Electrical and hydrometeor structure of thunderstorms that produce upward lightning

• Grant number: 17/13293-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: September 01, 2017
• End date: December 20, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Geosciences - Meteorology
• Principal Investigator: Rachel Ifanger Albrecht
• Grantee: Jessica Cristina dos Santos Souza
• Supervisor: Timothy James Lang
• Host Institution: Instituto de Astronomia, Geofísica e Ciências Atmosféricas (IAG). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Marshall Space Flight Center, United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 16/17821-5 - Microphysical properties of precipitation in thunderstorms with upward lightning, BP.IC

Abstract

Upward lightning flashes at tall structures have been reported to be initiated by in-cloud branching of a parent positive cloud-to-ground (CG) or intracloud (IC) lightning during the decaying stages of thunderstorms, and associated with stratiform precipitation. This in-cloud branching of the parent CG lightning into lower layers of the stratiform precipitation, as well as other situational modes of upward lightning triggering, are indicative of a lower charge center. The objective of this study is to determine the hydrometeor characteristics of thunderstorms that produce upward lightning, especially at the lower layers of the stratiform region where the bidirectional leader of the parent CG or IC lightning propagates through. We will use polarimetric radar and lightning data from thunderstorms that produced upward lightning flashes in São Paulo, SP Brazil and Rapid City, SD USA to infer the hydrometeors and charge structure of these thunderstorms. (AU)