This, believe it or not, is lightning as seen through the eye of a
satellite. The polar-orbiting satellite has on board a device known as the
Optical Transient Detector (OTD), the world's first round-the-clock,
space-based lightning sensor. What we see in this CSI is a composite
picture of a mongo thunderstorm near the island nation of Madagascar in the
Indian Ocean. The "lightning streak" is produced by the motion of the
satellite relative to the slow-moving thunderstorm. The OTD's purpose in
life is to detect the full spectrum of lightning flashes --
cloud-to-ground, cloud-to-cloud and intra-cloud (within the cloud). Such
information helps scientists determine the global distribution of lightning
and thunderstorms and the characteristics of the Earth's electric circuit.
This electrifying, space-based sensor was developed at NASA's Marshall
Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. A sensor like this will be a part
of NASA's Earth Observing System, a planned constellation of satellites
that will monitor many aspects, both physical and biological, of our
planet.
If you like this CSI, or if you want to learn a whole lot more about severe
weather, stay tuned for the next Why Files feature (to be posted May 9) on
TWISTERS.
Special thanks to NASA and the folks at the Marshall Space Flight Center and the Global Hydrology and Climate Center for yet another CSI.
