Climatology of Lightning Activities over Bandaranaike International Airport in Sri Lanka

Abstract

This study reveals the spatiotemporal distribution of lightning activities over Bandaranaike International Airport, the main international airport of Sri Lanka. Lightning flash data was acquired from the Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) on Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) of NASA to investigate lightning activities from 1998 to 2014 covering an area of 30 km×30 km over the airport. Overhead annual flash density was 8.19 flashes km-2 year-1. The maximum lightning activities (57%) with an overhead flash density of 28.83 flashes km-2 year-1 was recorded in the first inter-monsoon season. The overhead flash density of 5.28 flashes km-2 year-1, 16.36 flashes km-2 year-1 and 7.46 flashes km-2 year-1 were recorded in the southwest monsoon season, second inter-monsoon season, and northeast monsoon season respectively. The month of April accounts for the highest number of lightning activities while maximum lightning flashes (22%) had occurred during 19.00-20.00 Local Time. According to the international climate season, maximum lightning activities over the study area have been recorded from March to May and during this seasonal period, the northern hemisphere is in spring and the southern hemisphere is in autumn. Safety guidelines are proposed to minimize lightning accidents in the airport. It is important to concern the regions with high lightning activity and vulnerable time periods to mitigate lightning accidents and to take adequate safety precautions to ensure the safety of passengers and the working crew to achieve environmental goals of sustainable development in the aviation industry.