The NAMMA Lightning ZEUS data is provided by World-ZEUS Long Range Lightning Monitoring Network Data obtained from radio atmospheric signals located at thirteen ground stations spread across the European and African continents and Brazil from August 1, 2006 to October 1, 2006. Lightning activity occurring over a large part of the globe is continuously monitored at varying spatial accuracy (e.g. 10-20 km within and >50 km outside the network periphery) and high temporal (1 msec) resolution. Time is determined by the Arrival Time Difference between the time series from the pairs of the receivers. These data files were generated during support of the NASA African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analyses (NAMMA) campaign, a field research investigation sponsored by the Science Mission Directorate of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). This mission was based in the Cape Verde Islands, 350 miles off the coast of Senegal in west Africa. Commencing in August 2006, NASA scientists employed surface observation networks and aircraft to characterize the evolution and structure of African Easterly Waves (AEWs) and Mesoscale Convective Systems over continental western Africa, and their associated impacts on regional water and energy budgets.

The NAMMA ATD Lightning data provided by the UK Meterological Office from multiple outstations contains lightning stroke data, latitude and longitude, accuracy and weighting for fading-in flashes of lightning for the African Coast during the NAMMA experiment. Time is determined by the Arrival Time Difference (ATD) of the reporting stations. These data files were generated during support of the NASA African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analyses (NAMMA) campaign, a field research investigation sponsored by the Science Mission Directorate of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). This mission was based in the Cape Verde Islands, 350 miles off the coast of Senegal in west Africa. Commencing in August 2006, NASA scientists employed surface observation networks and aircraft to characterize the evolution and structure of African Easterly Waves (AEWs) and Mesoscale Convective Systems over continental western Africa, and their associated impacts on regional water and energy budgets.

This dataset describes observations made of lightning by sensors distributed in Ballarat. The information was collected in real time by the sensors. The intended use of the information is to inform the public of the historical measured observations of lightning in Ballarat. The dataset is typically updated every 15 minutes. Observations are made as per the ATMOS41 manual: The lightning sensor acts much like an AM radio. During a thunderstorm, the crack of the lightning disrupts the AM signal. The integrated circuit inside the sensor listens for this disturbance and registers the time of and distance (intensity of signal) to the strike. The sensor outputs the total number of strikes and average distance to these strikes in the measurement period. The City of Ballarat is not an official source of weather information. These observations are provided to the public for informative purposes only. Use other channels for official meteorological observations and forecasts.

The OLS Analog Derived Lightning dataset consists of global lightning signatures from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) Operational Linescan System (OLS) that have been analyzed from filmstrip imagery. These signatures show up as horizontal streaks on the film images. The location of each of these streaks has been digitized in order to develop a preliminary database of global lightning activity. Monthly HDF data files are available for June and July 1973; Sept. - Dec. 1977; Jan. - Aug. 1978; Jan. - Dec. 1986; Jan. - Oct. 1987; Dec. 1988; Jan. - Dec. 1990; and Jan. - Dec. 1991.

The NAMMA Senegal Rain Gauge Network consisted of 40 rain gauge sites (AMMA 1-40) located in various places throughout Senegal, West Africa. These data files were generated during support of the NASA African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analyses (NAMMA) campaign, a field research investigation sponsored by the Science Mission Directorate of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). This mission was based in the Cape Verde Islands, 350 miles off the coast of Senegal in west Africa. Commencing in August 2006, NASA scientists employed surface observation networks and aircraft to characterize the evolution and structure of African Easterly Waves (AEWs) and Mesoscale Convective Systems over continental western Africa, and their associated impacts on regional water and energy budgets. The Rain Gauge Network consisted of the large-scale rain gauge network. The rain gauges collected one-minute accumulation data. The location and photos of each site can be found in an accompanying PDF document: NAMMA_Raingauge_network.pdf.

The NAMMA Senegal Rain Gauge Network consisted of 40 rain gauge sites (AMMA 1-40) located in various places throughout Senegal, West Africa. These data files were generated during support of the NASA African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analyses (NAMMA) campaign, a field research investigation sponsored by the Science Mission Directorate of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). This mission was based in the Cape Verde Islands, 350 miles off the coast of Senegal in west Africa. Commencing in August 2006, NASA scientists employed surface observation networks and aircraft to characterize the evolution and structure of African Easterly Waves (AEWs) and Mesoscale Convective Systems over continental western Africa, and their associated impacts on regional water and energy budgets. The Rain Gauge Network consisted of the large-scale rain gauge network. The rain gauges collected one-minute accumulation data. The location and photos of each site can be found in an accompanying PDF document: NAMMA_Raingauge_network.pdf.

The TRMM-LBA Lightning Instrument Package (LIP) dataset consists of electrical field measurements of lightning from eight field mills, conductivity probe temperatures from two probes, and navigation data, for the period of January 22 through February 24, 1999. These data were collected by the LIP instrument flown aboard the NASA ER-2 high-altitude aircraft over the Amazon River basin in Brazil during the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission-Large-Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia (TRMM-LBA) field campaign. The LIP instrument was used to validate measurements by the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS). These data are provided in HDF-4 format with browse imagery available in GIF format.

PEM-West-B_Lightning_Data is the lightning data collected onboard the DC-8 aircraft during the Pacific Exploratory Mission (PEM) West B suborbital campaign. Data collection for this product is complete.During 1983-2001, NASA conducted a collection of field campaigns as a part of the Global Tropospheric Experiment (GTE) for developing advanced instrumentation to quantify atmospheric trace gases’ sources, sinks, and distribution. Among those was PEM, which intended to improve the scientific understanding of human influence on tropospheric chemistry. Part of the PEM field campaigns (PEM-West) were conducted over the northwestern Pacific region, considered the only major region in the northern hemisphere that is “relatively” free from direct anthropogenic influences. PEM-West was a part of the East Asian/North Pacific Regional Study (APARE). The overarching objectives of PEM-West were 1) to investigate the atmospheric chemistry of ozone (O3) and its precursors over the northwestern Pacific, including the examination of their natural budgets as well as the impact of anthropogenic sources; and 2) to investigate the atmospheric sulfur cycle over the region with emphasis on the relative importance and influence of continental vs marine sulfur sources. The two phases of PEM-West were conducted during differing seasons due to contrasting tropospheric outflow from Asia. The first phase, PEM-West A, was conducted over the western Pacific region off the eastern coast of Asia from September-October 1991, a season characterized by the predominance of flow from mid-Pacific regions. The second phase, PEM-West B, was conducted from February-March 1994, a period characterized by maximum air mass outflow. To accomplish its objectives, the PEM-West campaign deployed the NASA DC-8 aircraft across the northwestern Pacific to gather latitudinal, longitudinal, and vertical profile sampling, as well as extensive sampling in both the marine boundary layer and free troposphere. The aircraft was equipped with a comprehensive suite of in-situ instrument packages for characterization of photochemical precursors, intermediate products, and airmass tracers, including O3, nitric oxide (NO), peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN), nitrogen oxides (NOy), nonmethane hydrocarbons (NMHCs), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), acetic acid (CH3OOH), carbon monoxide (CO), and formaldehyde (CH2O). Collectively, these measurements enabled the analyses of the photochemical production/destruction of O3 and the distribution of precursor species. In addition, the DC-8 was equipped with instruments for collecting sulfur measurements, including dimethyl sulfide (DMS), carbonyl sulfide (COS), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and carbon disulfide (CS2). Instruments that collected aerosol composition and microphysical properties were also aboard the DC-8. Both missions deployed a Differential Absorption Lidar (DIAL) system for measurements of O3 vertical profiles above and below the aircraft. One highlight of the project was that flight nine of PEM-West A flew over Typhoon Mireille while it made landfall on the coast of Japan. This allowed for a flight by the DC-8 to study the role of typhoons in the transport of trace gases. Detailed descriptions related to the motivation, implementation, and instrument payloads are available in the PEM-West A overview paper and the PEM-West B overview paper. A collection of the publications based on PEM-West A and B observation are available in the Journal of Geophysical Research special issues: Pacific Exploratory Mission-West Phase A and Pacific Exploratory Mission-West, Phase B (PEM-West B).

The Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) Science Data was collected by the LIS instrument on the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite used to detect the distribution and variability of total lightning occurring in the Earth’s tropical and subtropical regions. This data can be used for severe storm detection and analysis, as well as for lightning-atmosphere interaction studies. The LIS instrument makes measurements during both day and night with high detection efficiency. These data are available in both HDF-4 and netCDF-4 formats, with corresponding browse images in GIF format.

The Geostationary Lightning Mapper Level 2 Lightning Detection product contains a list of lightning flashes, and their constituent groups and events. The definition of and relationship among flashes, groups, and events are governed by the following spatial and temporal characteristics: An event represents the signal detected from the cloud top associated with a lightning emission in an individual sensor pixel for a 2ms integration period; A group represents the events detected in adjacent sensor pixels for the same integration period as an event; A flash represents a series of measurements constrained by temporal and spatial extent thresholds that are associated with one or more groups. The parent, child relationship among specific flashes, groups, and events is stored in the product. Data for each flash includes an energy-weighted centroid latitude, longitude location, time span of occurrence, amount of radiant energy, and coverage area. Data for each group includes an energy-weighted centroid latitude, longitude location, mean time of occurrence, amount of radiant energy, and coverage area. Data for each event includes a latitude, longitude location, time of occurrence, and amount of radiant energy. The product includes data quality information for each flash and group. A Lightning Detection product file contains a set of flashes, and its constituent groups and events for a 20 second period. The units of measure for the flash, group, and event radiant energy values is Joules. The units of measure for the flash and group coverage areas is square meters.