Extreme oxidant amounts produced by lightning in storm clouds

W H Brune; P J McFarland; E Bruning; S Waugh; D MacGorman; D O Miller; J M Jenkins; X Ren; J Mao; J Peischl

doi:10.1126/science.abg0492

Extreme oxidant amounts produced by lightning in storm clouds

Science. 2021 May 14;372(6543):711-715. doi: 10.1126/science.abg0492. Epub 2021 Apr 29.

Authors

W H Brune¹, P J McFarland², E Bruning³, S Waugh⁴, D MacGorman^{4

5

6}, D O Miller², J M Jenkins², X Ren^{7

8}, J Mao⁹, J Peischl^{10

11}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA. whb2@psu.edu.
² Department of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
³ Department of Geosciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA.
⁴ National Severe Storms Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Norman, OK, USA.
⁵ Cooperative Institute for Mesoscale Meteorological Studies, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA.
⁶ School of Meteorology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA.
⁷ Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.
⁸ Air Resources Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, College Park, MD, USA.
⁹ Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, USA.
¹⁰ Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA.
¹¹ NOAA Chemical Sciences Laboratory, Boulder, CO, USA.

PMID: 33927054
DOI: 10.1126/science.abg0492

Abstract

Lightning increases the atmosphere's ability to cleanse itself by producing nitric oxide (NO), leading to atmospheric chemistry that forms ozone (O₃) and the atmosphere's primary oxidant, the hydroxyl radical (OH). Our analysis of a 2012 airborne study of deep convection and chemistry demonstrates that lightning also directly generates the oxidants OH and the hydroperoxyl radical (HO₂). Extreme amounts of OH and HO₂ were discovered and linked to visible flashes occurring in front of the aircraft and to subvisible discharges in electrified anvil regions. This enhanced OH and HO₂ is orders of magnitude greater than any previous atmospheric observation. Lightning-generated OH in all storms happening at the same time globally can be responsible for a highly uncertain, but substantial, 2 to 16% of global atmospheric OH oxidation.

Publication types

Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.