Spatio-temporal analysis of cloud-to-ground lightning activity over Yangzte River Delta, China, 2009–2013

This paper presents the spatial and temporal distribution of cloud-to-ground lightning over Yangzte River Delta, China for the period 2009-2013. Data collected by the STLDN (Shanghai TS7/8000 Total Lightning Detection Network) was used. The spatial distribution of lightning was calculated in a 5×5km grid. A total of 3,220,775 cloud-to-ground strokes were registered in the area under observation during 2009-2013.The annual mean cloud-to-ground stroke density over the area was 6.29 strokes km^-2year^-1. The lowest values found were less than 1 strokes km^-2year^-1 and the highest stokes densities were 19.688 strokes km^-2year^-1. The monthly distribution of lightning showed the highest activity in august. The spatial distribution showed the relevance with the urbanization degree over Yangtze River Delta region, especially in Shanghai area.