wiebke deierling
Total lightning measurements provide continuous temporal and broad spatial (hemispheric) sampling of attendant hazardous weather conditions (i.e., thunderstorms). This gives strong motivation for quantitatively defining useful physical relationships between lightning characteristics and storm behavior. Wiebke Deierling has previously investigated the relationship between total lightning amounts and ice mass, updraft characteristics and ice mass fluxes for thunderstorms in different climate regimes and of different storm type. She found a particularly strong relationship between the product of ice mass fluxes (downward precipitating and upward non-precipitating) and total lightning activity.
(hemispheric) sampling of attendant hazardous weather conditions (i.e., thunderstorms). This gives strong motivation for quantitatively defining useful physical relationships between lightning characteristics and storm behavior. Wiebke Deierling has previously investigated the relationship between total lightning amounts and ice mass, updraft characteristics and ice mass fluxes for thunderstorms in different climate regimes and of different storm type. She found a particularly strong relationship between the product of ice mass fluxes (downward precipitating and upward non-precipitating) and total lightning activity.
One aim of her research is the utilization of this relationship for meteorological applications such as improved numerical weather prediction. In collaboration with David Dowell (NCAR/MMM) she works on assimilating radar data into WRF using the Kalman ensemble filter technique and validate model output with the radar derived microphysics, 3D wind-field, the ice mass flux product etc. In a second step it is planned to assimilate total lightning data (make use of the flux product -total lightning relationship) with the goal of improving storm scale model forecasts of thunderstorm evolution and quantative precipitation.
Wiebke also collaborates with Christelle Barthe (NCAR/ASP) and Mary Barth (NCAR/ACD) investigating the use of ice mass fluxes to estimate total lightning in cloud-resolving models. The aim of this study is to see whether total lightning can be parameterized via the ice mass fluxes in WRF-CHEM. Three different storms have been simulated to show that this relationship can be used in cloud resolving models to diagnose the total lightning flash rate. The model results are compared to radar and lightning data. Sensitivity tests of the microphysics scheme and the horizontal resolution of the domain have also been performed.
Furthermore, Wiebke Deierling is investigating the relationship between precipitation ice mass, rainfall and total lightning in collaboration with Walt Petersen (UAH/MSFC). Total lightning activity has been shown to be closely related to graupel and ice crystal mass in convection. Therefore it may be possible to use radar data in conjunction with total lightning data to estimate the fractions of liquid water content or convective rainfall that originate from cold rain and warm rain processes. This would be useful for climatological and microphysical studies that need information about warm and cold rain processes in order to determine their role in the water cycle. Preliminary investigations show encouraging results.