Simultaneous influences of thermodynamics and aerosols on deep convection and lightning in the tropics

Journal of Geophysical Research

Volumn 120, Issue 12, 2015, Pages 6207-6231

  Stolz, Douglas C ^a   Rutledge, Steven A ^a   Pierce, Jeffrey R ^a  

^a Department of Mechanical Engineering   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

AEROSOL; CLOUD CONDENSATION NUCLEUS; CLOUD COVER; CONVECTIVE SYSTEM; LIGHTNING; RADAR; REFLECTIVITY; SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS; SPATIOTEMPORAL ANALYSIS; THERMODYNAMICS; TRMM; TROPICAL REGION; VERTICAL DISTRIBUTION;

EID: 84955716834     PISSN: 01480227     EISSN: 21562202     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1002/2014JD023033     Document Type: Article

References (96)

1. Adams, P. J., and J. H. Seinfeld (2002), Predicting global aerosol size distributions in general circulation models, J. Geophys. Res., 107(D19), 4370, doi:10.1029/2001JD001010.
2. Altaratz, O., I. Koren, Y. Yair, and C. Price (2010), Lightning response to smoke from Amazonian fires, Geophys. Res. Let., 37, L07801, doi:10.1029/2010GL042679.
3. Anderson, T. L., R. J. Charlson, D. M. Winker, J. A. Ogren, and K. Holmén(2003), Mesoscale variations of tropospheric aerosols, J. Atmos. Sci., 60, 119–136.
4. Andreae, M. O., and D. Rosenfeld (2008), Aerosol-cloud-precipitation interactions. Part 1: The nature and sources of cloud-active aerosol, Earth Sci. Rev., 89, 13–41.
5. Andreae, M. O., D. Rosenfeld, P. Artaxo, A. A. Costa, G. P. Frank, K. M. Longo, and M. A. F. Silva-Dias (2004), Smoking rain clouds over the Amazon, Science, 303, 1337–1342, doi:10.1126/science.1092779.
6. Baker, B., M. B. Baker, E. R. Jayaratne, J. Latham, and C. P. R. Saunders (1987), The influence of diffusional growth rates on the charge transfer accompanying rebounding collisions between ice crystals and soft hailstones, Q. J. R. Meteorol. Soc., 113, 1193–1215.
7. Baker, M. B., and J. G. Dash (1994), Mechanism of charging between colliding ice particles in thunderstorms, J. Geophys. Res., 99(D5), 10,621–10,626, doi:10.1029/93JD01633.
8. Bell, T. L., D. Rosenfeld, K.-M. Kim, J.-M. Yoo, M.-I. Lee, and M. Hahnenberger (2008), Midweek increase in U.S. summer rain and storm heights suggests air pollution invigorates rainstorms, J. Geophys. Res., 113, D02209, doi:10.1029/2007JD008623.
9. Benedetti, A., et al. (2009), Aerosol analysis and forecast in the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts Integrated Forecast System: 2. Data assimilation, J. Geophys. Res., 114, D13205, doi:10.1029/2008JD011115.
10. Blanchard, D. O. (1998), Notes and correspondence: Assessing the vertical distribution of convective available potential energy, Weather Forecasting, 13, 870–877.
11. Boccippio, D. J., S. J. Goodman, and S. Heckman (2000), Regional differences in tropical lightning distributions, J. Appl. Meteorol., 39, 2231–2248.
12. Boccippio, D. J., W. A. Petersen, and D. J. Cecil (2005), The tropical convective spectrum. Part I: Archetypal vertical structures, J. Clim., 18, 2744–2769.
13. Burrows, S. M., C. Hoose, U. Pöschl, and M. G. Lawrence (2013), Ice nuclei in marine air: Biogenic particles or dust?, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 245–267, doi:10.5194/acp-13-245-2013.
14. Carey, L. D., and K. M. Buffalo (2007), Environmental control of cloud-to-ground lightning polarity in severe storms, Mon. Weather Rev., 135, 1327–1353.
15. Carey, L. D., and S. A. Rutledge (2000), The relationship between precipitation and lightning in tropical island convection: A C-band polarimetric radar study, Mon. Weather Rev., 128, 2687–2710.
16. Cecil, D. J., S. J. Goodman, D. J. Boccippio, E. J. Zipser, and S. W. Nesbitt (2005), Three years of TRMM precipitation features. Part I: Radar, radiometric, and lightning characteristics, Mon. Weather Rev., 133, 543–566.
17. Christian, H. J., et al. (2003), Global frequency and distribution of lightning as observed from space by the Optical Transient Detector, J. Geophys. Res., 108(D1), 4005, doi:10.1029/2002JD002347.
18. Cifelli, R., W. A. Petersen, L. D. Carey, S. A. Rutledge, and M. A. F. da Silva Dias (2002), Radar observations of the kinematic, microphysical, and precipitation characteristics of two MCSs in TRMM LBA, J. Geophys. Res., 107(D20), 8077, doi:10.1029/2000JD000264.
19. D’Andrea, S. D., S. A. K. Häkkinen, D. M. Westervelt, C. Kuang, E. J. T. Levin, V. P. Kanawade, R. Leaitch, D. V. Spracklen, I. Riipinen, and J. R. Pierce (2013), Understanding global secondary organic aerosol amount and size-resolved condensational behavior, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 11,519–11,534, doi:10.5194/acp-13-11519-2013.
20. Dee, D. P., et al. (2011), The ERA-Interim reanalysis: Configuration and performance of the data assimilation system, Q. J. R. Meteorol. Soc., 137, 533–597.
21. DeMott, C. A., and S. A. Rutledge (1998), The vertical structure of TOGA COARE convection. Part I: Radar echo distributions, J. Atmos. Sci., 55, 2730–2747.
22. Dusek, U., et al. (2006), Size matters more than chemistry for cloud-nucleating ability of aerosol particles, Science, 312, 1375–1378, doi:10.1126/science.1125261.
23. Dye, J. E., W. P. Winn, J. J. Jones, and D. W. Breed (1989), The electrification of New Mexico thunderstorms. 1. Relationship between precipitation development and the onset of electrification, J. Geophys. Res., 94(D6), 8643–8656, doi:10.1029/JD094iD06p08643.
24. Fan, J., R. Zhang, G. Li, and W.-K. Tao (2007), Effects of aerosols and relative humidity on cumulus clouds, J. Geophys. Res., 112, D14204, doi:10.1029/2006JD008136.
25. Fan, J., L. R. Leung, D. Rosenfeld, Q. Chen, Z. Li, J. Zhang, and H. Yan (2013), Microphysical effects determine macrophysical response for aerosol impacts on deep convective clouds, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 110(48), E4581–E4590, doi:10.1073/pnas.1316830110.
26. Graf, H. F. (2004), The complex interaction of aerosols and clouds, Science, 303, 1309–1311, doi:10.1126/science.1094411.
27. Halverson, J. B., T. Rickenbach, B. Roy, H. Pierce, and E. R. Williams (2002), Environmental characteristics of convective systems during TRMM-LBA, Mon. Weather Rev., 130, 1493–1509.
28. Heiblum, R. H., I. Koren, and O. Altaratz (2012), New evidence of cloud invigoration from TRMM measurements of rain center of gravity, Geophys. Res. Lett., 39, L08803, doi:10.1029/2012GL051158.
29. Hudson, J. G., and S. Mishra (2007), Relationships between CCN and cloud microphysics variations in clean maritime air, Geophys. Res. Lett., 34, L16804, doi:10.1029/2007GL030044.
30. Iguchi, T., T. Kozu, R. Meneghini, J. Awaka, and K. Okamoto (2000), Rain-profiling algorithm for the TRMM precipitation radar, J. Appl. Meteorol., 39, 2038–2052.
31. Iribarne, J. V., and W. L. Godson (1981), Atmospheric Thermodynamics, 2nd ed., D. Reidel, Dordrecht, Netherlands.
32. Kelley, O. A., J. Stout, M. Summers, and E. J. Zipser (2010), Do the tallest convective cells over the tropical ocean have slow updrafts?, Mon. Weather Rev., 138, 1651–1672.
33. Khain, A. P., D. Rosenfeld, and A. Pokrovsky (2005), Aerosol impact on the dynamics and microphysics of deep convective clouds, Q. J. R. Meteorol. Soc., 131, 2639–2663, doi:10.1256/qj.04.62.
34. Khain, A. P., V. Phillips, N. Benmoshe, and A. Pokrovsky (2012), The role of small soluble aerosols in the microphysics of deep maritime clouds, J. Atmos. Sci., 69, 2787–2805.
35. Khain, A. P., T. Prabha, N. Benmoshe, G. Pandithurai, and M. Ovchinnikov (2013), The mechanism of first raindrops formation in deep convective clouds, J. Geophys. Res. Atmos., 118, 9123–9140, doi:10.1002/jgrd.50641.
36. Koren, I., G. Feingold, and L. A. Remer (2010), The invigoration of deep convective clouds over the Atlantic: Aerosol effect, meteorology or retrieval artifact?, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 10, 8855–8872, doi:10.5194/acp-10-8855-2010.
37. Koren, I., O. Altaratz, L. A. Remer, G. Feingold, J. Vanderlei Martins, and R. H. Heiblum (2012), Aerosol-induced intensification of rain from the tropics to the midlatitudes, Nat. Geosci., 5, 118–122, doi:10.1038/ngeo1364.
38. Lebo, Z. J., and H. Morrison (2014), Dynamical effects of aerosol perturbations on simulated idealized squall lines, Mon. Weather Rev., 142, 991–1009, doi:10.1175/MWR-D-13-00156.1.
39. Lee, S. S. (2012), Effect of aerosol on circulations and precipitation in deep convective clouds, J. Atmos. Sci., 69, 1957–1974, doi:10.1175/JAS-D-11-0111.1.
40. Lee, S. S., L. J. Donner, V. T. J. Phillips, and Y. Ming (2008), The dependence of aerosol effects on clouds and precipitation on cloud-system organization, shear and stability, J. Geophys. Res., 113, D16202, doi:10.1029/2007JD009224.
41. Li, Z., F. Niu, J. Fan, Y. Liu, D. Rosenfeld, and Y. Ding (2011), The long-term impacts of aerosols on the vertical development of clouds and precipitation, Nat. Geosci., doi:10.1038/NGEO1313.
42. Liu, C., D. J. Cecil, E. J. Zipser, K. Kronfeld, and R. Robertson (2012), Relationships between lightning flash rates and radar reflectivity vertical structures in thunderstorms over the tropics and subtropics, J. Geophys. Res., 117, D06212, doi:10.1029/2011JD017123.
43. Lohmann, U., and J. Feichter (2005), Global indirect aerosol effects: A review, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 5, 715–737.
44. Lucas, C., E. J. Zipser, and M. A. LeMone (1994a), Convective available potential energy in the environment of oceanic and continental clouds: Corrections and comments, J. Atmos. Sci., 51, 3829–3830.
45. Lucas, C., E. J. Zipser, and M. A. LeMone (1994b), Vertical velocity in oceanic convection off tropical Australia, J. Atmos. Sci., 51, 3183–3193.
46. Mackerras, D., M. Darveniza, R. E. Orville, E. R. Williams, and S. J. Goodman (1998), Global lightning: Total, cloud, and ground flash estimates, J. Geophys. Res., 103(D16), 19,791–19,809, doi:10.1029/98JD01461.
47. Mansell, E. R., and C. L. Ziegler (2013), Aerosol effects on simulated storm electrification and precipitation in a two-moment bulk microphysics model, J. Atmos. Sci., 70, 2032–2050, doi:10.1175/JAS-D-12-0264.1.
48. May, P. T., V. N. Bringi, and M. Thurai (2011), Do we observe aerosol impacts on DSDs in strongly forced tropical thunderstorms?, J. Atmos. Sci., 68, 1902–1910.
49. Morcrette, J.-J., et al. (2009), Aerosol analysis and forecast in the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts Integrated Forecast System: Forward modeling, J. Geophys. Res., 114, D06206, doi:10.1029/2008JD011235.
50. Morrison, H., and W. W. Grabowski (2013), Response of tropical deep convection to localized heating perturbations: Implications for aerosol-induced convective invigoration, J. Atmos. Sci., 70, 3533–3555, doi:10.1175/JAS-D-13-027.1.
51. Nesbitt, S. W., E. J. Zipser, and D. J. Cecil (2000), A census of precipitation features in the Tropics using TRMM: Radar, ice scattering, and lightning observations, J. Clim., 13, 4087–4106.
52. Niu, F., and Z. Li (2012), Systematic variations of cloud top temperature and precipitation rate with aerosols over the global tropics, Atmos. Chem. Phys., doi:10.5194/acp-12-8491-2012.
53. Orville, R. E., and R. W. Henderson (1986), Global distribution of midnight lightning: September 1977 to August 1978, Mon. Weather Rev., 114, 2640–2653.
54. Petersen, W. A., and S. A. Rutledge (2001), Regional variability in tropical convection: Observations from TRMM, J. Clim., 14, 3566–3586.
55. Petersen, W. A., S. A. Rutledge, and R. E. Orville (1996), Cloud-to-ground lightning observations from TOGA COARE: Selected results and lightning location algorithms, Mon. Weather Rev., 124, 602–620.
56. Petersen, W. A., H. J. Christian, and S. A. Rutledge (2005), TRMM observations of the global relationship between ice water content and lightning, Geophys. Res. Lett., 32, L14819, doi:10.1029/2005GL023236.
57. Petersen, W. A., R. Fu, M. Chen, and R. Blakeslee (2006), Intraseasonal forcing of convection and lightning activity in the southern amazon as a function of cross-equatorial flow, J. Clim., 19, 3180–3196.
58. Pierce, J. R., and P. J. Adams (2009), Uncertainty in global CCN concentrations from uncertain aerosol nucleation and primary emission rates, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 9, 1339–1356, doi:10.5194/acp-9-1339-2009.
59. 2 chemistry, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 3163–3176, doi:10.5194/acp-13-3163-2013.
60. Ramanathan, V. (2001), Aerosols, climate, and the hydrological cycle, Science, 294, 2119–2124, doi:10.1126/science.1064034.
61. Reynolds, S. E., M. Brook, and M. F. Gourley (1957), Thunderstorm charge separation, J. Meteorol., 14, 426–436.
62. Rosenfeld, D. (1999), TRMM observed first direct evidence of smoke from forest fires inhibiting rainfall, Geophys. Res. Lett., 26(20), 3105–3108, doi:10.1029/1999GL006066.
63. Rosenfeld, D., and I. Lensky (1998), Satellite-based insights into precipitation formation processes in continental and maritime convective clouds, Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 79(11), 2457–2476.
64. Rosenfeld, D., U. Lohmann, G. B. Raga, C. D. O’Dowd, M. Kulmala, S. Fuzzi, A. Reissell, and M. O. Andreae (2008), Flood or drought: How do aerosols affect precipitation?, Science, 321, 1309–1313.
65. Rosenfeld, D., et al. (2014), Global observations of aerosol-cloud-precipitation climate interactions, Rev. Geophys., 52, 750–808, doi:10.1002/2013RG000441.
66. Rutledge, S. A., E. R. Williams, and T. D. Keenan (1992), The Down Under Doppler and Electricity Experiment (DUNDEE): Overview and preliminary results, Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 73, 3–16.
67. Saunders, C. P. R. (1993), A review of thunderstorm electrification processes, J. Appl. Meteorol., 32, 642–655, doi:10.1175/15200450(1993) 032<0642:AROTEP>2.0.CO;2.
68. Sherwood, S. C., V. T. J. Phillips, and J. S. Wettlaufer (2006), Small ice crystals and the climatology of lightning, Geophys. Res. Lett., 33, L05804, doi:10.1029/2005GL025242.
69. Stevens, B., and G. Feingold (2009), Untangling aerosol effects on clouds and precipitation in a buffered system, Nature, 461(1), doi:10.1038/nature08281.
70. Stolz, D. C., S. Businger, and A. Terpstra (2014), Refining the relationship between lightning and convective rainfall over the ocean, J. Geophys. Res. Atmos., 119, 964–981, doi:10.1002/2012JD018819.
71. Storer, R. L., and S. C. van den Heever (2013), Microphysical processes evident in aerosol forcing of tropical deep convective clouds, J. Atmos. Sci., 70, 430–446.
72. Storer, R. L., S. C. van den Heever, and T. S. L’Ecuyer (2014), Observations of aerosol-induced convective invigoration in the tropical east Atlantic, J. Geophys. Res. Atmos., 119, 3963–3975, doi:10.1002/2013JD020272.
73. Szoke, E. J., E. J. Zipser, and D. P. Jorgensen (1986), A radar study of convective cells in mesoscale systems in GATE. Part I: Vertical profile statistics and comparison with hurricanes, J. Atmos. Sci., 43(2), 182–197.
74. Takahashi, T. (1978), Riming electrification as a charge generation mechanism in thunderstorms, J. Atmos. Sci., 35, 1536–1548.
75. Tao, W.-K., J.-P. Chen, Z. Li, C. Wang, and C. Zhang (2012), Impact of aerosols on convective clouds and precipitation, Rev. Geophys., 50, RG2001, doi:10.1029/2011RG000369.
76. van den Heever, S. C., and W. R. Cotton (2007), Urban aerosol impacts on downwind convective storms, J. Appl. Meteorol. Climatol., 46, 828–850.
77. van den Heever, S. C., G. L. Stephens, and N. B. Wood (2006), Aerosol indirect effects on tropical convection characteristics under conditions of radiative–convective equilibrium, J. Atmos. Sci., 69, 699–718.
78. van den Heever, S. C., G. L. Stephens, and N. B. Wood (2011), Aerosol indirect effects on tropical convection characteristics under conditions of radiative–convective equilibrium, J. Atmos. Sci., 68, 699–718.
79. van der Werf, G. R., J. T. Randerson, L. Giglio, G. J. Collatz, M. Mu, P. S. Kasibhatla, D. C. Morton, R. S. DeFries, Y. Jin, and T. T. Van Leeuwen (2010), Global fire emissions and the contribution of deforestation, savanna, forest, agricultural, and peat fires (1997–2009), Atmos. Chem. Phys., 10(23), 11,707–11,735, doi:10.5194/acp-10-11707-2010.
80. Varnai, T., and A. Marshak (2009), MODIS observations of enhanced clear sky reflectance near clouds, Geophys. Res. Lett., 36, L06807, doi:10.1029/2008GL037089.
81. Várnai, T., A. Marshak, and W. Yang (2013), Multi-satellite aerosol observations in the vicinity of clouds, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 3899–3908, doi:10.5194/acp-13-3899-2013.
82. Venevsky, S. (2014), Importance of aerosols for annual lightning production at global scale, Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., 14, 4303–4325.
83. Vesperini, M. (2002), ECMWF analyses of humidity: Comparisons to POLDER estimates over land, Remote Sens. Environ., 82, 469–480, doi:10.1016/S0034-4257(02)00070-6.
84. Wall, C., E. J. Zipser, and C. Liu (2014), An investigation of the aerosol indirect effect on convective intensity using satellite observations, J. Atmos. Sci., 71, 430–447.
85. Wang, C. (2005), A modeling study of the response of tropical deep convection to the increase of cloud condensation nuclei concentration: 1. Dynamics and microphysics, J. Geophys. Res., 110, D21211, doi:10.1029/2004JD005720.
86. Williams, E. R., and G. Sátori (2004), Lightning, thermodynamic and hydrological comparison of the two tropical continental chimneys, J. Atmos. Sol. Terr. Phys., 66, 1213–1231, doi:10.1016/j.jastp.2004.05.015.
87. Williams, E. R., and N. Renno (1993), An analysis of conditional instability of the tropical atmosphere, Mon. Weather Rev., 121, 21–36.
88. Williams, E. R., and S. Stanfill (2002), The physical origin of the land-ocean contrast in lightning activity, C. R. Phys., 3, 1277–1292.
89. Williams, E. R., et al. (1992), A radar and electrical study of tropical “hot towers”, J. Atmos. Sci., 49, 1386–1395.
90. Williams, E. R., et al. (2002), Contrasting convective regimes over the Amazon: Implications for cloud electrification, J. Geophys. Res., 107(D20), (8082), doi:10.1029/2001JD000380.
91. Williams, E. R., T. V. Mushtak, D. Rosenfeld, S. Goodman, and D. Boccippio (2005), Thermodynamic conditions favorable to superlative thunderstorm updraft, mixed phase microphysics and lightning flash rate, Atmos. Res., 76, 288–306, doi:10.1016/j.atmosres.2004.11.009.
92. Yuan, T., L. A. Remer, K. E. Pickering, and H. Yu (2011), Observational evidence of aerosol enhancement of lightning activity and convective invigoration, Geophys. Res. Lett., 38, L04701, doi:10.1029/2010GL046052.
93. Yuan, T., L. A. Remer, H. Bian, J. R. Ziemke, R. Albrecht, K. E. Pickering, L. Oreopoulos, S. J. Goodman, H. Yu, and D. J. Allen (2012), Aerosol indirect effect on tropospheric ozone via lightning, J. Geophys. Res., 117, D18213, doi:10.1029/2012JD017723.
94. Zipser, E. J. (1994), Deep cumulonimbus cloud systems in the Tropics with and without lightning, Mon. Weather Rev., 122, 1837–1851.
95. Zipser, E. J., and K. R. Lutz (1994), The vertical profile of radar reflectivity of convective cells: A strong indicator of storm intensity and lightning probability?, Mon. Weather Rev., 122, 1751–1759.
96. Zipser, E. J., D. Cecil, C. Liu, S. Nesbitt, and D. Yorty (2006), Where are the most intense thunderstorms on Earth?, Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 87, 1057–1071.