GLM Combined Monthly Thunder Hour Data: Lightning Trends Over the Americas

From 1 January 2019 onward, this dataset provides monthly thunder hour data derived from the Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) sensors aboard NOAA's GOES-16, -17, -18, and -19 satellites. It is produced by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and offers a long-term metric for tracking lightning occurrence trends. The data covers a broad region from the Aleutian Islands and New Zealand eastward to the western tip of Africa at a 0.05° latitude/longitude resolution.

Use Cases

• Modeling thunderstorm climatology based on the thunder hour metric.
• Tracking long-term trends in lightning occurrence over the Americas and surrounding oceans.
• Analyzing geographic variations in lightning detection using the historical thunder hour measure.
• Correlating satellite-derived lightning data with ground-based weather observations.

Strengths

• Data is derived from the first optical lightning detectors in geostationary orbit, providing a unique vantage point.
• Covers a continuous, broad region from the Aleutian Islands to the western tip of Africa.
• Provides a long-term record starting from 1 January 2019, enabling trend analysis.
• Uses a 0.05° latitude/longitude resolution for spatial analysis.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• The thunder hour metric is described as less sensitive to geographic detection variations, but inherent sensor or geographic biases may still exist.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Calculated from lightning detections by Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) sensors on NOAA GOES R-series satellites.

Time Range

From 1 January 2019 onward

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 02:35:51.490540; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Broad region from the Aleutian Islands and New Zealand eastward to the western tip of Africa.