Improvement in lightning geolocation by time-of-arrival method using global ELF network data

The global observation of cloud-to-ground (CG) discharges based on ELF measurements provides essential information, including vertical charge moment (Qdl) for investigations of global-scale thunderstorm activity. However, the geolocating method by direction finding of sferics in the frequency range of 1-100 Hz has a rather large error, on the order of 1000 km, even for the CGs with relatively large Qdl (>1000 C-km). Here we improve the methods for geolocation and estimation of Qdl, which are applicable to smaller CGs with Qdl down to 470 C-km, making use of the time-of-arrival method and the high correlation between Qdl and the peak amplitude of ELF sferics. The evaluated average error in geolocation, comparing with World Wide Lightning Location Network data, is 680 km. By this improved method, CGs with Qdl of <470 C-km can be detected at any location in the world. In the preliminary analysis for the year of 2004, the number of CGs whose location and Qdl are determined is about a million events per month, roughly 10-30 times compared to previous studies by ELF measurement, enabling an investigation of the day-to-day variations of the global CG distribution with transferred charge amount. The combination of accurate geolocation and the uniformity of detection show active regions in the three main areas: Africa, South America, and the Maritime Continent. In addition, minor thunderstorm areas in Japan, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Pacific Ocean can be monitored.