A new weather satellite records lightning steadily in Europe and Africa

A new generation of weather satellites is transmitting the first images of lightning during thunderstorms from space. Short film sequences show how lightning travels across continents and oceans day and night. The European Meteorological Satellite Agency (Eumetsat) based in Darmstadt said on Monday that “the first satellite instrument capable of continuous detection of lightning across Europe and Africa has been put into operation.”

The so-called Lightning Imager aboard the Meteosat Third Generation satellite can monitor these activities during thunderstorms with four cameras. “So far we haven’t had that with satellite hardware,” Gerrit Hall, a weather satellite expert at the German Weather Service (DWD), told the dpa news agency. So far, there have only been terrestrial measurements of lightning in Europe. The new data could help air traffic, among other things. “You can also better estimate the intensity of a thunderstorm.” DWD is expected to receive data from December.

Eumetsat general manager Phil Evans said there are often sudden changes in lightning activity before severe thunderstorms. Monitoring these activities can help meteorologists predict severe thunderstorms and storms. Weather services will be able to track the development of storms and thus issue warnings in a timely manner.

The MTG-I1 satellite with the Lightning Imager on board was launched in December. Each of the four cameras can record at 1,000 frames per second. The probe is currently in the commissioning phase. The “MTG-I1” was the first of a group of three to begin more detailed weather monitoring. A second batch will then start in 2030. It will be controlled from the Eumetsat control center in Darmstadt.

Beyond Gravity Austria provides a kind of “camera cover” for all six satellites. This cover, about 1 meter in diameter, protected the probe’s meteorological instruments from dirt during launch. In space, the lid opens and then remains open. In addition, the Vienna company developed and produced the so-called refocusing mechanisms, with the help of which the optical devices of the satellite can be refocused after strong vibrations during the launch of the rocket. Many electronic components also come from Vienna, such as the control electronics for precise alignment of the solar panels and the large antenna that transmits measurement data to the ground.