A 10-year study on the lightning activity in Italy using data from the SIRF network

• Published in: Atmospheric research Vol. 256; p. 105552
• Main Authors: Nicora, Martino, Mestriner, Daniele, Brignone, Massimo, Bernardi, Marina, Procopio, Renato, Fiori, Elisabetta
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.07.2021
• Subjects: Cloud-to-Ground Lightning; Lightning Location System; Lightning risk; Lightning statistics; Cloud-to-Ground Lightning; Lightning statistics; Lightning Location System; Lightning risk
• ISSN: 0169-8095; 1873-2895
• DOI: 10.1016/j.atmosres.2021.105552

Lightning is one of the most dangerous natural phenomena, able to produce high impacts and damage on human beings and infrastructures (civil, electric, telecommunications, etc..) even though perception of it as a hazard is low. The aim of this study is to provide a detailed analysis of lightning occurrence throughout the Italian territory to support the work of different operators and researchers (physicists, meteorologists and electric/ITC engineers) improving knowledge about the main properties of lightning. Thus, an in-depth study of the statistics of lightning activity across the Italian territory for the period 2010–2019 is performed in detail using the data collected by the Italian Lightning Detection Network SIRF (Sistema Italiano Rilevamento Fulmini), part of the European network EUCLID (European Cooperation for Lightning Detection). This analysis presents general properties such as Ground Stroke Density (GSD) and the positive to negative strokes ratio by highlighting how seasonal, geographical and orographic factors influence their values. Then, attention is focused on lightning peak current, on flash multiplicity and on the distance between the points of impact of different strokes within a flash. Comparison made with other articles available in the literature reveals good agreement with studies conducted with other LLS data in Mediterranean regions. On the other hand, some differences appear with direct current measurements that can be partly ascribed to Lightning Location System (LLS) detection contamination (confirming other comparative studies of LLS and instrumented tower findings), to differences between tower and ground measures, and to the presence of regional differences. •Inter-annual variability: highest GSD between June and August over the land and between August and October above the sea.•Monthly negative/positive CG flashes ratio is always in the range around 4÷14.•Highest concentration of flashes: between 10 UTC and 17 UTC (over the land) and constant along the day (above the sea).•In the northern part of Italy, positive and negative strokes are characterized by a more evident seasonal variability.•Highest current peak values are observed during periods of lowest lightning activity.