Numerical study on the effect of charge separation at low cloud temperature and effective water content on thunderstorm electrification

• Simulations of two idealized clouds with different configurations of the main parameterizations for cloud charging are presented.
• Simulated clouds charge structure and lightning activity are evaluated in details.

In the present study, a numerical model is used to evaluate the effects of low effective water content and low cloud temperature on graupel charging, charge structure and lightning activity in regions of thunderstorms. Two idealized cloud cases were simulated with MesoNH using different configurations of the main known parameterizations for noninductive charging involving ice crystal/graupel rebounding collisions. Simulations in regions with very low effective cloud water content were performed with the parameterization proposed in Mitzeva et al. (2006) based on the “Relative Growth Rate” hypothesis, while for simulations in regions with low cloud temperature, charge values from Avila et al. (2011) were used. Results showed that the inclusion of the charge separation at very low effective water content influences more the simulated cloud charge structure than does the inclusion of the charge separated at low temperatures. Also, the effect of the charge separated at very low effective water content is more significant when the original parameterization for non-inductive charging is based on the effective water content rather than on the rime accretion rate.