Global frequency and distribution of lightning as observed from space by the Optical Transient Detector

The Optical Transient Detector (OTD) is a space‐based instrument specifically designed to detect and locate lightning discharges as it orbits the Earth. This instrument is a scientific payload on the MicroLab‐1 satellite that was launched into a 70° inclination low Earth orbit in April 1995. Given the orbital trajectory of the satellite, most regions of the Earth are observed by the OTD instrument more than 400 times during a 1 year period, and the average duration of each observation is 2 min. The OTD instrument optically detects lightning flashes that occur within its 1300 × 1300 km 2 field of view during both day and night conditions. A statistical examination of OTD lightning data reveals that nearly 1.4…