Lightning Strikes - Real-Time Observations

Real-time lightning observations, updated every 5 minutes.

Key Features:

• Real-time Data: Current lightning observations
• Time-based Filtering: Retrieve strikes within specified time windows
• GeoJSON Format: Standard geographic data format for easy integration
• Caching: 60-second cache for optimal performance
• Multiple Products: Support for different observation data types

Parameters:

• product (required): Type of observation data. Supported values:
  • glmstrikes: satellite lightning in 5-minute buckets
  • glmstrikes1min: satellite lightning in 1-minute buckets
• timeoffset (optional): Time range in minutes (1-60). Behaviour depends on product:
  • glmstrikes: must be a multiple of 5 (5, 10, 15 … 60)
  • glmstrikes1min: any integer from 1 to 60
  • Default: 60 if not specified
• dedupe (optional, boolean): Remove duplicate observed strikes within 350ft of each other. Default: false

Time Offset Mapping:

glmstrikes (5-minute buckets)

• 5 minutes = Last 5 minutes of data
• 10 minutes = Last 10 minutes of data
• 15–60 minutes = Corresponding time windows (5-minute increments)

glmstrikes1min (1-minute buckets)

• 1 minute = Last 1 minute of data
• 5 minutes = Last 5 minutes of data
• 1–60 minutes = Any 1-minute window up to 60 minutes

Response Format:

Returns a GeoJSON FeatureCollection containing:

• type: "FeatureCollection"
• features: Array of lightning strike features
• errorStatus: Dataset-level error status (see Error Status Codes below)
• metadata: Additional information about the dataset

Error Status Codes:

• 0: No error, data is current
• 1: Data too old, most recent file is older than 15 minutes (backend ingestion issue)

Feature Properties:

Each lightning strike feature includes:

• strike_time: Timestamp of the lightning strike
• intensity: Strike intensity/energy
• confidence: Detection confidence level
• product: Source product type
• radar_id: Associated radar station

Authentication:

Accepts either a Knox token (Authorization: Token <token>) or a FLASH API key (X-Flash-Api-Key: fw_sk_live_...).

Error Responses:

• 400 Bad Request: Missing or invalid parameters
• 401 Unauthorized: No valid credentials provided
• 503 Service Unavailable: Lightning detection service is down

Use Cases:

• Real-time lightning monitoring
• Weather dashboard integration
• Lightning safety applications
• Historical lightning analysis
• Mobile weather apps

curl -X GET "https://example.com/observations/?dedupe=true&product=glmstrikes&timeoffset=1"

{  "type": "FeatureCollection",  "features": [    {      "type": "Feature",      "geometry": {        "type": "Point",        "coordinates": [          -74.006,          40.7128        ]      },      "properties": {        "strike_time": "2024-01-15T10:30:00Z",        "intensity": 15.5,        "confidence": 0.95,        "product": "glmstrikes",        "radar_id": "KOKX"      }    },    {      "type": "Feature",      "geometry": {        "type": "Point",        "coordinates": [          -87.6298,          41.8781        ]      },      "properties": {        "strike_time": "2024-01-15T10:31:00Z",        "intensity": 12.3,        "confidence": 0.88,        "product": "glmstrikes",        "radar_id": "KLOT"      }    }  ],  "errorStatus": 0,  "metadata": {    "total_features": 2,    "time_range": {      "start": "2024-01-15T10:30:00Z",      "end": "2024-01-15T10:31:00Z"    },    "processing_time": "2024-01-15T10:32:00Z"  }}