Federal Department of Home Affairs FDHA

Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology MeteoSwiss

Use of lightning data in the

Swiss National Weather
Service, MeteoSwiss

marco.stoll@meteoswiss.ch
overview

weather phenomena causing lightning

lightning networks: technology and providers
applications: nowcasting and forecasting
future outlook

Lightning data @ MeteoSwiss 2

marco.stoll@meteoswiss.ch
lightning a definition

American Meteorological Society AMS Glossary of

Meteorology (http://amsglossary.allenpress.org/glossary)

Lightning is a transient, high-current electric discharge

with pathlengths measured in kilometers.
The most common source of lightning is the electric
charge separated in ordinary thunderstorm clouds
(cumulonimbus).

Lightning data @ MeteoSwiss 3

marco.stoll@meteoswiss.ch
weather phenomena causing lightning

microscale: charge separation

due to collisions of graupel
and ice particels in a mixed
phase cloud
function of ambient
air temperature!

Rakov and Uman, 2003

Lightning data @ MeteoSwiss 4
marco.stoll@meteoswiss.ch
weather phenomena causing lightning

microscale: charge separation

due to collisions of graupel
and ice particels in a mixed
phase cloud
function of ambient
air temperature!

Rakov and Uman, 2003

Lightning data @ MeteoSwiss 5
marco.stoll@meteoswiss.ch
weather phenomena causing lightning

macroscale: separation of larger airmasses carrying charged

hydrometeors into various regions of the thunderstorm cloud
function of
storm-scale
dynamics of
air flow!

Rakov and Uman, 2003

Lightning data @ MeteoSwiss 6
marco.stoll@meteoswiss.ch
weather phenomena causing lightning

observed real-world example: 29 June 2000 supercell

thunderstorm (Severe Thunderstorm Electrification and
Precipitation Study STEPS in the US)

Wiens et al., 2005

Lightning data @ MeteoSwiss 7
marco.stoll@meteoswiss.ch
a cloud to ground lightning strike

thunder.swf IE/Firefox ( http://www.convection-wg.org/)

Rakov and Uman, 2003

Lightning data @ MeteoSwiss 8
marco.stoll@meteoswiss.ch
 and its electromagnetic wave

Rakov and Uman, 2003

Lightning data @ MeteoSwiss 9
marco.stoll@meteoswiss.ch
 detected by the networks

Mtorage network,
direct dissemination,
quasi real-time (~O(s))
UK MetOffice ATDnet
via GTS dissemination
(SFerics UK, SFUK),
updated every ~5min

next talk:
M. Bonnet,
Mtorage

Lightning data @ MeteoSwiss 10

marco.stoll@meteoswiss.ch
upcoming technologies

MeteoSat Third Generation

Lightning Imager (MTG LI)

Lightning Mapping Arrays

Lightning data @ MeteoSwiss 11

marco.stoll@meteoswiss.ch
applications I

replace former own network of sensor antennas at ANETZ

weather stations, "Nah-/Fernblitze" assigned to station
locations for "climatological" purposes as well as delivering
information to clients on lightning incidence-related damage

Lightning data @ MeteoSwiss 12

marco.stoll@meteoswiss.ch
applications II

build a gridded climatological data base (Mtorage data

available since 2000, but with significant inhomogeneities
due to sensor and algorithm changes and improvements)

Lightning data @ MeteoSwiss 13

marco.stoll@meteoswiss.ch
applications III

thunderstorm displaying for the public (e.g. on webpage) or

airline/general aviation pilots (weather desk in Zurich airport)

Lightning data @ MeteoSwiss 14

marco.stoll@meteoswiss.ch
applications IV

thunderstorm nowcasting for issuing public warnings (SMS,

Fax, web) or warnings for special clients
such as UNIQUE airport Zurich
(groundhandling stop if lightning
occurs within 10 km)

TRT cells

Lightning data @ MeteoSwiss 15

marco.stoll@meteoswiss.ch
applications V

monitoring storm motion

and development by
combining several data
types (e.g. satellite, radar
lightning, surface obs.)
continuous monitoring
of the weather situation

Lightning data @ MeteoSwiss 16

marco.stoll@meteoswiss.ch
future outlook

combine available data from different sources to integrated

tools for Thunderstorm Analysis, Nowcasting and Warning
(TANW), instead of looking at raw data (forecaster is now
flooded by huge amount of data from radar, satellite etc.)?

make more use of the information on polarity, amplitude?

Lightning data @ MeteoSwiss 17

marco.stoll@meteoswiss.ch
future outlook

MTG LI: use geostationary satellite (Eumetsat's Meteosat

Third Generation Lightning Imager, MTG LI) for TANW?

use full 3D "Lightning Mapping Arrays" data for TANW?

make use of Intra-Cloud (IC) lightning data for TANW?

Lightning data @ MeteoSwiss 18

marco.stoll@meteoswiss.ch
Thank you for your attention

Questions?

References:
AMS Glossary of Meteorology http://amsglossary.allenpress.org/glossary
Wiens K. C. et al., 2009: The 29 June 2000 Supercell Observed during STEPS.
Part II: Lightning and Charge Structure. J. Atmos. Sci., 62, 41514177.
Rakov A. and Uman M. A., 2003: Lightning. Physics and Effects.
Cambridge University Press
EUMETSAT Convection Working Group http://www.convection-wg.org.
EUMETSAT http://www.eumetsat.int

Lightning data @ MeteoSwiss 19

marco.stoll@meteoswiss.ch