National Lightning Detection Network (NLDN) to look for weekly cycles in lightning activity. As was found by Bell et al. (2008) for rain over the southeast U.S., there is a significant weekly cycle in afternoon lightning activity that peaks in the middle of the week there. The weekly cycle appears to be reduced over population centers. Lightning activity peaks on weekends over waters near the SE U.S. The statistical significance of weekly cycles over the western half of the country is generally small. We found no evidence of a weekly cycle of synoptic-scale forcing that might explain these patterns. The lightning behavior is entirely consistent with the explanation suggested by Bell et al. (2008) for the cycles in rainfall and other atmospheric data from the SE U.S., that aerosols can cause storms to intensify in humid, convectively unstable environments.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=72049083968&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1029/2009GL040915
DO - 10.1029/2009GL040915
M3 - ???researchoutput.researchoutputtypes.contributiontojournal.article???
AN - SCOPUS:72049083968
SN - 0094-8276
VL - 36
JO - Geophysical Research Letters
JF - Geophysical Research Letters
IS - 23
M1 - L23805
ER -