A Deep Learning Approach for Forecasting Thunderstorm Gusts in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei Region

Thunderstorm gusts are a common form of severe convective weather in the warm season in North China,and it is of great importance to correctly forecast them.At present,the forecasting of thunderstorm gusts is mainly based on traditional subjective methods,which fails to achieve high-resolution and high-frequency gridded forecasts based on multiple observation sources.In this paper,we propose a deep learning method called Thunderstorm Gusts TransU-net(TGTransUnet)to forecast thunderstorm gusts in North China based on multi-source gridded product data from the Institute of Urban Meteorology(IUM)with a lead time of 1 to 6 h.To determine the specific range of thunderstorm gusts,we combine three meteorological variables:radar reflectivity factor,lightning location,and 1-h maximum instantaneous wind speed from automatic weather stations(AWSs),and obtain a reasonable ground truth of thunderstorm gusts.Then,we transform the forecasting problem into an image-to-image problem in deep learning under the TG-TransUnet architecture,which is based on convolutional neural networks and a transformer.The analysis and forecast data of the enriched multi-source gridded comprehensive forecasting system for the period 2021–23 are then used as training,validation,and testing datasets.Finally,the performance of TG-TransUnet is compared with other methods.The results show that TG-TransUnet has the best prediction results at 1–6 h.The IUM is currently using this model to support the forecasting of thunderstorm gusts in North China.

Seasonal Variability of Rainfall and Thunderstorm Patterns in Kenya

This paper presents an analysis of spatial and temporal variation of rainfall and thunderstorm occurrence over Ken-ya from January 1987 to December 2017.The meteorological data used were obtained from the Kenya Meteorological Department(KMD)for the same period.This included the monthly thunderstorm occurrences and rainfall amounts of 26 synoptic stations across the country.The characteristics of monthly,seasonal and annual frequency results were presented on spatial maps while Time series graphs were used to display the pattern for annual cycle,seasonal varia-tions and the inter-annual variability of rainfall amounts and thunderstorm occurrences.A well-known non-parametric statistical method Mann Kendall(MK)trend test was used to determine and compare the statistical significance of the trends.Thunderstorm frequencies over the Eastern,Central and Coast regions of the country showed a bimodal pattern with high frequencies coinciding with March-April-May(MAM)and October-November-December(OND)rainy sea-sons.Very few thunderstorm days were detected over June-July-August(JJA)season.The areas to the western part of the country,near Lake Victoria,had the highest thunderstorm frequencies in the country over the three seasons:MAM,JJAS and OND.The annual frequency showed a quasi-unimodal pattern.These places near Lake Victoria showed sig-nificantly increasing thunderstorm trends during the MAM and OND seasons irrespective of the rainfall trends.This shows the effects of Lake Victoria over these areas,and it acts as a continuous source of moisture for thunderstorm for-mation.However,most stations across the country showed a reducing trend of thunderstorm frequency during MAM and JJA seasons.The importance of these findings is that they could support various policy makers,and users of cli-mate information,especially in the agriculture and aviation industries.

Radio-Acoustic Study of Thunderstorms

The observation, in the past, that a thunderstorm perturbed the transmissions of an old vacuum tubes radio with noise discharges in correspondence with lightnings, suggested the possibility of radio-acoustic study of thunderstorms. The noise discharges appeared to convey not only information about lightnings, but also about any other thunderstorm electromagnetic phenomena generating noise discharges. The low-cost instrumentation involved in the radio-acoustic study, comprised a radio Telefunken mod. T33B, a 15 m long indoor wire antenna, a mobile telephone Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G provided with the recorder App Enregistreur vocal, a computer HP Pavillion dv5-1254eg and the s/w audio analyser Audacity. A first thunderstorm on 20 June 2023 and a second thunderstorm on 22 June 2023, both above Munich, were radio-acoustic studied. The second thunderstorm was more active than the first and released much more energy.

Prediction-Based Thunderstorm Path Recovery Method Using CNN-BiLSTM

The loss of three-dimensional atmospheric electric field(3DAEF)data has a negative impact on thunderstorm detection.This paper proposes a method for thunderstorm point charge path recovery.Based on the relation-ship between a point charge and 3DAEF,we derive corresponding localization formulae by establishing a point charge localization model.Generally,point charge movement paths are obtained after fitting time series localization results.However,AEF data losses make it difficult to fit and visualize paths.Therefore,using available AEF data without loss as input,we design a hybrid model combining the convolutional neural network(CNN)and bi-directional long short-term memory(BiLSTM)to predict and recover the lost AEF.As paths are not present during sunny weather,we propose an extreme gradient boosting(XGBoost)model combined with a stacked autoencoder(SAE)to further determine the weather conditions of the recovered AEF.Specifically,historical AEF data of known weathers are input into SAE-XGBoost to obtain the distribution of predicted values(PVs).With threshold adjustments to reduce the negative effects of invalid PVs on SAE-XGBoost,PV intervals corresponding to different weathers are acquired.The recovered AEF is then input into the fixed SAE-XGBoost model.Whether paths need to be fitted is determined by the interval to which the output PV belongs.The results confirm that the proposed method can effectively recover point charge paths,with a maximum path deviation of approximately 0.018 km and a determination coefficient of 94.17%.This method provides a valid reference for visual thunderstorm monitoring.

Analysis of Continuous Thunderstorm in One Week at Qingdao Airport Based on Sounding Data

Continuous thunderstorm occurring at Qingdao Airport in China from August 7 to 13,2022 was analyzed based on sounding data.The weather was divided into thunderstorm gale,thunderstorm and heavy precipitation,and some physical quantities and time variables which can effectively identify severe convective weather types were preliminarily obtained.The results show that CAPE was sensitive to different types of weather,but the uncertainty was relatively large.Convective temperature T_(CON),temperature difference between 500 and 850 hPa,and vertical wind shear can distinguish thunderstorm gale,thunderstorm and heavy precipitation weather obviously.Besides,K index,Showalter index,θ_(se) difference between 500 and 850 hPa were also important basis to distinguish thunderstorm and heavy precipitation weather.Thunderstorm gale can be distinguished by the 24-hour variations of K index,and the difference of dew point between 500 and 850 hPa.The 24-hour variations of(T-T_(d))_(500) and vertical wind shear can be used to distinguish between heavy precipitation and thunderstorm weather;the 24-hour variation of stratification stability Δθ_(se) can distinguish the three kinds of weather well.For the wind field,the existence of vertical wind shear was required for strong convective weather,and the 24-hour increment of thunderstorm gale and thunderstorm was larger than that of heavy precipitation.

Radar Echo and Lightning Characteristics Analysis on A Strong Thunderstorm Weather in Fuxin

Based on the radar data and lightning position indicator data of strong thunderstorm weather which happened in Fuxin on July 8,2007,the relationship between the lightning activity and the radar echo was analyzed.The results showed that Fuxin area located in the cross position of T-shaped trough and was affected by the cold air which continuously glided down.The corresponding warm front on the ground advanced southward and arrived here.It was the weather background of this thunderstorm weather.The position variation of lightning occurrence was closely related to the strong echo movement of squall line,and the velocity echo clearly reflected and predicted the movement tendency of the radar echo.

Assessment of the Impacts of Thunderstorm on Flight Operations at Murtala Mohammed International Airport,Ikeja,Lagos State,Nigeria

The inefficiency of the aviation industry and the persistent rise in aviation hazards have been linked to weather phenomena.As a result,researchers are looking for better solutions to the problem.The study examined the impact of thunderstorms on flight operations at Murtala Mohammed International Airport,Lagos.The data on thunderstorms and flight operations were sourced from Nigerian Meteorological Agency(NiMet)and Nigerian Airspace Management Agency(NAMA)respectively.In order to meet the research target,descriptive statistics(mean,standard deviation,and charts)and inferential statistics(Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation(PPMC)and Regression)were used.The significance level for all inferential analyses was set at 5%(0.05).The study revealed that 77.4%of thunderstorms occurred during the rainy season(April-October)while 22.6%occurred during the dry season(November-March).It also revealed some fluctuating movements of a thunderstorm in the study area.According to the findings,thunderstorms occur most frequently at the airport in June and less frequently in January and December.The study also discovered that thunderstorms at the airport are positively and significantly related to flight delays and cancellations,while the association between flight diversions and thunderstorm occurrence is positive but statistically insignificant.Furthermore,flight delays,flight diversions,and flight cancellations interact positively among themselves.The regression result of the study revealed that a 1%increase in thunderstorm occurrence leads to a 19.4%increase in flight delay,a 7.1%increase in flight cancellation,and a 4.3%increase in flight diversion.As a result,the study presented various regression models that may be utilized to make predictions.The study proposes consistent thunderstorm observation at the airport and steady forecasts using the regression models,based on the findings.However,it further recommends that pilots,air traffic controllers,and meteorologists be trained and retrained so that they can provide better and more efficient services.

The Characteristics of Cloud-to-Ground Lightning Activity with Severe Thunderstorm Wind in South and North China

The characteristics of cloud-to-ground(CG) lightning activity with severe thunderstorm wind(STW) in South and North China are analyzed using CG lightning data, radar data, and serious weather reports. The percentage of positive CG(PCG) flashes with STW in North China is larger than that in South China. STW takes place during the period when the total CG and PCG density is increasing fastest. STW also occurs close to the high-value center of CG and PCG density. In North China, the CG and PCG density in the grid of STW maximizes approximately 20 minutes after the STW occurs; while in South China, the PCG density and percentage of PCG in the grid of STW maximizes about 10 minutes before the occurrence of STW. The high-value centers of CG density and PCG density in North China move slightly faster than those in South China, which is opposite to the rate of increasing CG activity.

Study on ecology of foulers on buoys in Dianbai, Guangdong, China

From May to July, 1985, foulers on eleven navigation buoys have been surveyed in Shuidongand Bohe Harbours of Dianbai, Guangdong. Foulers on different parts of buoys (side, bottom and in-side tail tube) were sampled. The thickness and cover area of foulers were measured in the field andall the foulers on an area of 30×30 cm~2 were taken back for lab. identification. Thirty-four quatita-tive samples and several qualitative samples have been got and five hundred and twenty-four sampleshave been classified.

Cause Analysis on the Missing Report of First Thunderstorm Weather in Shenyang City in 2010

The first thunderstorm weather appeared in southern Shenyang on May 2,2010 and did not bring about severe lightning disaster for Shenyang region,but forecast service had poor effect without forecasting thunderstorm weather accurately.In our paper,the reasons for missing report of this thunderstorm weather were analyzed,and analysis on thunderstorm potential was carried out by means of mesoscale analysis technique,providing technical index and vantage point for the prediction of thunderstorm potential.The results showed that the reasons for missing report of this weather process were as follows:surface temperature at prophase was constantly lower going against the development of convective weather;the interpreting and analyzing ability of numerical forecast product should be improved;the forecast result of T639 model was better than that of Japanese numerical forecast;the study and application of mesoscale analysis technique should be strengthened,and this service was formally developed after thunderstorm weather on June 1,2010.

Analysis on Features of Spatial and Temporal Distribution of Thunderstorm in Shanghai

Based in 11 daily weather observation station data in Shanghai from 1971 to 2008,a careful research and analysis on the features of thunderstorms spatial and temporal distribution and thunderstorm movement in Shanghai was carried out by using the statistical software of SAS,the method of Mann-Kendall test and wavelets. The results showed that the average annual numbers of thunderstorms days were 26.1,and inter-annual thunderstorm variability was obvious,the annual number of thunderstorm days had a decreasing trend,its value of decreasing days was about-0.418 5 d/10 a. Mann-Kendall test showed that there was an abrupt change in 2000. The seasonal variation of thunderstorm in Shanghai was explicit. The period from March to September was the season when thunderstorm occurred most frequently,about 64.9% of the thunderstorms in a year took place in summer. The results from wavelets analysis showed that the variation cycle period of the annual number of thunderstorms days was about 3,5,12 and 20 years.

Analysis of Laws of Thunderstorm Activity in Hefei City

[Objective] The study aims to analyze characteristics of thunderstorm activity in Hefei City. [Method] Based on conventional ground observational data during1981-2010 and lightning location data in 2010-2013 in Hefei City, temporal and spatial variation of thunderstorm days were analyzed using statistical methods, and then the distribution laws of thunderstorm days were compared with the lightning location data. [Result] In Hefei City, multi-year average of thunderstorm days from1981 to 2010 was more in the south but less in the north, and annual distribution of thunderstorm days was extremely uneven. Moreover, there were obvious seasonal and monthly variation in thunderstorm days in Hefei City. Thunderstorm days were the most in summer, and monthly average of thunderstorm days in Hefei City had a peak in July. From 2010 to 2013, the monthly variation curves of total frequency of cloud-to-ground lightning and frequency of negative cloud-to-ground lightning in Hefei City had a peak each, and cloud-to-ground lightning was frequent in July and August, especially August. The frequency of cloud-to-ground lightning exceeded the average from 12：00 to 21：00. The maximum intensity of cloud-to-ground lightning in Hefei City varied greatly in different months, and it was the highest in July. There are certain differences between the two kinds of data in the distribution laws, so it is needed to combine data of lightning position indicator and long-term artificial observation data to study the detection efficiency of lightning position indicator. [Conclusion] The research can provide theoretical references for lightning protection and disaster reduction in Hefei City.

On Thunderstorm Microphysics under Urban Heat Island, Sea Breeze, and Cold Front Effects in the Metropolitan Area of São Paulo, Brazil

This work discusses issues related to the impact of urbanization on the microphysical processes of precipitating systems associated with synoptic, mesoscale, and local scale systems. Among the issues addressed is the impact of urban heat island (UHI) in São Paulo city center and urban densification (UD) in the Metropolitan Area of São Paulo (MASP) on the microphysical, dynamic, and thermodynamic properties and distribution of precipitation and heavier rainfall from sea-breeze (SB) e cold-front (CF) combined during their space-time evolutions. For this purpose, it used four components: classification of hydrometeors with fuzzy logic, calculation of the raindrop diameters, an estimate of liquid water mass and ice mass from polarimetric-variables measured with dual-pola- rization X-band meteorological radar. The results indicated that urban densification (UD) and heat island (UHI) of the São Paulo city center impact the formation of precipitation, liquid water mass, and ice mass, depth, and duration of a thunderstorm. It was also observed the asymmetric configuration of the thunderstorm is induced by the strong convergence in the São Paulo city center, and this strong convergence is induced by the intense heat island (UHI) in the São Paulo city center. Was also observed that this event that is formed in the Metropolitan Area of São Paulo (MASP) depends on microphysical processes of mixed-phase of the cloud (water and ice) above the 0°C isotherm for the production of intense rain and cold pool at the surface. These important microphysical processes within long-lasting secondary convective cells over the São Paulo city center should be taken into account on convective parameterization schemes as well as the associated cold pool dynamics.

Temporal and Spatial Distribution and Influence Systems of Spring Thunderstorms in 2013 in Sichuan Province

Based on the lightning monitoring data, automatic and routine weather station observation data in spring （March-May） of 2013 of Sichuan Province, the corresponding relationship between the spatial distribution and the different regions, and the characteristics of atmospheric circulation and evolution of influence the sys- tem were analyzed and summarized. The results show that： the lightning and thunderstorm showed great regional differences in the spring of 2013 in Sichuan Province and the thunderstorm activity period was not the same in different areas. Because of the change of atmospheric circulation, the influence system from March to May corresponding to the thunderstorms in Sichuan tended to be volatile, also.

Temporal and Spatial Analysis of Thunderstorms in 46 Years in Henan Province

By dint of natural orthogonal function(EOF) decomposition,correlation and trend analysis methods,the temporal and spatial variation characteristics of thunderstorms in recent 46 years in Henan Province were analyzed.The result showed that the thunderstorms in Henan Province decreased gradually from the northwest region to the southeast region and the frequency of thunderstorms in the southeast area was relatively high.The thunderstorm intensity area was in its horizontal distribution.Thunderstorms acted relative actively in 60s and tended to dwindle in the end of 80s.While in recent years,the thunderstorms tended to increase and started act frequently.Since March to August in every year,thunderstorms multiplied in each region and decreased after September.The period between 16:00 to 20:00 was the high peak hours of thunderstorms every year.Thunderstorms distribution in Henan Province had pretty good consistence,increasing and decreasing at the same time.The annual variation of thunderstorms showed an unobvious decreasing tendency.

THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THUNDERSTORM FREQUENCY VARIATION AND THEIR POSSIBLE RELATION WITH THE ADJUSTMENT OF CROP DISTRIBUTION IN THE LEIZHOU PENINSULA

In order to research possible influences of the adjustment of plant distribution on the development frequency of thunderstorms over the Leizhou Peninsula, mathematic statistic methods, including correlation analyses, 11 kinds of fitting models and all-variable regression methods, were used for analyses and research. The results show that the average trend of the number of annual thunderstorm days is descending obviously, and there are thunderstorms in all seasons, in which warm post-midday thunderstorms have taken up the most part, and high frequency is found from May to September, and the starting and ending dates of thunderstorms have a great annual discrepancy. The vegetation structure has been improved along with the reduction of rice fields and the area increment of sugarcane and fruits planting, which results in the decrease of the number of thunderstorm days; the change in the characteristics of winter spare fields, which is caused by the planting of vegetables, limits the formation of thunderstorms in early winter and late spring. Meanwhile, the area adjustment of peanut planting has little influence on the variation of thunderstorm days. The adjustment of principal crop distribution, such as rice, sugarcane, fruits and vegetables, may have obvious influence on the formation of thunderstorms, and sugarcane has the largest effect, followed in turn by rice, vegetables and fruits, and the adjustment of crop distribution has little influence on the starting and ending dates of thunderstorms.

Charge Structure of a Summer Thunderstorm in North China:Simulation Using a Regional Atmospheric Model System

Electrification and simple discharge schemes are coupled into a 3D Regional Atmospheric Model System （RAMS） as microphysical parameterizations, in accordance with electrical experiment results. The dynamics, microphysics, and electrifi- cation components are fully integrated into the RAMS model, and the inductive and non-inductive electrification mechanisms are considered in the charging process. The results indicate that the thunderstorm mainly had a normal tripole charge structure. The simulated charge structure and lightning frequency are basically consistent with observations of the lightning radiation source distribution. The non-inductive charging mechanism contributed to the electrification during the whole lifetime of the thunderstorm, while the inductive electrification mechanism played a significant role in the development period and the mature stage when the electric field reached a large value. The charge structure in the convective region and the rearward region are analyzed, showing that the charge density in the convective region was double that in the rearward region.

Case Studies of Sprite-producing and Non-sprite-producing Summer Thunderstorms

Three summer thunderstorms in the eastern region of China were analyzed in detail using multiple data, including Doppler radar, lightning location network, TRMM （Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission）, MT- SAT （Multi-Function Transport Satellite） images, NCEP （National Centers for Environmental Prediction） Reanalysis, and radiosonde. Two of the three storms were sprite-producing and the other was non-sprite- producing. The two sprite-producing storms occurred on 1 2 August and 2~28 July 2007, producing 16 and one sprite, respectively. The non-sprite-producing storm occurred on 29-30 July 2007. The major ob- jective of the study was to try to find possible differences between sprite-producing and non-sprite producing storms using the multiple datasets. The results showed that the convection in the 1-2 August storm was the strongest compared with the other storms, and it produced the largest number of sprites. Precipitation ice, cloud ice and cloud water content in the convective regions in the 1-2 August storm were larger than in the other two storms, but the opposite was true in the weak convective regions. The storm microphysical prop- erties along lines through parent CG （cloud-to-ground lightning） locations showed no special characteristics related to sprites. The flash rate evolution in the 1-2 August storm provided additional confirmation that major sprite activity coincides with a rapid decrease in the negative CG flash rate. However, the evolution curve of the CG flash rate was erratic in the sprite-producing storm on 27-28 July, which was significantly different from that in the 1 2 August storm. The average positive CG peak current in sprite-producing storms was larger than that in the non-sprite-producing one.

A PRELIMINARY STUDY ON THUNDERSTORM FORECAST WITH LS-SVM METHOD

The LS-SVM(Least squares support vector machine) method is presented to set up a model to forecast the occurrence of thunderstorms in the Nanjing area by combining NCEP FNL Operational Global Analysis data on 1.0°×1.0° grids and cloud-to-ground lightning data observed with a lightning location system in Jiangsu province during 2007-2008.A dataset with 642 samples,including 195 thunderstorm samples and 447 non-thunderstorm samples,are randomly divided into two groups,one(having 386 samples) for modeling and the rest for independent verification.The predictors are atmospheric instability parameters which can be obtained from the NCEP data and the predictand is the occurrence of thunderstorms observed by the lightning location system.Preliminary applications to the independent samples for a 6-hour forecast of thunderstorm events show that the prediction correction rate of this model is 78.26%,false alarm rate is 21.74%,and forecasting technical score is 0.61,all better than those from either linear regression or artificial neural network.

Statistical Analysis of Thunderstorms on the Eastern Tibetan Plateau Based on Modified Thunderstorm Indices

The Tibetan Plateau, with an average altitude above 4000 m, is the highest and largest plateau in the world. The frequency of thunderstorms in this region is extremely high. Many indices are used in operational forecasting to assess the stability of the atmosphere and predict the probability of severe thunderstorm development. One of the disadvantages of many of these indices is that they are mainly based on observations from plains. However, considering the Plateau＇s high elevation, most convective parameters cannot be applied directly, or their application is ineffective. The pre-convective environment on thunderstorm days in this region is investigated based on sounding data obtained throughout a five-year period（2006–10）.Thunderstorms occur over the Tibetan Plateau under conditions that differ strikingly from those in plains. On this basis,stability indices, such as the Showalter index（including SI and SICCL）, and the K index are improved to better assess the thunderstorm environments on the Plateau. Verification parameters, such as the true-skill statistic（TSS） and Heidke skill score（HSS）, are adopted to evaluate the optimal thresholds and relative forecast skill for each modified index. Lastly, the modified indices are verified with a two-year independent dataset（2011–12）, showing satisfactory results for the modified indices. For determining whether or not a thunderstorm day is likely to occur, we recommend the modified SICCLindex.