Articles | Volume 13, issue 7
https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-3219-2021
https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-3219-2021
Data description paper
 | 
06 Jul 2021
Data description paper |  | 06 Jul 2021

The WGLC global gridded lightning climatology and time series

Jed O. Kaplan and Katie Hong-Kiu Lau

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Cited articles

Abarca, S. F., Corbosiero, K. L., and Galarneau, T. J.: An evaluation of the Worldwide Lightning Location Network (WWLLN) using the National Lightning Detection Network (NLDN) as ground truth, J. Geophys. Res., 115, D18206, https://doi.org/10.1029/2009jd013411, 2010. a
Alaska Interagency Coordination Center: Historical Lightning as txt, available at: https://fire.ak.blm.gov/content/maps/aicc/Data/Data (zipped Text Files)/Historical_Lightning_as_txt.zip, last access: 5 July 2021. a
Albrecht, R. I., Goodman, S. J., Buechler, D. E., Blakeslee, R. J., and Christian, H. J.: Where Are the Lightning Hotspots on Earth?, B. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 97, 2051–2068, https://doi.org/10.1175/bams-d-14-00193.1, 2016. a
Allen, D. J., Pickering, K. E., Bucsela, E., Krotkov, N., and Holzworth, R.: Lightning NOx Production in the Tropics as Determined Using OMI NO2 Retrievals and WWLLN Stroke Data, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 124, 13498–13518, https://doi.org/10.1029/2018jd029824, 2019. a
Ammar, A. and Ghalila, H.: Estimation of nighttime ionospheric D-region parameters using tweek atmospherics observed for the first time in the North African region, Adv. Space Res., 66, 2528–2536, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asr.2020.08.025, 2020. a
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Short summary
Lightning is an important atmospheric phenomenon and natural hazard, but few long-term data are freely available on lightning stroke location, timing, and power. Here, we present a new, open-access dataset of lightning strokes covering 2010–2020, based on a network of low-frequency radio detectors. The dataset is comprised of GIS maps and is intended for researchers, government, industry, and anyone for whom knowing when and where lightning is likely to strike is useful information.
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