SearcharxivSearch

arXiv · 2305.10064

FlashBench: A lightning nowcasting framework based on the hybrid deep learning and physics-based dynamical models

Abstract

Lightning strikes are a well-known danger, and are a leading cause of accidental fatality worldwide. Unfortunately, lightning hazards seldom make headlines in international media coverage because of their infrequency and the low number of casualties each incidence. According to readings from the TRMM LIS lightning sensor, thunderstorms are more common in the tropics while being extremely rare in the polar regions. To improve the precision of lightning forecasts, we develop a technique similar to LightNet's, with one key modification. We didn't just base our model off the results of preliminary numerical simulations; we also factored in the observed fields' time-dependent development. The effectiveness of the lightning forecast rose dramatically once this adjustment was made. The model was tested in a case study during a thunderstorm. Using lightning parameterization in the WRF model simulation, we compared the simulated fields. As the first of its type, this research has the potential to set the bar for how regional lightning predictions are conducted in the future because of its data-driven approach. In addition, we have built a cloud-based lightning forecast system based on Google Earth Engine. With this setup, lightning forecasts over West India may be made in real time, giving critically important information for the area.

Explore related subjects

Keep this discovery

BibTeXRIS

Manmeet Singh, Vaisakh S. B., Dipjyoti Mudiar, Deewakar Chakraborty, V. Gopalakrishnan, Bhupendra Bahadur Singh, Shikha Singh, Rakesh Ghosh, Rajib Chattopadhyay, Bipin Kumar, S. D. Pawar, S. A. Rao. 2023-05-17. FlashBench: A lightning nowcasting framework based on the hybrid deep learning and physics-based dynamical models. https://arxiv.org/abs/2305.10064

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

Windowed Envelope Statistics for Time-Domain Significant Wave Height Estimation From HF Radar

Significant wave height (SWH) retrieval from high-frequency (HF) radar typically relies on a weak second-order Doppler continuum that is sensitive to noise, interference, and spectral leakage. This letter presents a Windowed Envelope Statistics Estimator (WESE) that operates directly on beam-formed time-domain voltages. A second-order term obtained from a Neumann expansion of the rough-surface field equation motivates quadratic compensation of localized radar features. WESE extracts the mean, standard deviation, or variance from overlapping windows of the in-phase, quadrature, or envelope-magnitude sequence, followed by quadratic compensation, rank ordering, least-squares regression, and causal smoothing. Evaluation used 335 synchronized hourly observations from a 13.385 MHz, 12-element WERA system at Argentia, Newfoundland and Labrador. The optimal configuration used quadrature variance, a 16-sample window, 896 retained chronological samples, and 30-h smoothing, achieving an RMSE of 0.152 m and a Pearson correlation of 0.978. This represents RMSE reductions of 32.1% and 18.7% relative to previously reported linear and second-order compensated ordered-statistics models, respectively. The results demonstrate robust time-domain SWH estimation without explicit Doppler-spectrum construction.

physics.ao-ph

KiloDA: Reconstructing kilometer-scale near-surface wind states from sparse station observations

Accurate kilometer-scale near-surface winds are important for understanding atmospheric processes over complex terrain, yet remain difficult to reconstruct from sparse and unevenly distributed observations. Here we introduce KiloDA, a diffusion framework for hourly kilometer-scale wind reconstruction from surface stations. KiloDA learns the statistical distribution and spatial structure of wind fields from historical 3-km Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model forecasts. At each reconstruction time, no contemporaneous WRF field is used. Instead, station observations provide the only constraints on the current atmospheric state and guide posterior sampling from the learned prior. In idealized WRF experiments, KiloDA recovers localized wind structures when only 0.24% of grid cells are observed and shows an overall advantage over conventional interpolation across terrain conditions and wind speed regimes. This capability largely transfers to real observations. In a fully withheld region, KiloDA reduces the median wind speed root mean square error (RMSE) by 19% relative to ERA5 reanalysis, using only observations outside the region, with the largest improvements over high-elevation and high-relief terrain. A random station holdout further confirms that this advantage extends across different complex-terrain locations and holdout configurations. These results show that historical model archives can provide useful structural knowledge for reconstructing kilometer-scale wind fields from sparse observations without requiring an accurate model estimate of the current atmospheric state.

physics.ao-ph