The effect of El Nino and La Nina on lightning activity: its relation with meteorological and cloud microphysical parameters

Anirban Guha (), Trisanu Banik, Rakesh Roy and Barin Kumar De
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Anirban Guha: Tripura University
Trisanu Banik: Tripura University
Rakesh Roy: National Institute of Technology
Barin Kumar De: Tripura University

Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, 2017, vol. 85, issue 1, No 19, 403-424

Abstract: Abstract The decadal variation of lightning activity over Northeast India (NEI) from the year 2002 to 2011 is studied with the help of satellite-based lightning imaging sensor (LIS) data. An anomalous 56 % increase in lightning activity is observed in the year 2010 with respect to the previous years. To investigate the reason behind this increase, the LIS data are analyzed with several meteorological and cloud microphysical parameters. These parameters are convective sources of cloud ice, cloud top temperature, surface temperature, convective precipitation rate and total ice water content and convective available potential energy. On a synoptic scale, the period of anomalous lightning activity could be related to the development of an El Nino event at the middle of 2009 that broke down in the early months of the next year with a rapid transition to La Nina by August 2010. Analyses expose that El Nino Southern Oscillation might have diversely modified the local meteorological and cloud microphysical parameters. It comes out that this rapid transition from El Nino to La Nina condition could be the possible reason behind the dramatic increase in lightning activity, which was not previously documented over NEI.

Keywords: Lightning; Cloud top temperature; El Nino; La Nina (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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DOI: 10.1007/s11069-016-2571-y

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