Spatial structure, distribution, and fractal analysis of lightning waiting times in three global hotspots

IF 1.8 4区地球科学 Q3 GEOCHEMISTRY & GEOPHYSICS Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics Pub Date : 2025-03-16 DOI:10.1016/j.jastp.2025.106489

Samuel T. Ogunjo , Bolarinwa J. Adekoya , Ayomide O. Olabode

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Statistical analysis of inter-event times has been employed to gain information about drivers and classification of events such as neuron spikes and earthquake events. This study extends the concept of inter-event statistics to the space time analysis of lightning events across three global hotspot. Using WWLLN Global Lightning Climatology data spanning 11 years (2010 - 2021), lightning waiting time was evaluated using burstiness, probability distribution, and fractal analysis. Results obtained in this study showed that lightning events at hot spot regions are driven by Poisson processes while the surrounding regions with low lightning activities are bursty in nature. Attempts were made to fit lightning event times to three probability distribution functions - Lognormal, Gamma, and Normal distribution. Both Lognormal and Gamma distributions were found to be good fit for lightning waiting times, while the Normal distribution showed poor performance. Complex analysis of lightning waiting times were also considered using entropy and fractal analysis. Persistence was observed in lightning waiting times across the three hotspot regions considered.

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来源期刊

Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics 地学-地球化学与地球物理

CiteScore

4.10

自引率

5.30%

发文量

审稿时长

6 months

期刊介绍： The Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics (JASTP) is an international journal concerned with the inter-disciplinary science of the Earth''s atmospheric and space environment, especially the highly varied and highly variable physical phenomena that occur in this natural laboratory and the processes that couple them. The journal covers the physical processes operating in the troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere, ionosphere, magnetosphere, the Sun, interplanetary medium, and heliosphere. Phenomena occurring in other "spheres", solar influences on climate, and supporting laboratory measurements are also considered. The journal deals especially with the coupling between the different regions. Solar flares, coronal mass ejections, and other energetic events on the Sun create interesting and important perturbations in the near-Earth space environment. The physics of such "space weather" is central to the Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics and the journal welcomes papers that lead in the direction of a predictive understanding of the coupled system. Regarding the upper atmosphere, the subjects of aeronomy, geomagnetism and geoelectricity, auroral phenomena, radio wave propagation, and plasma instabilities, are examples within the broad field of solar-terrestrial physics which emphasise the energy exchange between the solar wind, the magnetospheric and ionospheric plasmas, and the neutral gas. In the lower atmosphere, topics covered range from mesoscale to global scale dynamics, to atmospheric electricity, lightning and its effects, and to anthropogenic changes.