The possible impact of atmospheric aerosol and other factors on lightning over the rugged terrain of Nepal
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2022-10
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Abstract
Electrification of thunderclouds and lightning
initiation from within the cloud remain the mysteries among
scientists and researchers. Meteorological and atmospheric
factors that play a vital role in generating thunderstorms over
the mountainous terrain of Nepal further add ambiguity.
Atmospheric aerosol contents and Convective Available
Potential Energy (CAPE) are believed to play major roles in
generating thunderstorms. In this study, thunderstorm
activities over the mountainous country Nepal have been
investigated in association with Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD)
and the CAPE for six years between 2015 to 2020. Lightning
stroke density was used to measure thunderstorm activity and
their possible association with atmospheric aerosol, and CAPE.
For the investigation, we chose the pre-monsoon period that
begins in March and ends in June, because thunderstorm
activities are prevalent during this period. Our preliminary
investigation shows that atmospheric aerosol plays a significant
role in generating thunderstorms, and those thunderstorm
activities significantly dropped in the year 2020, corresponding
to the reduction in the value of Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD).
However, AOD alone does not play a pivotal role in
thunderstorm activities. The correlation coefficient of average
AOD with that of stroke density was about 0.57 exhibiting a
weak correlation in March. Similarly, CAPE has also been
found to play a significant role for thunderstorm activities. Its
correlation coefficient with stroke density is found to be about
0.59 during the pre-monsoon exhibiting a weak correlation in
the month of March and exhibits highest correlation during the
Month of April, 2015 as compared to the other months.
Although CAPE and Aerosol play significant roles in generating
thunderstorms, they alone are not the determiner and that other
climatic factors should also be considered.