Extreme oxidant amounts produced by lightning in storm clouds

Lightning increases the atmosphere's ability to cleanse itself by producing nitric oxide (NO), leading to atmospheric chemistry that forms ozone (O ) and the atmosphere's primary oxidant, the hydroxyl radical (OH). Our analysis of a 2012 airborne study of deep convection and chemistry demo...

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Published inScience (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 372; no. 6543; pp. 711 - 715
Main Authors Brune, W H, McFarland, P J, Bruning, E, Waugh, S, MacGorman, D, Miller, D O, Jenkins, J M, Ren, X, Mao, J, Peischl, J
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States The American Association for the Advancement of Science 14.05.2021
Subjects
Atmosphere
Atmospheric sciences
Lightning
Nitric oxide
Organic Chemistry
Oxidants
Oxidizing agents
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Summary:Lightning increases the atmosphere's ability to cleanse itself by producing nitric oxide (NO), leading to atmospheric chemistry that forms ozone (O ) 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 (HO ). Extreme amounts of OH and HO 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 HO 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.
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ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.abg0492