Comparisons of Lightning Rates and Properties from the U.S. National Lightning Detection Network (NLDN) with GOES-16 Geostationary Lightning Mapper and Advanced Baseline Imager Data

The “two-sigma lightning jump algorithm” (LJA) introduced by Schultz et al. (2009, 2011) is designed to add lead time to severe weather warnings by way of observations of lightning, a phenomenon that evolves aloft, prior to the manifestation of severe weather at the ground where the severe weather can readily be observed by radar. Typically, the LJA is evaluated using high-precision data from Lightning Mapping Arrays (LMAs), but such data are limited in spatial coverage. To be useful operationally, however, the LJA needs to be utilized on lightning data sets that cover large territories. Toward this objective, Curtis et al. (2018) compared lightning observations from the new GOES-16 Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) in four severe storms with data from LMAs. Curtis et al. found substantial discrepancies between the flash rates reported by GLM and those reported by the LMAs, along with substantial discrepancies in the lightning jumps. The first objective of the current study is to compare two wide-area sources of lightning data, the GLM and the U.S. National Lightning Detection Network (NLDN), focusing on a sample of known severe storms as in the Curtis et al. (2018) study. A second objective is a preliminary, “as is” analysis of a variety of derived cloud property fields from the GOES-16 Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) during the same storms.

Curtis, N., L.D. Carey, and C. Schultz, 2018: An analysis of the lightning jump algorithm using Geostationary Lightning Mapper flashes, 25^th Intl. Lightning Detection Conf. and 7^th Intl. Lightning Meteorology Conf., Ft. Lauderdale, FL, U.S.

Schultz, C.J., W.A. Petersen, and L.D. Carey, 2011: Lightning and severe weather: A comparison between total and cloud-to-ground lightning trends, Wea. and Fcstg., 26, 744-755.

Schultz, C.J., W.A. Petersen, and L.D. Carey, 2009: Preliminary development and evaluation of lightning jump algorithms for the real-time detection of severe weather, J. Appl. Met. and Clim., 48, 2543-2563.