ANALYZING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SUNSPOT NUMBERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER TURKEY CASE STUDY; ANKARA REGIONAL STATION AND ANKARA ESENBOĞA AIRPORT STATION

This study aimed to understand the relationship between sunspot numbers and thunderstorms that are under both Space Weather and Atmospheric Electricity for Turkey. For this purpose, weather stations of Turkish State Meteorological Service at Ankara Regional Directorate and Ankara Esenboğa Airport were chosen. Counts of thunderbolt/lightning between 1960 and 2017 were prepared as annual and monthly time series and Pearson Correlation is calculated for relationship and Mann Kendall method is used for the trend. It has been observed and determined that there is positive and weak correlation between sunspot numbers and thunderstorms in 57 years. However, when the sunspot cycles between two maxima or two minima have been evaluated, the relationship can be both negative and positive. When results of this study are merged with the results of other countries in literature, it will contribute the global understanding of the behavior of thunderstorms with observing sun and forecasts of sunspot numbers. Additionally, the relationship between thunderstorms and climate causing extreme rain events can be determined and used as initial conditions for forecasting thunderstorms to mitigate loss of lives and properties