Evaluation of the Performance Characteristics of the Lightning Imaging Sensor

Zhang, Daile; Cummins, Kenneth L.; Bitzer, Phillip M.; Koshak, William J.

doi:10.1175/jtech-d-18-0173.1

Cited by 34 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…For an enhanced understanding of the flash detection by ISS-LIS and Meteorage, characteristics of the flashes are investigated. In accordance with, e.g., Rudlosky et al (2017) and Zhang et al (2019), the probability of a match increases with a larger flash extent and flash duration. A matched flash extended on average almost twice as wide and lasted twice as long as a flash not seen by both ISS-LIS and Meteorage.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 71%

“…Those values are in accordance with the distances observed by Rudlosky et al (2017) between TRMM-LIS flashes and GLD360 strokes. Zhang et al (2019) thoroughly investigated TRMM-LIS performance and found additional latitudinal location offset resulting from TRMM yaw maneuvers. Their analysis suggests a correction for TRMM-LIS group locations that improves the TRMM-LIS group distance to NLDN pulses and/or strokes for the summers of 2012 and 2013.…”

Section: Distances and Timing Offsets Between Collocated Flashesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Concurrent satellite and ground-based lightning observations from the Optical Lightning Imaging Sensor (ISS-LIS), the low-frequency network Meteorage and the SAETTA Lightning Mapping Array (LMA) in the northwestern Mediterranean region

Erdmann¹,

Defer²,

Caumont³

et al. 2020

Atmos. Meas. Tech.

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Abstract. The new space-based Lightning Imager (LI) onboard the Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) geostationary satellite will improve the observation of lightning over Europe, the Mediterranean Sea, Africa and the Atlantic Ocean from 2021 onwards. In preparation for the use of the upcoming MTG-LI data, we compare observations by the Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) on the International Space Station (ISS), which applies an optical technique similar to MTG-LI, to concurrent records of the low-frequency (LF) ground-based network Meteorage. Data were analyzed over the northwestern Mediterranean Sea from 1 March 2017 to 20 March 2018. Flashes are detected by ISS-LIS using illuminated pixels, also called events, within a given (2.0 ms) frame and during successive frames. Meteorage describes flashes as a suite of intra-cloud and cloud-to-cloud (IC) pulses and/or cloud-to-ground (CG) strokes. Both events as well as pulses and strokes are grouped to flashes using a novel in-house algorithm. In our study, ISS-LIS detects about 57 % of the flashes detected by Meteorage. The flash detection efficiency (DE) of Meteorage relative to ISS-LIS exceeds 80 %. Coincident matched flashes detected by the two instruments show a good spatial and temporal agreement. Both peak and mean distances between matches are smaller than the ISS-LIS pixel resolution (about 5.0 km). The timing offset for matched ISS-LIS and Meteorage flashes is usually shorter than the ISS-LIS integration time frame (2.0 ms). The closest events and the pulses and strokes of matched flashes achieve sub-millisecond offsets. Further analysis of flash characteristics reveals that longer-lasting and more spatially extended flashes are more likely detected by both ISS-LIS and Meteorage than shorter-duration and smaller-extent flashes. The ISS-LIS relative DE is lower for daytime versus nighttime as well as for CG versus IC flashes. A second ground-based network, the very high-frequency (VHF) SAETTA Lightning Mapping Array (LMA), further enhances and validates the lightning pairing between ISS-LIS and Meteorage. It also provides altitude information on the lightning discharges and adds a detailed lightning mapping to the comparison for verification and better understanding of the processes. Both ISS-LIS and Meteorage flash detections feature a high degree of correlation with the SAETTA observations (without altitude information). In addition, Meteorage flashes with ISS-LIS match tend to be associated with discharges that occur at significantly higher altitudes than unmatched flashes. Hence, ISS-LIS flash detection suffers from degradation, with low-level flashes resulting in lower DE.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 71%

Section: Distances and Timing Offsets Between Collocated Flashesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Concurrent satellite and ground-based lightning observations from the Optical Lightning Imaging Sensor (ISS-LIS), the low-frequency network Meteorage and the SAETTA Lightning Mapping Array (LMA) in the northwestern Mediterranean region

Erdmann¹,

Defer²,

Caumont³

et al. 2020

Atmos. Meas. Tech.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…is used in this report to convert long-term LIS group radiance values to cloud-top energy. In addition, the approximate nighttime minimum detection threshold for LIS can be derived using equations A4 or A5 along with knowledge of the minimum pixel radiance threshold that was recently characterized by Zhang et al (2019). These authors found minimum detected radiance (spectral energy density) values of 2.9 to 3.6 μJ/m 2 /ster/nm, depending on the quadrant in the LIS pixel array.…”

Section: Equation A5mentioning

confidence: 99%

Time Evolution of Satellite‐Based Optical Properties in Lightning Flashes, and its Impact on GLM Flash Detection

Zhang

Cummins

2020

JGR Atmospheres

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The GOES‐16 Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) detection efficiency (DE) is studied over a full year (2018/19) in central Florida using the Kennedy Space Center Lightning Mapping Array (KSC LMA). Mean daily flash DE was 73.8%, and detection was highest during nighttime hours. GLM reported 86.5% of the LMA flashes that had coincident cloud‐to‐ground return strokes reported by the U.S. National Lightning Detection Network. Results also reveal that flash size and duration are critical parameters influencing GLM detection, regardless of the storm type, with 20–40% detection for small and short‐duration flashes and greater than 95% detection for very large and long‐duration flashes. These findings can be explained by examining the time‐evolution of cloud‐top optical emissions observed by the Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS). Statistical simulations based on long‐term LIS group area observations indicate that about half of the above‐threshold light sources are smaller than a LIS pixel (~ 4 × 4 km) and are smallest during and just after an initial breakdown in IC flashes. This work also demonstrates that for sources smaller than a GLM pixel, the cloud‐top energy detection threshold for GLM is double that for LIS despite GLM's lower energy density threshold. Overall, these findings provide a framework for interpreting GLM performance under varying meteorological conditions, and help explain reports of low flash detection efficiency for storms associated with severe weather, as they typically exhibit high flash rates and resulting small and short‐duration flashes.

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“…They cannot, however, directly observe the polarity, altitude, CG versus IC classification, or the number of strokes (i.e., the multiplicity) in a given flash. Moreover, the optical signals may be modified by scattering in the surrounding cloud medium (Peterson et al, 2017a;Peterson, Rudlosky, et al, 2017) or variations in LIS sensitivity due to instrument performance (i.e., Charge-Coupled Device array pixel and quadrant, Zhang et al, 2018) and background radiance ( Figure 3 in Peterson & Liu, 2013), even to the point of preventing detection entirely.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Time Evolution of Optical Lightning Flashes

Peterson

Rudlosky

2019

JGR Atmospheres

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The composition and time evolution of lightning are examined using the Lighting Imaging Sensor (LIS). Frame‐by‐frame optical lightning measurements are clustered into features whose radiant energy, horizontal footprint, and timing may be analyzed statistically. A LIS series feature is used to describe distinct periods of near continuous illumination that persists over multiple LIS frames. Series are integrated into the LIS clustering hierarchy between the group and flash level. An average series illuminates 40% of the flash footprint while accounting for 20% of the flash radiance, and just 1% of the flash duration. LIS flashes typically contain optical emissions that are exceptionally radiant and may persist over multiple frames. Series features cluster these bright optical pulses, allowing their number and time separation to be quantified in each flash. This optical multiplicity averages 1.7 for flashes with at least one particularly radiant group. Multigroup series most often occur early in the flash duration with 13% to 18% at first light. Series are typically separated by 100 ms or more in multiseries flashes. Bright series, by contrast, typically occur in rapid succession, with at most a few dozen milliseconds between them. Because series are optical features, they may result from any physical process that produces strong optical emissions. The statistics presented herein support the idea that series may originate from multiple physical processes.

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Evaluation of the Performance Characteristics of the Lightning Imaging Sensor

Cited by 34 publications

References 46 publications

Concurrent satellite and ground-based lightning observations from the Optical Lightning Imaging Sensor (ISS-LIS), the low-frequency network Meteorage and the SAETTA Lightning Mapping Array (LMA) in the northwestern Mediterranean region

Concurrent satellite and ground-based lightning observations from the Optical Lightning Imaging Sensor (ISS-LIS), the low-frequency network Meteorage and the SAETTA Lightning Mapping Array (LMA) in the northwestern Mediterranean region

Time Evolution of Satellite‐Based Optical Properties in Lightning Flashes, and its Impact on GLM Flash Detection

The Time Evolution of Optical Lightning Flashes

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