Dual Geostationary Lightning Mapper Observations

Abstract

AbstractTwo Geostationary Lightning Mappers (GLMs) now observe spatial and temporal lightning distributions over a vast region. The GOES-16 GLM covers most land areas in the Western Hemisphere, and detects ~4 times as much lightning as the GOES-17 GLM. Although the continents dominate the lightning distributions year-round, each season exhibits widespread lightning over parts of the Atlantic Ocean and within three broad regions over the Pacific. These oceanic regions demonstrate the key role convective organization plays in producing larger, longer-lasting, and more energetic flashes observed by both GLMs over the oceans. Texture within the flash densities reveals a close relationship with the underlying topography, underscored by the complex diurnal cycles observed along coastlines and in mountainous regions. GLM information beyond flash frequency provides additional insights into storm mode and evolution. For example, over the Sierra Madre Occidental, time series reveal initially small, short-duration GLM flashes growing larger and longer as storms grow upscale. These mesoscale convective systems often transition offshore, contributing to an average flash area maximum over the eastern Pacific. Data quality improves during the study period with tuning of the ground system software. GLM artifacts due to solar intrusion and sun glint greatly diminish following the blooming filter installation, and the second-level threshold filter reduces false events along particular subarray boundaries (i.e., bar artifacts). Analysis of the overlap region reveals a pronounced north–south line near 103°W, with the GOES-16 (GOES-17) GLM detecting more flashes to the east (west) of this line.