Overview

• University of Maryland researchers ran TEMPO in a rapid 10‑minute mode over late‑June storms in the eastern United States to watch nitrogen dioxide evolve inside individual thunderstorms.
• The team combined TEMPO measurements with NOAA’s Geostationary Lightning Mapper to count flashes in real time and estimate NO2 produced per flash and its persistence.
• Preliminary observations reinforce that lightning contributes roughly 10–15% of global nitrogen oxides and can efficiently drive ozone production at higher altitudes.
• Scientists also observed chemistry that generates hydroxyl radicals, highlighting lightning’s dual role of producing pollutants and helping cleanse the atmosphere of gases like methane.
• Researchers are testing a hypothesis that more intense storms produce shorter flashes with lower NOx per flash, and they caution the findings are provisional before informing air‑quality forecasts, including potential surface impacts in high‑terrain regions such as Colorado.