A Survey and Perspectives on Mathematical Models for Quantitative Precipitation Estimation Using Lightning

© 2017 Carlos Manuel Minjarez-Sosa and Julio Waissman. Lightning is one of the most spectacular phenomena in nature. It is produced when there is a breakdown in the resistance in the electric field between the ground and an electrically charged cloud. By simple observation, we observe that precipitation, especially the most intense, is often accompanied by lightning. Given this observation, lightning has been employed to estimate convective precipitation since 1969. In early studies, mathematical models were deduced to quantify this relationship and used to estimate precipitation. Currently, the use of several techniques to estimate precipitation is gaining momentum, and lightning is one of the novel techniques to complement the traditional techniques for Quantitative Precipitation Estimation. In this paper, the authors provide a survey of the mathematical methods employed to estimate precipitation through the use of cloud-to-ground lightning. We also offer a perspective on the future research to this end.