HR: 08:25h
AN: AE21A-03 [Abstracts]
TI: Spectroscopic Measurements of NO$_{2}$ in a Colorado Thunderstorm: Determination of the Mean Production
by Cloud-to-Ground Lightning Flashes
AU: * Langford, A O
EM: andrew.o.langford@noaa.gov
AF: NOAA Aeronomy Laboratory, 325 S. Broadway, R/AL8, Boulder, CO 80305-3328
United States
AU: Portmann, R W
EM: robert.w.portmann@noaa.gov
AF: NOAA Aeronomy Laboratory, 325 S. Broadway, R/AL8, Boulder, CO 80305-3328
United States
AU: Daniel, J S
EM: john.s.daniel@noaa.gov
AF: NOAA Aeronomy Laboratory, 325 S. Broadway, R/AL8, Boulder, CO 80305-3328
United States
AU: Miller, H L
EM: henry.leroy.miller@noaa.gov
AF: NOAA Aeronomy Laboratory, 325 S. Broadway, R/AL8, Boulder, CO 80305-3328
United States
AU: Miller, H L
EM: henry.leroy.miller@noaa.gov
AF: Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Science, University of Colorado, Box 216, Boulder,
CO 80309
United States
AU: Solomon, S
EM: susan.solomon@noaa.gov
AF: NOAA Aeronomy Laboratory, 325 S. Broadway, R/AL8, Boulder, CO 80305-3328
United States
AB:
Ground-based visible absorption spectroscopy of zenith-scattered sky light was used to measure changes in the column
abundance of NO$_{2}$ during the passage of a thunderstorm over Boulder, Colorado on September 12, 2002. The measurements
showed a 10-fold rise in slant column NO$_{2}$ within the thunderstorm cell, consistent with an increase of about 7 ppbv in
the lower core updrafts and main precipitation shaft. Mean mixing ratios of about 3 and 1.5 ppbv were inferred for the upper
cell and anvil, respectively. These observations, together with measurements from the Denver NEXRAD and the Colorado State
University (CSU) CHILL radars, and cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning flash data from the National Lightning Detection Network
(NLDN), are used to estimate the flash mean production of NOx by CG lightning. The measurements suggest a mean production
rate of (5.8\pm 2.9) x 10$^{26}$ NO$_{x}$ molecules per CG flash or (2.3\pm 1.4) x 10$^{17}$ NO$_{x}$/J. These results are
compared to previous work and the implications for global NO$_{x}$ production discussed.
DE: 3324 Lightning
DE: 0322 Constituent sources and sinks
DE: 0365 Troposphere--composition and chemistry
SC: Atmospheric and Space Electricity [AE]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting