Lightning Jump Data Collection 2013: New Products and a few examples

Posted in Lightning Jump Algorithm on by Kristin Calhoun.

1 Apr 2013 marked the first date of the official data collection period for the 2013 experiment.

A few changes this year: 1) data is now available for analysis the next day via the NSSL FTP server (please contact me for access/location), 2) we have added tracking on the flash extent density (many fewer tracked clusters for these cases since we cannot track a storm prior to entering a LMA region), 3) jumps are now calculated not only for the flash rate of a given storm, but also on the max flash extent density (a 1km square within the storm cluster), and also for the flash rate / storm cluster area, and 4) finally, one a major change is the addition of the Earth Networks Total Lightning Network (ENTLN).

Below is an animated gif from a series of images from the 29 Mar 2013 event over central Oklahoma to illustrate the different products / networks and a few of the issues we’ve seen already (and just prior to start of the “official” data collection).

29 Mar 2013: LMA: initiation locations (diamonds), flash contours (white lines), and flash extent density. KMEANS storm clusters, ID, and past track (Left panel); Earth Networks Total Lightning KMEANS storm clusters, ID, and past track (top right); NLDN: CG polarity / location and KTLX 0.5 deg Reflectivity (bottom right).
29 Mar 2013: LMA: initiation locations (diamonds), flash contours (white lines), and flash extent density. KMEANS storm clusters, ID, and past track (Left panel); Earth Networks Total Lightning, KMEANS storm clusters, ID, and past track (top right); NLDN: CG polarity / location and KTLX 0.5 deg Reflectivity (bottom right).

The first thing that should be readily apparent is the differences between detections by the different networks. The LMA provides a location of the flash initiation, the extent of lightning leaders (viewed by Flash Extent Density). The ENTLN provides a lat/lon location of some individual flashes (both in-cloud and cloud-to-ground), though detection efficiency has not been formally established. The NLDN detects primarily cloud-to-ground flashes, providing (lat/lon) locations and polarity.

Here are the jumps (from the various products) from the 29 Mar 2013 event and associated time / cell:
— 1430-1600 UTC jumps (using Ref@-10C to ID and track) —

LMA flash rate: 1438 UTC – cell #288, 1449 UTC – cell #288
LMA max flash density: 1449 UTC – cell #288
LMA flash rate per cluster area (km2): 1438 UTC – cell #288, 1444 UTC – cell #294, 1449 UTC – cell #288
ENTLN flash rate: 1445 UTC – cell #288, 1500 UTC – cell #288

and associated SPC Storm Reports:
29Mar2013_spcreport

First issue in this data set: the central OKLMA was constantly between 5-8 operational stations, contributing to data drop-outs throughout the interesting storm period (note, 6 LMA stations are required to detect any single VHF source point for it to make it past the initial quality control). Obviously, this issue is a concern beyond the OKLMA and today’s data. I am still determining a simple way to flag this issue as part of the xml table output to help the analysis… (more on this below)

Second issue: the server quickly became overloaded and missed creating output files for 3-8 min periods at a time (1540-1830 UTC). We are in the process of determining if we need to load-share with another server or can simply modify some of the data processing. Special note: we have not seen this issue since this event but are constantly watching the load on this server…

———-

The OKLMA definitely has continued to have problems regarding the number of active stations. I’ve included text at the end of this post covering the time period a severe storm (1 in – 2 in hail) crossed over Norman for the case shown below. Included is (ls -al listing of a 10 min period) the file sizes of 10 min of realtime OKLMA raw data files; notice that file size jumps quite wildly from minute to minute. Below that I’ve included the header files from three of those times: 0901, 0903, and 0909 UTC. Each of these minutes have different active stations though only 1 net additional for each time period (11, 12, and 13 active stations, respectfully). But the number of sources detected increases ~exponentially (5, 1919, 5014, respectfully). [Please keep in mind that this is raw VHF source detections and not flashes, the flash sorting occurs later in the processing.]

I believe the addition of the El Reno station at 0903 UTC was key to that increase event detections. I don’t think I’ve seen this drastic of a difference in previous real-time data before. Another reason to, at the very least, add a flag or some type of signifier to the processed data regarding the number of active stations.

(ls -al)
-rw-rw-r– 1 ldm ldm 4456 Mar 31 04:01 LYLOUT_130331_090000_0060.dat
-rw-rw-r– 1 ldm ldm 4384 Mar 31 04:02 LYLOUT_130331_090100_0060.dat
-rw-rw-r– 1 ldm ldm 7274 Mar 31 04:03 LYLOUT_130331_090200_0060.dat
-rw-rw-r– 1 ldm ldm 146025 Mar 31 04:04 LYLOUT_130331_090300_0060.dat
-rw-rw-r– 1 ldm ldm 7574 Mar 31 04:05 LYLOUT_130331_090400_0060.dat
-rw-rw-r– 1 ldm ldm 4382 Mar 31 04:06 LYLOUT_130331_090500_0060.dat
-rw-rw-r– 1 ldm ldm 120348 Mar 31 04:07 LYLOUT_130331_090600_0060.dat
-rw-rw-r– 1 ldm ldm 105323 Mar 31 04:08 LYLOUT_130331_090700_0060.dat
-rw-rw-r– 1 ldm ldm 4977 Mar 31 04:09 LYLOUT_130331_090800_0060.dat
-rw-rw-r– 1 ldm ldm 375058 Mar 31 04:11 LYLOUT_130331_090900_0060.dat

[wdssii@cloudy LMA]$ more LYLOUT_130331_090100_0060.dat
 New Mexico Tech Lightning Mapping Array - analyzed data
 Analysis program: /data1/rtlma/bin/lma_analysis_v10.11.1RT/lma_analysis -d 20130331 -t 090100 -s 60 -l /data1/rtlma/bin/lma_analysis_v10.11.1RT/ok.loc -o /data
 1/rtlma/dec_data/130331/09/01
 Analysis program version: 10.11.1RT
 Analysis started: Sun Mar 31 04:02:20 2013
 Analysis finished: Sun Mar 31 04:02:26 2013
 Data start time: 03/31/13 09:01:00
 Number of seconds analyzed: 60
 Location: OK LMA 2002/2005
 Coordinate center (lat,lon,alt): 35.2791257 -97.9178678 417.90
 Maximum diameter of LMA (km): 194.538
 Maximum light-time across LMA (ns): 649039
 Number of stations: 19
 Number of active stations: 11
 Active stations: C D G H I N Y A U B Z
 Minimum number of stations per solution: 6
 Maximum reduced chi-squared: 5.00
 Maximum number of chi-squared iterations: 20
 Station information: id, name, lat(d), lon(d), alt(m), delay(ns), board_rev, rec_ch
 Sta_info: C Chickasha SE 35.0043455 -97.9073041 339.09 146 3 3
 Sta_info: D Dutton 35.2451748 -98.0754888 420.11 253 3 3
 Sta_info: E El Reno 35.4785046 -98.0089380 419.99 158 3 3
 Sta_info: F FAA 35.3843732 -97.6208285 390.30 52 3 3
 Sta_info: G Goldsby 35.1325178 -97.5185999 382.30 151 3 3
 Sta_info: H Chickasha N 35.1299688 -97.9592651 341.93 159 3 3
 Sta_info: I Minco SE 35.2791257 -97.9178678 417.90 156 3 3
 Sta_info: M Middleberg 35.1347342 -97.7257633 414.68 159 3 3
 Sta_info: N Newcastle 35.2564446 -97.6589268 396.65 155 3 3
 Sta_info: O OKC 35.4015724 -97.6014842 393.99 119 3 3
 Sta_info: W Minco W 35.3622021 -98.0397279 415.65 158 3 3
 Sta_info: Y Yukon 35.4402883 -97.7782383 405.96 162 3 3
 Sta_info: A Altus Airport 34.6966400 -99.3406100 435.60 148 3 3
 Sta_info: P Prairie Hill 34.5950200 -99.4936800 447.40 159 3 3
 Sta_info: U Mangum 34.8592300 -99.3612100 483.10 174 3 3
 Sta_info: B Bluff 34.7679400 -99.5392400 509.60 234 3 3
 Sta_info: O Olustee 34.5195200 -99.4349400 407.50 157 3 3
 Sta_info: R Granite 34.9733400 -99.4487200 492.90 168 3 3
 Sta_info: Z Zombie 34.7116100 -99.0802600 427.90 159 3 3
 Station data: id, name, win(us), dec_win(us), data_ver, rms_error(ns), sources, %, <P/P_m>, active
 Sta_data: C Chickasha SE 80 10 70 2 40.0 1.77 A
 Sta_data: D Dutton 80 10 70 3 60.0 9.30 A
 Sta_data: E El Reno 0 0 70 0 0.0 0.00 NA
 Sta_data: F FAA 0 0 70 0 0.0 0.00 NA
 Sta_data: G Goldsby 80 10 70 5 100.0 0.88 A
 Sta_data: H Chickasha N 80 10 70 4 80.0 3.71 A
 Sta_data: I Minco SE 80 10 70 0 0.0 0.00 A
 Sta_data: M Middleberg 0 0 70 0 0.0 0.00 NA
 Sta_data: N Newcastle 80 10 70 4 80.0 0.99 A
 Sta_data: O OKC 0 0 70 0 0.0 0.00 NA
 Sta_data: W Minco W 0 0 70 0 0.0 0.00 NA
 Sta_data: Y Yukon 80 10 70 3 60.0 2.48 A
 Sta_data: A Altus Airport 80 10 70 1 20.0 0.06 A
 Sta_data: P Prairie Hill 0 0 70 0 0.0 0.00 NA
 Sta_data: U Mangum 80 10 70 2 40.0 0.35 A
 Sta_data: B Bluff 80 10 70 3 60.0 1.06 A
 Sta_data: O Olustee 0 0 70 0 0.0 0.00 NA
 Sta_data: R Granite 0 0 70 0 0.0 0.00 NA
 Sta_data: Z Zombie 80 10 70 3 60.0 0.08 A
 Metric file version: 4
 Station mask order: ZROBUPAYWONMIHGFEDC
 Data: time (UT sec of day), lat, lon, alt(m), reduced chi^2, P(dBW), mask
 Data format: 15.9f 12.8f 13.8f 9.2f 6.2f 5.1f 7x
 Number of events: 5
 *** data ***
 32483.420073930 33.10235512 -100.69250915 450975.32 2.11 36.6 0x01932
 32492.744501099 34.85556274 -98.92710217 43824.93 1.60 20.7 0x4c032
 32497.223350796 35.13756612 -97.95587964 1403.88 0.83 18.8 0x04133
 32504.743797217 35.44091271 -97.67734666 45462.14 4.07 23.5 0x48911
 32506.247514080 31.47113948 -99.42825852 425506.86 4.15 36.4 0x48930

———————–

[wdssii@cloudy LMA]$ more LYLOUT_130331_090300_0060.dat
 New Mexico Tech Lightning Mapping Array - analyzed data
 Analysis program: /data1/rtlma/bin/lma_analysis_v10.11.1RT/lma_analysis -d 20130331 -t 090300 -s 60 -l /data1/rtlma/bin/lma_analysis_v10.11.1RT/ok.loc -o /data
 1/rtlma/dec_data/130331/09/03
 Analysis program version: 10.11.1RT
 Analysis started: Sun Mar 31 04:04:20 2013
 Analysis finished: Sun Mar 31 04:04:39 2013
 Data start time: 03/31/13 09:03:00
 Number of seconds analyzed: 60
 Location: OK LMA 2002/2005
 Coordinate center (lat,lon,alt): 35.2791257 -97.9178678 417.90
 Maximum diameter of LMA (km): 194.538
 Maximum light-time across LMA (ns): 649039
 Number of stations: 19
 Number of active stations: 12
 Active stations: C D E G H I N Y P U R Z
 Minimum number of stations per solution: 6
 Maximum reduced chi-squared: 5.00
 Maximum number of chi-squared iterations: 20
 Station information: id, name, lat(d), lon(d), alt(m), delay(ns), board_rev, rec_ch
 Sta_info: C Chickasha SE 35.0043455 -97.9073041 339.09 146 3 3
 Sta_info: D Dutton 35.2451748 -98.0754888 420.11 253 3 3
 Sta_info: E El Reno 35.4785046 -98.0089380 419.99 158 3 3
 Sta_info: F FAA 35.3843732 -97.6208285 390.30 52 3 3
 Sta_info: G Goldsby 35.1325178 -97.5185999 382.30 151 3 3
 Sta_info: H Chickasha N 35.1299688 -97.9592651 341.93 159 3 3
 Sta_info: I Minco SE 35.2791257 -97.9178678 417.90 156 3 3
 Sta_info: M Middleberg 35.1347342 -97.7257633 414.68 159 3 3
 Sta_info: N Newcastle 35.2564446 -97.6589268 396.65 155 3 3
 Sta_info: O OKC 35.4015724 -97.6014842 393.99 119 3 3
 Sta_info: W Minco W 35.3622021 -98.0397279 415.65 158 3 3
 Sta_info: Y Yukon 35.4402883 -97.7782383 405.96 162 3 3
 Sta_info: A Altus Airport 34.6966400 -99.3406100 435.60 148 3 3
 Sta_info: P Prairie Hill 34.5950200 -99.4936800 447.40 159 3 3
 Sta_info: U Mangum 34.8592300 -99.3612100 483.10 174 3 3
 Sta_info: B Bluff 34.7679400 -99.5392400 509.60 234 3 3
 Sta_info: O Olustee 34.5195200 -99.4349400 407.50 157 3 3
 Sta_info: R Granite 34.9733400 -99.4487200 492.90 168 3 3
 Sta_info: Z Zombie 34.7116100 -99.0802600 427.90 159 3 3
 Station data: id, name, win(us), dec_win(us), data_ver, rms_error(ns), sources, %, <P/P_m>, active
 Sta_data: C Chickasha SE 80 10 70 1841 95.9 3.53 A
 Sta_data: D Dutton 80 10 70 67 3.5 1.62 A
 Sta_data: E El Reno 80 10 70 1876 97.8 1.11 A
 Sta_data: F FAA 0 0 70 0 0.0 0.00 NA
 Sta_data: G Goldsby 80 10 70 1888 98.4 1.41 A
 Sta_data: H Chickasha N 80 10 70 78 4.1 0.65 A
 Sta_data: I Minco SE 80 10 70 17 0.9 0.00 A
 Sta_data: M Middleberg 0 0 70 0 0.0 0.00 NA
 Sta_data: N Newcastle 80 10 70 1868 97.3 1.18 A
 Sta_data: O OKC 0 0 70 0 0.0 0.00 NA
 Sta_data: W Minco W 0 0 70 0 0.0 0.00 NA
 Sta_data: Y Yukon 80 10 70 30 1.6 5.42 A
 Sta_data: A Altus Airport 0 0 70 0 0.0 0.00 NA
 Sta_data: P Prairie Hill 80 10 70 1909 99.5 0.00 A
 Sta_data: U Mangum 80 10 70 17 0.9 0.18 A
 Sta_data: B Bluff 0 0 70 0 0.0 0.00 NA
 Sta_data: O Olustee 0 0 70 0 0.0 0.00 NA
 Sta_data: R Granite 80 10 70 20 1.0 0.49 A
 Sta_data: Z Zombie 80 10 70 1908 99.4 0.42 A
 Metric file version: 4
 Station mask order: ZROBUPAYWONMIHGFEDC
 Data: time (UT sec of day), lat, lon, alt(m), reduced chi^2, P(dBW), mask
 Data format: 15.9f 12.8f 13.8f 9.2f 6.2f 5.1f 7x
 Number of events: 1919
 *** data ***
 32580.015923202 35.30497068 -98.02190064 7436.24 1.23 16.2 0x42115
 32580.028474879 35.03748360 -97.48952779 7700.38 0.15 16.4 0x42115

————————————–

[wdssii@cloudy LMA]$ more LYLOUT_130331_090900_0060.dat
 New Mexico Tech Lightning Mapping Array - analyzed data
 Analysis program: /data1/rtlma/bin/lma_analysis_v10.11.1RT/lma_analysis -d 20130331 -t 090900 -s 60 -l /data1/rtlma/bin/lma_analysis_v10.11.1RT/ok.loc -o /data1/rtlma
 /dec_data/130331/09/09
 Analysis program version: 10.11.1RT
 Analysis started: Sun Mar 31 04:10:20 2013
 Analysis finished: Sun Mar 31 04:10:56 2013
 Data start time: 03/31/13 09:09:00
 Number of seconds analyzed: 60
 Location: OK LMA 2002/2005
 Coordinate center (lat,lon,alt): 35.2791257 -97.9178678 417.90
 Maximum diameter of LMA (km): 194.538
 Maximum light-time across LMA (ns): 649039
 Number of stations: 19
 Number of active stations: 13
 Active stations: C D E G H I N W Y P U R Z
 Minimum number of stations per solution: 6
 Maximum reduced chi-squared: 5.00
 Maximum number of chi-squared iterations: 20
 Station information: id, name, lat(d), lon(d), alt(m), delay(ns), board_rev, rec_ch
 Sta_info: C Chickasha SE 35.0043455 -97.9073041 339.09 146 3 3
 Sta_info: D Dutton 35.2451748 -98.0754888 420.11 253 3 3
 Sta_info: E El Reno 35.4785046 -98.0089380 419.99 158 3 3
 Sta_info: F FAA 35.3843732 -97.6208285 390.30 52 3 3
 Sta_info: G Goldsby 35.1325178 -97.5185999 382.30 151 3 3
 Sta_info: H Chickasha N 35.1299688 -97.9592651 341.93 159 3 3
 Sta_info: I Minco SE 35.2791257 -97.9178678 417.90 156 3 3
 Sta_info: M Middleberg 35.1347342 -97.7257633 414.68 159 3 3
 Sta_info: N Newcastle 35.2564446 -97.6589268 396.65 155 3 3
 Sta_info: O OKC 35.4015724 -97.6014842 393.99 119 3 3
 Sta_info: W Minco W 35.3622021 -98.0397279 415.65 158 3 3
 Sta_info: Y Yukon 35.4402883 -97.7782383 405.96 162 3 3
 Sta_info: A Altus Airport 34.6966400 -99.3406100 435.60 148 3 3
 Sta_info: P Prairie Hill 34.5950200 -99.4936800 447.40 159 3 3
 Sta_info: U Mangum 34.8592300 -99.3612100 483.10 174 3 3
 Sta_info: B Bluff 34.7679400 -99.5392400 509.60 234 3 3
 Sta_info: O Olustee 34.5195200 -99.4349400 407.50 157 3 3
 Sta_info: R Granite 34.9733400 -99.4487200 492.90 168 3 3
 Sta_info: Z Zombie 34.7116100 -99.0802600 427.90 159 3 3
 Station data: id, name, win(us), dec_win(us), data_ver, rms_error(ns), sources, %, <P/P_m>, active
 Sta_data: C Chickasha SE 80 10 70 4319 86.1 2.37 A
 Sta_data: D Dutton 80 10 70 84 1.7 7.58 A
 Sta_data: E El Reno 80 10 70 4455 88.9 0.91 A
 Sta_data: F FAA 0 0 70 0 0.0 0.00 NA
 Sta_data: G Goldsby 80 10 70 4070 81.2 1.26 A
 Sta_data: H Chickasha N 80 10 70 149 3.0 1.27 A
 Sta_data: I Minco SE 80 10 70 38 0.8 0.00 A
 Sta_data: M Middleberg 0 0 70 0 0.0 0.00 NA
 Sta_data: N Newcastle 80 10 70 4562 91.0 1.05 A
 Sta_data: O OKC 0 0 70 0 0.0 0.00 NA
 Sta_data: W Minco W 80 10 70 4128 82.3 5.69 A
 Sta_data: Y Yukon 80 10 70 95 1.9 3.14 A
 Sta_data: A Altus Airport 0 0 70 0 0.0 0.00 NA
 Sta_data: P Prairie Hill 80 10 70 4804 95.8 0.00 A
 Sta_data: U Mangum 80 10 70 47 0.9 0.08 A
 Sta_data: B Bluff 0 0 70 0 0.0 0.00 NA
 Sta_data: O Olustee 0 0 70 0 0.0 0.00 NA
 Sta_data: R Granite 80 10 70 60 1.2 0.22 A
 Sta_data: Z Zombie 80 10 70 4368 87.1 0.32 A
 Metric file version: 4
 Station mask order: ZROBUPAYWONMIHGFEDC
 Data: time (UT sec of day), lat, lon, alt(m), reduced chi^2, P(dBW), mask
 Data format: 15.9f 12.8f 13.8f 9.2f 6.2f 5.1f 7x
 Number of events: 5014
 *** data ***
 32940.000377496 35.03210068 -97.80952546 4892.64 0.47 17.7 0x42515
 32940.014071929 35.06811963 -97.21688673 4949.58 1.00 16.3 0x02515
Tags: None