eLMA: Supercells over the Upgraded Ebro 3D Lightning Mapping Array and High-speed Observations of Lightning in the Near-Ultraviolet

In 2011, the Ebro 3D Lightning Mapping Array was the first LMA installed outside the USA, consisting of 12 stations in 2012-2014 and was subsequently split in half in 2015 to facilitate a LMA in Colombia.

Thanks to research infrastructure service funding from the Spanish government and the European Union (MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/ and NextGenerationEU, project EQC2021-006957-P), the Ebro LMA has been upgraded to a wider area network operating 15 latest technology LMA stations operating on solar power in the Ebro Valley region (western Catalonia and eastern Aragón). New services are offered: (1) Real-time tracking of lightning flashes across northeastern Spain, available to the public via the website elma.upc.edu. (2) Archive of plotted data that can be browsed freely, including for the old Ebro LMA data. (3) Raw/processed data can be requested. (4) LMA rental is possible for field campaigns.

We developed a new processing & visualization tool for flash/thunderstorm analysis and future integration with the new EUMETSAT Lightning Imager (LI). It is written in the Julia programming language for its speed of processing with the Makie interactive graphics package. Additionally, we present a new tool for displaying regional maps of actual (not computed) LMA station contributions to assess the network performance. The capabilities of the new Ebro LMA are showcased with record-setting horizontal lightning flashes, several large-hail producing supercells with high flash rates, a lightning hole, and rising turrets of small flashes and sparks at the cloud top, which can now be isolated and analyzed with the Julia visualization tool. The electrical evolution features of these supercells are examined in relation to their timeline of severe weather production.

Additionally, a Vision Research Phantom TMX 6410 and UV-sensitive Lambert HiCATT 25 image intensifier with optics and filters were acquired, and is also available to third parties via eLMA rental services. During spring/summer 2023 it has been successfully used to image lightning leaders through a 337 nm optical narrowband filter (10 nm width) similar to imaging systems of the Atmosphere-Space Interactions Monitor (ASIM), at speeds of 65,000 to 320,000 frames per second. We found that observation distances <4 km are needed in order to be able to see the stepped leader in negative cloud-to-ground flashes. However, in only one case, of an intense burst of horizontal leader activity below the cloud base, negative streamers can be clearly distinguished and the stepping process analyzed over time. At greater distances only return strokes and dart leaders are tracked through the 337 nm filter. In fact, a >418 ms long continuing current negative return stroke (cut off by end of buffer) was observed. Also, the system captured elves, nocturnal optical emissions at the base of the ionosphere (85 km) over Mediterranean winter thunderstorms, clearly showing the typical double-wave structure originally reported by photometer arrays.