Mutual relationship between surface atmospheric pollutants and CG lightning in Tehran area

Gharaylou, Maryam; Mahmoudian, Alireza; Bidokhti, AbbasAli A.; Dadras, Pegah Sadr

doi:10.1007/s10661-020-08739-8

Published: 02 December 2020

Mutual relationship between surface atmospheric pollutants and CG lightning in Tehran area

Maryam Gharaylou¹,
Alireza Mahmoudian ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-6026-7271¹,
AbbasAli A. Bidokhti¹ &
Pegah Sadr Dadras¹

Environmental Monitoring and Assessment volume 192, Article number: 809 (2020) Cite this article

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Abstract

The mutual relationship between surface atmospheric pollutants and Cloud-to-Ground (CG) lightning is studied in the Tehran area for the first time. The impact of surface pollutant concentration of PM₁₀ on CG lightning initiation, as well as the production of NO₂ and surface ozone derived by lightning occurrence is investigated. To proceed, the reports of thunderstorm occurrence, including CG lightning in the Tehran area have been collected for years of study from the Iran meteorological organization (IRIMO). The surface pollution data are obtained from the Air Quality Control Center (AQCC) for several stations in the area of interest. The number of lightning (NoL) associated with the selected dates is obtained using the World Wide Lightning Location Network (WWLLN). The correlation coefficients associated with the CG lightning and the concentrations of PM₁₀, NO₂, and surface ozone are calculated. The hourly variations of accumulated NoL and NO₂ and surface ozone are also compared for 24 hours before and after the lightning activity for four days of study during the years of 2009-2013. The results show that there is a positive correlation between PM10 concentration and lightning flash number, obtained from observational data of WWLLN. Moreover, the comparison of NoL and surface pollutant concentration indicates a clear positive contribution from CG lightning in NO₂ and ozone production. In days with a considerable number of lightning occurrences, the comparison of the hourly average of NO₂ and O₃ concentrations with the lightning flash number reveals that NO₂ decreases, and O₃ increases due to the significant increases of lightning strikes.

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Acknowledgment

The authors wish to thank the World Wide Lightning Location Network (http://wwlln.net), a collaboration among over 50 universities and institutions, for providing the lightning location data used in this paper. The financial support of the Iran National Science Foundation (INSF) for this research (project number 98016617) is acknowledged.

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Institute of Geophysics, University of Tehran, Post Box 14155-6466, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Maryam Gharaylou, Alireza Mahmoudian, AbbasAli A. Bidokhti & Pegah Sadr Dadras

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Maryam Gharaylou
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Alireza Mahmoudian
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AbbasAli A. Bidokhti
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Pegah Sadr Dadras
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Correspondence to Alireza Mahmoudian.

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Highlights

• The first study of mutual relation between atmospheric pollutants and lightning event is presented in Tehran area.

• The number of CG lightning in Tehran area using WWLLN is compared with surface pollutant concentrations taken from AQCC for several stations within five years of study.

• A good correlation is observed between the surface pollutant concentrations and the number of flashes in the area of study.

• The increase of surface ozone and decrease of NO₂ during the lightning activity is observed that shows an agreement with the chemical reactions derived by CG flashes.

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Gharaylou, M., Mahmoudian, A., Bidokhti, A.A. et al. Mutual relationship between surface atmospheric pollutants and CG lightning in Tehran area. Environ Monit Assess 192, 809 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-020-08739-8

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Received: 22 August 2020
Accepted: 10 November 2020
Published: 02 December 2020
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-020-08739-8

Keywords

CG Lightning
Surface atmospheric pollutants
PM₁₀
NO₂
Surface ozone
Tehran