Bhuvan Disaster Management Support – Near-Real-Time Lightning Monitoring
The Bhuvan Lightning Monitoring Service, developed by the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), provides near-real-time information on lightning activity across India through an interactive geospatial platform. The service supports monitoring of lightning events and provides valuable information for disaster preparedness, situational awareness, and climate studies.
Lightning is an Essential Climate Variable (ECV) for which information is generated under the National Information System for Climate and Environment Studies (NICES) programme of NRSC. The platform provides multiple products, including Daily Lightning ECV (Cloud-to-Ground), Hourly Lightning Data, and Hourly Lightning ECV, enabling users to visualise the spatial and temporal distribution of lightning activity.
The service also provides an experimental Lightning Outlook Map, offering an indicative assessment of lightning activity, along with facilities for data download. Information on the Lightning ECV, the Lightning Detection System (LDS) network, and related peer-reviewed scientific publications is also provided through the portal.
The near-real-time lightning information can support disaster management agencies, government departments, weather and climate researchers, planners, and other stakeholders in understanding lightning patterns and improving preparedness for lightning-related hazards. The service demonstrates the application of geospatial and Earth Observation technologies for operational monitoring of an important natural hazard as well as long-term climate and environmental studies.