太湖地区雷暴过程识别及闪电活动时空特征分析

Identification of thunderstorms and the spatiotemporal characteristics analysis of lightning activity over Lake Taihu region

摘要

太湖是中国典型的浅水湖泊，周边下垫面复杂，作为非均一下垫面，其独特的水热条件显著影响当地雷暴及闪电活动。本文基于 2013-2018 年全球闪电定位网 (World Wide Lightning Location Network，WWLLN) 数据，采用空间聚类算法，基于两组参数设置分别聚类生成两套闪电簇，用以识别太湖地区雷暴与高闪电密度区域，结合闪电频数和辐射能量沿雷暴传播路径的变化情况，对闪电密度时空分布特征、雷暴分类、典型移动路径及日变化特征进行统计分析。结果表明：(1) 太湖地区闪电密度总体呈西高东低分布，太湖西岸、北岸、东岸及中西部湖面区域为相对高值区。(2) 依据闪电活动的时空变化特征，其母体雷暴过程可分为湖面增强型 (35.8%)、西岸耗散型 (8.1%)、局地型 (55.5%) 和合并增强型 (仅 1 例)，不同类型雷暴在移入湖面后的闪电频数和辐射能量变化上存在显著差异。进入湖面前闪电活动较活跃的雷暴移入湖面后可能因为湖效应影响被加强或维持，而较弱的则逐渐消散。(3) 多数具有明确路径特征的雷暴始发于太湖西侧山地并向东移动；若将湖面始发的局地雷暴纳入统计，则约 71% 的雷暴在湖面上空出现闪电频数或辐射能量的跃增。(4) 太湖地区的雷暴活动多集中于昼间，闪电活动峰值主要出现在午后至入夜时段；夜间湖面始发雷暴较少，且多表现为局地短生命史雷暴，湖面增强型雷暴主要集中于 11-15 时及 18 时前后始发。研究结果揭示了太湖作为浅水湖泊对雷暴与闪电活动的调制作用，可为太湖流域雷电预警业务及类似水陆过渡带的雷暴研究提供参考。

Abstract

Lakes, as heterogeneous underlying surfaces, exert significant influences on local thunderstorms and lightning activity because of their unique thermodynamic and hydrological characteristics. As a typical shallow lake in China, Lake Taihu is surrounded by complex underlying surfaces and therefore serves as an ideal region for investigating the effects of heterogeneous surfaces. Based on the World Wide Lightning Location Network (WWLLN) data from 2013 to 2018, this study identified thunderstorm activity using a Density-Based Spatial Clustering of Applications with Noise (DBSCAN), generating two sets of lightning clusters via two parameter configurations to identify thunderstorm activity and high-lightning-density areas over and around Lake Taihu. Combined with variations in lightning frequency and stroke energy along the propagation path, the spatial distribution, thunderstorm classification, typical movement paths, and diurnal variation characteristics of these thunderstorms were statistically analyzed. The results are as follows. (1) Lightning density in the Lake Taihu region generally exhibits a west-east decreasing pattern, with relatively high-value areas located along the western, northern, and eastern shores of the lake, as well as over the central-western lake surface. (2) According to the spatiotemporal characteristics of the lightning clusters, their parent thunderstorms can be classified into four types: lake-enhanced thunderstorm (35.8%), western-shore dissipating thunderstorm (8.1%), localized thunderstorm (55.5%), and merger-enhanced thuderstorm (only 1 case). Significant differences exist among these thunderstorm types in the variation of lightning frequency and stroke energy after moving over the lake surface. Thunderstorms with relatively active lightning activity before entering the lake may be enhanced or maintained after moving over the lake due to lake effect, whereas weaker ones may gradually dissipate. (3) Most thunderstorms with clear path characteristics originate over the mountainous area to the west of Lake Taihu and then move eastward. If localized thunderstorms initiated over the lake surface are also included, approximately 71% of thunderstorms exhibit an increase in lightning frequency or radiated energy over the lake surface. (4) Thunderstorms over and around Lake Taihu is mainly concentrated during daytime, with the peak thunderstorm occurrence from the afternoon to the early nighttime. Thunderstorms initiated over the lake surface at night are relatively few and are mostly localized, short-lived thunderstorms, while lake-enhanced thunderstorms are mainly initiated from 11:00 BT to 15:00 BT and around 18:00 BT. These findings highlight the role of shallow lakes, represented here by Lake Taihu, in modulating thunderstorm activity. They may also provide useful guidance for lightning warning services in the Lake Taihu Basin and for thunderstorm studies in other lake-land interface regions.

关键词

雷暴 / 太湖 / 湖效应 / WWLLN / 聚类分析

Key words

thunderstorm / Lake Taihu / lake effect / WWLLN / cluster analysis

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基金资助

国家自然科学基金面上项目(42475097)

北极阁开放研究基金项目(BJG202401)