The Role of Lightning in Atmospheric Chemistry

Kurzfassung

We review the literature from the period 2007 to 2025 concerning the effects of lightning on atmospheric chemistry. The most well‐known effect is the production of nitrogen oxides, which lead through chemical reactions in the presence of sunlight to production of ozone and to shortening the lifetime of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. We find that while the magnitude of nitrogen oxide production from lightning remains uncertain, the range of possible global production deduced through five techniques has been narrowed slightly since the last review of the subject in 2007. Other important findings are that nitrogen oxide production per flash is inversely related to the flash rate, and flash rates in global and regional models are best represented by schemes involving cloud and precipitation elements. Most of the ozone resulting from nitrogen oxide production by lightning occurs in the upper troposphere with only very small amounts delivered to the surface. No significant trends in lightning occurrence have been detected globally, but both positive and negative trends are present regionally.