The Urban Lightning Effect Revealed With Geostationary Lightning Mapper Observations

Within the Charlotte, North Carolina, to Atlanta, Georgia, megaregion (Charlanta), the Atlanta metropolitan area has been shown to augment proximal cloud‐to‐ground (CG) lightning occurrence. Although numerous studies have documented this “urban lightning effect” (ULE) with regard to CG lightning, relatively few have investigated urban effects on distributions of total lightning (TL). Moreover, there has yet to be a study of the ULE using TL observations from the Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM). In an effort to fill this gap, we investigated spatial distributions of TL around the cities of Atlanta, GA, Greenville, SC, and Charlotte, NC, using GLM data collected during the warm seasons of 2018–2021. Analyses reveal augmentation of TL intensity and frequency over the major cities of Atlanta and Charlotte, with a diminished urban signal over the smaller city of Greenville. This work also demonstrated the potential efficacy of the emerging satellite‐based TL climatology in ULE studies. Plain Language Summary Studies using ground‐based lightning detection networks have revealed an “urban lightning effect” (ULE) around major cities. In 2016, the U.S. launched a weather satellite with a unique lightning mapping instrument. This study, possibly for the first time, demonstrated the ability to utilize space‐based observation of total lightning to detect the ULE within the Charlotte, North Carolina, to Atlanta, Georgia, urban corridor. The study also paves the way for future ULE analyses as the satellite lightning data record lengthens. Key Points The urban lightning effect (ULE) is detectable in Geostationary Lightning Mapper total lightning observations The ULE is most discernible in the larger metropolitan areas of the Charlotte, NC, to Atlanta, GA, urban corridor The emerging Geostationary Lightning Mapper data set enables a new generation of urban lightning studies as the record lengthens