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11.C - Other Natural Sources
Short description
| NFR-Code | Name of category | Method | AD | EF | Key Category |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11.C | Lightning | T1 | NS | D |
Lightning and corona discharge during thunderstorm events cause atmospheric chemical reactions to take place at high voltages and high temperatures. These reactions cause the production of NOx in the atmosphere.
Methodology
The calculation of NOx emissions from lightning uses strike counts from the German weather service and default emission factors from the EMEP/EEA guidebook.
For the complete time series, the emissions are calculated as follows:
EM = AD (number of lightning strikes) * EF (kg emission per strike)
Activity data
The number of lightning strikes in Germany is taken from a commercial system called “BLIDS” run by Siemens. The data has been cross-referenced with information from the German weather service. Consistent strike count data is available from 1992 onward and has been back-populated to cover the full time series since 1990. The following table shows the strike figures over time.
Table 1: Lightning strikes in Germany from 1990 onwards
| Year | Strike count [1000 strikes] |
|---|---|
| 1990 | 443 |
| 1991 | 443 |
| 1992 | 370 |
| 1993 | 274 |
| 1994 | 429 |
| 1995 | 394 |
| 1996 | 218 |
| 1997 | 255 |
| 1998 | 428 |
| 1999 | 589 |
| 2000 | 1,026 |
| 2001 | 591 |
| 2002 | 1,023 |
| 2003 | 813 |
| 2004 | 741 |
| 2005 | 802 |
| 2006 | 1,001 |
| 2007 | 1,139 |
| 2008 | 990 |
| 2009 | 917 |
| 2010 | 589 |
| 2011 | 687 |
| 2012 | 656 |
| 2013 | 542 |
| 2014 | 623 |
| 2015 | 550 |
| 2016 | 432 |
| 2017 | 443 |
| 2018 | 446 |
| 2019 | 329 |
| 2020 | 399 |
| 2021 | 512 |
Emission factor
For the calculation of emissions in this category, the Guidebook emission factor of 2.75 kg NOx per strike is used.
Emission Trend
The emission value is solely dependent on the strike count and varies between 1 to 3 kilotons of NOx per year.
Figure 1: NFR 11.C, NOx emissions from lightning
Recalculations
As these activities and emissions are reported for the first time, no specific recalculations occur against a previous submission.
Uncertainties
The AD from BLIDS does have a low uncertainty of ± 3%. The uncertainties for the emission factors are estimated to be relatively high, being a default value. Hence the overall uncertainty for the emission estimation of NOx from lightning is qualified estimated by expert judgement to be high (>50%).
Quality checks
No sector-specific quality checks are done.
Planned Improvement
Currently no improvements are planned.