A possible cause for preference of super bolt lightning over the Mediterranean Sea and the Altiplano
Exceptionally high energy lightning strokes >10 6 J (X1000 stronger than average) in the very low-frequency band between 5 and 18 kHz, also known as super bolts (SB), occur mostly during winter over the North Atlantic, the Mediterranean Sea, and over the Altiplano in South America. This study com...
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ftgfzpotsdam:oai:gfzpublic.gfz-potsdam.de:item_5018002 2023-10-09T21:54:03+02:00 A possible cause for preference of super bolt lightning over the Mediterranean Sea and the Altiplano Rosenfeld, D. Efraim, A. Holzworth, R. Thornton, J. 2023 https://gfzpublic.gfz-potsdam.de/pubman/item/item_5018002 eng eng info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.57757/IUGG23-1602 https://gfzpublic.gfz-potsdam.de/pubman/item/item_5018002 XXVIII General Assembly of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG) info:eu-repo/semantics/conferenceObject 2023 ftgfzpotsdam https://doi.org/10.57757/IUGG23-1602 2023-09-17T23:43:20Z Exceptionally high energy lightning strokes >10 6 J (X1000 stronger than average) in the very low-frequency band between 5 and 18 kHz, also known as super bolts (SB), occur mostly during winter over the North Atlantic, the Mediterranean Sea, and over the Altiplano in South America. This study compares the World-Wide Lightning Location Network (WWLLN) database with meteorological and aerosol data to examine the causes that determine lightning stroke energies. Our results show that the energy per stroke increases sharply as the distance between the charging zone (where the cloud electrification occurs) and the surface decreases. Since the charging zone occurs above the 0 °C isotherm, this distance is shorter when the 0 °C isotherm is closer to the surface. It occurs either due to cold air mass over the ocean during winter, or high surface altitude in the Altiplano during summer thunderstorms. Stroke energy increases also with storm intensity as related to lower cloud top temperature, but to a much lesser extent than the distance between the surface and 0 °C isotherm. Another factor that slightly affects the energy is the contribution of more supercooled water to the charging zone. Aerosols play no significant role in the clouds with cool base temperatures. It is hypothesized that a shorter distance between the charging zone and the ground represents less electrical resistance, allowing stronger discharge currents. Conference Object North Atlantic GFZpublic (German Research Centre for Geosciences, Helmholtz-Zentrum Potsdam) The Altiplano ENVELOPE(163.917,163.917,-78.133,-78.133) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
GFZpublic (German Research Centre for Geosciences, Helmholtz-Zentrum Potsdam) |
op_collection_id |
ftgfzpotsdam |
language |
English |
description |
Exceptionally high energy lightning strokes >10 6 J (X1000 stronger than average) in the very low-frequency band between 5 and 18 kHz, also known as super bolts (SB), occur mostly during winter over the North Atlantic, the Mediterranean Sea, and over the Altiplano in South America. This study compares the World-Wide Lightning Location Network (WWLLN) database with meteorological and aerosol data to examine the causes that determine lightning stroke energies. Our results show that the energy per stroke increases sharply as the distance between the charging zone (where the cloud electrification occurs) and the surface decreases. Since the charging zone occurs above the 0 °C isotherm, this distance is shorter when the 0 °C isotherm is closer to the surface. It occurs either due to cold air mass over the ocean during winter, or high surface altitude in the Altiplano during summer thunderstorms. Stroke energy increases also with storm intensity as related to lower cloud top temperature, but to a much lesser extent than the distance between the surface and 0 °C isotherm. Another factor that slightly affects the energy is the contribution of more supercooled water to the charging zone. Aerosols play no significant role in the clouds with cool base temperatures. It is hypothesized that a shorter distance between the charging zone and the ground represents less electrical resistance, allowing stronger discharge currents. |
format |
Conference Object |
author |
Rosenfeld, D. Efraim, A. Holzworth, R. Thornton, J. |
spellingShingle |
Rosenfeld, D. Efraim, A. Holzworth, R. Thornton, J. A possible cause for preference of super bolt lightning over the Mediterranean Sea and the Altiplano |
author_facet |
Rosenfeld, D. Efraim, A. Holzworth, R. Thornton, J. |
author_sort |
Rosenfeld, D. |
title |
A possible cause for preference of super bolt lightning over the Mediterranean Sea and the Altiplano |
title_short |
A possible cause for preference of super bolt lightning over the Mediterranean Sea and the Altiplano |
title_full |
A possible cause for preference of super bolt lightning over the Mediterranean Sea and the Altiplano |
title_fullStr |
A possible cause for preference of super bolt lightning over the Mediterranean Sea and the Altiplano |
title_full_unstemmed |
A possible cause for preference of super bolt lightning over the Mediterranean Sea and the Altiplano |
title_sort |
possible cause for preference of super bolt lightning over the mediterranean sea and the altiplano |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://gfzpublic.gfz-potsdam.de/pubman/item/item_5018002 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(163.917,163.917,-78.133,-78.133) |
geographic |
The Altiplano |
geographic_facet |
The Altiplano |
genre |
North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic |
op_source |
XXVIII General Assembly of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG) |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.57757/IUGG23-1602 https://gfzpublic.gfz-potsdam.de/pubman/item/item_5018002 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.57757/IUGG23-1602 |
_version_ |
1779317469917216768 |