Optical Transient Detector Global Lightning Data

740 km altitude satellite observations record optical measurements of global lightning events during daytime and nighttime. The dataset includes individual point lightning data, satellite metadata, and several derived products. The Optical Transient Detector instrument was launched aboard the Microlab-1 satellite on April 3, 1995.

Use Cases

• Analyzing global spatial and temporal patterns of lightning activity using point location data.
• Correlating lightning events with satellite metadata for orbital and instrument condition analysis.
• Studying diurnal variations in lightning by utilizing daytime and nighttime detection records.
• Developing or validating derived atmospheric electricity products from the raw optical measurements.

Strengths

• Provides global coverage from a near-polar orbit with 70-degree inclination.
• Captures both daytime and nighttime lightning events, enabling full diurnal cycle analysis.
• Includes multiple data products: raw point data, satellite metadata, and derived datasets.

Limitations

• Specific row counts, column names, and dataset size are not provided by any source.
• Sources conflict on the last update date, reporting either 2000-03-23 or 2026-03 12.
• The license is inconsistently reported as 'other-license-specified' or 'None'.

Provenance

Source

GHRC_DAAC (Global Hydrology Resource Center Distributed Active Archive Center)

Collection Method

Optical measurements gathered by the Optical Transient Detector (OTD) instrument aboard the Microlab-1 satellite.

Time Range

Observations began after the satellite launch on April 3, 1995.

Freshness

2026-03-12 22:54:44.321372

Geography

Global coverage from a satellite in near-polar orbit.