Numerical simulation of the influence of aerosols on electrical processes in convective clouds during forest fires
A.P. Blagina1,2, S.O. Dementyeva1,2
1Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
2Institute of Applied Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Nizhny Novgorod , Russia
Keywords: aerosol load, smoke aerosol, wildfires, convective cloud, thunderstorm, cloud electrification, weather forecast, numerical simulation
Abstract
The work is devoted to the study of the effect of aerosols on various processes in the atmosphere, in particular, the formation of convective clouds and their electrification. The special cases of thunderstorms in the Krasnoyarsk Territory during wildfires are considered. This region is characterized by the highest risk of increased wildfires due to the climate change among Russian regions. The thunderstorm events were selected based on the analysis of lightning activity in the selected area from 2015 to 2022 in comparison with wildfire data. A series of numerical experiments on simulating thunderstorms in the WRF model with different aerosol concentrations in the atmosphere have been performed. Based on the simulation results, electrical parameters of clouds have been calculated. To find correlations between the density of lightning discharges and the parameters of convective systems we suggest methods for estimating lightning activity based on the volume of thunderstorm cells with a certain radar reflectivity and the area of high electrical potential. We have revealed that an increase in the aerosol load in the atmosphere increases the time of convection development, as well as a significant effect of aerosol concentration on electric potential maximum at near constant radar reflectivity maximum. The results can be used to develop fundamental ideas about the relationship between lightning activity and wildfires and to improve methods for predicting lightning activity.
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