Uploaded June 2022 | Updated September 2026, 3 days ago
The Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) instrument, onboard NOAA’s GOES-18 satellite, is now providing striking lightning observations of the Western Hemisphere. GOES-18 launched on March 1, 2022.
GLM detects and maps total lightning—in-cloud, cloud-to-cloud, and cloud-to-ground—continuously over the Americas and adjacent ocean regions. GLM offers insights beyond the presence of a lightning strike, revealing the extent of lightning flashes and the distance they travel.
Rapid increases in total lightning activity often precede severe and tornadic thunderstorms. Characterizing lightning activity in storms allows forecasters to identify intensifying storms before they produce damaging winds, hail or tornadoes. GLM data enable forecasters to detect electrically active storms, determine the extent of the lightning threat, identify strengthening and weakening storms, monitor storm evolution, and supplement radar data where coverage is poor.
Learn more:
nesdis.noaa.gov/news/noaa-shares-flashy-first-imagery-goes-18-lightning-mapper
Credits:
NOAA
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
CIRA
Lockheed Martin
CISESS - UMD
Los Alamos National Laboratory
B-roll provided by Artbeats
Music:
“Is It A Sine,” by Frederick George Alan Prest [PRS]; Ninja Tune Production Music; Universal Production Music
The Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) instrument, onboard NOAA’s GOES-18 satellite, is now providing striking lightning observations of the Western Hemisphere. GOES-18 launched on March 1, 2022.
GLM detects and maps total lightning—in-cloud, cloud-to-cloud, and cloud-to-ground—continuously over the Americas and adjacent ocean regions. GLM offers insights beyond the presence of a lightning strike, revealing the extent of lightning flashes and the distance they travel.
Rapid increases in total lightning activity often precede severe and tornadic thunderstorms. Characterizing lightning activity in storms allows forecasters to identify intensifying storms before they produce damaging winds, hail or tornadoes. GLM data enable forecasters to detect electrically active storms, determine the extent of the lightning threat, identify strengthening and weakening storms, monitor storm evolution, and supplement radar data where coverage is poor.
Learn more:
nesdis.noaa.gov/news/noaa-shares-flashy-first-imagery-goes-18-lightning-mapper
Credits:
NOAA
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
CIRA
Lockheed Martin
CISESS - UMD
Los Alamos National Laboratory
B-roll provided by Artbeats
Music:
“Is It A Sine,” by Frederick George Alan Prest [PRS]; Ninja Tune Production Music; Universal Production Music
