ESSIC post-doctoral associate Michael Peterson and ESSIC visiting assistant research scientist Scott Rudlosky co-authored a new article in the Journal of Geophysical Research titled “The Evolution and Structure of Extreme Optical Lightning Flashes.” The article documents extreme lightning flashes measured by a lightning sensor on the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite. The methods introduced in this article are currently being applied to GOES-16 Geostationary Lighting Mapper (GLM) measurements to map lightning flashes and identify associated hazards continuously across the lightning hotspots of the Western Hemisphere.
![Satellite seasonal temperature difference maps indicate how the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem and its organisms may respond to the temperature changes. Here, the maps show warmer than average water temperatures from January through March 2020, cooler than average from April through June, near average July through September, and slightly warmer than average October through December. The long-term baseline is from the years 2008-2019.]](https://essic.umd.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/rv-chesapeake2-150x150.jpg)
