New Lightning Imaging Sensor to be Installed on the International Space Station

When the joint NASA/Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite re-entered Earth’s atmosphere in 2015, it left an invaluable 17-year record of Earth observation data collected by TRMM’s five instruments. One of these instruments was the Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS), which collected data on day and night cloud-to-ground/water, cloud-to-cloud, and intra-cloud lightning and its distribution around the globe.

Now, a new LIS is headed to the International Space Station (ISS) that will continue and enhance this data record. The instrument is part of the Space Test Program-Houston 5 (STP-H5) mission, which is aboard the upcoming ISS cargo resupply mission (designated CRS-10). CRS-10 is scheduled for launch in mid-February 2017.

In all fairness, the LIS headed to the ISS is not really “new.” It actually is the spare LIS that was built at the same time as TRMM’s LIS and is identical to the TRMM instrument. After attachment to the ISS’ ExPRESS Logistics Carrier-1, LIS is expected to collect lightning data for two to four years or longer. These data and data products will be available through NASA’s Global Hydrometeorology Resource Center DIstributed Active Archive Center (GHRC DAAC), which also is the home for TRMM LIS data.

LIS on ISS builds on the observations from LIS on TRMM as well as lightning data collected by the earlier Optical Transient Detector (OTD), which was operational from 1995-2000. Overall, LIS on ISS will collect data to measure the amount, rate, and optical characteristics of lightning around the globe, both on land and over water. Specifically, LIS on ISS has five primary science goals:

• Examine the uses of lightning for improving severe weather forecasting
• Extend the global lightning climatology record
• Estimate lightning nitrogen oxides to improve chemistry/climate and air-quality modeling
• Determine the relationships between lightning, clouds, and precipitation
• Examine the detailed physics of lightning discharges

Once installed on the ISS, LIS will be able to collect lightning data between 54˚ north and south of the equator. This will enable LIS to detect 98% of Earth’s lightning on an annual basis, including observations of mid-latitude storms—storms that could not be detected by the 35˚ (later boosted to 38˚) north/south latitude limit of the TRMM LIS. Another LIS objective is to provide lightning data as rapidly as possible after a detected flash, possibly as fast as within two minutes. This feature will be an important resource for numerous applications including weather forecasting, storm tracking, forest fire monitoring, and aviation. In addition, LIS will enable cross-sensor observations and calibrations with the Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) aboard the recently-launched joint NOAA/NASA Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R (GOES-R), which is now known as GOES-16.

After a short check-out period to ensure that the instrument is collecting valid data, four Level 2 LIS data sets will be available through GHRC DAAC: science data, background data, near real-time (NRT) science data, and NRT background data. The NRT products are a unique addition to the LIS data sets and the first time LIS data will be available so rapidly after a sensor-detected flash.

GHRC DAAC is one of NASA's discipline-specific DAACs managed by NASA’s Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS) Project and part of NASA’s Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS). GHRC DAAC processes, archives, and disseminates NASA Earth science data related to hazardous weather, the dynamic and physical processes related to hazardous weather, and associated applications, with a focus on lightning, tropical cyclones, and storm-induced hazards. GHRC DAAC is a joint venture of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center and the Information Technology and Systems Center (ITSC) at the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH).

Additional Resources

Blakeslee, R. & Koshak, W. (2016). “LIS on ISS: Expanded Global Coverage and Enhanced Applications.” The Earth Observer, 28(3): 4-14. Available online at http://eospso.nasa.gov/s3fs-public/eo_pdfs/May_June_2016_color%20508.pdf#page=4

GHRC DAAC home page: https://ghrc.nsstc.nasa.gov

GHRC Lightning and Atmospheric Electricity Research page: https://lightning.nsstc.nasa.gov