With data from atmospheric electrical discharges detected by the network of sensors of SIMEPAR/PR, this work has as main objective to analyze the electrical activity of three convective systems, relating them to the life of each one. These systems occurred in the southern South American Continent, which identification and selection followed criteria established in this work. Geostationary satellite imagery, enhanced in the infrared has been used in this procedure, for the years 2002and 2003. One of the systems (the most intense and largest) has developed in the region where the efficiency of detection is lower than 20%, but its dissipation occurred in a region with greater efficiency. The other two systems occurred within the region with detection efficiency greater than 90%. It was found that the electrical discharges were preferentially concentrated in the regions where the nuclei had convective top temperatures lower than 190 K. The maximum detected discharges occurred near or at the time of maturity of the system. The results suggested that the convection intensity of convective systems can be related to the quantity of atmospheric electrical discharges associated to them. Also, it was found that the temporal evolution of the electrical discharges can be related to the stage of development of nuclei embedded within the convective systems.
atmospheric electrical discharges; southern South America; convective systems
