To better understand the relationship between lightning activity and nitrogen oxides (NOx) in the troposphere and to estimate lightning-produced NOx (LNOx) production in China more precisely, spatial and temporal ...To better understand the relationship between lightning activity and nitrogen oxides (NOx) in the troposphere and to estimate lightning-produced NOx (LNOx) production in China more precisely, spatial and temporal distributions of vertical column densities of tropospheric nitrogen dioxide (NO2 VCDs) and lightning activity were analyzed using satellite measure- ments. The results showed that the spatial distribution of lightning activity is greater in the east than in the west of China, as with NO2 VCDs. However, the seasonal and annual variation between lightning and NO2 density show different trends in the east and west. The central Tibetan Plateau is sparsely populated without modem industry, and NO2 VCDs across the plateau are barely affected by anthropogenic sources. The plateau is an ideal area to study LNOx. By analyzing 15 years of satellite data from that region, it was found that lightning density is in strong agreement with annual, spatial and seasonal variations of NO2 VCDs, with a correlation coefficient of 0.79 from the linear fit. Combining Beirle's method and the linear fit equation, LNOx production in the Chinese interior was determined to be 0.07 (0.02-0.27) TgN yr-1 for 1997-2012, within the range of 0.016-0.384 TgN yr-1 from previous estimates.展开更多
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.91537209,91644224)the National Key Basic Research Program of China(Grant No.2014CB441403)the Basic Research Fund of the Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences(Grant No.2016Z002)
文摘To better understand the relationship between lightning activity and nitrogen oxides (NOx) in the troposphere and to estimate lightning-produced NOx (LNOx) production in China more precisely, spatial and temporal distributions of vertical column densities of tropospheric nitrogen dioxide (NO2 VCDs) and lightning activity were analyzed using satellite measure- ments. The results showed that the spatial distribution of lightning activity is greater in the east than in the west of China, as with NO2 VCDs. However, the seasonal and annual variation between lightning and NO2 density show different trends in the east and west. The central Tibetan Plateau is sparsely populated without modem industry, and NO2 VCDs across the plateau are barely affected by anthropogenic sources. The plateau is an ideal area to study LNOx. By analyzing 15 years of satellite data from that region, it was found that lightning density is in strong agreement with annual, spatial and seasonal variations of NO2 VCDs, with a correlation coefficient of 0.79 from the linear fit. Combining Beirle's method and the linear fit equation, LNOx production in the Chinese interior was determined to be 0.07 (0.02-0.27) TgN yr-1 for 1997-2012, within the range of 0.016-0.384 TgN yr-1 from previous estimates.