Mapping Lightning Strikes in KSA

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Mapping Lightning Strikes in KSA
Tamer Al-Alami
996423

• Using numerical methods as a tool

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Verses from Quran

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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

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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)

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Lightning Clip
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Stroke mechanism
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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

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Disadvantages

• Fires (lighting bolt, heating effect)
• Injury
• Damage
• Destruction

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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

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Mathematical equations
The Avg ground flash density may be estimated
using
Td of thunderstorm days / yr or keraunic level
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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

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Lightning map
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Lighting map
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Lightning map of Saudi Arabia
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Importance of Map
Comparing the lightning map to locations of
Transmission lines illustrates importance
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Animation for Lightning Map
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Mapping example
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Early Mapping Example
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Lightning Detection Systems

• Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS)
• Optical Transient Detector (OTD)
• Lightning Mapper Sensor (LMS)
• Lightning Detection and Radar (LDAR)
• Aviation detection

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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

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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

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Lighting imaging sensor (LIS)

• ? Enables detection of distribution variability
  of total lightning
• Cloud-to-cloud
• Intra-cloud
• Cloud-to-ground

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Lighting imaging sensor (LIS)

• The instrument records
• Time of occurrence
• Measures the radiant energy
• Determines the location of lightning events
  within its field-of-view

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Lighting imaging sensor (LIS)

• Data from this sensor is used to study mesoscale
  phenomena such as
• Storm convection
• Dynamics
• Microphysics

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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

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LIS

• This is the latest lightning map obtained using
  OTD
• Nov 31, 2003
• Based on data sheets

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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

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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

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Optical Transient Detector (OTD)

• Advantages
• Gather lightning data under daytime conditions as
  well as at night
• Provides much higher detection efficiency
  spatial resolution than has been attained by
  earlier lightning sensors

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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

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Optical Transient Detector (OTD)

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

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OTD

• "Flashes" are determined by comparing the
  luminance of adjoining frames of OTD optical
  data.

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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

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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 lt ½ of the widely accepted
  estimates dating back to 1925

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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

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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

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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 kms

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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

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Advantages of LDAR

• ? Sensitivity
• it detects locates essentially all lightning,
  including inter- intra-cloud strokes
• Detects earlier than other systems
• more comprehensive info on the evolving 3D
  distribution of lightning activity in the
  vicinity

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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.

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LDAR system
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Continue

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

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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

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Aviation detection

• Rocket-triggered lightning

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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

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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

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Aviation detection
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Aviation detection
U2 high altitude research craft
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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

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Thank you

• Any questions are welcomed