The Time Evolution of Optical Lightning Flashes

The composition and time evolution of lightning are examined using the Lighting Imaging Sensor (LIS). Frame-by-frame optical lightning measurements are clustered into features whose radiant energy, horizontal footprint, and timing may be analyzed statistically. A LIS series feature is used to describe distinct periods of near continuous illumination that persists over multiple LIS frames. Series are integrated into the LIS clustering hierarchy between the group and flash level. An average series illuminates 40% of the flash footprint while accounting for 20% of the flash radiance, and just 1% of the flash duration. LIS flashes typically contain optical emissions that are exceptionally radiant and may persist over multiple frames. Series features cluster these bright optical pulses, allowing their number and time separation to be quantified in each flash. This optical multiplicity averages 1.7 for flashes with at least one particularly radiant group. Multigroup series most often occur early in the flash duration with 13% to 18% at first light. Series are typically separated by 100 ms or more in multiseries flashes. Bright series, by contrast, typically occur in rapid succession, with at most a few dozen milliseconds between them. Because series are optical features, they may result from any physical process that produces strong optical emissions. The statistics presented herein support the idea that series may originate from multiple physical processes.