Global Lightning Accumulation

Images & Animations

  • Credit

    NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio

Global Lightning Accumulation (WMS)

Lightning is a brief but intense electrical discharge between positive and negative regions of a thunderstorm. The Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) on the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite was designed to study the distribution and variability of total lightning on a global basis. The Optical Transient Detector (OTD) was an earlier lightning detector flying aboard the Microlab-1 spacecraft. The data shown here are compiled from LIS (1998-2002) and OTD (1995-1999) observations. Because each satellite saw only a part of the Earth at any one time, these data use complex algorithms to estimate total flash rate based on the flashes observed and the amount of time the satellite views each area. NOTE: This animation is primarily designed to be used through the Web Mapping Services (WMS) protocol. Each frame in the animation actually represents an accumulation of a number of years of data up through a particular day of the year. Because of a limitation in the WMS protocol, each frame is marked only with a single date representing the last date for which the data was accumulated.

This color scale for the lightning accumulation animation ranges from deep blue (less than 10 flashes per square kilometer) through deep red (more than 60 flashes per square kilometer).

Metadata

  • Sensor

    TRMM/LIS

  • Animation ID

    3143

  • Start Timecode

    00:00:00:00

  • End Timecode

    00:00:00:00

  • Animator

    Jeff DeLaBeaujardiere

  • Studio

    SVS

  • Visualization Date

    2005/04/08

  • Scientist

    Jeff Halverson (UMBC/GSFC)

  • Datasets

    Lightning

  • Keywords

    GCMD--EARTH SCIENCE--Atmosphere--Atmospheric Electricity--Lightning, GCMD--EARTH SCIENCE--Atmosphere--Atmospheric Phenomena--Lightning, GCMD--Platform--TRMM--Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission, GCMD--Platform--MICROLAB-1--OSC Microlab-1 Satellite, GCMD--Instrument--LIS--Lightning Imaging Sensor, GCMD--Instrument--OTD--Optical Transient Detector, GCMD--Location--Global

  • DLESE Subject

    Atmospheric science

  • Georeference Data

    CRS=CRS:84&BBOX=-180,-90,180,90

  • Data Date

    1995/04 through 2002/12

  • Story URL

    http://thunder.nsstc.nasa.gov/primer/

  • Animation Type

    Regular