Narrow Bipolar Events as indicators of thunderstorm convective strength
- 3 September 2003
- journal article
- Published by American Geophysical Union (AGU) in Geophysical Research Letters
- Vol. 30 (17)
- https://doi.org/10.1029/2003gl017834
Abstract
Narrow Bipolar Events (NBEs) are impulsive in‐cloud lightning discharges that are commonly detected by both ground‐based and satellite‐based radio‐frequency sensors. In this paper, NBE flash rates are shown to be statistically correlated to cloud‐to‐ground (CG) lightning flash rates as recorded by an array of electric‐field‐change sensors located in Florida. In addition, NBE source heights are found to generally increase with increasing NBE flash rates. The inference is that NBE flash rates and source heights are generally driven by the intensity/strength of the convective updraft in thunderstorms. As a consequence, NBEs represent a meteorologically important type of lightning and provide an excellent target of opportunity for future satellite‐based very high frequency (VHF) global lightning monitors.This publication has 14 references indexed in Scilit:
- Bimodal radio frequency pulse distribution of intracloud‐lightning signals recorded by the FORTE satelliteJournal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 2003
- Relationship of intracloud lightning radiofrequency power to lightning storm height, as observed by the FORTE satelliteJournal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 2003
- Characteristics of impulsive VHF lightning signals observed by the FORTE satelliteJournal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 2002
- The Los Alamos Sferic Array: A research tool for lightning investigationsJournal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 2002
- A survey of thunderstorm flash rates compared to cloud top height using TRMM satellite dataJournal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 2001
- Observations of VHF source powers radiated by lightningGeophysical Research Letters, 2001
- A distinct class of isolated intracloud lightning discharges and their associated radio emissionsJournal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 1999
- Satellite observations of transionospheric pulse pairsGeophysical Research Letters, 1995
- What determines the cloud‐to‐ground lightning fraction in thunderstorms?Geophysical Research Letters, 1993
- Large‐scale charge separation in thundercloudsJournal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 1985