Relationship between Size of Cloud Ice and Lightning in the Tropics

The association of lightning flashes with mean cloud ice size over continental and oceanic region in the tropical areas has been analyzed using the observations from various satellite platforms (MODIS, TRMM, and LIS) for the period 2000–2011. We found that frequency of lightning in general is higher over the continental region compared to oceanic region, whereas larger size of cloud ice is observed over the oceanic regions compared to the continental regions. Relationship between lighting and cloud ice size shows similar features over both continental and oceanic regions. For the first time, we show that total lighting increases with increase in the cloud ice size; attends maximum at certain cloud ice size and then decreases with increase in cloud ice size. Maximum lightning occurred for the mean cloud ice size of around 23–25 µm over the continental region and mean cloud ice size of around 24–28 µm over the oceanic region. Based on our observation we argue that the relation between lightning and mean cloud ice size follow the curve linear pattern, and not linear

Analysis of atmospheric ammonia over South and East Asia based on the MOZART-4 model and its comparison with satellite and surface observations

Limited availability of atmospheric ammonia (NH3) observations limits our understanding of controls on its spatial and temporal variability and its interactions with the ecosystem. Here we used the Model for Ozone and Related chemical Tracers version 4 (MOZART-4) global chemistry transport model and the Hemispheric Transport of Air Pollution version 2 (HTAP-v2) emission inventory to simulate global NH3 distribution for the year 2010. We presented a first comparison of the model with monthly averaged satellite distributions and limited ground-based observations available across South Asia. The MOZART-4 simulations over South Asia and East Asia were evaluated with the NH3 retrievals obtained from the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) satellite and 69 ground-based monitoring stations for air quality across South Asia and 32 ground-based monitoring stations from the Nationwide Nitrogen Deposition Monitoring Network (NNDMN) of China. We identified the northern region of India (Indo-Gangetic Plain, IGP) as a hotspot for NH3 in Asia, both using the model and satellite observations. In general, a close agreement was found between yearly averaged NH3 total columns simulated by the model and IASI satellite measurements over the IGP, South Asia (r=0.81), and the North China Plain (NCP), East Asia (r=0.90). However, the MOZART-4-simulated NH3 column was substantially higher over South Asia than East Asia, as compared with the IASI retrievals, which show smaller differences. Model-simulated surface NH3 concentrations indicated smaller concentrations in all seasons than surface NH3 measured by the ground-based observations over South and East Asia, although uncertainties remain in the available surface NH3 measurements. Overall, the comparison of East Asia and South Asia using both MOZART-4 model and satellite observations showed smaller NH3 columns in East Asia compared with South Asia for comparable emissions, indicating rapid dissipation of NH3 due to secondary aerosol formation, which can be explained by larger emissions of acidic precursor gases in East Asia