628 GLM Observations through Optically Deep Clouds: A Case Study

Tuesday, 9 January 2018
Exhibit Hall 3 (ACC) (Austin, Texas)
Curtiss Burnett, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical Univ., Daytona Beach, FL; and R. F. Garrett, W. M. MacKenzie Jr., M. Seybold, J. Fulbright, and J. D. Sims

The Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) is the first lightning sensor to be deployed on a geostationary lightning platform. GLM is part of the newest generation of Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites-R Series (GOES-R) and is already operating onboard the first in the series, GOES-16. GLM is an optical based lightning detection system which uses high temporal differences between frames in order to detect lightning events. These events are total lightning which include a combination of cloud-to-ground and intercloud lightning. Since the instrument is based on optical detection, there may be a reduction in detection efficiency when a cloud is optically deep during daylight hours especially when lightning is closer to the ground.

The Cloud Optical Depth product is a Level 2 (L2) product generated from Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) data. The output from this product provides a measure of light extinction due to scattering and absorption. The purpose of this presentation is to examine the feasibility of using the Cloud Optical Depth (COD) product in conjunction with GLM L2 data from deep convective events during daylight hours. It is hypothesized that perhaps this COD product can be used to identify deep convective situations where GLM may have a lower detection efficiency during daylight hours.

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