The results are plotted on a map (Figure 2a), with a scale ranging from 0.1 to 50 flashes per square kilometre. The central to northern interior of the country falls in the top level of the severe risk category and corresponds to lightning flash densities exceeding 4/km2. Figure 1 displays these predicted detection efficiency rings of the SALDN over South Africa at the present moment. Each of these input maps was reduced to an index varying between 0 and 1 by dividing the value from each grid box by the maximum number of the entire data set. Amazing lightning storm in the Nambiti game reserve, South Africa. [ Links ], 9. Until 2010, the only segment the SAWS lacked with regards to lightning queries was an up-to-date lightning climatology, which could also add immense value. Only lightning flashes with positive polarity were considered in the development of these maps and thus all flashes with an ampere value of less than 10 kA were discarded. An evaluation of lightning flash characteristics using LDAR and NLDN networks with warm season southeast Texas thunderstorms. Lake Maracaibo, in Venezuela, has he highest rate of lightning strikes… Version 3.2.3. During the 2010/2011 financial year, 2103 insurance queries for lightning verification were received by the Climate Information section at the SAWS. These data provide South Africa with the first lightning climatology, based on data for more than a year, measured by the new state-of-the-art SALDN. Small isolated areas in the North West Province, Free State, Northern Cape, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Lesotho are at extreme risk from lightning with positive polarity. South Africa does not experience as much lightning activity as the equatorial parts of Africa and South America but is still considered a lightning prone country. Each main interval is in turn divided into two subintervals. To eliminate the annual and individual storm variations in lightning, it is recommended that a lightning climatology be produced over a period of at least 11 years, which is also the approximate period of a solar cycle.1 The South African lightning climatology has only been completed for a 5-year period, and thus has not yet been done for a full solar cycle but has been done for the period of the El Niño southern oscillation cycle, and it may change slightly as the effects from annual and individual storms are smoothed out. The scale of this map ranges from less than 1 stroke up to more than 3 strokes in a flash. VAISALA. LIGHTNING FATALITY RATES BY COUNTRY V ER MU LTIP DCA S 2.1. Only towards the west of the country does the concentration of lightning, as well as the lightning risk, decrease. A lightning flash is the entire lightning discharge, whilst the pulses in a flash are known as strokes.11 One lightning flash can consist of a number of lightning strokes (typically, three or four). Figure 1 shows the annual death rate per million people to be highest at 6.3 in 1901 (López and Holle 1998, Table 1). Bhavika B. Photograph: Steve Bloom/Getty Images In this climatology, as with the initial climatology developed by Gill5, the positive flash multiplicity map was used without taking the above into account. lightning strikes amount to more than R500 million per year (Evert and Schulze, 2005). She said collating scientific data played an invaluable role not just in aiding the understanding of lightning and the proper treatment for strike victims, but also in assisting efforts to better inform and educate people on the hazards of lightning. This paper updates this climatology with the lightning data for the 2006-2010 period, which is the first actual lightning climatology by the South African Weather Service based on data covering 5 years. Numerous disciplines will be able to benefit from this risk map. As this lightning intensity risk map is concerned with high volumes of lightning received, all lightning flashes, irrespective of polarity, were considered. Jurecka JW. Fault Analysis and Lightning Location System. The central interior of the country falls within the severe risk category. Lightning flashes with positive polarity usually consist of a single stroke, although they may consist of more strokes.1 Rakov and Uman1 state that positive flashes with more than one stroke are fairly rare and that some of these flashes with more than one stroke detected by lightning detection networks may be misclassified cloud discharges. The electrical storm illuminated the city’s skyline. A combined TOA/MDF technology upgrade of the US National Lightning Detection network. IEE Proceedings A. “In many parts of the world, including South Africa, financial losses incurred as a result of lightning strikes can run into millions of rands, as homeowners and business owners claim damages from insurance companies.”. PhD thesis, Johannesburg, University of the Witwatersrand, 2010. This map is displayed in Figure 2a. Because lightning with positive polarity typically discharges more energy to the ground18 and the channels transferring the larger current to the ground typically remain conductive for longer periods as a result of the continuing current components, this type of lightning typically results in more severe damage.1 This type of lightning is also frequently responsible for the initiation of fires because of the increase in joule heating at the point of contact of the continuing current component.1 As a result, this risk map can be particularly useful in determining areas of the country where lightning-induced fires may occur. 2. [ Links ], 18. The change from the original 19-sensor network to a 23-sensor network meant that an even larger part of the country would fall inside the 0.5 km median location accuracy and predicted 90% detection efficiency range (Ngwato F 2011, personal communication, January 26). The lightning climatology created for South Africa consists of lightning ground flash density, median peak kiloampere, average flash multiplicity and percentage positive maps. 3.2 Lightning data Lightning flash data were acquired from the SAWS which, since 2006, has operated a lightning flash location system, now comprising 24 sensors located across South Africa, that can detect all cloud-to-ground lightning discharges with a 90% efficiency measure Downloaded by [The Library, University of Witwatersrand] at 09:38 07 April 2016 (see Evert & Schulze, 2005). The lightning climatology of South Africa, Nowcasting and Very Short Range Forecasting Group, South African Weather Service, Pretoria, South Africa. The lightning ground flash density map was selected for inclusion in this risk map because it identifies areas where lightning frequently occurs. Raw data recorded by the sensors are sent to the network control centre at the SAWS headquarters in Pretoria, where a central analyser processes the data.5 These data are stored on a database and can be retrieved by the Fault Analysis and Lightning Location System13 software package. This map will give the number of lightning flashes with positive polarity per square kilometre as input to the positive risk map. Molewa added the financial losses associated with lightning strikes were “humongous”. This number must also be divided by five to get the annual average flash multiplicity. Figure 6 displays the lightning intensity risk map for the 2006-2010 period. It is a fact that the highveld region of South Africa and Lesotho have amongst the highest lightning strikes per square km per annum in the world. To ensure that the average flash multiplicity calculations were based on a suitably sized data set, only grid boxes with more than 100 flashes were considered.5 This map is displayed in Figure 4a. The lightning intensity risk map addresses the risk associated with high volumes of lightning whilst the positive lightning risk map shows the areas at risk from positive lightning. [ Links ], 6. Lightning strikes most frequently in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. With this software package there is an option of selecting either lightning flash data or lightning stroke data to extract from the database, and for the purposes of this update of the lightning climatology, flash data were used. Prior to 2006, the SAWS was unable to measure lightning activity over South Africa. This initial climatology was based on the 2006 data recorded by the network, which was the first complete year of data measured by the SALDN. From Figure 1 it can be seen that most of the country falls within the 90% detection efficiency ring. These four maps were in turn used to develop lightning intensity risk, positive lightning risk and total lightning risk maps. The lightning sensors installed by the SAWS are distributed throughout the country (Figure 1). Places In The World Where Lightning Strikes The Most - WorldAtlas All the corresponding grid box values on each of the three input maps were added together. Most of the central interior of the country receives between 5 and 10 flashes/km2, from where it decreases towards the west of the country. These four maps were in turn used to develop three lightning risk maps, namely, the lightning intensity risk, positive risk and total risk maps. Helsinki: Vaisala Oyj, 2004; p. 11. Areas along the windward slopes of the Northern Drakensberg Mountains are labelled as an extreme risk area, which is consistent with the highest lightning flash densities seen in Figure 2a. Only towards the west of the country does the lightning risk decrease. The number of lightning flashes that were recorded by the SALDN for the 5-year period 2006-2010 was counted for each individual grid box over the country. DENSITY MAP 2006 TO 2017. Fresh push for compulsory car insurance in South Africa, Big spike in load shedding insurance claims, Here are the main reasons why your insurance claims are rejected. The risk categories are divided into numerical intervals between 0 and 1, where the main categories are divided into intervals of 0.2 and the subintervals into intervals of 0.1. On average every square km of South African highveld and Natal receives 7 direct lightning strikes … Areas over Gauteng receive fewer flashes on the CSIR map compared to Figure 2a. Some parts of the Northern Cape, Eastern Cape, Limpopo Province and KwaZulu-Natal are moderately at risk from lightning with positive polarity. Thus the two maps needed only to be added together by giving each map equal importance in the calculation. Lightning detection professionals use the term 'stroke' instead of 'strike'. This limited the SAWS in both its service delivery and public good. Flash densities also decrease towards the northern to north-eastern parts of the country, as well as towards the coast. Instead of the five colours used by Gill5, the new maps now have ten colours, which indicate areas topping the scale in each main category more clearly. Bhavika2 stated that convection and thunderstorms are related to topography and can thus affect lightning activity (see Bhavika2 for a detailed description of the influence of topography on lightning activity in South Africa). In order to calculate the median peak kiloampere, ampere values for each 0.1° x 0.1° grid box over the country were sorted in ascending order, from where the ampere value in the middle position of the data set could be calculated. The SALDN assumes a 0.5 probability level, meaning that there is a 50% probability that a stroke falls inside the confidence ellipse where the centre of the ellipse is considered to be the likely position of the stroke. Cummins KL, Murphy MJ, Bardo EA, Hiscox WL, Pyle RB, Pifer AE. “Despite the high number of fatalities and injuries from lightning strikes, we know South Africa’s lightning research scientists are leaders in this field and will continue to collate data and produce cutting-edge research to further enable our understanding of lighting science, in particular in the medical study of lightning injuries and casualties – keraunomedicine.”. Tucson, AZ: Global Atmospherics Inc.; 2004 [ Links ], 14. London: Academic Press; 1995. OFFICIAL SOUTH AFRICAN LIGHTNING GROUND FLASH. This result was then called the total lightning risk. The sum of these four indices was in turn also reduced to an index varying between 0 and 1. Rakov VA, Uman MA. If the stroke occurs within 1 s of the previous stroke, or within 500 ms of the previous stroke but also falls outside the 10 km range of the first stroke and remains within 50 km of the first stroke (where its median location accuracy confidence ellipse overlaps the confidence ellipse of the first stroke), then the stroke is considered part of the flash. Most of the country falls within the severe risk category for positive lightning. Rakov VA. These signatures are analysed to determine the type of stroke.5 The SALDN sensors detect electromagnetic waves by means of a combination of magnetic direction finding and time of arrival methods.5 The magnetic direction finding method determines the angle from true north between the sensor and lightning stroke whilst the time of arrival method pinpoints the possible location of a lightning stroke based on the different arrival times between the sensors in order to use the parabolic and circular method to determine the intersection point of the stroke.5 For a more detailed description of the time of arrival and magnetic direction finding methods, see Gill5. ‘Staggeringly high’ number of lightning deaths in SA, South Africa to use Russian and Chinese Covid-19 vaccines, The businesses hardest-hit by liquidations in South Africa, Huawei sales slump as sanctions hit phone business, The average take home pay in South Africa right now, Multi-franchise offices – How cloud-hosted business phone solutions can maximise business efficiency, Why cryptocurrency arbitrage is taking the industry by storm, Great Samsung Galaxy smartphone deals from Edgars, HP Colour LaserJet Printer – big performance in a small package, South Africa’s new debit order system in full effect from May, Government’s R4 billion bus project is still not finished – more than a decade later, Travel restrictions hit South Africa as parts of the world begin to open up, South Africa's best and worst paying jobs - and the gap in between. Ngqungqa SH. Only literature on risk maps created for specific purposes could be found and thus the risk maps were developed from first principles as proposed general purpose risk maps.5 Gill5 stated that these risk maps are simple models that are proposed as general purpose risk maps and can be easily modified depending on individual needs. A number of different maps were created from these lightning data. It avoids the ocean, but likes Florida. Lightning flash multiplicity describes how many lightning strokes there are in one flash.17 The average flash multiplicity is calculated simply by adding all the multiplicity values for each grid box and dividing this amount by the total number of flashes found in each grid box. Globally, there are about 40 to 50 flashes of lightning every second, or nearly 1.4 billion flashes per year. This risk map identifies areas where lightning with positive polarity poses the highest risk. Facts about lightning in South Africa. Lightning activity has probably been present on earth since before any life developed.1 The phenomenon of lightning has received a vast amount of research over the years but some issues still require answers.2 Scientific lightning research only started in the 18th century,2 when some of the first studies of electricity in thunderstorms were made by Benjamin Franklin with his famous kite experiment in 1752.1 Franklin also proposed using lightning rods for protection against lightning and theorised that most cloud-bases are negatively charged.1 Franklin's work paved the way for lightning research around the world.2 During the late 19th century, photography and spectrometry became new tools for lightning research.1 It was not until the 1970s, however, that electric and magnetic field measurements began a new era of lightning research.1 Rakov and Rachidi3 give an overview of recent topics of lightning research and protection. [ Links ], 10. This lightning climatology can now be used throughout South Africa for various disciplines. The rest of the country is fairly comparable in magnitude on both maps. See lightning strikes in real time across the planet. 1998;103(D8):9035-9044. http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/98JD00153 [ Links ], 13. The purpose of the lightning intensity risk map is to give an indication of the areas of South Africa at risk from high volumes of lightning. The median peak kiloampere of positive polarity lightning map identifies the areas of the country where flashes with positive polarity have large currents. These are just a few of the things NASA scientists have learned using satellites to monitor worldwide lightning. [ Links ], 7. The number of flashes with positive polarity were divided by the total number of flashes and multiplied by 100 to give the percentage of lightning flashes with positive polarity. “South Africa is in the top three countries with the highest death rates from lightning,” said senior research manager at the weather service, Dr Nhlonipho Nhlabatsi. Free access to maps of former thunderstorms. This map can therefore also be used by various institutions that are concerned with this type of lightning. The only changes were a higher resolution and slightly altered colour scale for the risk maps, to provide more detail on the maps. Belmont, CA: Thomson Brooks/Cole; 2007. The positive flash multiplicity map thus identifies areas where lightning flashes with positive polarity typically contain more than one stroke and where the possibility of the flash transferring a greater charge to the ground is accounted for.5 As a final input to the positive lightning risk map, the percentage positive map was included. From Figure 8 it is clear that the lightning risk decreases towards the west of the country. Each sky wave is given a number according to how many times it has been reflected by the ionosphere. This inability changed with the installation of the state-of-the-art SALDN by the end of 2005, which enabled the SAWS to explore lightning activity for the first time. [ Links ], 11. With the 1994 upgrade of the National Lightning Detection Network in the United States of America, it was established that positive cloud-to-ground lightning strokes detected by the network with small peak currents are frequently cloud discharges.5 As a result, lightning detection networks using similar technologies to the National Lightning Detection Network were advised to discard positive lightning strokes with peak currents less than 10 kA.12 The SALDN adopted the same approach by discarding all positive lightning strokes with peak currents below this threshold value. The value in each 0.1° x 0.1° grid box on the lightning intensity risk map was added to the value in the corresponding grid box on the positive lightning risk map. The number of lightning strokes that make up a lightning flash is referred to as the lightning flash multiplicity.1 Lightning flash data recorded by the network are obtained by using the peak current of the initial stroke, by setting the peak current of the flash to be the same as the peak current of the initial stroke.5 In this paper, the same assumption was made as that by Gill5, namely, that the initial stroke will carry the most energy in a flash. 2009;51(3):428-442. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/TEMC.2009.2019267 [ Links ], 4. In Nepal, more than 130 were reported killed by lightning in 2012, and the average for South Africa is about 260 deaths reported per year. Two new sensors were added to the network at Springbok (in the Northern Cape) and Aliwal North (in the Eastern Cape) during 2009 and a third new sensor was added at Satara in the Kruger National Park early in 2010. The CSIR was the first institution to produce a lightning flash density map for South Africa, based on the data measured by the network of flash counters they operated.5 This map was created with flash counter data for an 11-year period and was considered the most accurate flash density map created with flash counter data.1 These flash counters only operated with a range of about 20 km,1 and were not as technologically advanced as the new SALDN. Lightning risk Lightning intensity risk. Insurance companies can utilise these maps to identify high risk areas, Eskom can determine areas where lightning is most likely to interrupt power supply, areas at risk from lightning-induced fires can be identified and various other institutions may benefit from using these maps. Median stroke location accuracy is determined by means of the confidence ellipse of a two-dimensional Gaussian distribution model. Statistical methods in the atmospheric sciences. In South Africa it is pointed out that children under 15 years have a 1/35 million chance of dying from COVID19, compared to their 1/350000 chance of being struck by lightning. I would also like to express my sincere thanks to two anonymous reviewers who made very constructive comments on the original manuscript and helped to improve the final product. Gill5 was the first person to utilise this new technology in regard to developing an initial lightning climatology of South Africa with the data from 2006. [ Links ], Correspondence to: Morné Gijben Postal address:Private Bag X097, Pretoria 0001, South Africa Email:morne.gijben@weathersa. In addition to these five main categories used by Gill5, each main interval is also divided into two subintervals. These functions clearly show the importance of a SALDN, without which the SAWS would be limited in both its service delivery and public good. In southern Africa, recent lightning research is focused on the new South African Lightning Detection Network (SALDN), the analysis of the lightning data recorded by SALDN, the effects of lightning on electrical distributions, different forms of lightning protection, the development of a database on how lightning influences humans and animals and overcoming cultural myths to do with protecting people from lightning.4, South Africa is a country that frequently experiences lightning.2 The summer (October to March) rainfall region is dominated by convective storms, and a large portion of this region receives more than 60 thunderstorm days a year,5 whilst areas over the Highveld and the eastern escarpment record on average between 10 and 15 lightning flashes/km2/year. Dec. 5, 2001: Lightning. Gill5 was the first person to utilise the data recorded by this new network in the development of an initial lightning climatology for South Africa. In the map from the CSIR, an area with the same order of flash densities as over the northern parts of the eastern escarpment is also found over the Maluti Mountains of Lesotho. Proceedings of the 27th general assembly of the International Union of Radio Science; 2002 Aug 17-24; Maastricht, the Netherlands. The addition of these sensors meant a new total of 22 sensors over South Africa, together with 1 sensor in Swaziland, to make up a network consisting of 23 sensors. The positive lightning risk map identifies areas of the country at risk from lightning with positive polarity. Therefore, the median location accuracy, as determined by the confidence ellipse, is 0.5 km.5 The predicted detection efficiency of the SALDN is 90%.9 With the installation of the SALDN, Vaisala stated that the detection efficiency of the SALDN would be 90%. The lightning ground flash density was calculated for each 0.1° x 0.1° grid box over the country. However, fatalities from lightning strikes can be reduced significantly by understanding how lightning works and what safety precautions are to be taken. IEEE Trans Electromagn Compat. South Africa does not experience as much lightning activity as the equatorial parts of Africa and South America but is still considered a lightning prone country.2 Lightning-related deaths in South Africa account for an average of between 1.5 and 8.8 per million of the population,4 which is said to be about four times higher than the global average.2 Insurance claims in South Africa as a result of lightning amount to more than R500 million per year.5. The data for this map were calculated by counting the total number of flashes for each grid box, irrespective of polarity, as well as the number of flashes with positive polarity. The final map, shown in Figure 8, is divided into five equal main intervals ranging from low risk to high risk. 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