WHERE ARE THE MOST INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS ON EARTH
@article{Zipser2006WHEREAT, title={WHERE ARE THE MOST INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS ON EARTH}, author={Edward J. Zipser and Daniel J. Cecil and Chuntao Liu and Stephen W. Nesbitt and David P. Yorty}, journal={Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society}, year={2006}, volume={87}, pages={1057-1071} }
The instruments on the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite have been observing storms as well as rainfall since December 1997. This paper shows the results of a systematic search through seven full years of the TRMM database to find indicators of uncommonly intense storms. These include strong (> 40 dBZ) radar echoes extending to great heights, high lightning flash rates, and very low brightness temperatures at 37 and 85 GHz. These are used as proxy variables, indicating…
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