Analysis on Spatio-temporal Distribution of Lightning in Dalian Area of China between 2007 and 2008

The cloud-to-ground lightning data between 2007 and 2008 were collected by lightning detection and location system,which was composed of four lightning detectors in four different sites of Dalian area.The spatio-temporal distribution of cloud-to-ground lightning in surrounding areas of Dalian was analyzed from several aspects of polarity distribution,diurnal variation,lightning intensity and lightning density.The results showed that the number of negative lightning accounted for 93.9% of the total number of lightning,and its average lightning intensity was 27.99 kA.The number of positive lightning accounted for 6.1% of the total number of lightning,and its average lightning intensity was 35.56 kA.The diurnal variation of lightning frequency showed an obvious structure of two peaks (17:00-18:00 and 04:00-05:00) and two valleys (09:00-10:00 and 00:00-01:00).The number of lightning between May and September was 91.5% of the annual number,and the lightning occurred the most frequently between June and August.Most of positive and negative lightning was at the intensity of 15-35 kA,80.0% lower than 40 kA,and 99.3% lower than 100 kA.The lightning density had obvious regional differences in distribution,high in the Liaodong Bay and the Dalian Bay and low in inland areas.Therefore,coastal areas should attract more attention in lightning disaster defense in the surrounding areas of Dalian.