Global Lightning Distribution at Dawn and Dusk for August-December 1977 as Observed by the DMSP Lightning Detector
Abstract
The lightning detector aboard a DMSP satellite in a dawn-dusk polar orbit sampled lightning activity worldwide during August-December 1977. At dawn the distribution of events is somewhat evenly spread over both hemispheres with a slight bias towards land areas in the summer hemisphere. There is significant activity over the oceans in both hemispheres at dawn, presumably due to radiative cooling of the atmosphere. However, at dusk lightning occurs primarily over the warmer land areas in the summer hemisphere with very few events in the winter hemisphere. Also there is a marked increase of lightning events about the tropical convergence zone. These distribution plots give for the first time a global snapshot of lightning activity which could lead to a better understanding of the global atmospheric noise distribution.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 15, 1979
- Accession Number
- ADA071896
Entities
People
- Bruce C. Edgar
Organizations
- The Aerospace Corporation