Diurnal patterns in lightning activity over South America

M. GABRIELA NICORA; RODRIGO E. BÜRGESSER; N. E. CASTELLANO; ELDO E. ÁVILA

Collioure, France

Simposio; Thunderstorms Effects on the Atmosphere-Ionosphere System Summer School; 2014

European Sciencie Fundation

Satellite and ground network observations of lightning flash distribution data are used to examine the diurnal cycle of lightning activity over the tropical and subtropical regions of South America. The results show in the subtropical South America, particularly the area limited by [-25°; -40°] of latitude and [-70°; -50°] of longitude, the time of maximum lightning activity was shifted to nocturnal hours, extending from close to midnight to early morning hours. This behavior can be associated to the peak in MCSs in the morning hours in the region. A close connection between peak time of lightning activity and peak time of precipitation events have been observed by comparing the current results with other published studies. On the other hand, storms over northern Argentina are known as leading Transient Luminous Events (TLE) generators on Earth