JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 94, NO. D8, PAGES 11,089–11,105, 1989

Nitrogen oxides produced from lightning

Edward Franzblau

Department of Chemistry and Geophysical Research Center, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro

Carl J. Popp

Department of Chemistry and Geophysical Research Center, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro

Abstract

Independent measurements of nitrogen oxides (NO_x=NO+NO₂) were made in proximity to lightning using both a chemiluminescent NO_x analyzer and an absorption spectrometer (COSPEC) tuned to the NO₂ absorption at Langmuir Laboratory (elevation 3300 m), near Socorro, New Mexico. COSPEC data obtained from three separate lightning events, two from distant storms and one from direct observation of the plume from a single flash a few hundred meters away, yielded 4 to 10×10²⁶ molecules NO₂/flash after normalizing to flashes at sea level. Measurements from the NO_x analyzer during two different thunderstorms indicated that the ratio of NO to NO_x can remain high (0.7−0.8±0.1) for several minutes after a flash. Combining the data from the COSPEC with the NO_x analyzer yields a production rate of approximately 3×10²⁷ molecules NO_x/flash. If 100 flashes/second is an assumed global lightning flash frequency, this production rate becomes 100 TgN/yr (TgN/yr=10¹² g nitrogen/yr) as an order of magnitude estimate. © American Geophysical Union 1989

Index Terms: 3324 Meteorology and Atmospheric Dynamics: Lightning; 0340 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Middle atmosphere—composition and chemistry; 3304 Meteorology and Atmospheric Dynamics: Atmospheric electricity.

Citation: Franzblau, E., and C. J. Popp (1989), Nitrogen oxides produced from lightning, J. Geophys. Res., 94(D8), 11,089–11,105.

Copyright 1989 by the American Geophysical Union.