Highlights from Cecil et. al.'s 'Gridded lightning climatology from TRMM-LIS and OTD: Dataset description' publication
Cecil, Daniel J., Dennis E. Buechler and Richard J. Blakeslee. "Gridded lightning climatology from TRMM-LIS and OTD: Dataset description." Atmospheric Research 135-136. (2014): 404 -414. doi: 10.1016/j.atmosres.2012.06.028
- This publication clearly defines the differences between the 10 different LIS/OTD climatology datasets that are distributed by the Global Hydrology Resource Center (GHRC). Please see the publication for precise details on the methodology used to create each dataset.
- The LIS/OTD 0.5 Degree High Resolution Full Climatology (HRFC) and the LIS/OTD 2.5 Degree Low Resolution Full Climatology (LRFC) are the simplest of the climatology products. Mean annual flash rate is provided as a simple counting experiment - the total number of flashes are divided by the total observation duration.
- Caution is recommended for all data products at high latitudes due to the small sample sizes from OTD.
- The LIS/OTD 2.5 Degree Low Resolution Monthly Time Series (LRMTS) weighs the LIS observations more heavily than the OTD observations since LIS was a higher quality instrument on a more stable platform. The monthly LRTMS are recommended for almost all scientific purposes.
Science Area
Blakeslee, Richard J., et al. "Seasonal variations in the lightning diurnal cycle and implications for the global electric circuit." Atmospheric Research 135 - 136. (2014): 228 - 243.
Boccippio, Dennis J., William J. Koshak, and Richard J. Blakeslee. "Performance assessment of the Optical Transient Detector and Lightning Imaging Sensor. Part I: Predicted Diurnal Variability." Journal of Atmospheric & Oceanic Technology 19.2 (2002): 1318.
Cecil, D.J., D. Buechler, and R. Blakeslee. 2014. LIS/OTD Gridded Lightning Climatology Data Collection. Data set available online from the NASA EOSDIS Global Hydrology Resource Center Distributed Active Archive Center Huntsville, Alabama, U.S.A. doi: http:/dx.doi.org/10.5067/LIS/LIS-OTD/DATA311.
Oct 19th, 2018
