So, I was seeing some news reports on Twitter this afternoon about an apparent meteor that struck Western Cuba. Pulling up data/imagery from the GLM in AWIPS, I was able to see some relatively high Flash Extent Density (FED) values from that area at the same time of the meteor report. The first image below shows FED values (1818 UTC) overlaying GOES-16 Visible (0.64 µm) imagery at 1817 UTC.
Image 1. GLM data shows an apparent meteor flash over western portions of Cuba at ~1818 UTC 1 Feb 2019. The GLM Flash Extent Density overlay GOES-16 visible (0.64 um) imagery from ~1817 UTC.
Also, notice the large amount of lightning observed by the GLM in central portions of the Gulf of Mexico. Here’s a short 30-min image loop around this time period (the suspected meteor flash shows up about midway through the loop). Importantly, before the GLM sensor, the amount and extent of lightning activity over open ocean areas, away from ground networks, was generally not known, especially at such high spacial/temporal resolution.
Image 2. GLM (Flash Extent Density) and GOES-16 visible imagery (0.64 µm) loop from 1802-1830 UTC, 01 Feb 2019. An apparent meteor shows up in western Cuba at 1818 UTC in the loop. Also, notice the active deep convection and lightning over the Gulf of Mexico during the period.
The Wide World of SPoRT 