World leader in detection of lightning from space

Teams at UAHuntsville have played a leading role in developing:

Optical Transient Detector (OTD) (1995-present)

Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) (1997-present)Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) (2015

launch)

flashes/km2/year

LIS’s total lightning data has been used

to verify the frequency of lightning

is related to microphysical (e.g.,

ice mass) and kinematic properties (e.g., updraft speed). It has also been used to demonstrate that

no appreciable change in global

lightning activity has occurred from 1997-

present.

LIS Characteristics• CCD event detector

– 777.4 nm wavelength

– 2 ms frame rate

• Spatial resolution

– 4 km (nadir) – 7 km (edge of FOV)

• ~90% flash detection (both intracloud lightning and cloud to ground lightning)

GLM’s total lightning data will have

immediate applications to

aviation weather services,

climatological studies, and severe

thunderstorm forecasts and

warnings.