SAINT

SAINT (Science and innovation with thunderstorms) is a research-training network that comprises four work programmes:

  • Ground Observations
  • Satellite Observations
  • Lab Experiments & Applications
  • Modelling and Scientific Computing

More information on the program

 

General objectives:

  • Understand the multiscale nature of atmospheric electric discharges from micro- to macro-scales
  • Create knowledge that enables new applications in atmospheric physics, lightning protection and detection, and industrial technologies
  • Develop numerical alhorithms and instrumentation for lightning detection/protection

 

Scientific Research objectives

  • High-Energy (0.2-40 MeV) radiation from atmospheric electric discharges: To identify the generation mechanism(s) of TGFs; to characterize their spectral fluency distributions and their global occurrence rates
  • Lightning propagation and the leader-streamer interaction: To understand the interaction/transition between streamers and leaders in lightning propagation; to understand the effect of high-energy processes on lightning propagation; to develop computational models that couple their micro-scale kinetic physics to macro-scale manifestations
  • Electric properties of thunderstorms: To characterize the sub-processes of cloud discharges with unprecedented detail from measurements by a suite of novel sensors in space and on ground to develop and validate models of the physical processes

 

Technological Research Objectives

  • Design of new tools for quantification of the chemistry of discharges: To engineer instruments and models that enable improved characterisation of the chemical reaction paths in atmospheric discharges for use in industrial applications (e.g. gas purification and ozone generation) and for quantification of the production of greenhouse gas constituents by lightning
  • Design of new lightning detection approaches: To engineer algorithms that enhance the data products from lightning detection systems in space (MTG) and on the ground
  • Design of new lightning protection/mitigation strategies: To engineer numerical models and instruments toward new designs of lightning mitigation systems for wind turbines and aircraft