Image credit: Katrina Virts, from The University of Alabama in Huntsville
Five-Year Span of Geostationary Lightning Mapper Observations Reveals Long-Term Lightning Patterns
The Geostationary Lightning Mappers (GLMs), located on the GOES-R series satellites, continuously observe lightning distributions over the Americas and adjacent oceanic regions. Texture within the flash densities illustrate the close relationship between lightning occurrence and the underlying topography.
Scott D. Rudlosky, Physical Scientist, Office of Geostationary Earth Orbit Observations
"The Geostationary Lightning Mappers (GLMs) have captured over a trillion images to geolocate and characterize billions of lightning flashes. The occurrence, distribution, seasonal, and inter-annual variability of lightning and thunderstorms are closely linked to the Earth’s climate. The close linkage between lightning and convective cloud properties and precipitation makes it a useful indicator for observing changes in climate and extreme storms."