Seeing the Invisible: The Geostationary Lightning Mapper and the New Era of Severe Storm Forecasting

Intellectually Curious

Lightning isn’t just the flash we see at the surface—it's the electrical heartbeat inside a storm. In this episode, we explore the GOES-16 Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM), a near-infrared camera that watches total lightning continuously from space, updating every 20 seconds with roughly 10-km resolution. Learn how GLM’s intra-cloud flashes reveal a storm’s updrafts and intensification minutes before the first ground strike, how rapid increases in flash rate relate to severity, and why the real power comes from integrating GLM data with radar and other satellite observations. We’ll translate the data basics (events, groups, flashes) and show how this continuous, planet-scale electrification map is changing forecast lead times and our understanding of severe weather.

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