Lightning in a thunderstorm changes the electromagnetic field in a way that sparks upward lightning from tall structures.
Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Improving the Global Budget for Atmospheric Methanol
New aircraft survey data show that although atmospheric chemistry above remote ocean regions is a considerable source of methanol production, the ocean’s net methanol emission is minor.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Atmospheric Turbulence May Promote Cloud Droplet Formation
Turbulence causes local variations in relative humidity, which can push particles past a critical saturation threshold for droplet nucleation.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
New Land Surface Air Temperature Global Dataset
The fifth major update of land surface air temperature data from the Climatic Research Unit and the Met Office has extended the time series, included more stations, and used better processing methods.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
New Global Surface Temperature Dataset Spans 170 Years
HadCRUT5, the new version of the Met Office Hadley Centre/Climatic Research Unit global surface temperature dataset from 1850 to 2018, has extended and improved the previous temperature record.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Seeding Ice Clouds with Wildfire Emissions
Wildfires create airborne plumes of organic and inorganic matter as they burn. These particles can nucleate cloud-forming ice crystals and affect cloud dynamics, precipitation, and climate.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Measurements of Ozone-Depleting Chemicals in the Asian Monsoon
New high-altitude aircraft observations identify unexpected high levels of halogen-containing species entering the stratosphere above the summertime Asian monsoon.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Deciphering Reactive Nitrogen Emissions from Wildfire Smoke
In-situ data gathered from an aircraft flying over 23 western US wildfires in 2018 reveal the importance of reduced nitrogen, shedding insights on ozone and aerosol formation from wildfires.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Devastation of Hurricane Maria to Puerto Rican Landscape
The destructive winds and rain of Hurricane Maria in 2017 caused a dramatic transformation to Puerto Rico’s landscape and altered the characteristics of land-air interaction.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Climate Modeling Progress in the Past 15 Years
An assessment and comparison of the performances of climate models participating in three phases of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP3, CMIP5 and CMIP6).