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DOCUMENTATION

Documentation

Guide Documents

Dataset PI Documents

Dataset Software

LIS/OTD Gridded Lightning Climatology Data Sets

Table of Contents

Introduction
Data Description
Data Format
File Naming Convention
Citation
References
Contact Information

Introduction

The LIS/OTD Gridded Climatology data sets consist of gridded climatologies of total lightning flash rates seen by the spaceborne Optical Transient Detector (OTD) and Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS). The long LIS (equatorward of about 38 degree) record makes the merged climatology most robust in the tropics and subtropics, while the high latitude data is entirely from OTD. The gridded climatologies include annual mean flash rate on a 0.5 degree grid, mean diurnal cycle of flash rate on a 2.5 degree grid with 24 hour resolution, mean annual cycle of flash rate on a 0.5 degree or 2.5 degree grid with daily, monthly, or seasonal resolution, mean annual cycle of the diurnal cycle on a 2.5 degree grid with two hour resolution for each day, and time series of flash rate over the entire record with roughly three-month smoothing. For some of these (e.g., annual cycle of the diurnal cycle), more smoothing is necessary for results to be robust. These data sets are described in the following paper: Gridded lightning climatology from TRMM-LIS and OTD: Dataset description

Data Description

The LIS and OTD sensors monitor the 777.4 nm atomic oxygen multiplet, detecting pulses of illumination (produced by lightning) above background levels. Both are/were onboard satellites in low earth orbit, viewing an earth location for about 3 minutes as OTD passed overhead or 1.5 minutes as LIS passed overhead. Data files from each individual orbit are available from the Global Hydrology Resource Center (GHRC DAAC), with 14 orbits per day for OTD and 16 orbits per day for LIS. Lightning flash times and locations are recorded with approximately 10 km resolution from OTD and 5 km resolution from LIS. For a 0.5 degree x 0.5 degree latitude-longitude grid, the orbit files also record which grid boxes are within the field of view with the instrument collecting data properly (i.e., quality control flags indicate acceptable conditions) individually for each second of the orbit. Many other lightning attributes and instrument information are included in the orbital files (for example, flash duration, radiance, and areal extent of the illumination).

For each grid box, the total viewtime (observation duration) and flash count are summed over all orbits, and sorted by time of day and day of year.  Flash counts are scaled by each instrument’s detection efficiency which varies with time of day.  For the OTD,  detection efficiency also varies with geographic location.  The optical sensors can more easily discriminate lightning from the background scene at night, with bright daytime cloud tops being more difficult.  The LIS detection efficiency ranges from about 69% near local noon to 88% overnight.  Different sensitivity thresholds were used with the OTD during the course of its mission, with the detection efficiency adjusted accordingly. The OTD detection efficiency is reduced roughly in half over the South Atlantic Anomaly.  The detection efficiency values as a function of sensitivity thresholds, geographic location, and time of day are available in the data files for the gridded climatology. 

There are 10 Gridded Lightning Climatology data sets available. They are described in detail in the Gridded lightning climatology from TRMM-LIS and OTD: Dataset description and summarized in Table 1 below.

Table 1.  Products in LIS-OTD gridded climatology files.

File identifier

Product name

Product description

Units

Product dimensions

Bin sizes

Smoothing

HRFC

HRFC_COM_FR HRFC_OTD_FR HRFC_LIS_FR

Mean annual flash rate

Flashes km-2 year-1

720 x 360

0.5° x 0.5°

none

HRFC

HRFC_OTD_RF HRFC_LIS_RF

Raw flash count

Flashes

720 x 360

0.5° x 0.5°

none

HRFC

HRFC_OTD_SF HRFC_LIS_SF

Flash count scaled by detection efficiency

Flashes

720 x 360

0.5° x 0.5°

none

HRFC

HRFC_OTD_VT HRFC_LIS_VT

Viewtime (observation duration)

s km2

720 x 360

0.5° x 0.5°

none

LRFC

Same products as HRFC

Low-resolution version of HRFC

Flashes km-2 year-1

144 x 72

2.5° x 2.5°

none

LRDC

Same products as HRFC

Mean diurnal cycle, in local solar time

Flashes km-2 hour-1

24 x 144 x 72

1 hr x 2.5° x 2.5°

none

HRAC

HRAC_COM_FR HRAC_OTD_FR HRAC_LIS_FR

Annual cycle of flash rate

Flashes km-2 day-1

365 x 720 x 360

1 day x 0.5° x 0.5°

2.5° x 2.5° boxcar moving average, 111-day boxcar moving average, 110-day digital filter

LRAC

Same products as HRFC

Low spatial resolution annual cycle

Flashes km-2 day-1;

365 x 144 x 72

1 day x 2.5° x 2.5°

none

HRMC

HRMC_COM_FR HRMC_OTD_FR HRMC_LIS_FR

Mean flash rate in middle of each month, with monthly smoothing

Flashes km-2 day-1

12 x 720 x 360

1 month x 0.5° x 0.5°

2.5° x 2.5° boxcar moving average, 31-day boxcar moving average, 30-day digital filter

HRMC

HRSC_COM_FR HRSC_OTD_FR HRSC_LIS_FR

Mean flash rate in middle of each month, with seasonal smoothing

Flashes km-2 day-1

12 x 720 x 360

1 month x 0.5° x 0.5°

2.5° x 2.5° boxcar moving average, 91-day boxcar moving average, 91-day digital filter

LRADC

LRADC_COM_SMFR

Annual cycle of diurnal cycle (UTC) of flash rate

Flashes km-2 day-1

365 x 6 x 144 x 72

1 day x 4 hours (UTC) x 2.5° x 2.5°

7.5° x 7.5° boxcar moving average, 111-day boxcar moving average

LRADC

LRADC_COM_SMFR2

Annual cycle of diurnal cycle (UTC) of flash rate

Flashes km-2 day-1

365 x 12 x 144 x 72

1 day x 2 hours (UTC) x 2.5° x 2.5°

As in SMFR, but with 55-day boxcar moving average

LRADC

LRADC_COM_SF

Flash count scaled by detection efficiency

Flashes

365 x 12 x 144 x 72

1 day x 2 hours (UTC) x 2.5° x 2.5°

 

LRADC

LRADC_COM_VT

Viewtime (observation duration)

days km2

365 x 12 x 144 x 72

1 day x 2 hours (UTC)  x 2.5° x 2.5°

 

LRTS

LRTS_COM_FR LRTS_COM_VT

Daily time series of flash rate and viewtime, 28 June 1995 - 25 Feb 2011

Flashes km-2 day-1; days km2

5716 x 144 x 72

1 day x 2.5° x 2.5°

7.5° x 7.5° boxcar moving average, 111-day boxcar moving average, 110-day digital filter

LRTS

LRTS_OTD_FR LRTS_OTD_VT

Daily time series of flash rate and viewtime, 28 June 1995 - 28 January 2000

Flashes km-2 day-1; days km2

1676 x 144 x 72

1 day x 2.5° x 2.5°

7.5° x 7.5° boxcar moving average, 111-day boxcar moving average, 110-day digital filter

LRTS

LRTS_LIS_FR LRTS_LIS_VT

Daily time series of flash rate and viewtime, 25 February 1998 - 25 February 2011

Flashes km-2 day-1; days km2

4749 x 144 x 72

1 day x 2.5° x 2.5°

7.5° x 7.5° boxcar moving average, 99-day boxcar moving average, 98-day digital filter

LRMTS

LRMTS_COM_FR

Monthly time series of flash rate (weighted more toward LIS than other products)

Flashes km-2 day-1

204 x 144 x 72

1 month x 2.5° x 2.5°

Weighted average of LRTS_OTD_FR and LRTS_LIS_FR

LRACTS

Same products as LRTS

Mean daily flash rate from time series product

Flashes km-2 day-1

366 x 144 x 72

1 day x 2.5° x 2.5°

Same as LRTS


Data Format

The LIS/OTD Gridded Climatology data files are in Hierarchical Data Format (HDF). Information about HDF can be obtained from The HDF Group.

Sample reader code is available at:

LIS/OTD Climatology Data Reader Code
LIS/OTD Climatology Grid Reader Code

File Naming Convention

The LIS/OTD Gridded Climatology file naming convention is as follows:

Data: LISOTD_nnnn_Vx.x.yyyy.hdf
Browse: nnnn_COM_FR_Vx.x.yyyy.png
Animation: nnnn_COM_FR_Vx.x.yyyy.mov

where nnnn is the acronym for dataset (HRFC, HRAC, HRMC, LRFC, LRAC, LRDC, LRADC, LRTS, LRACTS, LRMTS)
Vx.x.yyyy is the version number

Citation

Our data sets are provided through the NASA Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS) Project and the Global Hydrology Resource Center (GHRC) Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC). GHRC DAAC is one of NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) data centers that are part of the ESDIS project. ESDIS data are not copyrighted; however, in the event that you publish our data or results derived by using our data, we request that you include an acknowledgment within the text of the article and a citation on your reference list. Examples for general acknowledgments, data set citation in a reference listing, and crediting online web images and information can be found at: http://ghrc.nsstc.nasa.gov/uso/citation.html

References

Adler, R. F., J.-J. Wang, G. Gu, and G. J. Huffman: A Ten-Year Tropical Rainfall Climatology Based on a Composite of TRMM products. J. Meteor. Soc. Japan, 87A, 281-293, 2009.

Albrecht, R. and co-authors: The 13 years of TRMM Lightning Imaging Sensor: From Individual Flash Characteristics to Decadal Tendencies.  XIV Int. Conf. Atmos. Elec., Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 2011.

Blakeslee, R. J., D. M. Mach, M. G. Bateman, and J. C. Bailey: Seasonal Variations in the Lightning Diurnal Cycle and Implications for the Global Electric Circuit. Atmos. Res., submitted, 2012.

Boccippio, D. J., W. J. Koshak, and R. J. Blakeslee: Performance Assessment of the Optical Transient Detector and Lightning Imaging Sensor, I, Predicted Diurnal Variability, J. Atmos. Oceanic Technol., 19, 1318-1332, 2002.

Brooks, C. E. P., The Distribution of Thunderstorms Over the Globe, Geophys. Memo., 3(24), 147– 164, 1925.

Bürgesser, R.E., M.G. Nicora, and E.E. Ávila: Characterization of the Lightning Activity of “Relámpago del Catatumbo”. J. Atmos. Solar-Terr. Physics, doi:10.1016/j.jastp.2012.01.013, 2012.

Cecil, D. J. and C. B. Blankenship: Toward a Global Climatology of Severe Hailstorms as Estimated by Satellite Passive Microwave Imagers, J. Clim., 25, 687-703, 2012.

Cecil, D.J, D.E. Buechler, and R.J. Blakeslee, 2012: Gridded lightning climatology from TRMM-LIS and OTD: Dataset description.  Atmos. Res., 10.1016/j.atmosres.2012.06.028.

Christian, H. J. and co-authors: Global Frequency and Distribution of Lightning as Observed from Space by the Optical Transient Detector, J. Geophys. Res., 108(D1), 4005, doi :10.1029/2002JD002347, 2003.

Hernandez, C. A. and C. Schumacher : The QBO’s Influence on Lightning Production in the Tropics. 28th Conf. On Hurricanes and Trop. Meteor., Amer. Meteor. Soc., Orlando, FL, 2008.

Kummerow, C. and co-authors : The Status of the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission after 2 years in Orbit. J. Appl. Meteor., 39, 1965-1982, 2000.

Mackerras, D., M. Darveniza, R. E. Orville, E. R. Williams, and S. J. Goodman, Global lightning: Total, Cloud and Ground Flash Estimates, J. Geophys. Res., 103(D16), 19,791–19,809, doi:10.1029/98JD01461, 1998.

Orville, R. E., and D. W. Spencer, Global Lightning Flash Frequency, Mon. Weather Rev., 107, 934– 943, 1979.

 

Contact Information

To order these data or for further information, please contact:

Global Hydrology Resource Center
User Services
320 Sparkman Drive
Huntsville, AL 35805
Phone: 256-961-7932
E-mail: support-ghrc@earthdata.nasa.gov
Web: http://ghrc.nsstc.nasa.gov/

 

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