Articles | Volume 21, issue 9
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-7053-2021
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-7053-2021
Research article
 | 
10 May 2021
Research article |  | 10 May 2021

Assessing and improving cloud-height-based parameterisations of global lightning flash rate, and their impact on lightning-produced NOx and tropospheric composition in a chemistry–climate model

Ashok K. Luhar, Ian E. Galbally, Matthew T. Woodhouse, and Nathan Luke Abraham

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AR: Author's response | RR: Referee report | ED: Editor decision
AR by Ashok Luhar on behalf of the Authors (13 Mar 2021)  Author's response   Author's tracked changes   Manuscript 
ED: Referee Nomination & Report Request started (15 Mar 2021) by Ronald Cohen
RR by Anonymous Referee #3 (22 Mar 2021)
RR by Anonymous Referee #2 (31 Mar 2021)
ED: Publish subject to technical corrections (31 Mar 2021) by Ronald Cohen
AR by Ashok Luhar on behalf of the Authors (06 Apr 2021)  Author's response   Manuscript 
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Short summary
Lightning-generated nitrogen oxides (LNOx) greatly influence tropospheric photochemistry. The most common parameterisation of lightning flash rate used to calculate LNOx in global composition models underestimates measurements over the ocean by a factor of 20–25. We formulate and validate an alternative parameterisation to remedy this problem. The new scheme causes an increase in the ozone burden by 8.5 % and the hydroxyl radical by 13 %, and these have implications for climate and air quality.
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