Quantitative Differences between Lightning and Nonlightning Convective Rainfall Events as Observed with Polarimetric Radar and MSG Satellite Data

Abstract

o increase understanding of the relationships between lightning and nonlightning convective storms, lightning observations from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analyses (NAMMA) campaign were analyzed with Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) geostationary satellite and S-band NASA Polarimetric Doppler Weather Radar (NPOL) data. The study?s goal was to analyze the time evolution of infrared satellite fields and ground-based polarimetric radar during NAMMA to quantify relationships between satellite and radar observations for lightning and nonlightning convective clouds over equatorial Africa. Using NPOL data, very low-frequency arrival time difference lightning data, and MSG Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager observations, the physical attributes of growing cumulus clouds, including ice mass production, updraft strength, cloud depth, and cloud-top glaciation were examined. It was found that, on average, the lightning storms had stronger updrafts (seen in the satellite and radar fields), which lead to the formation of deeper clouds (seen in the satellite and radar fields) and subsequently much more ice in the mixed-phase region (as confirmed in radar observations), as well as much more nonprecipitating ice in the top 1 km of the cloud (as quantified in both satellite and radar fields) than the nonlightning storms. Computed radar-derived ice masses in cumulus clouds verifies the traditional MSG indicators of cloud-top glaciation, while NPOL verifies internal structures (i.e., large amounts of graupel) where satellite and radar show strong updrafts.