Lightning Detection And Ranging (LDAR II) Network Operation and Analyses Over a Highly Polluted City - Houston, Texas

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Intellectual Merit: Under this award the Principal Investigator (PI) will operate and analyze data from a twelve-station total lightning detection network (Lightning Detection and Ranging, LDAR II) around Houston, Texas. The National Science Foundation under a Major Research Initiative (MRI) grant funded the purchase of the equipment for the LDAR II network. A high cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning density anomaly had been previously identified over Houston, which raised a number of scientific questions. The primary scientific goal of this research is to address many outstanding questions about CG and intracloud (IC) flashes that characterize the total lightning occurring over Houston and the surrounding areas using the LDAR II network and the National Lightning Detection Network (NLDN). The combination of data from the LDAR II and the NLDN will allow the PI to determine 1) the location and amplitude of the first lightning flash within storms, 2) cloud flash rates, 3) cloud-to-ground flash rates, 4) the evolution of cloud/CG flash ratios, 5) the geometric extent of cloud discharge channels, 6) the initiation points of cloud and CG flashes, 7) the altitude from which the primary charge is lowered, 8) the area and volume in which charge is altered by lightning, 9) the polarity of CG strokes, 10) estimates of the peak currents in CG strokes, and 11) measurements of the multiplicity of strokes in CG flashes in the thunderstorms. Broader impacts of the research: Data from the LDAR II will have an immediate impact on the research programs of scientists and students who are performing research outside the bounds of this award. At the moment, more than ten cooperating institutions have expressed an interest in this project and the associated information. The continuing operation of the network will provide instrumentation and enhance the infrastructure of understanding and forecasting weather in Houston, the fourth largest city in population in the United States. In addition, general public access to the experimental LDAR II real-time lightning displays is provided at no cost through the following web site: http://www.met.tamu.edu/ciams/ldar/index.html. Informal reports suggest that this is a popular free web site for the Houston community. This research will contribute to the education of several graduate students who will directly participate in the research, which will include their sharing in data acquisition and analysis. Research results will be incorporated into advanced courses on cloud physics and mesoscale phenomena. Finally, this research will take advantage of ongoing outreach and educational Texas A&M University programs to engage in mentorship of undergraduate and high school students with special effort to involve under-represented students.