Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Spatial and temporal analysis of a 17-year lightning climatology over Bangladesh with LIS data

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Theoretical and Applied Climatology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Using NASA’s TRMM Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) data from 1998 to 2014, this paper presents a 17-year lightning climatology of Bangladesh, at 0.5° × 0.5° spatial resolution. Diurnal, seasonal, monthly and annual variations in the occurrence of lightning flashes were explored. The diurnal regime of lightning is dominated by afternoon/evening events. Overall, peak lightning activity occurs in the early morning (0200 LST) and evening (1900 LST). The distribution of lightning flash counts by season over Bangladesh landmass is as follows: pre-monsoon (69.2%), monsoon (24.1%), post-monsoon (4.6%) and winter (2.1%). Flash rate density (FRD) hotspots were primarily located in the north and north-eastern parts of Bangladesh, with a maximum of 72 fl km−2 year−1. Spatially, the distribution of FRD increases from the Bay of Bengal in the south to relatively higher elevations (of the Himalayan foothills) in the north. A spatial shift in FRD hotspots occurs with change in season. For example, in monsoon season, hotspots of lightning activity move in a south-westerly direction from their pre-monsoon location (i.e. north-eastern Bangladesh) towards West Bengal in India. South and south-eastern parts of Bangladesh experience high lightning activity during post-monsoon season due to regional orographic lifting and low-pressure systems (i.e. cyclone) in the Bay of Bengal. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study focused on LIS-based lightning climatology over Bangladesh. This baseline study, therefore, is an essential first step towards effective management of lightning-related hazards in Bangladesh.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ahsan MN, Chowdhury MAM, Quadir DA (2013) Simulation of high impact rainfall events over southeastern hilly region of Bangladesh using MM5 model. Int J Atmos Sci. https://doi.org/10.1155/2013/657108

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Albrecht RI, Goodman SJ, Buechler DE, Blakeslee RJ, Christian HJ (2016) Where are the lightning hotspots on Earth? B Am Meteorol Soc. https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-14-00193.1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) (2012) Housing and population census 2011. Ministry of Planning, BBS, Dhaka

    Google Scholar 

  • Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) (2016) Bangladesh disaster-related statistics 2015: climate change and natural disaster perspectives. Ministry of Planning, BBS, Dhaka

    Google Scholar 

  • Bell TL, Rosenfeld D, Kim KM, Yoo JM, Lee MI, Hahnenberger M (2008) Midweek increase in US summer rain and storm heights suggests air pollution invigorates rainstorms. J Geophys Res-Atmos 113:D02209

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bhattacharaya R, Bhattacharya A, Das R (2013) Thermodynamics of the atmosphere in relation to tornado activity over NE India and Bangladesh. Int J Electron Commmun Technol 4:92–94

    Google Scholar 

  • Bhowmik SKR, Roy SS, Kundu PK (2008) Analysis of large-scale conditions associated with convection over the Indian monsoon region. Int J Climatol 28:797–821

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boccippio DJ, Goodman SJ, Heckman S (2000) Regional differences in tropical lightning distributions. J Appl Meteorol 39:2231–2248

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bond DW, Steiger S, Zhang R, Tie X, Orville RE (2002) The importance of NOx production by lightning in the tropics. Atmos Environ 36(9):1509–1519

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bourscheidt V, Pinto O, Naccarato KP, Pinto IRCA (2009) The influence of topography on the cloud-to-ground lightning density in south Brazil. Atmos Res 91:508–513

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cardoso I, Pinto O, Pinto IRCA, Holle R (2014) Lightning casualty demographics in Brazil and their implications for safety rules. Atmos Res 135-136:374–379

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cecil DJ, Buechler DE, Blakeslee RJ (2014) Gridded lightning climatology from TRMM-LIS and OTD: dataset description. Atmos Res 135-136:404–414

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cecil DJ, Buechler DE, Blakeslee RJ (2015) TRMM LIS climatology of thunderstorm occurrence and conditional lightning flash rates. J Clim 28:6536–6547

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chaudhuri S, Middey A (2013) Disparity in the characteristics of thunderstorms and associated lightning activities over dissimilar terrain. Meteorog Atmos Phys 119:151–161

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Choudhury H, Roy P, Kalita S, Sharma S (2016) Spatio-temporal variability of the properties of mesoscale convective systems over a complex terrain as observed by TRMM sensors. Int J Climatol 36:2615–2632

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chowdhury MAM, De UK (1995) Pre-monsoon thunderstorm activity over Bangladesh from 1983 to 1992. TAO 6:591–606

    Google Scholar 

  • Christian HJ, Blakeslee RJ, Boccippo DJ, Boeck WL, Buechler DE, Driscoll KT, Goodman SJ, Hall JM, Koshak WJ, Mach DM, Stewart MF (2003) Global frequency and distribution of lightning as observed from space by the Optical Transient Detector. J Geophys Res 108:4005

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dai J, Wang Y, Chen L, Tao L, Gu J, Wang J, Xu X, Lin H, Gu Y (2009) A comparison of lightning activity and convective indices over some monsoon-prone areas of China. Atmos Res 91:438–452

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dewan AM, Hossain M, Rahman MM, Yamane Y, Holle R (2017) Recent lightning-related fatalities and injuries in Bangladesh. Weather Clim Soc 9:575–589

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goodman SJ, MacGorman DR (1986) Cloud-to-ground lightning activity in mesoscale convective complexes. Mon Weather Rev 114:2320–2328

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holle RL (2016) Lightning-caused deaths and injuries related to agriculture. 24th International Lightning Detection Conference and 6th International Lightning Meteorology Conference, 18–21 April, San Diego, California

  • Kandalgaonkar SS, Tinmaker MIR, Kulkarni JR, Nath A (2003) Diurnal variation of lightning activity over the Indian region. Geophys Res Lett 30:2022

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kandalgaonkar SS, Tinmaker MIR, Kulkarni JR, Nath A, Kulkarni MK, Trimbake HK (2005) Spatio-temporal variability of lightning activity over the Indian region. J Geophys Res 110:D11108

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kandalgaonkar SS, Tinmaker MIR, Vani G (2010) A lightning climatology of northeast India: 1998–2007. Int J Meteorol 35:89–98

    Google Scholar 

  • Kar SK, Liou Y-A, Ha K-J (2009) Aerosol effects on the enhancement of cloud-to-ground lightning over major urban areas of South Korea. Atmos Res 92:80–87

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Karmakar S (2001) Climatology of thunderstorm days over Bangladesh during the pre-monsoon season. Bang J Sci Tech 3:103–122

    Google Scholar 

  • Karmakar S, Alam M (2005) On the probabilistic extremes of thunderstorm frequency over Bangladesh during the pre-monsoon season. J Hydrol Meteorol 2:41–47

    Google Scholar 

  • Kodama Y-M, Ohta A, Katsumata M, Mori S, Satoh S (2005) Seasonal transition of predominant type and lightning activity over tropical monsoon areas derived from TRMM observations. Geophys Res Lett 32:L14710

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kumar PR, Kamra AK (2012a) The spatiotemporal variability of lightning activity in the Himalayan foothills. J Geophys Res 117:D24201

    Google Scholar 

  • Kumar PR, Kamra AK (2012b) Variability of lightning activity in South/Southeast Asia during 1997–1998 and 2002-03 El Nino/La Nina events. Atmos Res 118:84–102

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lal DM, Pawar SD (2009) Relationship between rainfall and lightning over central Indian region in monsoon and premonsoon seasons. Atmos Res 92:402–410

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lefort T (2013) Dry-line, nor’westers and tornadic storms over India and Bangladesh: an operational perspective through synergies, the new IMD’ forecasters workstation. Mausam 64:517–530

    Google Scholar 

  • Lohar D, Pal B, Chakravarty B (1994) Sea breeze activity at an inland stations Kharagpur (India)—a case study. Bound-Layer Meteorol 67:427–434

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Manohar GK, Kesarkar AP (2003) Climatology of thunderstorm activity over the Indian region: a study of east-west contrast. Mausam 54:819–828

    Google Scholar 

  • Mashreky SR, Hossain MJ, Rahman A, Biswas A, Khan TF, Rahman F (2012) Epidemiology of electrical injury: findings from a community based national survey in Bangladesh. Injury 43:113–116

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Medina S, Houze RA Jr, Kumar A, Niyogi D (2010) Summer monsoon convection in the Himalayan region: terrain and land cover effects. Q J R Meteorol Soc 136:593–616

    Google Scholar 

  • Mukhopadhyay P, Singh HAK, Singh SS (2005) Two severe nor’westers in April 2003 over Kolkata, India, using Doppler radar observations and satellite imagery. Weather 60:343–353

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murugavel P, Pawar SD, Gopalakrishan V (2014) Climatology of lightning over Indian region and its relationship with convective available potential energy. Int J Climatol 34:3179–3187

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nath A, Manohar GK, Dani KK, Devara PCS (2009) A study of lightning over land and oceanic regions of India. J Earth Sys Sci 118:467–481

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ohsawa T, Hayashi T, Mitsuta Y (2000) Intraseasonal variation of monsoon activities associated with the rainfall over Bangladesh during the 1995 summer monsoon season. J Geophys Res 105:29445–29459

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ohsawa T, Ueda H, Hayashi T (2001) Diurnal variations of convective rainfall activity and rainfall in tropical Asia. J Meteorol Soc J 79:333–352

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oladipo EO, Mornu ME (1985) Characteristics of thunderstorms in Zaria, Nigeria. Weather 40:316–322

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ono Y, Schmidlin TW (2011) Design and adoption of household tornado shelters for Bangladesh. Nat Hazards 56:321–330

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pathak B, Bhuyan PK (2014) Absorbing and scattering properties of boundary layer aerosols over Dibrugarh, Northeast India. Int J Remote Sens 35:5527–5543

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pathan JM (1994) Diurnal variation of southwest monsoon rainfall at Indian stations. Adv Atmos Sci 11:111–120

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Patra AK, De UK, Lohar D (1998) Existence of low level jet during pre-monsoon period over eastern India and its role in the initiation of nocturnal thunderstorms. Atmosfera 12:15–26

    Google Scholar 

  • Petersen W, Rutledge SA (1998) On the relationship between cloud-to-ground lightning and convective rainfall. J Geophys Res 103:14025–14040

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Petersen WA, Rutledge SA, Orville RE (1996) Cloud-to-ground lightning observations from TOGA COARE: selected results and lightning location algorithms. Mon Weather Rev 124:602–620

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peterson RE, Mehta KC (1981) Climatology of tornadoes of India and Bangladesh. Arch Meteorol Geophys B 29:345–356

    Google Scholar 

  • Price C, Rind D (1994) Possible implications of global climate change on global lightning distributions and frequencies. J Geophys Res 99:10823–10831

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Qie X, Toumi R, Yaun T (2003) Lightning activities on the Tibetan Plateau as observed by the lightning imaging sensor. J Geophys Res 108:4551

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rafiuddin M, Uyeda H, Kato M (2013) Development of an arc-shaped precipitation system during the pre-monsoon period in Bangladesh. Meteorog Atmos Phys 120:165–176

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ranalkar MR, Chaudhari HS (2009) Seasonal variation of lightning activity over the Indian subcontinent. Meteorog Atmos Phys 104:125–134

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reeve N, Toumi R (1999) Lightning activity as an indicator of climate change. Q J R Meteorol Soc 125:893–903

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roeder WP, Cummins BH, Cummins KL, Holle RL, Ashley WS (2015) Lightning fatality risk map of the contiguous United States. Nat Hazards 79:1681–1692

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Romatschke U, Houze RA (2011a) Characteristics of precipitation convective systems in the premonsoon season in South Asia. J Hydrometeorol 12:157–180

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Romatschke U, Houze RA (2011b) Characteristics of precipitation convective systems in the South Asian monsoon. J Hydrometeorol 12:3–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Romatschke U, Medina S, Houze RA (2010) Regional, seasonal and diurnal variations in extreme convection in the South Asian region. J Clim 23:419–439

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • SAARC Meteorological Research Centre (SMRC) (2010) Climatology of thunderstorms over the SAARC region. SMRC No. 35, Dhaka

  • Saha TR, Quadir DA (2016) Variability and trends of annual and seasonal thunderstorm frequency over Bangladesh. Int J Climatol 36:4651–4666

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salahuddin A, Isaac RH, Curtin S, Matsumoto J (2006) Teleconnections between the sea surface temperature in the Bay of Bengal and monsoon rainfall in Bangladesh. Glob Planet Chang 53:188–197

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Siingh D, Buchunde PS, Singh RP, Nath A, Kumar S, Ghodpage RN (2014) Lightning and convective rain study in different parts of India. Atmos Res 137:35–48

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Takahashi N (1990) Near absence of lightning in torrential rainfall producing Micronesian thunderstorms. Geophys Res Lett 17:2381–2384

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Terao T, Islam MN, Hayashi T, Oka T (2006) Nocturnal jet and its effects on early morning rainfall peak over northeastern Bangladesh during the summer monsoon season. Geophys Res Lett 33:L18806

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tinmaker MIR, Ali K (2012) Space time variation of lightning activity over northeast India. Meteorol Zeitschrift 21:135–143

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tinmaker MIR, Chate DM (2013) Lightning activity over India: a study of east-west contrast. Int J Remote Sens 34:5641–5650

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tinmaker MIR, Ali K, Beig G (2010) Relationship between lightning activity over peninsular India and sea surface temperature. J Appl Meteorol Climatol 49:828–835

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tinmaker MIR, Aslam MY, Chate DM (2014) Climatology of lightning activity over the Indian Seas. Atmosphere-Ocean 52:314–320

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tinmaker MIR, Aslam MY, Chate DM (2015) Lightning activity and its association with rainfall and convective available potential energy over Maharashtra, India. Nat Hazards 77:293–304

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tyagi A (2007) Thunderstorm climatology over Indian region. Mausam 58:189–212

    Google Scholar 

  • Tyagi B, Krishna VN, Satyanarayana ANV (2011) Study of thermodynamic indices in forecasting pre-monsoon thunderstorms over Kolkata during STORM pilot phase 2006–2008. Nat Hazards 56:681–698

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weston KJ (1972) The dry-line of northern India its role in cumulonimbus convection. Q J R Meteorol Soc 98:519–531

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams ER (1992) The Schumann Resonance: a global tropical thermometer. Science 256:1184–1187

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams ER (1994) Global circuit response to seasonal variation in global surface air temperature. Mon Weather Rev 122:1917–1929

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams ER (2005) Lightning and climate: a review. Atmos Res 76:272–287

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams ER, Rothkin K, Stevenson D, Boccippio D (2000) Global lightning caused by changes in thunderstorm flash rates by changes in the number of thunderstorms. J Appl Meteorol 39:2223–2230

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yamane Y, Hayashi T (2006) Evaluation of environmental conditions for the formation of severe local storms across the Indian subcontinent. Geophys Res Lett 33:L17806

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yamane Y, Hayashi T, Dewan AM, Akter F (2010a) Severe local convective storms in Bangladesh: part I: climatology. Atmos Res 95:400–406

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yamane Y, Hayashi T, Dewan AM, Akter F (2010b) Severe local convective storms in Bangladesh: part II: environmental conditions. Atmos Res 95:407–418

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yamane Y, Hayashi T, Kiguchi M, Akter F, Dewan AM (2012) Synoptic situations of severe local convective storms during the pre-monsoon season in Bangladesh. Int J Climatol 33:725–734

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yuan T, Di Y, Qie K (2016) Variability of lightning flash and thunderstorm over East/Southeast Asia on the ENSO time scales. Atmos Res 169:377–390

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang W, Meng Q, Ma M, Zhang Y (2011) Lightning casualties and damages in China from 1997 to 2009. Nat Haz 57:465–476

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zipser EJ (1994) Deep cumulonimbus cloud systems in the tropics with and without lightning. Mon Weather Rev 122:1837–1851

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zipser EJ, Cecil DJ, Liu C, Nesbitt SW, Yorty DP (2006) Where are the most intense thunderstorms on earth? B Am Meteorol Soc 87:1057–1071

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zuidema P (2003) Convective clouds over the Bay of Bengal. Mon Weather Rev 131:780–798

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We would like to express our gratitude to Professor Daniel Cecil, Dr Dennis E. Buechler, Ronald Holle and M.I.R. Tinmaker for assisting us on various occasions during the progress of this work. In addition, comments on the original submission from anonymous reviewers are highly appreciated.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Spatial Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia

    Ashraf Dewan & Emmanuel T. Ongee

  2. Department of Geography and Environment, University of Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh

    Md. Masudur Rahman

  3. Department of Geography and Geology, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY, USA

    Rezaul Mahmood

  4. Faculty of Education, Tokoha University, Shizuoka, Japan

    Yusuke Yamane

Authors
  1. Ashraf Dewan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Emmanuel T. Ongee
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Md. Masudur Rahman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Rezaul Mahmood
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Yusuke Yamane
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ashraf Dewan.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Dewan, A., Ongee, E.T., Rahman, M.M. et al. Spatial and temporal analysis of a 17-year lightning climatology over Bangladesh with LIS data. Theor Appl Climatol 134, 347–362 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-017-2278-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-017-2278-3

Search

Navigation