Articles | Volume 21, issue 23
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-17529-2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-17529-2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
02 Dec 2021
Research article |
| 02 Dec 2021
| 02 Dec 2021
Lightning-ignited wildfires and long continuing current lightning in the Mediterranean Basin: preferential meteorological conditions
Francisco J. Pérez-Invernón
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt, Institut für Physik der Atmosphäre, Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany
Heidi Huntrieser
Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt, Institut für Physik der Atmosphäre, Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany
Sergio Soler
Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, CSIC, Glorieta de la Astronomía s/n, 18008 Granada, Spain
Francisco J. Gordillo-Vázquez
Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, CSIC, Glorieta de la Astronomía s/n, 18008 Granada, Spain
Nicolau Pineda
Meteorological Service of Catalonia, Carrer Berlín 38–46, 08029 Barcelona, Spain
Lightning Research Group, Technical University of Catalonia, Campus de Terrassa, Edifici TR1, Carrer Colom 1, Terrassa, 08222 Barcelona, Spain
Javier Navarro-González
Image Processing Laboratory, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain
Víctor Reglero
Image Processing Laboratory, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain
Joan Montanyà
Lightning Research Group, Technical University of Catalonia, Campus de Terrassa, Edifici TR1, Carrer Colom 1, Terrassa, 08222 Barcelona, Spain
Oscar van der Velde
Lightning Research Group, Technical University of Catalonia, Campus de Terrassa, Edifici TR1, Carrer Colom 1, Terrassa, 08222 Barcelona, Spain
Nikos Koutsias
Department of Environmental Engineering, University of Patras, G. Seferi 2, Agrinio GR-30100, Greece
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Lightning plays a significant role in tropospheric chemistry by producing substantial amounts of nitrogen oxides. According to recent estimates, thunderstorms that produce a higher lightning frequency rate also produce less nitrogen oxide per flash. We implemented the dependency of nitrogen oxide production per flash on lightning flash frequency in a chemical atmospheric model.
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Francisco J. Pérez-Invernón, Heidi Huntrieser, Patrick Jöckel, and Francisco J. Gordillo-Vázquez
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This study reports the first parameterization of long-continuing-current lightning in a climate model. Long-continuing-current lightning is proposed to be the main precursor of lightning-ignited wildfires and sprites, a type of transient luminous event taking place in the mesosphere. This parameterization can significantly contribute to improving the implementation of wildfires in climate models.
Alejandro Luque, Francisco José Gordillo-Vázquez, Dongshuai Li, Alejandro Malagón-Romero, Francisco Javier Pérez-Invernón, Anthony Schmalzried, Sergio Soler, Olivier Chanrion, Matthias Heumesser, Torsten Neubert, Víctor Reglero, and Nikolai Østgaard
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Lightning flashes are often recorded from space-based platforms. Besides being valuable inputs for weather forecasting, these observations also enable research into fundamental questions regarding lightning physics. To exploit them, it is essential to understand how light propagates from a lightning flash to a space-based observation instrument. Here, we present an open-source software tool to model this process that extends on previous work and overcomes some of the existing limitations.
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Short summary
Lightning-ignited fires tend to occur in remote areas and can spread significantly before suppression. Long continuing current (LCC) lightning, preferably taking place in dry thunderstorms, is believed to be the main precursor of lightning-ignited fires. We analyze fire databases of lightning-ignited fires in the Mediterranean basin and report the shared meteorological conditions of fire- and LCC-lightning-producing thunderstorms. These results can be useful to improve fire forecasting methods.
Lightning-ignited fires tend to occur in remote areas and can spread significantly before...
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