Global distribution of winter lightning: a threat to wind turbines and aircraft

Abstract

Abstract. Lightning is one of the major threats to multimegawatt wind turbines and a concern for modern aircraft due to the use of lightweight composite materials. Both wind turbines and aircraft can initiate lightning, and very favorable conditions for lightning initiation occur in winter thunderstorms. Moreover, winter thunderstorms are characterized by a relatively high production of very energetic lightning. This paper reviews the different types of lightning interactions and summarizes the well-known winter thunderstorm areas. Until now comprehensive maps of global distribution of winter lightning prevalence to be used for risk assessment have been unavailable. In this paper we present the global winter lightning activity for a period of 5 years. Using lightning location data and meteorological re-analysis data, six maps are created: annual winter lightning stroke density, seasonal variation of the winter lightning and the annual number of winter thunderstorm days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the maps confirmed Japan to be one of the most active regions but other areas such as the Mediterranean and the USA are active as well. In the Southern Hemisphere, Uruguay and surrounding area, the southwestern Indian Ocean and the Tasman Sea experience the highest activity. The maps provided here can be used in the development of a risk assessment.

Electrostatic thunderstorm detection

“…This flash was the first of the storm, transferring positive charge from the cloud to ground, resulting in significant damage to the residential building it struck approximately 1 km away, and causing a powerful surge in the local mains electricity supply. Such instances demonstrate the potential effectiveness of combining in situ electrostatic measurements with lightning detection for early warning of overhead thunderstorm activity, especially for winter thunderstorms which are often associated with isolated, but powerful, cloud‐to‐ground lightning affecting both land and sea (Montanyà et al ., ).…”

Spatio-temporal dimension of lightning flashes based on three-dimensional Lightning Mapping Array

“…In Europe, winter activity is predominantly restricted to the Mediterranean (e.g. Montanyà et al, 2016;Altaratz et al, 2003;Ziv et al, 2009;Proestakis et al, 2016;Pineda et al, 2011), where warm waters provide the driver for storm development. As land begins to warm in spring, convection begins to switch from sea to land and by early summer.…”

“…The grouping of strokes into flashes allows for the estimation of the ground flash density (Ng) parameter. In practice this parameter has many implications such as risk assessment and lightning protection systems such as described by Montanyà et al (2016), March (2016), IEC-62305-2 (2013).…”

Meteorological aspects of winter upward lightning from an instrumented tower in the Pyrenees

“…[8]). Although the best-known winter lightning activity is in Japan, other areas such as the Mediterranean and the US east coast have been found to be active in winter as well [9][10].…”