Detection of the Aerosol Effect on Lightning based on Ground and Satellite Measurements over the Southern Great Plains during Summer

Aerosols serve as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). Thus, increases in aerosol loading create more but smaller cloud droplets that can rise to higher altitudes, leading to suppression of warm rain and invigoration of deep convection. As a consequence, increases in aerosols may induce/enhance lightning, a characteristic of the aerosol effect on a deep convective cloud system. Many previous studies use monthly datasets over large regions to eliminate synoptic and thermodynamic variations. In this study that focuses on the Southern Great Plains, higher temporal resolution observations from the ground-based ARM network, satellite retrievals from CALIPSO/CloudSat, as well as reanalysis data are used to assess the impact of aerosols on deep convection and lightning. The study analyzes a large ensemble of meteorological variables, aerosol and cloud parameters, and lightning flashes from the ENTLN dataset. We show the sensitivity of various variables including the hourly flash rate distribution to aerosol loading. For example, our preliminary analysis finds that the fraction of flashes occurring between 0000 to 0400 local time is larger under polluted conditions as determined by aerosol scattering coefficients. Additional analyses using more information from CALIPSO pertaining to aerosol vertical distribution and ice water content and its distribution will be useful in determining the causes and significance of the different behaviors.