Polarity transitions of narrow bipolar events in thundercloud tops reaching the lower stratosphere

Feifan Liu, Torsten Neubert, Olivier Chanrion, Gaopeng Lu, Ting Wu, Fanchao Lyu, Weitao Lyu, Christoph Köhn, Dongshuai Li, Baoyou Zhu () and Jiuhou Lei ()
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Feifan Liu: University of Science and Technology of China
Torsten Neubert: Technical University of Denmark (DTU Space)
Olivier Chanrion: Technical University of Denmark (DTU Space)
Gaopeng Lu: University of Science and Technology of China
Ting Wu: Gifu University
Fanchao Lyu: Nanjing Joint Institute for Atmospheric Sciences
Weitao Lyu: Nanjing Joint Institute for Atmospheric Sciences
Christoph Köhn: Technical University of Denmark (DTU Space)
Dongshuai Li: Technical University of Denmark (DTU Space)
Baoyou Zhu: University of Science and Technology of China
Jiuhou Lei: University of Science and Technology of China

Nature Communications, 2024, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract Blue corona discharges are often generated in thunderclouds penetrating into the stratosphere and are the optical manifestation of narrow bipolar events (NBEs) observed in radio signals. While their production appears to depend on convection, the cause and nature of such discharges are not well known. Here we show the observations by a lightning detection array of unusual amounts of 982 NBEs during a tropical storm on the coastline of China. NBEs of negative polarity are predominantly observed at the cloud top reaching the stratosphere, and positive NBEs are primarily at lower altitudes. We find that the dominant polarity changes with the typical time of development of thunderstorm cells, suggesting that the polarity depends on the phase of the storm cells. Furthermore, we find that the lightning jump of negative NBEs is associated with above-anvil cirrus plumes of ice crystals and water vapor in the lower stratosphere. We propose that variations in updrafts induce changes in the altitude and charge concentrations of the cloud layers, which lead to the polarity transition. Our results have implications for studies of the chemical perturbations of greenhouse gas concentrations by corona discharges at the tropopause.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-51705-y

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