Lightning Bubbles Caused by Upward Reflectivity Pulses above Precipitation Cores of a Thundercloud

Abstract

A rapid rise of the lightning activity center in the upper part of a cloud is called a lightning bubble (LB). It remains unclear how LBs occur in thunderstorm clouds. Recently, high-spatiotemporal resolution data obtained by a phased array weather radar enabled observation of temporal changes in the three-dimensional structure of precipitation cores in a precipitation cell. To understand the mechanism by which LBs occur, we examined the relationship between the time-evolution of precipitation cores and the flash initiation points. After a precipitation core developed in an isolated thundercloud, the top height of the core reached its highest altitude and then started to descend. Meanwhile, the echo tops above the core continued to rise, which is termed an upward reflectivity pulse (URP). Over an hour, nine URPs were successively observed in the thundercloud. The average tracking period of the URPs was 3.9 minutes. Flash initiation points appeared near the highest points of the URPs and continued to rise with time. These observational results suggest that URPs cause LBs by enhancing the electric field, via the separation of graupel and ice crystals near the highest points of ascending URPs.