Lightning experts gathered in Tucson, Arizona

Vaisala Tucson personnel hosted the 19th International Lightning Detection Conference (ILDC) and the 1st International Lightning Meteorology Conference (ILMC), held on April 24-27 at the Tucson Marriott University Park hotel.

The two conferences form the leading forum for presentations and discussions related to research, emerging trends, and case studies on lightning detection information. It is an event not to be missed for all professionals who wish to understand the striking phenomena that we call lightning.

The Lightning Detection Conference
153 attendees from 27 countries arrived in Tucson for the ILDC this year to share knowledge on advances in detection technology and network performance evaluation. Discussion topics included lightning physics and related research, with a special focus on power utility, Cloud-to-Ground (CG) lightning threat, and forestry applications. The two-day conference consisted of 54 presentations from the leading experts in the field.

Some interesting presentations were given on the different methods used in validating Vaisala lightning data: the University of Arizona's Philip Krider presented a series of ground-truth video sequences, noting that the new Vaisala Thunderstorm CG Enhanced Lightning Sensor LS7000 will further enhance the capacity of the already extremely accurate National Lightning Detection Network®; Vladimir Rakov from the University of Florida talked about artificially triggering lightning by using the rocket-and-wire technique; and Gerhard Diendorfer from the Austrian Electrotechnical Association (OVE) presented a third data validation method based on data from lightning to an instrumented tower.

The guests also had a chance to visit the Vaisala U.S. National Lightning Detection Network® Control Center in Tucson to see how the state-of-the-art satellite telecommunications equipment and protocols provide a stable and reliable data hub, operated by Vaisala experts 24/7.

The Vaisala U.S. National Lightning Detection Network® Control Center tour was an enlightening experience for conference guests.

The Lightning Meteorology Conference
After the ILDC conference, lightning experts in Tucson continued onto the first ever International Lightning Meteorology Conference (ILMC).

Meteorological applications of lightning data have grown in recent years. The ILMC has been created due to the increased size of the meteorological sessions at ILDC and the importance of the topic to Vaisala. It provides a great opportunity to reinforce relationships within the international meteorological community as well as between different actors in the field of lightning detection. 

The ILMC focused on applications of lightning data related to thunderstorm nowcasting for the meteorological and aviation communities, oceanic extratropical and tropical cyclone nowcasting, and data assimilation into numerical weather prediction models. These applications were discussed in the context of Low Frequency (LF) Cloud-to-Ground (CG) lightning detection, Very High Frequency (VHF) total lightning detection, and Very Low Frequency (VLF) long-range lightning detection.

Conference attendees also enjoyed a tour to the National Weather Service’s Tucson weather forecast office, where local personnel introduced the visitors to the science behind the everyday forecasts.

Conference attendees got a chance to visit the National Weather Service’s Tucson weather forecast office.