Operational Maintenance and Spatial Sensitivity of the Mid-Atlantic Lightning Mapping Array (MALMA)

This research will discuss the ongoing maintenance and the spatial sensitivity analysis of the Mid-Atlantic Mapping Array (MALMA). The MALMA network integrated the Washington D.C. and Wallops Flight Facility (WFF) Lightning Mapping Arrays since 2019, following the re-deployment of the 8-station WFFLMA antenna network on the eastern peninsula of Maryland/Virginia. This network geolocates the Very High Frequency (VHF) emission sources from lightning, creating detailed 3-D maps of total lightning activity (both cloud-to-cloud and cloud-to-ground) within its detection area. The maintenance efforts highlight the importance of regular calibration and hardware updates to ensure the system’s optimal performance. Notably, the transition from the LMA server to the University of Maryland server for full MALMA solution processing has been implemented, enhancing data accessibility and processing speed. This presentation also outlines the preliminary analysis of the spatial coverage of MALMA, including a general assessment of detection efficiency (DE) across different areas. Initial efforts are being made to understand how DE might vary over time and to evaluate the influence of individual stations on overall network performance. Comparisons with other lightning detection networks such as the National Lightning Detection Network (NLDN), Earth Networks Total Lightning Network (ENTLN), and Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) are ongoing to help characterize MALMA within the broader context of lightning detection technologies.