Characteristics of Lightning Scales and Optical Property in Tropical Cyclones over the Northwest Pacific

Zhou Xin; Zhang Wenjuan; Zhang Yijun; Zheng Dong

doi:10.11898/1001-7313.20220106

Vol.33, NO.1, 2022

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Article Navigation > Journal of Applied Meteorological Science > 2022 > 33(1): 69-79

Zhou Xin, Zhang Wenjuan, Zhang Yijun, et al. Characteristics of lightning scales and optical property in tropical cyclones over the Northwest Pacific. J Appl Meteor Sci, 2022, 33(1): 69-79. DOI: 10.11898/1001-7313.20220106.

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Zhou Xin, Zhang Wenjuan, Zhang Yijun, et al. Characteristics of lightning scales and optical property in tropical cyclones over the Northwest Pacific. J Appl Meteor Sci, 2022, 33(1): 69-79. DOI: 10.11898/1001-7313.20220106.

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Characteristics of Lightning Scales and Optical Property in Tropical Cyclones over the Northwest Pacific

DOI: 10.11898/1001-7313.20220106

Zhou Xin^{1, 2},
Zhang Wenjuan^{1
,
,},
Zhang Yijun^{3, 4},
Zheng Dong¹

1.
State Key Laboratory of Severe Weather, Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, Beijing 100081
2.
College of Electronic Engineering, Chengdu University of Information Technology, Chengdu 610225
3.
Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences/Institute of Atmospheric Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438
4.
Joint Laboratory of Marine Meteorological Disasters, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438

Received Date: 2021-10-12
Rev Recd Date: 2021-12-03
Publish Date: 2022-01-19

Abstract

Abstract

Tropical cyclone is one of the major weather disasters affecting coastal areas, which can produce high winds and heavy rains, posing serious threats to the safety of people's lives and property in coastal areas. China is in the Northwest Pacific, which is affected more frequently by tropical cyclones than any other area in the world. Therefore, it is of great significance to strengthen the research on tropical cyclone in the Northwest Pacific. In recent years, observations and studies have proved that lightning activity often occurs in tropical cyclone, which is closely related to the convective evolution and intensity variation of tropical cyclone. Based on data of lightning imaging sensor (LIS) carried on the TRMM (Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission) satellite during 1998-2014, the characteristics of lightning properties (including duration, extended distance, channel area and optical radiant energy) of tropical cyclone in the Northwest Pacific are studied by establishing the lightning dataset of tropical cyclone in the region. The results show that all attributes of tropical cyclone lightning present lognormal distribution characteristics, and the distribution of peak values of these attributes is consistent with that of the Northwest Pacific thunderstorm system, but different from that of East Asia land thunderstorm system. The maximum of tropical cyclone lightning tends to occur over the ocean at tropical depression intensity levels. The maximum proportion of lightning in the outer rain belt is the lowest, while the maximum proportion of the duration and optical radiant energy of lightning in the inner core is the highest. The tropical cyclone lightning duration of different intensity levels has no significant difference, but the mean value of lightning spatial scale and optical radiation energy of tropical storm are lower than those of tropical depression and typhoon. For different areas of tropical cyclone, the maximum value of duration and optical radiant energy of core lightning decrease with the increase of distance between lightning and tropical cyclone center. In terms of maritime-continental contrasts, tropical cyclone lightning occurs over the ocean with larger spatial scale and stronger optical radiant energy than that over the land, while lightning duration is roughly the same. After tropical cyclone landing, the spatial scale of lightning decreases and the optical radiant energy of lightning weakens. Compared with non-tropical cyclone lightning, tropical cyclone lightning has shorter extension distance, narrower channel area and weaker optical radiant energy, but the average duration of lightning is longer.
- lightning imaging sensor;
- the Northwest Pacific;
- tropical cyclone;
- lightning attributes

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References(36)

Figures and Tables

Fig. 1 The center position of individual tropical cyclone overpass observed by LIS during 1998-2014

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Fig. 2 Probability (the column) and cumulative probability (the curve) distributions of tropical cyclone lightning parameters at different intensity levels

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Fig. 3 Probability (the column) and cumulative probability (the curve) distributions of lightning parameters in different areas of tropical cyclone

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图 4 不同强度等级热带气旋闪电属性参量

(方框底部和顶部边缘分别表示第25和第75分位数；方框内水平线代表中值，菱形代表平均值)

Fig. 4 Lightning attributes at different tropical cyclone intensity levels

(the bottom and top edges of the box denote the 25th and 75th percentiles, respectively; the horizontal line in the box denotes the median value, and the diamond denotes the average value)

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图 5 热带气旋不同区域闪电属性参量

(方框底部和顶部边缘分别表示第25和第75分位数；方框内水平线代表中值，菱形代表平均值)

Fig. 5 Lightning attributes in different tropical cyclone regions

(the bottom and top edges of the box denote the 25th and 75th percentiles, respectively; the horizontal line in the box denotes the median value, and the diamond denotes the average value)

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图 6 海陆热带气旋闪电属性参量

(方框底部和顶部边缘分别表示第25和第75分位数；方框内水平线代表中值，菱形代表平均值)

Fig. 6 Lightning attributes for tropical cyclones on land and ocean

(the bottom and top edges of the box denote the 25th and 75th percentiles, respectively; the horizontal line in the box denotes the median value, and the diamond denotes the average value)

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Table 1 Lightning attribute parameters

参量	物理含义
发生时间	单次LIS闪电第1个事件发生时间
发生位置	单次LIS闪电经过光辐射能加权平均后的中心点经纬度
光辐射能	单次LIS闪电包含的所有事件光辐射能之和(单位：J·m^-2·sr^-1·μm^-1)
持续时间	单次LIS闪电的第1组与最后1组间的时间差(单位: s)
通道面积	单次LIS探测到的亮度超过背景光辐射能阈值的非重叠事件像素面积之和(单位：km²)
延展距离	单次LIS闪电包含的所有事件中相距最远两个事件的距离(单位：km)

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Table 2 Proportion of the number of extreme lightning to the total number of lightning within tropical cyclones in different categories (unit: %)

闪电属性	热带气旋强度等级			热带气旋区域
闪电属性	热带低压	热带风暴	台风	内核	内雨带	外雨带
持续时间	11.32	10.08	8.69	18.13	10.72	9.24
延展距离	12.70	8.72	9.73	11.35	11.42	9.74
通道面积	12.03	8.88	10.36	9.92	10.55	9.95
光辐射能	13.31	8.69	9.66	14.87	12.22	9.36

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Table 3 Comparisons of attribute parameter for lightning in tropical cyclone and non-tropical cyclone

闪电属性	热带气旋		非热带气旋
闪电属性	陆地	海洋	陆地	海洋
持续时间/s	0.35	0.35	0.30	0.34
延展距离/km	17.48	19.63	18.55	20.86
通道面积/km²	326.54	388.42	354.58	416.63
光辐射能/(J·m^-2·sr^-1·μm^-1)	0.66	0.84	0.78	1.23

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