LIS/OTD Satellite Lightning Diurnal Climatology

The LIS/OTD 2.5 Degree Low Resolution Diurnal Climatology (LRDC) contains gridded climatologies of total lightning flash rates derived from two satellite sensors: the Optical Transient Detector (OTD) on Orbview-1 and the Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) on the TRMM satellite. It provides diurnal flash rate data, including raw and scaled flashes, on a 2.5-degree global grid. The dataset is produced by the GHRC_DAAC and was last updated in 2015.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the diurnal cycle of lightning flash rates on a 2.5-degree global grid.
• Comparing tropical/subtropical lightning climatology from LIS with higher-latitude data from OTD.
• Studying long-term spatial patterns of atmospheric electricity and thunderstorm activity.
• Validating and parameterizing lightning activity in climate and weather models using scaled flash rate data.

Strengths

• Combines long-term records from two complementary satellite sensors (LIS and OTD).
• Provides global coverage with a merged climatology most reliable in the tropics and subtropics.
• Includes both raw and scaled flash rate data for analysis and model parameterization.

Limitations

• High-latitude data relies solely on the OTD record, which may be less extensive than the LIS tropical record.
• Conflicting last updated dates exist between sources (2014-12-31 and 2026-03-13), creating uncertainty about the most recent version.
• Specific row counts, file sizes, and detailed column names are not provided by any source.

Provenance

Source

GHRC_DAAC

Collection Method

Satellite observations from the Optical Transient Detector (OTD) on Orbview-1 and the Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) on TRMM.

Freshness

2026-03-13 01:08:54.579829

Geography

Global, with 2.5-degree grid resolution.