Geostationary Lightning Mapper Observations of Lightning Flashes that Start Wildfires

Three years and nearly 10,500 lightning-initiated wildfires within CONUS were examined to determine the likelihood that the Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) observed the lightning flash that was closest to the ignition point. GLM data during a period of 2018-2020 (GOES-16) and 2019-2020 (GOES-17) were paired with lighting-initiated wildfire reports from the US Forest Service’s Fire Program Analysis Fire Occurrence Database and National Lightning Detection Network (NLDN) data. Results indicate that the combination of GOES GLM sensors observed approximately 74% of the lightning flashes that were closest to the wildfire ignition location as identified by NLDN. Of the nearly 26% of ignition flashes missed by GLM, nearly three-fourths of them had two or fewer strokes as observed by the NLDN. Mapping of the flashes missed by GLM reveals that the largest densities of missed lightning are in western Colorado and eastern Utah. Nearly 43% of wildfire-igniting flashes during 2019-2020 were observed by both GOES-16 and GOES-17 GLMs. In situations where the same flash was observed by both GOES-GLM’s, GOES-17 had slightly larger areas and larger total optical energy than GOES-16.