Abstract
Opportunities for observation of lightning simultaneously from space and ground are relatively rare. One such opportunity for “ground truth” occurred during the STEPS field program. On 25 June, 2000 the FORTE Satellite passed over a storm that was also observed by a VHF Lightning Mapping Array (LMA). Of the 190 flashes mapped during the 2 minute 45 second pass, 26 had associated satellite optical data, and 3 of these were coincident with the only NLDN ground‐strike locations in the storm during that time. The maximum height, horizontal extent and duration of flashes detected optically tended to be greater than for those flashes not optically detected. Results in this paper, a companion paper and other published papers suggest that at least under some circumstances, CG flashes are relatively more likely than intra‐cloud (IC) flashes to be observed by an optical sensor in orbit.
Published Version
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