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Climatological diurnal variation of negative CG lightning peak current over the continental United States
Author(s) -
Chronis T.,
Cummins K.,
Said R.,
Koshak W.,
McCaul E.,
Williams E. R.,
Stano G. T.,
Grant M.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: atmospheres
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2169-8996
pISSN - 2169-897X
DOI - 10.1002/2014jd022547
Subject(s) - morning , diurnal temperature variation , current (fluid) , lightning (connector) , variation (astronomy) , climatology , atmospheric sciences , storm , environmental science , time of day , local time , meteorology , geology , physics , oceanography , zoology , mathematics , astrophysics , statistics , biology , astronomy , power (physics) , quantum mechanics
This study provides an 11 year climatology of the diurnal variability of the cloud‐to‐ground (CG) lightning peak current. The local diurnal variation of peak current for negative polarity CG (−CG) flashes exhibits a highly consistent behavior, with increasing magnitudes between the late night to early morning hours and decreasing magnitudes during the afternoon. Over most regions, an inverse relationship exists between the −CG peak current and the corresponding −CG activity, although specific details can depend on region and time of day. Overall, the diurnal variation of the −CG peak current appears to reflect fundamental differences between morning and afternoon storms, but additional studies are required to clearly identify the primary cause(s).