Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics 128 (2015) 40–45

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Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics

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Short Communication

Latitude dependence of narrow bipolar pulse emissions

M.R. Ahmad a,b,n, M.R.M. Esa a,c, V. Cooray a, Z.A. Baharudin a,b, P. Hettiarachchi a
a
Ångström Laboratory, Division for Electricity, Department of Engineering Sciences, Uppsala University, Box 534, S-75121, Sweden
b
Faculty of Electronics and Computer Engineering, Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka, Hang Tuah Jaya, 76100 Durian Tunggal, Malacca, Malaysia
c
Institute of High Voltage and High Current (IVAT), Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, UTM Skudai, Johor Bahru 81310, Johor,
Malaysia

art ic l e i nf o a b s t r a c t

Article history: In this paper, we present a comparative study on the occurrence of narrow bipolar pulses (NBPs) and
Received 23 September 2014 other forms of lightning flashes across various geographical areas ranging from northern regions to the
Received in revised form tropics. As the latitude decreased from Uppsala, Sweden (59.8°N) to South Malaysia (1.5°N), the per-
13 March 2015
centage of NBP emissions relative to the total number of lightning flashes increased significantly from
Accepted 14 March 2015
Available online 17 March 2015
0.13% to 12%. Occurrences of positive NBPs were more common than negative NBPs at all observed la-
titudes. However, as latitudes decreased, the negative NBP emissions increased significantly from 20%
Keywords: (Uppsala, Sweden) to 45% (South Malaysia). Factors involving mixed-phase region elevations and vertical
Latitude extents of thundercloud tops are invoked to explain the observed results. These factors are fundamen-
Narrow bipolar pulse
tally latitude dependent. Our results suggest that the NBP emission rate is not a useful measure to
Thunderstorm
monitor thunderstorm severity because regular tropical thunderstorms, where relatively high NBP
emissions occur, lack suitable conditions to become severe (i.e., there is modest convective available
potential energy and a lack of baroclinity in such regions). Observations of significantly high negative
NBP occurrences together with very rare occurrences of positive cloud-to-ground flashes and isolated
breakdown pulses in tropical thunderstorms are indicative of a stronger negative screening layer mag-
nitude and weaker lower positive charge region magnitude than those in northern regions.
& 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction many kiloamperes in amplitude flow. The estimated speed of

Narrow bipolar pulses (NBPs) are the electric fields produced
by a distinct category of intra-cloud (IC) flashes. They were first
reported by Le Vine (1980) and later described in more detail by
Cooray and Lundquist (1985), Willett et al. (1989), Medelius et al.
(1991), and Smith et al. (1999). Narrow bipolar pulses have been
observed to occur within or near the convective cores of thun-
derstorms (Jacobson and Heavner, 2005; Suszcynsky et al., 2005).
It has been inferred that NBP flash rates and emission altitudes are
generally driven by the strength of the convective updraft in mid-
latitude thunderstorms (Suszcynsky and Heavner, 2003; Wiens
et al., 2008; Wu et al., 2013). In other words, as the altitude of NBP
emissions increase, the NBP flash rates also increase. Conse-
quently, the NBP flash rate has been proposed as a measure to
monitor thunderstorm severity (Wu et al., 2013).
Several researchers (Watson and Marshall, 2007; Nag and Ra-
kov, 2009; Nag et al., 2010) have proposed that in the source of
NBPs a hot conductive channel exists through which currents of
n
Corresponding author at: Ångström Laboratory, Uppsala University, Box 534,
S-75121, Sweden. Fax: þ 46 184715810.
E-mail address: riduan.ahmad@angstrom.uu.se (M.R. Ahmad).
propagation of the current pulse is from 0.3
108 m/s to
1
108 m/s with an estimated channel length of about 1000 m or
less. Considering such very fast propagation speeds in virgin air, it
is not likely that the initial breakdown will be due to the electron
drift speed in the ambient electric field. That in turn suggests that
the initial breakdown propagation is either photon- or fast (run-
away) electron-modulated. The fact that close NBP electric field
signatures appear without any detectable initial breakdown pro-
cesses (pre-leader activity) preceding the event, and that high
frequency (HF)/very high frequency (VHF) radiations can be de-
tected almost simultaneously with the NBP onset, suggest that the
initial breakdown processes and the formation of the hot con-
ductive channel must occur instantaneously, i.e., at the propaga-
tion speed of light. Furthermore, frequent observations of gamma-
ray glows (Dwyer and Uman, 2014) from thunderstorms suggest
that the electric fields that are needed to produce runaway elec-
tron avalanches are common inside thunderstorms. As relativistic
runaway electron avalanches (RREAs) come into the picture, the
NBP electric field signature is believed to be generated from the
propagation of RREAs alone rather than from current pulse pro-
pagation along a hot conductive channel (Cooray and Cooray,
2012; Cooray et al., 2014). The proposed simulation models fit very

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jastp.2015.03.005
1364-6826/& 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 M.R. Ahmad et al. / Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics 128 (2015) 40–45 41

well with the electric field changes and HF/VHF radiation sig-
natures. The estimated propagation speed is between 2–3

108 m/s with estimated lengths between 400 and 600 m.
In this paper, we examine the occurrences of NBPs at various
latitudes across different geographical regions ranging from
northern regions to the tropics. Specifically, we analyze the per-
centage of NBP occurrences relative to the number of total light-
ning flashes and the percentage of occurrences for positive and
negative NBPs as the latitude decreases from Uppsala, Sweden
(59.8°N) to South Malaysia (1.5°N). Then, we provide some insights
into the charge structure of thunderstorms, the relationship be-
tween NBPs and severe storms, particularly tropical thunder-
storms, and the NBP discharge mechanism.
2. Data and measurements
All observations presented here were from three stations lo-
cated in Uppsala, Sweden (latitude 59.8°N) and South Malaysia
(latitude 1.5°N). One station uses a broad-band antenna with
500 μs and 15 ms decay-time constants. The other two stations
use a broad-band antenna connected to a tuning circuit tuned to
3 MHz (HF) and 30 MHz (VHF). The output of the antennas is di-
gitized at rates between 5 MHz and 100 MHz with a resolution of
12 bits or 8 bits (South Malaysia in 2012). Data records were be-
tween 200 ms and 5 s long and event triggered. The timing for
each event was provided by a global positioning system (GPS).
Additional details of the instrumentation and location techniques
in Sweden are given by Baharudin et al. (2012) and Esa et al.
(2014), and additional details for South Malaysia are given by
Azlinda Ahmad et al. (2010) and Ahmad et al. (2014).
Measurements in Sweden were conducted for a period of 13
months between June and August 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012 and
between June and July 2014. Measurements in South Malaysia
were conducted for a period of 4 months between April and May
2009 and between November and December 2012. Data for the
mid-latitude sites in Asia and North America were collected from
previously published studies.

Table 1
Timing information of 44 examined thunderstorms recorded in South Malaysia between April and May 2009 and between November and December 2012. The first flash
event detected by the measurement system is listed in the second column, the first narrow bipolar pulse (NBP) event detected is listed in the third column, the last NBP event
detected is listed in the fourth column, the last flash event detected is listed in the fifth column, the polarity of detected NBPs throughout the thunderstorm duration is listed
in sixth column, and the total duration of the thunderstorm is listed in seventh column. The thunderstorm duration is defined as the duration between the first flash event
detected by the measurement system and the last flash event detected.  CG, negative cloud-to-ground; IC, intra-cloud.

Thunderstorm label: First flash event de- First NBP event de- Last NBP event de- Last flash event de- Polarity of de- Thunderstorm duration
Date tected (flash type) tected (polarity) tected (polarity) tected (flash type) tected NBPs (min)

1: 11 APR 2009 10:15:22 (  CG) 10:23:18 (  NBP) 12:31:49 (  NBP) 13:01:06 (  CG) Both 166
2: 12 APR 2009 14:19:11 (  CG) 16:05:17 (  NBP) 16:32:21 (  NBP) 17:29:47 (  CG) Only  NBPs 189
3: 13 APR 2009 07:52:56 (  CG) – – 09:10:22 (  CG) No NBPs 78
4: 14 APR 2009 09:37:20 (  CG) 10:24:11 ( þNBP) 10:47:33 ( þNBP) 11:31:50 (  CG) Only þNBPs 109
5: 15 APR 2009 01:50:05 (  CG) – – 03:23:41 (  CG) No NBPs 93
6: 16 APR 2009 07:43:35 (  CG) – – 08:53:06 (  CG) No NBPs 70
7: 17 APR 2009 07:59:45 (  CG) – – 09:41:42 (  CG) No NBPs 100
8: 18 APR 2009 05:59:26 (  CG) 06:02:52 (þ NBP) 09:32:43 (  NBP) 10:53:51 (  CG) Both 293
9: 19 APR 2009 05:17:24 (  CG) 05:41:39 (  NBP) 11:21:53 ( þ NBP) 12:02:54 (  CG) Both 404
10: 20 APR 2009 04:01:00 (  NBP) 04:01:00 (  NBP) 04:20:00 (  NBP) 07:33:26 (  CG) Both 212
11: 21 APR 2009 06:38:07 (  NBP) 06:38:07 (  NBP) 06:39:25 (  NBP) 07:47:53 (  CG) Only  NBPs 79
12: 23 APR 2009 05:52:58 (  CG) – – 10:39:37 (  CG) No NBPs 287
13: 24 APR 2009 06:15:51 (  NBP) 06:15:51 (  NBP) 06:15:51 (  NBP) 08:53:04 (  CG) Only  NBP 158
14: 26 APR 2009 03:34:27 (  CG) 04:14:44 ( þNBP) 07:39:59 ( þNBP) 08:37:45 (  CG) Only þNBPs 303
15: 27 APR 2009 08:23:36 (  CG) 09:10:03 (  NBP) 10:23:15 ( þNBP) 10:49:39 (  CG) Both 146
16: 28 APR 2009 02:41:50 (  CG) 03:28:23 ( þ NBP) 05:39:51 ( þ NBP) 05:39:51 ( þ NBP) Both 180
17: 30 APR 2009 02:09:20 (  CG) 03:36:00 (  NBP) 03:36:00 (  NBP) 04:32:03 (  CG) Only  NBP 140
18: 03 MAY 2009 07:38:17 (  CG) 08:15:54 ( þ NBP) 08:15:54 ( þ NBP) 09:56:40 (  CG) Only þNBP 138
19: 04 MAY 2009 22:40:12 (  CG) 22:42:33 ( þ NBP) 22:42:33 ( þ NBP) 02:01:11 (  CG) Only þNBP 200
20: 05 MAY 2009 22:22:55 (  CG) 22:53:35 ( þ NBP) 22:53:35 ( þ NBP) 22:53:35 ( þ NBP) Only þNBP 30
21: 08 MAY 2009 00:36:46 (  CG) 00:48:22 ( þ NBP) 09:59:08 (  NBP) 09:59:08 (  NBP) Both 563
22: 08 MAY 2009 21:17:07 (  CG) 22:11:38 ( þ NBP) 23:52:07 ( þ NBP) 23:53:44 (  CG) Only þNBPs 155
23: 09 MAY 2009 13:49:46 (  CG) 15:14:08 ( þNBP) 22:32:56 ( þ NBP) 23:03:01 (  CG) Only þNBPs 552
24: 15 MAY 2009 07:49:58 (  CG) 07:52:07 (  NBP) 11:15:16 (þ NBP) 11:15:16 ( þNBP) Both 205
25: 16 MAY 2009 07:23:26 (  CG) 07:25:36 (  NBP) 07:25:36 (  NBP) 08:49:20 (IC) Only  NBP 86
26: 21 MAY 2009 03:38:44 (  CG) 03:51:43 ( þ NBP) 05:41:22 ( þ NBP) 11:51:29 (  CG) Both 493
27: 23 MAY 2009 04:32:31 (  CG) 05:37:26 ( þ NBP) 07:16:02 (þ NBP) 07:20:03 (  CG) Both 169
28: 25 MAY 2009 06:24:20 (  CG) 08:38:08 ( þ NBP) 10:19:07 (þ NBP) 10:28:56 (  CG) Only þNBPs 244
29: 26 MAY 2009 03:13:04 (  CG) 03:42:55 ( þ NBP) 05:52:26 ( þ NBP) 06:49:13 (  CG) Both 218
30: 28 MAY 2009 07:20:20 (  CG) 07:43:46 ( þNBP) 07:46:52 ( þNBP) 08:56:39 (  CG) Only þNBPs 96
31: 29 MAY 2009 06:30:58 (  NBP) 06:30:58 (  NBP) 07:33:32 ( þNBP) 08:46:01 (  CG) Both 136
32: 30 MAY 2009 02:08:38 (  CG) 02:23:19 ( þ NBP) 02:23:19 ( þ NBP) 02:45:33 (IC) Only þNBP 37
33: 23 NOV 2012 15:55:20 (  CG) 15:57:28 ( þ NBP) 17:34:40 ( þ NBP) 18:01:36 (  CG) Both 125
34: 27 NOV 2012 14:40:38 (  CG) 14:59:38 (  NBP) 17:49:07 (  NBP) 18:16:03 (  CG) Both 216
35: 28 NOV 2012 15:31:30 (  CG) 16:20:56 ( þ NBP) 19:09:10 ( þNBP) 19:12:18 (  CG) Both 220
36: 29 NOV 2012 13:38:36 (  CG) 15:29:50 (  NBP) 15:31:00 (  NBP) 16:14:06 (  CG) Both 156
37: 30 NOV 2012 14:05:24 (  CG) 15:23:46 (  NBP) 16:58:00 (  NBP) 17:04:14 (  CG) Both 180
38: 05 DEC 2012 13:16:54 (  CG) 14:11:52 (  NBP) 14:47:58 ( þNBP) 16:58:16 (  CG) Both 222
39: 06 DEC 2012 12:50:54 (  CG) 15:26:38 (  NBP) 15:54:28 (  NBP) 17:22:22 (  CG) Both 272
40: 10 DEC 2012 13:06:12 (  CG) 16:08:10 ( þNBP) 16:08:10 ( þNBP) 16:58:58 (  CG) Only þNBP 232
41: 11 DEC 2012 12:22:32 (  CG) – – 16:10:54 (  CG) No NBP 228
42: 12 DEC 2012 14:25:46 (  CG) 14:51:34 ( þNBP) 17:37:40 (  NBP) 17:37:40 (  NBP) Both 192
43: 13 DEC 2012 13:36:14 (  CG) 14:10:08 ( þNBP) 14:10:08 ( þNBP) 16:56:36 (  CG) Only þNBP 200
44: 19 DEC 2012 12:20:48 (  CG) 13:06:56 (  NBP) 14:10:22 ( þNBP) 16:27:22 (  CG) Both 247
42 M.R. Ahmad et al. / Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics 128 (2015) 40–45

A total of 5 NBPs (4 positive NBPs and 1 negative NBP that have network (WWLLN).
been accompanied by HF and VHF signatures) or around 0.13%
have been recorded and examined from a total of 3886 examined
flashes from 5 measurement campaigns in Uppsala, Sweden. Out 3. Results and analysis
of 5 NBPs, 2 NBPs were found to occur in isolation (1 positive NBP
and 1 negative NBP) and 3 positive NBPs were found to initiate Figs. 3A and B illustrates the percentage of NBPs relative to all
cloud flashes. The electric field waveform characteristics of NBPs lightning flashes and the percentage of positive NBPs relative to
found in Sweden are similar to those NBPs reported by previous the total number of NBP flashes, respectively, for various geo-
studies from various geographical regions. The mean values of graphical locations ranging from northern regions to the tropics.
pulse duration, zero crossing time, rise time, and normalized As the latitude decreased from Uppsala, Sweden (59.8°N) to South
electric field amplitude (100 km) are 11.88 7 3.59 ms, 3.70 7 Malaysia (1.5°N), the percentage of NBP emissions relative to the
1.23 ms, 0.92 7 0.40 ms, and 10.46 77.93 V/m, respectively. total number of lightning flashes increased significantly from 0.13%
Table 1 shows the timing information of the first and last flash to 12%. The percentage of NBPs at mid-latitudes regions (the Great
events detected, and also NBPs occurrence for a total of 44 thun- Plains and New Mexico) showed little variation from the percen-
derstorms in South Malaysia (with 3883 examined flashes). Out of tage at Uppsala, Sweden; however, significant increases in the
44 thunderstorms, 38 thunderstorms had produced NBPs while percentage of NBPs can be observed as the latitude starts to de-
6 thunderstorms were observed without NBPs (see Table 1, crease from around 30 °N in Florida to 1.5 °N in South Malaysia.
thunderstorms with label 3, 5, 6, 7, 12, and 41). More than half of Furthermore, the occurrence of positive NBPs was much greater
the NBP-producing thunderstorms (21 from 38 thunderstorms or than negative NBPs at higher latitudes, and while the positive
about 55.3%) had produced NBPs with both polarities. On the other NBPs remained dominant at the different latitudes, the propor-
hand, 12 thunderstorms were observed to produce positive NBPs tions of negative NBPs increased from only 20% in the northern
only while only 5 thunderstorms were found to produce negative regions to almost 45% near the equator.
NBPs only. No significant differences could be found between the As expected because of the temperature dependence of the
positive NBP-producing thunderstorms and negative NBP-produ- Clausius–Clapeyron relationship, tropical thunderstorms in Ma-
cing thunderstorms. As a matter of fact, we found that both short- laysia produced comparable amounts of lightning flashes in a re-
lived thunderstorms (range between 30 and 80 min) and very latively shorter period of time (N ¼3883 over the 4 month period)
intense thunderstorms (up to 552 min; more than 9 h) had pro- compared to summer thunderstorms in Sweden (N ¼3886 over
duced either only positive NBPs or only negative NBPs or NBPs the 13 month period). Although the numbers of lightning flashes
were almost the same, NBPs were very rare in Sweden (only 0.13%)
with both polarities. Furthermore, we also found that most of the
whereas greater amounts of NBPs were detected in Malaysia
first detected NBPs were found to occur sometimes within the first
(12%); the NBP values in Malaysia were even larger than positive
hour after the first detected flash event except in 4 cases (see
cloud-to-ground (CG) flashes (0.8%) and isolated breakdown pul-
Table 1, thunderstorms with label 10, 11, 13, and 31) where the
ses (IBPs) (0.1%), as shown in Fig. 4. Often in a tropical thunder-
thunderstorms were initiated by negative NBPs.
storm, the main positive charge center is screened from the
One electric field records of NBPs in Sweden is shown in Fig. 1.
ground by the main negative charge center and this pattern is
A positive NBP was observed to initiate an IC flash. The positive
influenced by the shape and size of the thunderstorm (with nar-
NBP was located 11 km from the location of the largest pulse of IC
row, elevated mixed-phase regions, higher cloud tops, and slim
flash and they were separated by 3 ms time interval. Lightning
shapes for hot tower thunderstorms). This in turn could explain
location data has been provided by Swedish meteorological and
why positive CG flashes were very rare in Malaysia. If the occur-
hydrological institute (SMHI). One electric field records of NBPs in
rence of a positive CG flash is latitude dependent and influenced
South Malaysia is shown in Fig. 2. A close negative NBP was de-
by the shape and size of thunderstorms, then the statistical results
tected about 10 km from the measuring stations. Lightning loca-
in Figs. 3 and 4 provide a strong premise for the postulation that
tion data has been provided by World-wide lightning location
the occurrence of NBPs is also latitude dependent and influenced
by the same factors.
2
037_21072011 As latitudes increased, the occurrence of negative NBPs de-
Wideband E
creased and the occurrence of positive NBPs increased. As revealed
1 by Fig. 3B, the percentage of negative NBPs in relation to all of the
detected NBPs was much higher in Malaysia (45%) than in Sweden
(20%). Moreover, the percentage of negative NBP occurrences in
0
relation to all lightning flashes in Malaysia (5.4%) was much higher
Electric Field [V/m]

6 Normalized E-Field [V/m] +NBP_037_21072011 than in Sweden (0.03%) (see Fig. 4). In fact, Wu et al. (2012) found
-1 3
that the percentage of negative NBPs in relation to total NBPs is
much higher in Guangzhou, South China (latitude of 23.5°N) than
0 in Chongqing, West China (latitude of 29.5°N) and the values ob-
-2 served amounted to 34% compared to 22%, respectively. Further-
-3
+NBP more, one interesting study at northern region (latitude of 51°N in
-3
-6 Greater Khingan Range region in China by Lu et al. (2013)) very
close to the latitude of Uppsala, Sweden has failed to record any
-9 [μs]
-25 -20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25 negative NBPs signature. The study has recorded only 493 positive
-4 NBPs from two measurement campaigns conducted during sum-
0 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30 0.35 0.40 0.45
Time [ms]
mer 2009 and 2010. These data suggest that the occurrence of
negative NBPs is closely related to the vertical extent of thunder-
Fig. 1. Wideband electric field radiation from a positive narrow bipolar pulse (NBP) storms, which are bounded by the altitude of the tropopause. In-
that initiated an intra-cloud (IC) flash within horizontal distance of 11 km from the
largest pulse of the IC flash in Sweden. Inset shows the positive NBP wideband
deed, Jacobson and Heavner (2005) showed that NBP emission
electric field signature normalized to 100 km on an expanded timescale. The total altitudes were constrained to below the altitude of the tropopause.
pulse duration and zero crossing time are 12.2 ms and 3.25 ms, respectively. Therefore, in tropical thunderstorms with high cloud tops, one
 M.R. Ahmad et al. / Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics 128 (2015) 40–45 43

80
105_27112012
60 Wideband E

40

Electric Field [V/m]

20

−20

−40

−60
−0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3
x 10
Time [s]
Fig. 2. Wideband electric field with radiation and static field components from a close negative NBP detected about 10 km from measurement station in South Malaysia. The
decay-time constant used to detect this NBP signature was 15 ms.

Northern Regions

0.35% Uppsala, Sweden (59.8°N) 86.7% Uppsala, Sweden

The Great Plains

0.52% The Great Plains (33.6°N to 40.8°N) [Wiens et al., 2008] 77%
[Wiens et al., 2008]
Latitude

0.63% New Mexico (35°N to 36°N) [Smith et al., 2002] 70% New Mexico & Florida
[Smith et al., 2002]
Florida (24.6°N to 30.5°N) Florida
3.35% 65%
[Jacobson & Heavner, 2005] [Suszcynsky & Heavner, 2003]
5% West (29.5°N) & South China (23.5°N) West & South China
66.4%
[Wu et al., 2012] [Wu et al., 2012]
12% South Malaysia
55.3% South Malaysia
(1.5°N)
Percentage (%)
Tropics
0 5 10 15 0 20 40 60 80 100

Fig. 3. Statistical data on the occurrence of NBPs from northern regions to the tropics. (A) Data for NBPs relative to all lightning flashes and (B) data for the percentage of
positive NBPs relative to the total number of NBP flashes. (Jacobson & Heavner, 2005; Smith et al., 2002; Suszcynsky & Heavner, 2003; Wiens et al., 2008; Wu et al., 2012)

could expect more negative NBP occurrences than in thunder-
storms at mid-latitudes and northern regions. Consequently, the
emissions of negative NBPs must take place in the upper part of
the thunderstorms somewhere between the main positive charge
region and the cloud top (possibly, a negative screening layer ex-
ists). This has been confirmed in several studies where researchers
have observed the altitudes where the negative NBP emissions
take place; for example, the emission height in Osaka (latitude of
34.7°N) is between 13 and 16 km (Wu et al., 2013), in Shanghai
(latitude of 31.2°N) it is between 14 and 16 km (Zhu et al., 2010),
and in Guangzhou (latitude 23.5°N) it is between 15 and 20 km
(Wu et al., 2012).
Furthermore, it is important to notice that the occurrence of
positive NBPs in relation to total lightning flash events in Sweden
is significantly lower than the occurrence of positive NBPs in
Malaysia, i.e., 0.1% compared to 6.6%, respectively. One possible
explanation for such observations is that the elevated mixed-
phase region in tropical thunderstorms may facilitate more fre-
quent emissions of positive NBPs. In fact, a study by Wu et al.
(2012) revealed that on average most of the positive NBPs in
Chongqing, West China (latitude of 29.5°N) are emitted from al-
titudes between 8 and 10 km while most of the positive NBPs in
Guangzhou, South China (latitude of 23.5°N) are emitted from
higher altitudes between 9 and 15 km. At latitudes slightly higher
than Chongqing, Zhu et al. (2010) found that on average most of
the positive NBPs in Shanghai, East China (latitude of 31.2°N) are
emitted from lower altitudes between 7 and 10 km. Further north
at a latitude of 51°N in Greater Khingan Range region in China, Lu
et al. (2013) found that the positive NBPs are emitted at altitude
from as low as 5 km with median altitude of 7.9 km. This is a
strong indication of the latitudinal dependence of positive NBP
emissions whereby tropical thunderstorms with an elevated
mixed-phase region would see more frequent emissions of posi-
tive NBPs than thunderstorms in mid-latitudes and northern re-
gions (as evidenced in Figs. 3B and 4).
4. Discussion
The main factors that determine how frequent NBPs will be
emitted are:
(1) The vertical extent of the thunderstorms bounded by the al-
titude of the tropopause, and
(2) The elevation of the mixed-phase region.
These factors are latitudinally dependent as evidenced from the
results in Figs. 3 and 4. In other words, as the latitude decreases
from northern regions to the tropics, thunderstorms tend to have
higher cloud tops and elevated mixed-phase regions. Conse-
quently, higher NBP emissions can be expected to occur in tropical
thunderstorms compared to thunderstorms in mid-latitudes and
northern regions.
These data suggest that the NBP emission rate is not a useful
measure to monitor thunderstorm severity because regular tro-
pical thunderstorms, where relatively high NBP emissions occur,
44 M.R. Ahmad et al. / Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics 128 (2015) 40–45
Percentage (%)
87.5% 87.1%
80
Sweden (N = 3896) Malaysia (N = 3883)
60
40
20
8.35%
3.8%
0.3% 0.05% 0.8% 0.1%
0 nomena. These factors are fundamentally latitude dependent.
-CG&IC +CG IBP +NBP −NBP -CG&IC +CG
Fig. 4. Occurrence percentage of NBPs relative to other lightning flashes in Sweden
and South Malaysia. NBP, narrow bipolar pulse; CG, cloud-to-ground; IBP, isolated
breakdown pulses.
lack suitable conditions to become severe (i.e., there is modest
convective available potential energy, or CAPE, and a lack of bar-
oclinity in such regions) (Williams and Renno, 1993). Conversely,
some of the most severe thunderstorms occur in mid-latitude
regions where the clash of warm and cold synoptic scale air
masses is prevalent (i.e., large CAPE and strong baroclinity), yet
these regions are only associated with moderate NBP emission
rates. These issues have been raised in other studies as well
(Suszcynsky and Heavner, 2003; Wiens et al., 2008; Wu et al.,
2013). In fact, Wiens et al. (2008) has observed that even the most
severe mid-latitude thunderstorms do not always produce NBPs.
The high percentage of negative NBPs in Malaysian thunder-
storms (5.4% compared to only 0.01% in Sweden, see Fig. 4) and the
very rare occurrence of IBPs in this region (only 0.1% compared to
3.8% in Sweden, see Fig. 4) are perhaps an indication of a charge
structure that has a very weak lower pocket charge center (LPCR)
magnitude and very strong negative screening layer magnitude.
Sharma et al. (2011) have reported that no IBPs were detected in
tropical Sri Lanka thunderstorms while they were prevalent in
Sweden. Hence, as the latitude decreases from northern regions to
the tropics, the magnitude of the negative screening layer above
the main positive charge center may get stronger (more negative
NBP emissions) while the magnitude of the LPCR weakens (less
IBP emissions).
In contrast to the conventional breakdown field that needs to
be extended only over a very small region (e.g., over a scale of
millimeters) for the low-energy electron avalanche multiplication
to happen, Dwyer and Uman (2014) argued whether the electric
field could cover a large enough distance to produce a significant
number of runaway electrons to the point where the conductivity
of the cloud is affected (e.g., they estimated that a sea-level
equivalent field of 400 kV/m would produce a RREA avalanche
length of 120 m at 6 km altitude). Inference from in situ balloon
measurements (Marshall and Winn, 1982; Stolzenburg et al., 2007)
has revealed that significant numbers of RREAs are common en-
ough to provide extended regions with fields exceeding the
threshold electric field for RREA multiplication. Perhaps, the ex-
tended region requirement for RREA breakdown to occur is related
to the frequency of NBP emissions. As the mixed-phase region gets
elevated and the upper part of thunderstorms becomes vertically
higher, more extended regions with the required fields for RREA
breakdown would exist. This in turn would facilitate more NBP
emissions. Additionally, as thunderstorms grow further up into
low altitude regions (as latitude decreases), the magnitude of the
required breakdown field will become lower and facilitate more
RREA breakdown events to occur.
5. Conclusions
Across various geographical areas ranging from northern re-
gions to the tropics, the amount of NBP emissions increased sig-
nificantly from 0.13% at a latitude of 59.8°N in Uppsala, Sweden to
12% at a latitude of 1.5°N in South Malaysia. The occurrence of
positive NBPs was more common than negative NBPs at all lati-
tudes examined. However, as the latitude decreased, negative NBP
emissions became more frequent and a significant increase from
20% in Sweden to 45% in South Malaysia was observed. Factors
6.6% 5.4% involving mixed-phase region elevations and vertical extents of
thundercloud tops were invoked to explain the observed phe-
IBP +NBP −NBP
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to Prof. Earle Williams from Massa-
chusetts Institute of Technology and Prof. Paul R. Krehbiel from
New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology for useful
discussions. Participation of M. R. Ahmad, M. R. M. Esa and Z. A.
Baharudin are funded by the funds from Ministry of Education
Malaysia and Anna Maria Lundin Foundation of Småland Nation.
Participation of Prof. V. Cooray and P. Hettiarachchi are funded by
the fund from the B. John F. and Svea Andersson donation at Up-
psala University. The authors wish to thank Assoc. Prof. Z. Abd.
Malek, Dr. M. Fernando, Dr. M. Rahman, Dr. N. Azlinda Ahmad,
Mr. M. Muzafar Ismail, Ms. D. Johari, Ms. Zaini, Mr. Kamyar and Mr.
Behnam for their support during measurements in Uppsala, Swe-
den and South Malaysia.
The authors wish to thank the World Wide Lightning Location
Network (http://wwlln.net), collaboration among over 50 uni-
versities and institutions, for providing the lightning location data
used in this paper.
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