A sequence of animations from lightning measurements have been put collectively as a part of the challenge which it’s hoped will give specialists “additional confidence” when monitoring future storms.

Spectacular animations displaying lightning storms throughout the Earth have been put along with information from a brand new satellite tv for pc challenge that may make it simpler for forecasters to foretell extreme storms.

The European climate company, Eumetsat, and the European Space Agency (ESA) launched the primary animations utilizing information captured by the Leonardo Lightning Imager, which was launched on the Meteosat Third Generation satellite tv for pc system above Africa final December.

Described by the ESA because the “first European lightning hunter”, the system has cameras overlaying Europe, Africa, the Middle East and elements of South America and may detect a single bolt “faster than the blink of an eye”.

Project supervisor for the imager, Guia Pastorini, mentioned: “The Lightning Imager has four cameras and each one can capture 1,000 images per second, day and night, detecting even a single lightning bolt faster than the blink of an eye.

“Thanks to particular algorithms, information is processed on board to ship solely helpful info to Earth, supporting the event of extra correct climate forecasts, in addition to contributing to the research of weather phenomena and air transport security.

“Together with ESA and Eumetsat, and coordinating an international industrial team, Leonardo has been working on this outstanding technology for 10 years, and today we are very proud to present the images of the first European lightning hunter, the only in the world with these unique performances.”

Animations of the storms have been created utilizing a sequence of photographs and uncooked information from lightning measurements captured throughout a time of 1 minute.

Data from the Meteosat satellite tv for pc’s different primary Earth commentary instrument, the Flexible Combined Imager, may even be used to assist forecasters and climate specialists observe future storms.

Eumetsat director-general, Phil Evans, mentioned: “Severe storms are sometimes preceded by abrupt adjustments in lightning exercise.

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“By observing these changes in activity, Lightning Imager data will give weather forecasters additional confidence in their forecasts of severe storms.

“When these information are used along side the high-resolution information from the Flexible Combined Imager, climate forecasters can be higher capable of observe the event of extreme storms and have an extended lead-in time to warn authorities and communities.”