Abstract Lightning is one of the most important extreme weather conditions and is associated with heavy convective rain and thunderstorms. However, the present understanding of such systems as well their effect on precipitation characteristics are insufficient for proper modelling. In this paper, the rain microphysics is studied at Kolkata using an optical disdrometer in relation to the lightning activities. Lightning information is obtained from ground based World Wide Lightning Location Network and Lightning Imaging Sensor onboard International Space Station. The associated cloud features are studied with Doppler weather radar and MODIS satellite measurements. Results indicate significant change in rain microphysics between events with lightning and without lightning. The cloud microphysics indicates that the cloud top temperature is lower and cloud effective droplet size is smaller in case of lightning in comparison to non-lightning situation. On the other hand, large drops are abundant while small drops are less in numbers in rain with lightning than rain without lightning. The a value in Z-R relation is found to be significantly higher for rain with lightning than other type. The rain attenuation is also found to have significant variation under these two conditions. The implication of such varied rain microphysics on GPM Ku and Ka band radar are also reported.

中文翻译：

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关于闪电与降水微物理的关联

摘要 闪电是最重要的极端天气条件之一，与强对流雨和雷暴有关。然而，目前对此类系统及其对降水特征的影响的理解不足以进行适当的建模。在本文中，使用与闪电活动相关的光学偏差计研究了加尔各答的雨水微物理。闪电信息是从基于地面的全球闪电定位网络和国际空间站上的闪电成像传感器获得的。使用多普勒天气雷达和 MODIS 卫星测量来研究相关的云特征。结果表明，在有闪电和无闪电事件之间，雨水微物理发生了显着变化。云微物理表明，与非闪电情况相比，闪电情况下云顶温度较低，云有效液滴尺寸较小。另一方面，在有闪电的雨中，大水滴的数量比没有闪电的雨多，而小水滴的数量较少。发现 ZR 关系中的 a 值对于有闪电的雨比其他类型的要高得多。还发现在这两种条件下雨衰有显着变化。还报告了这种不同的降雨微物理对 GPM Ku 和 Ka 波段雷达的影响。发现 ZR 关系中的 a 值对于有闪电的雨比其他类型的要高得多。还发现在这两种条件下雨衰有显着变化。还报告了这种不同的降雨微物理对 GPM Ku 和 Ka 波段雷达的影响。发现 ZR 关系中的 a 值对于有闪电的雨比其他类型的要高得多。还发现在这两种条件下雨衰有显着变化。还报告了这种不同的降雨微物理对 GPM Ku 和 Ka 波段雷达的影响。