A Detailed Look at the Performance Characteristics of the Lightning Imaging Sensor

The Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) on board the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) effectively reached its end of life on April 15, 2015 after 17+ years of observation. Given the wealth of information in the archived LIS lightning data, and growing use of optical observations of lightning from space throughout the world, it is still of importance to better understand LIS calibration and performance characteristics. In this work, we continue our efforts to quantify the optical characteristics of the LIS pixel array, and to further characterize the detection efficiency and location accuracy of LIS. The LIS pixel array was partitioned into four quadrants, each having its own signal amplifier and digital conversion hardware. In addition, the sensor optics resulted in a decreasing sensitivity with increasing displacement from the center of the array. These engineering limitations resulted in differences in the optical emissions detected across the pixel array. Our work to date has shown a 20% increase in the count of the lightning events detected in one of the LIS quadrants, because of a lower detection threshold. In this study, we will discuss our work in progress on these limitations, and their potential impact on the groupand flash-level parameters. Keywords—Lightning Imaging Sensor; calibration; lightning

[1]  J. Bergstrom,et al.  Laboratory Calibration of the Optical Transient Detector and the Lightning Imaging Sensor , 2000 .

[2]  Kenneth L. Cummins,et al.  Recent Evolution of the U . S . National Lightning Detection Network , 2014 .

[3]  William J. Koshak,et al.  Diurnal Variation of TRMM/LIS Lightning Flash Radiances , 2017 .

[4]  Scott D. Rudlosky,et al.  Evaluating ENTLN performance relative to TRMM/LIS , 2015 .

[5]  Richard J. Blakeslee,et al.  Gridded lightning climatology from TRMM-LIS and OTD: Dataset description , 2014 .

[6]  Scott D. Rudlosky,et al.  Evaluating WWLLN performance relative to TRMM/LIS , 2013 .

[7]  Hugh J. Christian,et al.  Timing Uncertainty of the Lightning Imaging Sensor , 2015 .

[8]  Richard J. Blakeslee,et al.  Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) for the International Space Station , 2001 .

[9]  K. Cummins,et al.  Combined Satellite- and Surface-Based Estimation of the Intracloud Cloud-to-Ground Lightning Ratio over the Continental United States , 2001 .

[10]  Steven J. Goodman,et al.  Comparison of ground‐based 3‐dimensional lightning mapping observations with satellite‐based LIS observations in Oklahoma , 2000 .

[11]  A. Okuyama,et al.  An Introduction to Himawari-8/9— Japan’s New-Generation Geostationary Meteorological Satellites , 2016 .

[12]  Wolfgang Schulz,et al.  Lightning locating systems: Insights on characteristics and validation techniques , 2015 .

[13]  Richard J. Blakeslee,et al.  Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) for the Earth Observing System , 1992 .

[14]  Kenneth L. Cummins,et al.  A Combined TOA/MDF Technology Upgrade of the U.S. National Lightning Detection Network , 1998 .

[15]  V. Rakov,et al.  Lightning: Physics and Effects , 2007 .

[16]  Richard E. Orville,et al.  Seasonal and global NOx production by lightning estimated from the Optical Transient Detector (OTD) , 2000 .

[17]  X. Tie,et al.  The importance of NOx production by lightning in the tropics , 2002 .

[18]  William J. Koshak,et al.  Optimized regional and interannual variability of lightning in a global chemical transport model constrained by LIS/OTD satellite data , 2012 .

[19]  Martin J. Murphy,et al.  Enhanced cloud lightning performance of the U . S . National Lightning Detection Network TM following the 2013 upgrade * , 2014 .

[20]  Richard J. Blakeslee,et al.  Performance Assessment of the Optical Transient Detector and Lightning Imaging Sensor. Part I: Predicted Diurnal Variability , 2002 .

[21]  Phillip M. Bitzer,et al.  Bayesian techniques to analyze and merge lightning locating system data , 2016 .

[22]  Kenneth L. Cummins,et al.  Evaluation of the National Lightning Detection Network Upgrade Using the Lightning Imaging Sensor , 2016 .

[23]  Richard J. Blakeslee,et al.  Global electric circuit implications of combined aircraft storm electric current measurements and satellite‐based diurnal lightning statistics , 2010 .

[24]  Steven J. Goodman,et al.  Regional Differences in Tropical Lightning Distributions , 2000 .

[25]  John M. Hall,et al.  The Lightning Imaging Sensor , 1999 .

[26]  Richard J. Blakeslee,et al.  Seasonal variations in the lightning diurnal cycle and implications for the global electric circuit , 2014 .

[27]  Zhiqing Zhang,et al.  Introducing the New Generation of Chinese Geostationary Weather Satellites, Fengyun-4 , 2017 .

[28]  H. Christian.  Global Frequency and Distribution of Lightning as Observed From Space , 2001 .

[29]  W. J. Koshak,et al.  Optical Characteristics of OTD Flashes and the Implications for Flash-Type Discrimination , 2010 .

[30]  Scott D. Rudlosky,et al.  GLD360 Performance Relative to TRMM LIS , 2017 .

[31]  Marcel Dobber,et al.  Meteosat Third Generation ( MTG ) Lightning Imager ( LI ) calibration and 0-1 b data processing , 2016 .