Simulated Feasibility of 3-D Lightning Mapping From Space

Remington, Jackson R.; Gatlin, Patrick N.; Stough, Sarah M.; Pailoor, Nikhil; Behnke, Sonja A.; Lang, Timothy J.; Edens, Harald E.

doi:10.1109/tgrs.2024.3398508

i

Simulated Feasibility of 3-D Lightning Mapping From Space

2024
By Remington, Jackson R. ; Gatlin, Patrick N. ; Stough, Sarah M. ; ...

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Journal Title:

IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing
Personal Author:

Remington, Jackson R. ; Gatlin, Patrick N. ; Stough, Sarah M. ; Pailoor, Nikhil ; Behnke, Sonja A. ; Lang, Timothy J. ; Edens, Harald E.
NOAA Program & Office:

OAR (Oceanic and Atmospheric Research) ; CIWRO (Cooperative Institute for Severe and High-Impact Weather Research and Operations) ; NSSL (National Severe Storms Laboratory)
Description:

In addition to the awe it inspires, lightning can illuminate the microphysical processes hidden away within deep convection. The current generation of space-based lightning mapping uses mostly 2-D optical imaging to connect overall flash characteristics to their parent storm dynamics, but are missing a dimension’s worth of information. With lightning now classified as an essential climate variable, future spaceborne mappers will need improved capabilities to take advantage of the 3-D structure of lightning flashes to support meteorological and climate modeling. We report here on a study of the feasibility of high-resolution 3-D lightning mapping using a radio frequency (RF)-based network of satellites from low-Earth orbit (LEO). Lightning sources are simulated using existing lightning mapping array (LMA) tools, modified for orbital detection, and spatially reconstructed using a Levenberg–Marquardt geolocation algorithm to assess sources of uncertainty in these solutions. We analyze the benefits and limitations of this approach compared to existing orbital and ground-based methods. Results of this study show that lightning can be mapped in 3-D with a vertical location accuracy better than 2 km using as few as five satellites in LEO capable of measuring the time-of-arrival of impulsive RF signals in the very high-frequency (VHF) band. The consequence of this study is that high-resolution, spaceborne 3-D mapping of lightning is achievable across most of the globe, having crucial implications for our understanding of not only lightning, but also severe weather development, climate science, and more.
Source:

IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 62, 1-9
DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1109/tgrs.2024.3398508
ISSN:

0196-2892 ; 1558-0644
Format:

pdf
Publisher:

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
Document Type:

Journal Article
License:

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Rights Information:

CC BY-NC-ND
Compliance:

Library
Main Document Checksum:

urn:sha-512:2244d4d16c68d056fc0c8b9e02ba545eb14fa73a20559de39264e456443a73c500cdf17ddb0222c3236b2c13d06d1c2c1f776a32e5039bf1e281d5b876056258
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https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/68975/noaa_68975_DS1.pdf
File Type:

[PDF - 13.98 MB ]

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