Mapping Lightning Strikes in KSA

“Using numerical methods as a tool”

Tamer Al-Alami 996423

Verses from Quran فيه . ) السماء من كصيب أو يرجعون ال فهم عمى بكم صم

وبرق ظلمات من ورعب ءاذانهم في أصابعهم يجعلونبالكافرين الصواعق محيط والله الموت البرقيكاد 0حذر

أظلم وإذا فيه مشوا لهم أضاء كلما أبصارهم عليهم يخطفكل على الله إن وأيصارهم بسمعهم لذهب الله شاء ولو قاموا شيء

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( فأخذتكم جهرة نرى حتى لك نؤمن لن موسى يا قلتم الصاعقةوإذتنظرون (وأنتم

Lightning Definition

• Abrupt electric discharge from cloud to cloud or from cloud to earth accompanied by the emission of light

• Flash of light that accompanies an electric discharge in the atmosphere which can scintillate for a second or more

Facts• A lightning bolt can carry 30,000 A at several

hundred million V.• In the average year, lightning strikes the US about

20 million times. Florida is easily the national lightning Mecca

• Even a modest storm cloud can generate the energy of a small nuclear power plant (a few hundred MW)

• Temperature of lightning's return stroke can reach 50,000 deg F , hotter than the surface of the sun is ~ 11,000 F)

Lightning Clip

Stroke mechanism

                                                                           

             

Advantages of Lightning

1. Research indicated that it may be a very good indicator of the strength of convective storm systems

2. Timely hazardous weather & tornado warnings

3. Improved forest fire & wild-land fire management

Disadvantages

• Fires (lighting bolt, heating effect)

• Injury

• Damage

• Destruction

Examples of Disadvantages

• Telecommunications firm shut down

• Burn chemical plant

• Millions of dollars of petrochemical products & facilities are destroyed each year by lightning-related phenomena in many parts of the world while lives are lost when these facilities are ignited or explode

Mathematical equations

Td = # of thunderstorm days / yr or keraunic level

The Avg ground flash density may be estimated using:

Mapping

• It is helpful to construct a visual representation of lightning strike densities in countries such as Saudi Arabia in order to locate areas which are most likely to be stroked & those which are not

Lightning map

                                                                                                            

Lighting map

                                                                                                            

Lightning map of Saudi Arabia

Importance of Map

Comparing the lightning map to locations of

Transmission lines illustrates importance

Animation for Lightning Map

Mapping example

Early Mapping Example

Lightning Detection Systems

• Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS)

• Optical Transient Detector (OTD)

• Lightning Mapper Sensor (LMS)

• Lightning Detection and Radar (LDAR)

• Aviation detection

Lighting imaging sensor (LIS)

• The LIS is a science instrument aboard the TRMM Observatory, which was launched on 28 November 1997 from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan

Lighting imaging sensor (LIS)

• has a staring imager optimized to locate & detect lightning with storm-scale resolution (4 to 7 km) over a large region (600 x 600 km) of Earth's surface.

• TRMM Satellite travels a distance of 7 km / sec as it orbits Earth, allowing LIS to observe a point on Earth or a cloud for ~ 90 sec as it passes overhead, long enough to estimate flashing rate of most storms

Lighting imaging sensor (LIS)

Enables detection of distribution & variability of total lightning:

• Cloud-to-cloud

• Intra-cloud

• Cloud-to-ground

Lighting imaging sensor (LIS)

• The instrument records:

1. Time of occurrence

2. Measures the radiant energy

3. Determines the location of lightning events within its field-of-view

Lighting imaging sensor (LIS)

• Data from this sensor is used to study mesoscale phenomena such as:

• Storm convection

• Dynamics

• Microphysics

Lighting imaging sensor (LIS)

• A Real Time Event Processor (RTEP), inside the electronics unit, used to determine when a lightning flash occurs, even in presence of bright sunlit clouds

• 90% detection efficiency

LIS

• This is the latest lightning map obtained using OTD

Nov 31, 2003• Based on: data sheets

Optical Transient Detector (OTD)

• Highly compact combination of optical & electronic elements developed by NASA capable of detecting the momentary changes in an optical scene which indicate the occurrence of lightning

OTD

• OTD was launched on April 3, 1995 aboard the MicroLab-1 satellite into a near polar orbit at an inclination of 70 deg with respect to the equator

Optical Transient Detector (OTD)

• Advantages:

1. Gather lightning data under daytime conditions as well as at night

2. Provides much higher detection efficiency & spatial resolution than has been attained by earlier lightning sensors

OTD

• The OTD detects lightning flashes during both day & nighttime conditions with a detection efficiency ranging 40% - 65%, depending on external conditions such as glint & radiation

• Unsuitable for studying localized weather

Optical Transient Detector (OTD)

• 100-deg field of view, it surveys virtually all areas of the globe where lightning normally occurs

OTD• "Flashes" are determined by comparing the

luminance of adjoining frames of OTD optical data.

OTD continue

• If the difference is more than a specified threshold value, an "event" is recorded.

• One or more adjacent events in the same 2ms time frame is recorded as a "group".

• One or more groups within a sufficiently small time period are classified as a "flash".

• These are grouped into "areas" if there are one or more sufficiently separated from existing areas

Contributions of OTD• Discovery of potential lightning indicators for

application to more timely hazardous weather & tornado warnings

• Use of lightning as a proxy for detecting intense atmospheric convection

• Production of the most complete & detailed maps of the global lightning distribution

• Discovery that the global flash rate is approx 40 flashes / sec < ½ of the widely accepted estimates dating back to 1925

Lightning Mapper sensor (LMS)

• Sensor, capable of continuously mapping lightning discharges during both day & night, with a spatial resolution of 10 km, in geostationary orbit.

• It is capable of detecting & locating both cloud-to-ground & intra-cloud discharges with high spatial resolution & detection efficiency, (storm-scale resolution) over large areas of the Earth's surface

Lightning Mapper sensor (LMS)

• A Lightning Mapper Sensor would be capable of detecting all types of lightning phenomena, and will provide near uniform spatial coverage

Lighting Detection & Ranging (LDAR)

• Network of lightning-monitoring stations at Kennedy Space Center used for measuring & indicating 3D locations & times of lightning flashes that have occurred within distances up to 10s of km’s

Lighting Detection & Ranging (LDAR)

• The position from which a signal originated (presumed location of lightning flash) can be computed from the speed of light, the differences among the times of arrival of the signals, and known positions of stations

Advantages of LDAR

Sensitivity

it detects & locates essentially all lightning, including inter- & intra-cloud strokes

Detects earlier than other systemsmore comprehensive info on the evolving

3D distribution of lightning activity in the vicinity

Continue Advantages

• A typical commercial system locates 1 pt / flash or return stroke, whereas for one flash, the LDAR system locates an avg = 200 pts, covering an average ground A = 11.4 km2.

• Commercial lightning-monitoring systems generally provide only 2D location data with errors = 2 km, whereas the LDAR provides radar-like 3D location data with errors = 150 m.

LDAR system

Continue

• Trend toward micro-miniaturization in electronic systems development brings an increasing sensitivity to transient phenomena. Transients of < 3 V peak or energy levels as low as 10-7 J can damage or “confuse” these systems & their components.

Lightning Probability

• One of the main driver's of lightning activity is temperature. The closer to the equator, the more risk of experiencing lightning

• Proximity - the closer to the storm cell (cloud), the greater the field intensity & risk

• Degree of exposure – the closer it sticks out with little cover from surroundings, the greater the risk for a strike

Aviation detection

• Rocket-triggered lightning

Aviation detection

• Provide detailed info of the discharge's characteristics

• provide in-cloud measurements of thunderstorms

• Replaces optical measurements of in-cloud lightning which are severely affected by light scattering from water droplets within the cloud

Aviation detection

• U-2 & ER-2 high altitude airplanes have been used to study the electrical & optical characteristics of lightning activity in thunderstorms.

• Flying at an altitude of 20 km at speeds of 200 m/s, are capable of flying over very large thunderstorms

• ER2 is better

Aviation detection

Aviation detection

U2 high altitude research craft

Future of Lighting Detection

• The future looks very promising with new detection methods to be developed.

• Research currently is done on ways to apply Fourier for the purpose of detection

Thank you

Any questions are welcomed