Global Optical Lightning Flash Rates Determined with the Forte
نویسندگان
چکیده
Using FORTE photodiode detector (PDD) observations of lightning, we have determined the geographic distribution of nighttime flash rate density. We estimate the PDD flash detection efficiency to be 62% for total lightning through comparison to lightning observations by the TRMM satellite’s Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS), using cases in which FORTE and TRMM viewed the same storm. We present here both seasonal and total flash rate maps. We examine some characteristics of the optical emissions of lightning in both high and low flash rate environments, and find that while lightning occurs less frequently over ocean, oceanic lightning flashes are somewhat more powerful, on average, than those over land.
منابع مشابه
Relationship between lightning-storm characteristics, and both power and rate of lightning-discharge RF emissions observed by FORTE
Prior studies have noted a strongly nonlinear enhancement of lightning flash rates with increasing cloud height. Here we report a related observation, of a tendency for increased intracloud (IC)-discharge radioemission power versus increased height of the electrified cloud. We find that there is a strong statistical increase of effective radiated power (ERP, or isotropic peak power radiated fro...
متن کاملFORTE observations of optical emissions from lightning: Optical properties and discrimination capability
[1] Lightning type identification of temporally coincident optical-VHF time series event pairs collected by the Fast On-orbit Recording of Transient Events (FORTE) satellite’s photodiode detector (PDD) and VHF instrument allows for the investigation of optical properties as a function of lightning type. General trends in the peak optical irradiance and characteristic pulse widths of PDD-VHF coi...
متن کاملAn improved lightning flash rate parameterization developed from Colorado DC3 thunderstorm data for use in cloud-resolving chemical transport models
Accurate prediction of total lightning flash rate in thunderstorms is important to improve estimates of nitrogen oxides (NOx) produced by lightning (LNOx) from the storm scale to the global scale. In this study, flash rate parameterization schemes from the literature are evaluated against observed total flash rates for a sample of 11 Colorado thunderstorms, including nine storms from the Deep C...
متن کاملFORTE Satellite Observations of VHF Radiation from Lightning Discharges
The Los Alamos National Laboratory/Sandia National Laboratory FORTE satellite is described and its capabilities for global remote sensing of lightning in the radio regime are described. Some results from 7 years of successful operation are presented. A future global lightning monitoring mission, VGLASS, is described.
متن کاملApplication of Lightning in Predicting High Impact Weather
Recent research has indicated a strong correlation between total lighting data (both in-cloud and cloud-to-ground) and severe weather such as hail and high wind storms. The lightning activities preceding severe storms have certain characteristics in lightning flashes, such as high in-cloud (IC) flash rates in the storm formation stage. The greater volume of strong updrafts during a severe thund...
متن کامل