A Review of Atmospheric Electricity Research in China from 2019 to 2022

Atmospheric electricity is composed of a series of electric phenomena in the atmosphere.Significant advances in atmospheric electricity research conducted in China have been achieved in recent years.In this paper,the research progress on atmospheric electricity achieved in China during 2019-22 is reviewed focusing on the following aspects:(1)lightning detection and location techniques,(2)thunderstorm electricity,(3)lightning forecasting methods and techniques,(4)physical processes of lightning discharge,(5)high energy emissions and effects of thunderstorms on the upper atmosphere,and(6)the effect of aerosol on lightning.

A comparative study of the electrical characteristics of positive and negative narrow bipolar events

Narrow bipolar events(NBEs)are intriguing intra-cloud discharge that have attracted enormous interest in the lightning community.They come with two polarities that dominate at different altitudes in thunderclouds.The sources of negative NBEs are usually located near the top of thunderclouds;those of positive NBEs are at the middle levels.NBEs may occur at the onset of lightning.The electrical properties of NBEs remain poorly understood.We present here the first comparative study of the electrical characteristics of negative and positive NBEs.To derive electrical parameters from the fast electric field change waveforms of 1673 positive NBEs and 364 negative NBEs recorded by the Jianghuai Area Sferic Array(JASA)in China,we use an improved method based on the transmission line model.This approach concludes that negative NBEs occurring at high altitudes tend to produce a narrower current pulse and take a shorter time to traverse the channel than their positive counterparts.Moreover,compared to positive NBEs,a larger portion of negative NBEs are associated with slightly greater peak current moments but smaller overall charge moments.The differences reported herein between electrical properties of negative and positive NBEs suggest that charge distribution in NBE-producing thunderstorms tends to vary systematically with altitude.

Locating Parent Lightning Strokes of Sprites Observed over a Mesoscale Convective System in Shandong Province,China

In this paper, we report the location results for the parent lightning strokes of more than 30 red sprites observed over an asymmetric mesoscale convective system(MCS) on 30 July 2015 in Shandong Province, China, with a long-baseline lightning location network of very-low-frequency/low-frequency magnetic field sensors. The results show that almost all of these cloud-to-ground(CG) strokes are produced during the mature stage of the MCS, and are predominantly located in the trailing stratiform region, which is similar to analyses of sprite-productive MCSs in North America and Europe. Comparison between the location results for the sprite-producing CG strokes and those provided by the World Wide Lightning Location Network(WWLLN) indicates that the location accuracy of WWLLN for intense CG strokes in Shandong Province is typically within 10 km, which is consistent with the result based on analysis of 2838 sprite-producing CG strokes in the continental United States. Also, we analyze two cases where some minor lightning discharges in the parent flash of sprites can also be located, providing an approach to confine the thundercloud region tapped by the sprite-producing CG strokes.

Triangulation of red sprites observed above a mesoscale convective system in North China

The triangulation of red sprites was obtained, based on concurrent observations over a mesoscale convective system(MCS) in North China from two stations separated by about 450 km. In addition, broadband sferics from the sprite-producing lightning were measured at five ground stations, making it possible to locate and identify the individual causative lightning discharges for different elements in this dancing sprite event. The results of our analyses indicate that the sprites were produced above the trailing stratiform region of the MCS, and their parent strokes were located mainly in the peripheral area of the stratiform. The lateral offset between sprites and causative strokes ranges from a few km to more than 50 km. In a particularly bright sprite, with a distinct halo feature and streamers descending down to an altitude of approximately 48 km, the sprite current signal identified in the electric sferic, measured at a range of about 1,110 km, peaked at approximately 1 ms after the return stroke.

Recent observations and research progresses of terrestrial gamma-ray flashes during thunderstorms

Terrestrial gamma-ray flashes(TGFs)are high-energy emissions in thunderstorms that were discovered first by satellite-based and then by ground-based gamma-ray detectors with photon energy up to tens of Me V.TGFs are a natural highenergy phenomenon associated with lightning discharges that frequently occur during thunderstorms.However,their production mechanisms and associated processes are still unclear.TGF studies have already been a research spotlight in the atmospheric electricity and high-energy atmosphere research areas.In this paper,we review recent research progresses on TGF studies in the past decade,including TGF detection,the relationship between TGFs and lightning processes,and thunderstorm activities.Several unsolved important scientific questions are discussed.Results suggest that upward TGFs observed by satellite-based detectors are closely connected with the development of in-cloud upward negative leaders.They are usually generated in milliseconds of the initiation of upward negative leaders and may produce a kind of distinct radio emissions because of the generation and propagation of huge amounts of high-energy electrons.By contrast,its counterpart,i.e.,downward TGFs observed by ground-based gamma-ray detectors,is associated with different types of lightning processes,such as downward negative or upward positive leaders,the initial continuing current stage of rocket-triggered lightning flashes return stroke processes.Because of limited observations,how these downward TGFs are generated is still unclear.Benefiting from the development of state-of-the-art instruments with high temporal and spatial resolutions,new insights into the processes and mechanisms of TGFs will be achieved with coordinated observations from satellite-based and ground-based measurements.