Modeling of Electrical Parameters of Thunderstorms Including Turbulent Effects

Abstract

We study the effects of turbulence on the electrification of thunderclouds. Analytical estimates of the disturbances of electrical parameters (in particular, charging current) stipulated by turbulent effects are performed for different parameters of turbulence and hydrometeors. The obtained results are used to improve the parameterization of electrical processes. A detailed comparison of the results of numerical simulation of thunderstorm events with and without taking into account turbulent effects revealed some characteristic features in the change of the electric parameter distributions in a thundercloud. Various scenarios of the electric parameter variations due to taking into account a high level of turbulence in thunderclouds are found and analyzed. They are (i) general intensification of the electrical processes without any significant change in the structure of the electrically active areas; (ii) an increase in the electric potential near the maximum values with the simultaneous decrease in potentials at the periphery; (iii) an increase in the electric potential with the coalescence of nearby areas of the maximum values of the potential.