Short-term Prediction Research
and Transition Center

Meetings - Abstract

Regional lightning detection networks such as the Lightning Detection and Ranging (LDAR) system (Lennon and Maier, 1991), the Lightning Mapping Array (LMA) (Rison et al., 1999) and the Surveillance et Alerte Foudre par Interferometrie Radiometrique (SAFIR) system (Soula and Chauzy, 2001) represent the state-of-the-art in lightning detection. These networks detect over 95% of total (cloud and cloud-to-ground) lightning in two or three dimensions with location accuracies of less than 1 km. Major metropolitan areas and surrounding suburbs can easily be covered by one of these regional networks due to their effective range of over 150 km. As of the spring of 2004, LDAR and LMA networks already exist at the NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida; Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW), Texas (Demetriades et al., 2002); Huntsville, Alabama; Norman, Oklahoma; and Socorro, New Mexico. By the end of 2004, an LMA network will be installed in White Sands, New Mexico ; an LDAR II network will be installed in Houston , Texas ; and a SAFIR network will be installed at DFW. As the number of total lightning networks grows in the United States and abroad, it is increasingly important to show how this data can be used to help the meteorological and aviation industry.

DFW LDAR II total lightning data from 13 October 2001 will be used to demonstrate the advantages of having a regional total lightning detection network. DFW LDAR II data from other cases will be used to expand upon nowcasting applications shown by the 13 October 2001 case. These advantages include (1) a better representation of the cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning hazard region, (2) higher temporal resolution than radar for thunderstorm growth and decay observations, (3) potential increased lead time for severe weather warnings and (4) safer and more efficient airspace management due to the volumetric representation of lightning activity.

REFERENCES

Demetriades, N.W.S., M.J. Murphy and K.L. Cummins, 2002: Early results from the Global Atmospherics, Inc. Dallas - Fort Worth lightning detection and ranging (LDAR-II) research network. Preprints, 6 th Symposium on Integrated Observing Systems, 13-17 January, Orlando , FL , Amer. Meteor. Soc., 202-209.

Lennon, C., and L. Maier, 1991: Lightning mapping system, Proceedings of the International Aerospace and Ground Conference on Lightning and Static Electricity, Cocoa Beach , FL , NASA Conference Publication 3106, Vol. II, 89.1-89.10.

Rison, W., R.J. Thomas, P.R. Krehbiel, T. Hamlin, and J. Harlin, 1999: A GPS-Based three-dimensional lightning mapping system: Initial observations in central New Mexico , Geophys. Res. Lett., 26, 3573-3576.

Soula, S., and S. Chauzy, 2001: Some aspects of the correlation between lightning and rain activities in thunderstorms. Atmos. Res., 56, 355-73.