Using Optical Lightning Detection Data from the 2017 GOES-R Post Launch Test Field Campaign Flights as an Evaluation of Convective Processes

The primary mechanisms for thunderstorm electrification and lightning production are widely understood and enable lightning to be used to derive storm strength and to forecast the probability of high-impact weather. However, the assumed relationships between lightning and convective properties were discovered primarily using ground-based radio emissions of lightning, which are distinct from the optical measurements of space instrumentation. Because different processes of the lighting flash are being recorded, there is no known transferable relationship between these two measurements. Furthermore, the conclusions regarding deep convection derived from ground-based measurements can not be directly applied to space-based.

In 2017, a field campaign was conducted to validate the instrumentation aboard the GOES-16 satellite. It involved flying the NASA ER-2 high-altitude aircraft over multiple storms across the continental US and included the Fly’s Eye Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) Simulator (FEGS) as a proxy for the GLM itself. Utilizing data from this field campaign, there are two primary goals we are working towards: (a) investigate how attributes of convection impact optical lightning signatures and then (b) derive subsequent assumptions about optical lightning measurements that can be made in relation to convective dynamics and precipitation microphysics. This presentation will encompass the preliminary work being done to achieve our long term goals. This includes FEGS flash analysis and waveform classification, use of Lightning Mapping Array data to characterize the lightning flash properties associated with FEGS optical detections, and an analysis of how cloud optical depth impacts FEGS detections.