Cloud-to-Ground Lightning Activity in Guangdong Province, South China During the Period 2004–2017

Cloud-to-Ground (CG) lightning in Guangdong Province, South China has been observed over decades by the Lightning Location System (LLS) operated by power sector in China. In this paper, we present the characteristics of CG lightning based on the data collected during 2004–2017 when the LLS performance was relatively steady from year to year. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first time to investigate CG lightning from such a long period in this area. Over 30 (67) million CG lightning flashes (strokes) were recorded during this 14-year period. Various characteristics, including flash density, peak current, multiplicity, ratio of positive CG lightning, lightning day, etc, are investigated. Interesting spatiotemporal patterns of the CG lightning parameters are obtained and the potential causes are discussed.