Lightning in the Region of the TOGA COARE

Abstract

Abstract In the fall of 1992 a lightning direction finder network was deployed in the western Pacific Ocean in the area of Papua New Guinea. Direction finders were installed on Kapingamarangi Atoll and near the towns of Rabaul and Kavieng, Papua New Guinea. The instruments were modified to detect cloud-to-ground lightning out to a distance of 900 km. Data were collected from cloud-to-ground lightning flashes for the period 26 November 1992–15 January 1994. The analyses are presented for the period 1 January 1993–31 December 1993. In addition, a waveform recorder was located at Kavieng to record both cloud-to-ground lightning and intracloud lightning in order to provide an estimate of the complete lightning activity. The data from these instruments are to be analyzed in conjunction with the data from ship and airborne radars, in-cloud microphysics, and electrical measurements from both the ER-2 and DC-8. The waveform instrumentation operated from approximately mid-January through February 1993. Over 150 00...