Total Lightning Characteristics of Thunderstorm, Contribution to Nowcasting Applications 2001-01-2920

Total lightning data, made of Intra Cloud and Cloud to Ground lightning, is an information which is getting more frequently used by National Weather Services and other users around the world in their operational nowcasting applications. This paper presents results of data analysis from the SAFIR system, providing a large scale quantitative approach in assessing the benefits of Total Lightning in terms of gain in time for storm early detection and nowcasting, and improvement in monitoring capacity for storm mapping and tracking.