Illustration of the Atmosphere-Space Interactions Monitor mounted to the European space laboratory Columbus. Credit: ESA–D Ducros.

ESA has announced the installation of its Atmosphere-Space Interactions Monitor (ASIM) instrument outside the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Columbus laboratory module situated on-board the International Space Station (ISS).

The 314kg instrument is also known as the Space Storm Hunter. It was installed using the ISS’s 16m-long robotic arm from a Dragon spacecraft’s cargo hold.

The instrument is positioned to look down at Earth to monitor lightning and electrical bursts in the atmosphere above thunderstorms, which are called transient luminous events.

It will transmit information over the ISS network through communication satellites to a ground station in White Sands, US, then on to the ISS mission control in Houston, US, and under the Atlantic ocean to the Columbus Control Centre near Munich, Germany.

“Storm Hunter is also equipped with various other sensors to study terrestrial gamma-ray flashes, as well as high and low energy X-ray and gamma-ray bursts.”

The data will finally reach the user operations and support centre in Brussels, Belgium.

Storm Hunter is equipped with two sets of instruments to capture optical images in infrared and ultraviolet, as well as X-ray and gamma-ray detectors.

Its sensors will measure light levels to determine whether to capture an image or to send data back to Earth.

Levels will be set based on trial and error, as setting the trigger too low will flood the network with redundant images and if they are too high, some thunderstorms will not be recorded.

Mission operators will partner with the Technical Institute of Denmark to find the best solution.

Visual cameras equipped with Storm Hunter will identify areas of interest, while the photomultiplier tubes will record the details of the lightning and transient luminous events.

Storm Hunter is also equipped with various other sensors to study terrestrial gamma-ray flashes, as well as high and low energy X-ray and gamma-ray bursts.

Each element of the storm hunter will be activated in turn and tested to ensure their functions over a period of six weeks.