Lightning increases the atmosphere’s ability to cleanse itself by producing nitric oxide (NO), leading to atmospheric chemistry that forms ozone (O₃) and the atmosphere’s primary oxidant, the hydroxyl radical (OH). Our analysis of a 2012 airborne study of deep convection and chemistry demonstrates that lightning also directly generates the oxidants OH and the hydroperoxyl radical (HO₂). Extreme amounts of OH and HO₂ were discovered and linked to visible flashes occurring in front of the aircraft and to subvisible discharges in electrified anvil regions. This enhanced OH and HO₂ is orders of magnitude greater than any previous atmospheric observation. Lightning-generated OH in all storms happening at the same time globally can be responsible for a highly uncertain, but substantial, 2 to 16% of global atmospheric OH oxidation.

闪电通过产生一氧化氮（NO）来增强大气层自我清洁的能力，从而导致大气层化学物质形成臭氧（O ₃）和大气层的主要氧化剂羟自由基（OH）。我们对2012年机载深对流和化学研究的分析表明，闪电还直接产生氧化剂OH和氢过氧自由基（HO ₂）。发现了过量的OH和HO _2，它们与飞机前部出现的可见闪光以及带电的砧区域中的不可见放电有关。这种增强的OH和HO ₂比以前任何一次大气观测大几个数量级。在全球范围内同时发生的所有风暴中，由闪电产生的OH可能是造成全球大气OH氧化的高度不确定但相当大的2％至16％的原因。