Recent advances in global lightning research

by Martin Füllekrug
Institut für Meteorologie und Geophysik
Universität Frankfurt 

3-4pm
Friday September 20, 2002
Refreshments served at 2:45pm
Munk Conference Room
Cecil and Ida M. Green Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
University of California, San Diego
http://mahi.ucsd.edu/seminar/

Abstract

In 1998, the first array of three ULF/ELF magnetometers was deployed
around planet Earth to demonstrate the feasability of global lightning
triangulation.  This new data acquisition concept has led to a
number of challenging scientific results which are summarized during
this seminar: The experimental source location determination allows for
an improvement of the theoretical description of global electromagnetic
wave propagation. The derived intensity of lightning flashes is used
to determine meteorological properties of thunderstorms which produce
particularly intense lightning flashes over the continents and the
ocean and describes their role in the global atmospheric electric
circuit. Similar data can be used to determine ionospheric modification
from the decadal to the diurnal time scale and mesospheric sprites
(colored lightning flashes above thunderstorms) are determined as a
new  source of atmospheric electrodynamic fields.  It is
concluded that further networking of ULF/ELF magnetometers provides a
wide range of applications and arising opportunities in the future.