ANNOUNCEMENTS
Lightning is an electric discharge phenomenon which occurs mostly in the cumulonimbus clouds (Cb). Around 2500 deaths happen each year in India due to the lightning which is more than any other natural disaster. Nitrogen oxides (NOx), basic antecedents for ozone and hydroxyl radical (OH), which is the essential tropospheric oxidant, generates large because of the lightning. Lightning can cause significant increment in NOx inside the center and upper troposphere. Nitrogen oxides (NOx = NO + NO2) play a crucial role within the science of troposphere and impact within the tropospheric ozone (O3) budget. This report concentrates on establishing a methodology to identify the vulnerable regions of lightning and its impact on the air quality over the three states of India i.e. West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh & Jharkhand for the month of June & July of 2017. Lightning data from the LDS sensors which was established by NRSC at Vishakhapatnam, Ranchi and Kolkata has been used for the geolocating of vulnerable zones. Database has been created using the MySql Workbench and MS Visual Studio. Grids of 10km, 20km and 50km were made using the fishnet tool in ArcMap software. Using these data, the results shows that South 24 Parganas, Barddhaman, Howrah, Kolkata and North 24 Parganas are the most affected areas in June and in July, South 24 Parganas and Barddhaman were the most affected areas in West Bengal. In June 2017, Visakhapatnam, Vizainagaram and East Godawari districts were vulnerable, while in July 2017 only Visakhapatnam was the most affected district. Using the SO2 and lightning data the impact of lightning on air quality and the relationship between number of lightning flashes and pollutants can also be analyzed.
Keywords: Lightning, vulnerable zones, Cloud-to-ground lightning, Atmosphere, Ozone, NOx
