Thunderstorm Cloud-Type Classification from Space-Based Lightning Imagers
Abstract
The organization and structure of thunderstorms determines the extent and severity of their hazards to the general public and their consequences for the Earth system. Distinguishing vigorous convective regions that produce heavy rain and hail from adjacent regions of stratiform clouds or overhanging anvil clouds that produce light to no rainfall is valuable in operations and physical research. Cloud-type algorithms that partition convection from stratiform regions have been developed for space-based radar, passive microwave, and now Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) multispectral products. However, there are limitations for each of these products including temporal availability, spatial coverage, and the degree to which they based on cloud microphysics. We report we have developed a cloud-type algorithm for GOES Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) observations that identifies convective/nonconvective regions in thunderstorms based on signatures of interactions with nonconvective charge structures in the lightning flash data. The GLM sensor permits a rapid (20 s) update cycle over the combined GOES-16–GOES-17 domain across all hours of the day. Storm regions that do not produce lightning will not be classified by our algorithm, however. The GLM cloud-type product is intended to provide situational awareness of electrified nonconvective clouds and to complement othermore »
- Authors:
-
- Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), College Park, MD (United States). National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS), Center for Satellite Applications and Research (STAR), Satellite Climate Studies Branch (SCSB)
- Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States). Cooperative Inst. for Satellite Earth System Studies (CISESS)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1688749
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR-19-30048
Journal ID: ISSN 0027-0644
- Grant/Contract Number:
- 89233218CNA000001; NNX17AH63G
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Monthly Weather Review
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 148; Journal Issue: 5; Journal ID: ISSN 0027-0644
- Publisher:
- American Meteorological Society
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; earth sciences; lightning, glm, thunderstorms, stratiform, convective
Citation Formats
Peterson, Michael Jay, Rudlosky, Scott, and Zhang, Daile. Thunderstorm Cloud-Type Classification from Space-Based Lightning Imagers. United States: N. p., 2020.
Web. doi:10.1175/mwr-d-19-0365.1.
Peterson, Michael Jay, Rudlosky, Scott, & Zhang, Daile. Thunderstorm Cloud-Type Classification from Space-Based Lightning Imagers. United States. https://doi.org/10.1175/mwr-d-19-0365.1
Peterson, Michael Jay, Rudlosky, Scott, and Zhang, Daile. Mon .
"Thunderstorm Cloud-Type Classification from Space-Based Lightning Imagers". United States. https://doi.org/10.1175/mwr-d-19-0365.1. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1688749.
@article{osti_1688749,
title = {Thunderstorm Cloud-Type Classification from Space-Based Lightning Imagers},
author = {Peterson, Michael Jay and Rudlosky, Scott and Zhang, Daile},
abstractNote = {The organization and structure of thunderstorms determines the extent and severity of their hazards to the general public and their consequences for the Earth system. Distinguishing vigorous convective regions that produce heavy rain and hail from adjacent regions of stratiform clouds or overhanging anvil clouds that produce light to no rainfall is valuable in operations and physical research. Cloud-type algorithms that partition convection from stratiform regions have been developed for space-based radar, passive microwave, and now Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) multispectral products. However, there are limitations for each of these products including temporal availability, spatial coverage, and the degree to which they based on cloud microphysics. We report we have developed a cloud-type algorithm for GOES Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) observations that identifies convective/nonconvective regions in thunderstorms based on signatures of interactions with nonconvective charge structures in the lightning flash data. The GLM sensor permits a rapid (20 s) update cycle over the combined GOES-16–GOES-17 domain across all hours of the day. Storm regions that do not produce lightning will not be classified by our algorithm, however. The GLM cloud-type product is intended to provide situational awareness of electrified nonconvective clouds and to complement other cloud-type retrievals by providing a contemporary assessment tied to lightning physics. We propose that a future combined ABI–GLM cloud-type algorithm would be a valuable product that could draw from the strengths of each instrument and approach.},
doi = {10.1175/mwr-d-19-0365.1},
journal = {Monthly Weather Review},
number = 5,
volume = 148,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Apr 13 00:00:00 EDT 2020},
month = {Mon Apr 13 00:00:00 EDT 2020}
}
Works referenced in this record:
Stratiform and Convective Classification of Rainfall Using SSM/I 85-GHz Brightness Temperature Observations
journal, June 1997
- Anagnostou, Emmanouil N.; Kummerow, Christian
- Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, Vol. 14, Issue 3
Rain Type Classification Algorithm Module for GPM Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar
journal, September 2016
- Awaka, Jun; Le, Minda; Chandrasekar, V.
- Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, Vol. 33, Issue 9
Horizontal lightning propagation, preliminary breakdown, and electric potential in New Mexico thunderstorms
journal, January 2008
- Coleman, L. M.; Stolzenburg, M.; Marshall, T. C.
- Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 113, Issue D9
Evolution of the total lightning structure in a leading-line, trailing-stratiform mesoscale convective system over Houston, Texas
journal, January 2008
- Ely, Brandon L.; Orville, Richard E.; Carey, Lawrence D.
- Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 113, Issue D8
The GOES-R Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM)
journal, May 2013
- Goodman, Steven J.; Blakeslee, Richard J.; Koshak, William J.
- Atmospheric Research, Vol. 125-126
Separation of Convective and Stratiform Precipitation Using Microwave Brightness Temperature
journal, August 1999
- Hong, Ye; Kummerow, Christian D.; Olson, William S.
- Journal of Applied Meteorology, Vol. 38, Issue 8
The Global Precipitation Measurement Mission
journal, May 2014
- Hou, Arthur Y.; Kakar, Ramesh K.; Neeck, Steven
- Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, Vol. 95, Issue 5
Lightning initiation in the anvils of two supercell storms: LIGHTNING INITIATION IN SUPERCELL ANVILS
journal, April 2009
- Kuhlman, K. M.; MacGorman, D. R.; Biggerstaff, M. I.
- Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 36, Issue 7
The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Sensor Package
journal, June 1998
- Kummerow, Christian; Barnes, William; Kozu, Toshiaki
- Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, Vol. 15, Issue 3
Kinematic, microphysical, and electrical aspects of an asymmetric bow-echo mesoscale convective system observed during STEPS 2000
journal, January 2008
- Lang, Timothy J.; Rutledge, Steven A.
- Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 113, Issue D8
Origins of positive cloud-to-ground lightning flashes in the stratiform region of a mesoscale convective system: POSITIVE CLOUD-TO-GROUND LIGHTNING FLASHES
journal, May 2004
- Lang, Timothy J.; Rutledge, Steven A.; Wiens, Kyle C.
- Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 31, Issue 10
Daytime Rainy Cloud Detection and Convective Precipitation Delineation Based on a Deep Neural Network Method Using GOES-16 ABI Images
journal, October 2019
- Liu, Qian; Li, Yun; Yu, Manzhu
- Remote Sensing, Vol. 11, Issue 21
Performance assessment of the Optical Transient Detector and Lightning Imaging Sensor
journal, January 2007
- Mach, Douglas M.; Christian, Hugh J.; Blakeslee, Richard J.
- Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 112, Issue D9
Two Types of Vertical Electrical Structures in Stratiform Precipitation Regions of Mesoscale Convective Systems
journal, November 1993
- Marshall, Thomas C.; Rust, W. David
- Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, Vol. 74, Issue 11
Electrical structure in two thunderstorm anvil clouds
journal, January 1989
- Marshall, Thomas C.; Rust, W. David; Winn, William P.
- Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 94, Issue D2
Electrical evolution during the decay stage of New Mexico thunderstorms
journal, January 2009
- Marshall, Thomas C.; Stolzenburg, Maribeth; Krehbiel, Paul R.
- Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 114, Issue D2
A Texture-Polarization Method for Estimating Convective–Stratiform Precipitation Area Coverage from Passive Microwave Radiometer Data
journal, September 2001
- Olson, William S.; Hong, Ye; Kummerow, Christian D.
- Journal of Applied Meteorology, Vol. 40, Issue 9
Research Applications for the Geostationary Lightning Mapper Operational Lightning Flash Data Product
journal, September 2019
- Peterson, Michael
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Vol. 124, Issue 17-18
Using Lightning Flashes to Image Thunderclouds
journal, September 2019
- Peterson, Michael
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Vol. 124, Issue 17-18
Removing solar artifacts from Geostationary Lightning Mapper data to document lightning extremes
journal, February 2020
- Peterson, Michael
- Journal of Applied Remote Sensing, Vol. 14, Issue 03
The properties of optical lightning flashes and the clouds they illuminate: Optical Lightning and Illuminated Clouds
journal, January 2017
- Peterson, Michael; Deierling, Wiebke; Liu, Chuntao
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Vol. 122, Issue 1
Mapping the Lateral Development of Lightning Flashes From Orbit
journal, September 2018
- Peterson, Michael; Rudlosky, Scott; Deierling, Wiebke
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Vol. 123, Issue 17
Changes to the Appearance of Optical Lightning Flashes Observed From Space According to Thunderstorm Organization and Structure
journal, February 2020
- Peterson, Michael; Rudlosky, Scott; Zhang, Daile
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Vol. 125, Issue 4
Initial Geostationary Lightning Mapper Observations
journal, January 2019
- Rudlosky, Scott D.; Goodman, Steven J.; Virts, Katrina S.
- Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 46, Issue 2
Introducing the Next-Generation Advanced Baseline Imager on Goes-R
journal, August 2005
- Schmit, Timothy J.; Gunshor, Mathew M.; Menzel, W. Paul
- Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, Vol. 86, Issue 8
Horizontal Distribution of Electrical and Meteorological Conditions across the Stratiform Region of a Mesoscale Convective System
journal, August 1994
- Stolzenburg, Maribeth; Marshall, Thomas C.; Rust, W. David
- Monthly Weather Review, Vol. 122, Issue 8
Lightning in the Anvils of Supercell Thunderstorms
journal, July 2012
- Weiss, Stephanie A.; MacGorman, Donald R.; Calhoun, Kristin M.
- Monthly Weather Review, Vol. 140, Issue 7