Enhanced positive cloud-to-ground lightning in thunderstorms ingesting smoke from fires
Abstract
Smoke from forest fires in southern Mexico was advected into the U.S. southern plains from April to June 1998. Cloud-to-ground lightning (CG) flash data from the National Lightning Detection Network matched against satellite-mapped aerosol plumes imply that thunderstorms forming in smoke-contaminated air masses generated large amounts of lightning with positive polarity (+CGs). During 2 months, nearly half a million flashes in the southern plains exhibited +CG percentages that were triple the climatological norm. The peak currents in these +CGs were double the expected value. These thunderstorms also produced abnormally high numbers of mesospheric optical sprites.
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Smoke from fires in southern Mexico has been shown to increase the number of positive cloud-to-ground lightning strikes as far away as Ontario, Canada.
“For example, smoke from fires in southern Mexico has been shown to increase the number of positive cloud-to-ground lightning strikes as far away as Ontario, Canada (Lyons et al., 1998).”
From The human dimension of fire regimes on Earth (2011) · cites this paper as Lyons et al., 1998
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References 20 · Cited by 204
- Authors
- Lyons, W. A., Nelson, T. E., Williams, E. R., Cramer, J. A., & Turner, T. R.
- Affiliations
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US)
- Corresponding author
- Lyons, Walter A.
- Venue
- Science
- Published
- 1998-10-02
- Volume
- 282
- Issue
- 5386
- Pages
- 77-80
- ISSN
- 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
- 1095-9203
- OpenAlex
- W2071887418
- Cited by
- 204
- References
- 20
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 14 · 2020: 12 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 12 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 8 · 2013: 8 · 2012: 5
- FWCI
- 3.54
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Lightning and Electromagnetic Phenomena
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Atmospheric aerosols and clouds
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Atmospheric Science › Atmospheric chemistry and aerosols
- Keywords
- positive cloud-to-ground lightning, thunderstorms, wildfire smoke, forest fires, smoke plumes, lightning current, aerosol plumes, Southern United States
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