Lightning risk warnings based on atmospheric electric field measurements in Brazil

Ferro, Marco Antonio da Silva; Yamasaki, Jorge; Pimentel, Douglas Roberto M.; Naccarato, Kleber Pinheiro; Saba, Marcelo Magalhães Fares

doi:10.5028/jatm.2011.03032511

Abstract:

This paper presents a methodology that employs the electrostatic field variations caused by thundercloud formation or displacement to generate lightning warnings over a region of interest in Southeastern Brazil. These warnings can be used to prevent accidents during hazardous operations, such as the manufacturing, loading, and test of motor-rockets. In these cases, certain equipment may be moved into covered facilities and personnel are required to take shelter. It is also possible to avoid the threat of natural and triggered lightning to launches. The atmospheric electric field database, including the summer seasons of 2007/2008 and 2008/2009 (from November to February), and, for the same period and region, the cloud-to-ground lightning data provided by the Brazilian lightning detection network - BrasilDAT - were used in order to perform a comparative analysis between the lightning warnings and the cloud-to-ground lightning strikes that effectively occurred inside the area of concern. The analysis was done for three areas surrounding the sensor installation defined as circles with 5, 10 and 15 km of radius to determine the most effective detection range. For each area it was done using several critical electric field thresholds: +/- 0.5; +/- 0.8; +/- 0.9; +/- 1.0; +/- 1.2; and +/- 1.5 kV/m. As a result of the reduction of atmospheric electric field data provided by the sensor installed in area of concern and lightning provided by BrasilDAT, it was possible, for each of the areas of alert proposals, to obtain the following parameters: the number of effective alarms; the number of false alarms; and the number of failure to warning. From the analysis of these parameters, it was possible to conclude that, apparently, the most interesting critical electric field threshold to be used is the level of 0.9 kV/m in association with a distance range of 10 km around the point where the sensor is installed.

Keywords:
Atmospheric electric field; Electric field-mill; Lightning

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REFERENCES

Aranguren, D., et al., 2009, "On the lightning hazard warning using electrostatic field: Analysis of summer thunderstorms in Spain". Atmospheric Research. doi:10,1016/j.elstat.2009.01.023.
» https://doi.org/10,1016/j.elstat.2009.01.023
Beasley, W.H., Williams, D.E., Hyland, P.T., 2008, "Analysis of surface electric-field contours in relation to cloud-to-ground lightning flashes in air-mass thunderstorms at the Kennedy Space Center". 20th International Lightning Detection Conference (ILDC). Proceedings. Tucson.
Holle, R.L., Murphy, M.J., Lopez, R.E., 2003, "Distances and times between cloud-to-ground flashes in a storm". International Conference on Lightning and Static Electricity (ICLSE). Proceedings. Blackpool.
Lengyel, M.M., 2004, "Lightning casualties and their proximity to surrounding cloud-to-ground lightning", M.S. Thesis. University of Oklahoma.
Montanya. J., et al., 2008, "Total lightning, electrostatic field and meteorological radar applied to lightning hazard warning". 20th International Lightning Detection Conference (ILDC). Proceedings. Tucson, CD-ROM.
Murphy, M.J., 1996, "The electrification of Florida thunderstorms". PhD thesis, University of Arizona.
Murphy, M.J., Cummins, K.L., 2000, "Early detection and warning of cloud-to-ground lightning at a point of interest". 2nd Symposium on Environmental Applications. Proceedings. American Meteorological Society, Long Beach, p. 172-177.
Murphy, M.J., Demetriades, N.W.S., Cummins, K.L., 2002, "Probabilistic early warning of cloud-to-ground lightning at an airport. 16th Conference on Probability and Statistics in the Atmospheric Sciences". Proceedings. American Meteorological Society, Orlando, p. 126-131.
Murphy, M.J., Holle, R.L., 2006, "Warnings of cloud-to-ground lightning hazard based on combinations of lightning detection and radar information". 19th International Lightning Detection Conference (ILDC). Proceedings. Tucson, CD-ROM.
Murphy, M.J., Holle, R.L., 2005, "A warning method for the risk of cloud-to-ground lightning based on total lightning and radar information". International Conference on Lightning and Static Electricity (ICLSE). Proceedings. The Boeing Co., Seattle.
Murphy, M.J., Holle, R.L., Demetriades, N.W.S., 2008, "Cloud-to-ground lightning warnings using electric field mill and lightning observations". 20th International Lightning Detection Conference (ILDC). Proceedings. Tucson.
Naccarato, K.P., Pinto Jr., O., Ferreira Jr., H.H., 2008, "Cloud-to-ground lightning forecast based on lightning location system information and electric field-mill data". International Conference on Grounding and Earthing (GROUND 2008) & 3th International Conference on Lightning Physics and Effects (LPE). Proceedings. Florianópolis, Brazil.
Naccarato, K.P., Pinto Jr., O., 2008, "Improvements in the detection efficiency model for the Brazilian lightning detection network (BrasilDAT)". Atmospheric Research. In press. doi:10,1016/j.atmosres.2008.06.019.
» https://doi.org/10,1016/j.atmosres.2008.06.019

Publication Dates

Publication in this collection
Sep-Dec 2011

History

Received
06 June 2011
Accepted
20 Sept 2011

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

[1] Aranguren, D., et al., 2009, "On the lightning hazard warning using electrostatic field: Analysis of summer thunderstorms in Spain". Atmospheric Research. doi:10,1016/j.elstat.2009.01.023.
» https://doi.org/10,1016/j.elstat.2009.01.023

[2] Beasley, W.H., Williams, D.E., Hyland, P.T., 2008, "Analysis of surface electric-field contours in relation to cloud-to-ground lightning flashes in air-mass thunderstorms at the Kennedy Space Center". 20th International Lightning Detection Conference (ILDC). Proceedings. Tucson.

[3] Holle, R.L., Murphy, M.J., Lopez, R.E., 2003, "Distances and times between cloud-to-ground flashes in a storm". International Conference on Lightning and Static Electricity (ICLSE). Proceedings. Blackpool.

[4] Lengyel, M.M., 2004, "Lightning casualties and their proximity to surrounding cloud-to-ground lightning", M.S. Thesis. University of Oklahoma.

[5] Montanya. J., et al., 2008, "Total lightning, electrostatic field and meteorological radar applied to lightning hazard warning". 20th International Lightning Detection Conference (ILDC). Proceedings. Tucson, CD-ROM.

[6] Murphy, M.J., 1996, "The electrification of Florida thunderstorms". PhD thesis, University of Arizona.

[7] Murphy, M.J., Cummins, K.L., 2000, "Early detection and warning of cloud-to-ground lightning at a point of interest". 2nd Symposium on Environmental Applications. Proceedings. American Meteorological Society, Long Beach, p. 172-177.

[8] Murphy, M.J., Demetriades, N.W.S., Cummins, K.L., 2002, "Probabilistic early warning of cloud-to-ground lightning at an airport. 16th Conference on Probability and Statistics in the Atmospheric Sciences". Proceedings. American Meteorological Society, Orlando, p. 126-131.

[9] Murphy, M.J., Holle, R.L., 2006, "Warnings of cloud-to-ground lightning hazard based on combinations of lightning detection and radar information". 19th International Lightning Detection Conference (ILDC). Proceedings. Tucson, CD-ROM.

[10] Murphy, M.J., Holle, R.L., 2005, "A warning method for the risk of cloud-to-ground lightning based on total lightning and radar information". International Conference on Lightning and Static Electricity (ICLSE). Proceedings. The Boeing Co., Seattle.

[11] Murphy, M.J., Holle, R.L., Demetriades, N.W.S., 2008, "Cloud-to-ground lightning warnings using electric field mill and lightning observations". 20th International Lightning Detection Conference (ILDC). Proceedings. Tucson.

[12] Naccarato, K.P., Pinto Jr., O., Ferreira Jr., H.H., 2008, "Cloud-to-ground lightning forecast based on lightning location system information and electric field-mill data". International Conference on Grounding and Earthing (GROUND 2008) & 3th International Conference on Lightning Physics and Effects (LPE). Proceedings. Florianópolis, Brazil.

[13] Naccarato, K.P., Pinto Jr., O., 2008, "Improvements in the detection efficiency model for the Brazilian lightning detection network (BrasilDAT)". Atmospheric Research. In press. doi:10,1016/j.atmosres.2008.06.019.
» https://doi.org/10,1016/j.atmosres.2008.06.019