A continuum of flashes, flashes that seen up close scare the bravest but, detected from space, do not even seem like family fireworks. Such are the lightning bolts filmed with the help of the new Lighting Imager detector of the European Space Agencies (ESA) and the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (Eumetsat, for its acronym in English). The first images captured with this system have been released this week, in the form of fast-motion animation, by ESA, noting that the new equipment "will revolutionize the detection and prediction of strong storms".
The new ray chaser, the first of its kind to cover Europe and North Africa in special detail, is in orbit aboard the first of the third-generation Meteosat satellites, which was launched into space on December 13, 2022. .
The Lightning Imager equipment, built by Leonardo (an Italian multinational specializing in space and defense equipment), can continuously detect rapid flashes of lightning in the Earth's atmosphere, whether day or night, from a distance of 36,000 km. The instrument is equipped with four cameras covering Europe, Africa, the Middle East and parts of South America. Each camera can capture up to 1,000 images per second and will continuously observe lightning activity from space, the ESA notes.
The data from the lightning detector will give meteorologists greater confidence in their predictions of severe storms, particularly in remote regions and over the oceans where lightning detection capabilities are limited.
Simonetta Cheli, director of the Earth observation programs at ESA, highlights the capacity of the new scientific instrument with these words: "The animations that are now disseminated show the capacity of the instrument to detect, accurately and efficiently, the activity of the rays in the entire area of the field of vision of the cameras, which covers 84% of the terrestrial disc".
"ESA and Eumetsat, together with their European industrial partners, are making sure that communities and sectors of the economy see the benefits of highly innovative new technology in Europe and elsewhere in the world," Simonetta Cheli also points out.
The detection and analysis of lightning data provide valuable support for the study of short-term weather forecasts and the understanding of the consequences of these phenomena on climate change. At the same time, the lightning detector will play a key role in air traffic safety, as lightning is a high risk for instruments on board an aircraft.
Eumetsat's CEO, Phil Evans, stresses that "strong storms are often preceded by sudden changes in lightning activity. By observing these changes in activity, data from the lightning detector will provide meteorologists additional security in their predictions of strong storms".
"When this data is combined with high-resolution data from the Flexible Combined Imager, meteorologists will be better able to track the formation of strong storms and have more time to notify authorities and communities," he says. Phil Evans.
The head of engineering of the Leonardo project for the lightning detector, Guia Pastorini, recalls in the technical section that "the lightning detector has four cameras and each one can capture 1000 images per second, day and night, detecting even a single lightning faster than the blink of an eye."
In the new meteorological instrument, specific algorithms allow data processing to send only useful information to Earth, supporting the development of more accurate weather forecasts, as well as contributing to the study of meteorological phenomena and the safety of air transport.
The project manager at the construction company explains that "together with ESA and Eumetsat, and through the coordination of an international industrial team, Leonardo has been working on this extraordinary technology for 10 years, which we are extremely proud of today." to present the images of the first European lightning catcher, the only one in the world with these unique features".
While the animations are a first initial result of the lightning detector, the third generation Meteosat detector is currently in the commissioning phase during which the instruments are calibrated and data validated. Data from the lightning detector will be available for operational use in early 2024 with increased sensitivity.
