Natural Hazards and Earth System Science www.nat-hazards-earth-syst-sci.net 1561-8633 1684-9981 9 5 2009 10.5194/nhess-9-1719-2009 http://www.nat-hazards-earth-syst-sci.net/9/1719/2009/ http://www.nat-hazards-earth-syst-sci.net/9/1719/2009/nhess-9-1719-2009.html http://www.nat-hazards-earth-syst-sci.net/9/1719/2009/nhess-9-1719-2009.pdf 1719 1726 2009-10-21 Relationship between lightning and model simulated microphysical parameters over the central and eastern Mediterranean D. K. Katsanos katsanos@meteo.noa.gr K. Lagouvardos V. Kotroni National Observatory of Athens, Institute for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development, Athens, Greece In this study the relationship between lightning and simulated microphysical parameters of clouds, is examined. In order to investigate such a relationship, a number of cases with significant lightning activity that occurred during the wet period of the year over the central and eastern Mediterranean have been selected, based on the lightning activity reported by the ZEUS lighting detection network, operated by the National Observatory of Athens. For the same cases, simulations with the non-hydrostatic MM5 model were performed with the aim of reproducing the dynamical and microphysical parameters associated with the weather systems that produced lightning. The analysis showed that the temporal distribution of convective rainfall is not well correlated with that of lightning, while on the contrary, the temporal distribution of the simulated concentrations of solid hydrometeors correlates well with lightning and there is also a general coincidence of their maxima. 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