Review of recent progress in lightning and thunderstorm detection techniques in Asia

In recent years, lightning and thunderstorm detection techniques have been rapidly developed in many regions of Asia. As the most populous continent, hazards caused by lightning and related phenomena are being paid more and more attentions and lightning observations and detections are booming in many countries. In this paper, we will give a brief review on recent progress of lightning and thunderstorm detection techniques in Asia. First, we will introduce several widely used lightning location systems including VHF interferometers, VHF time-of-arrival systems and LF time-of-arrival systems. As an example, a newly-developed system called BOLT is described and recent observation results are introduced. Second, we will review studies of a special type of intracloud discharge called “narrow bipolar event” (NBE). NBE studies in Asia are flourishing in recent years and are making great contributions to the understanding of various properties of NBE. Finally, we will introduce a fast-scanning phased array radar (PAR) system installed in Osaka University. This radar system has a temporal resolution of 10–30 s, which is much faster than the traditional weather radar and is ideal for observations of fast-evolving storm structures and the analysis of their relationship with lightning activities. Preliminary observation results with PAR are described.