Evaluation of Satellite‐Based Lightning NOx Columns Using In‐Cloud Aircraft Measurements

Kurzfassung

ightning is the largest source of NOx in the upper troposphere, where it affects the distributions of tropospheric ozone, hydroxyl radical (OH), and methane. In this study, ozone monitoring instrument (OMI)‐ based LNO x columns are evaluated using aircraft‐based columns from case studies during the Deep Convective Clouds and Chemistry (DC3), the Tropical Composition, Cloud, and Climate Coupling (TC4), and African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analysis (AMMA) campaigns. This is the first time OMI LNOx column amounts have been evaluated using in situ data from aircraft profiles. For each case study, aircraft transects of the storm anvils were completed near the time of the OMI satellite overpass, allowing for direct comparison of satellite‐ retrieved and aircraft‐sampled LNOx columns from the cloud top to the OMI optical centroid pressure. These comparisons were used to assess uncertainties in the satellite‐based columns. Differences between the aircraft and mean OMI LNO x column amounts varied with location and flash density.