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Full catalog/glml1bflash
glml1bflash·v1·dataset

Lightning flashes seen from space

GLM Events and Flashes Data
atmosphere NASA GHRC_DAAC Level 2
In plain English

What it measures. The size and number of lightning flashes seen from space, available both as raw individual detections and as processed flash counts. The records cover a few days in March 2021.

How it's made. Captured by the Geostationary Lightning Mapper instrument aboard the GOES-16 and GOES-17 weather satellites, offered as raw (Level 1b) events and processed (Level 2) flashes.

How & where you'd use it. Useful for spotting and studying severe storms and for research into how lightning interacts with the atmosphere.

What's measured

ATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC ELECTRICITY › LIGHTNING

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2021-03-15 → 2021-03-18
  • Measured byGOES-18 · GOES-17 (GLM)
  • Processing levelLevel 2
  • Spatial extent-180, -55.99, 180, 55.464
  • StatusCOMPLETE

What you can do with it

  • Map air pollutants — NO₂, aerosols, ozone
  • Track greenhouse gases and Earth's energy budget
  • Feed weather and air-quality analysis
Official description

The GLM Events and Flashes Data consist of the size and number of lightning flashes and events. The data were collected from the Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) instrument on the GOES-16 and GOES-17 satellites and are available as L1b events (raw) and L2 flashes (processed). They are available from March 15, 2021, through March 18, 2021, in netCDF-4 and HDF-5 formats.

Get the data

glml1bflash_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="glml1bflash",
    version="1",
    bounding_box=(-122.5, 37.2, -121.8, 37.9),  # your area (W,S,E,N)
    temporal=("2024-01-01", "2024-12-31"),       # your dates
)
files = earthaccess.open(results)   # stream straight from GHRC_DAAC
Browsing CMR needs no login. Downloading or streaming bytes needs a free Earthdata Login + the earthaccess package.