By Bisola Adeyemo
As part of efforts to obtain reliable lightning location data, researchers from the Institute of Atmospheric Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) have improved the accuracy of short term forecasts for convective rainfall using lightning data.
According to CGTN news, lightning detection and location technology have witnessed rapid development in recent years.
At present, the 3D lightning mapping technology has reduced the lightning horizontal location error to meters.
To promote the application of lightning in improving short and imminent precipitation forecast, researchers also conducted field studies in warm seasons for consecutive years and learned the characteristics and patterns of high-impact weather systems in Beijing and its surrounding areas.
The researchers also studied the relation between lightning and the microphysical characteristics, such as ice and water substance content.
Meanwhile, on the physical connection between lightning and strong ascending motion within the cloud, the researchers extracted the observation information of convective dynamic field and realized the assimilation of lightning data.
The lightning data assimilation is expected to offer more small-scale convective information in remote areas without enough radar data, and hence enhance the accuracy of local rainfall forecast, according to the CAS.
