MMM SEMINAR NCAR
Total Lightning Activity and Its Application in Severe Weather
Nowcasting
National Space Science and
Technology Center
Our knowledge of the global distribution of lightning has improved dramatically since the advent of space-based lightning observations. Of major importance was the 1995 launch of the Optical Transient Detector (OTD), followed in 1997 by the launch of the Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS). Together, these instruments have generated a continuous ten-year record of global lightning activity, providing a new global perspective on total lightning activity. For the first time, total lightning activity has been observed over large regions with high detection efficiency and accurate geographic location. Accurate flash rate estimates are now available over large areas of the earth (+/- 72o latitude). Ocean-land contrasts as a function of season are clearly reveled, as are orographic effects and seasonal and interannual variability. These measurements provide new insights into lightning distributions, times of occurrence and variability.
The ability of LIS and OTD to detect total lightning has lead to a new realization of the significance of total lightning activity in severe weather and improved insight into the correlation between lightning and storm development. The relationship between updraft development and lightning activity is now well established and presents a new opportunity for the remote monitoring of storm development ultimately leading to significantly improved severe weather warning times and reduced false warning rates. This talk will summarize our space-based lightning measurements, discuss how lightning observations can be used to infer ice-based precipitation rates and monitor severe weather, and present a concept for continuous total lightning observations.
Thursday, 21 April 2005,
3:30 PM
Refreshments 3:15 PM
NCAR-Foothills Laboratory
3450 Mitchell Lane
Bldg 2 Auditorium (Rm1022)