Speaker
Description
Lightning can be considered a signature of deep convection over the observed region. Such deep convective systems can transport significant water vapor to the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS) region. We used the Icosahedral Nonhydrostatic Weather and Climate Model (ICON) in Climate Limited-area Mode (CLM) at the k-scale to investigate how lightning-associated deep convective systems affect the movement of water vapor and trace gases in the UTLS region. A one-year simulation shows increased water vapor concentration for lightning events at 100 hPa with some time lag, which ERA5 and AIRS further support with some differences. Noticeably, ERA5 overestimates the water vapor increase at 100 hPa and 200 hPa during the monsoon period, while AIRS underestimates it at 200 hPa compared to the k-scale simulation. Possibly, deep convection parametrization is one of the reasons for the additional water vapor transport to the UTLS in ERA5. Several high-intensity lightning cases produced by the ICON-CLM simulation were analyzed in detail over different seasons. Winter-isolated events show a much higher and distinct rise in water vapor concentration in the UTLS region over the Third Pole. Meanwhile, pre-monsoon and monsoon periods show variations in results. A Lagrangian analysis was used to understand the transport paths over the Third Pole during such events.
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