TY - CONF
T1 - Evolving Dominant Charge Structures in West Texas on 4 June 2012
AU - Sullivan, Vanna
AU - Bruning, Eric
AU - MacGorman, D. R.
AU - Krehbiel, P. R.
AU - Rison, W.
AU - Edens, Harald E.
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors would like to acknowledge Vaisala for providing NLDN data, the West Texas Mesonet for providing mesonet data, NOAA SPC for archived analysis, Dr. Brian Ancell for WRF consultation and the support of NSF under award #1063966 as part of the DC3 campaign.
Publisher Copyright:
© International Conference on Atmospheric Electricity, ICAE 2014
PY - 2014
Y1 - 2014
N2 - On 4 June 2012 isolated storms initiated within range of the West Texas Lightning Mapping Array (LMA) and grew upscale into a mesoscale convective system (MCS). Part of the MCS remained over the West Texas LMA and Southwest Oklahoma LMA domains until it dissipated overnight. Initial storm cells developed within a relatively dry mid-level environment and were observed to contain a mid-level positive charge and predominantly negative intracloud (-IC) flashes. Only storms with this charge structure were observed for the first 40 minutes of convection. However, later storm cells and multicellular clusters, both further east in deeper moisture and within areas that had previously been moistened by convection, were primarily observed to contain a mid-level negative charge and +ICs at upper levels in each cell. Both -IC and +IC dominated storm cells were observed simultaneously for at least 90 minutes during this transition. As this case involves many storm cells of differing charge structures over a relatively long period, it will be used to examine the utility of existing models of electrification and microphysics processes in predicting the influence of environmental controls, including temperature and moisture, on the resulting charge structure.
AB - On 4 June 2012 isolated storms initiated within range of the West Texas Lightning Mapping Array (LMA) and grew upscale into a mesoscale convective system (MCS). Part of the MCS remained over the West Texas LMA and Southwest Oklahoma LMA domains until it dissipated overnight. Initial storm cells developed within a relatively dry mid-level environment and were observed to contain a mid-level positive charge and predominantly negative intracloud (-IC) flashes. Only storms with this charge structure were observed for the first 40 minutes of convection. However, later storm cells and multicellular clusters, both further east in deeper moisture and within areas that had previously been moistened by convection, were primarily observed to contain a mid-level negative charge and +ICs at upper levels in each cell. Both -IC and +IC dominated storm cells were observed simultaneously for at least 90 minutes during this transition. As this case involves many storm cells of differing charge structures over a relatively long period, it will be used to examine the utility of existing models of electrification and microphysics processes in predicting the influence of environmental controls, including temperature and moisture, on the resulting charge structure.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85086811246&partnerID=8YFLogxK
M3 - Paper
T2 - 15th International Conference on Atmospheric Electricity, ICAE 2014
Y2 - 15 June 2014 through 20 June 2014
ER -