[MH730] Finding corroborating evidence – Lightning – unfortunately no dice

So I tried to find some corroborating evidence on that MH370 satellite video. I quite frequently use lightning websites to see if a storm is coming and whether I need to bring appropriate clothes. That got me thinking that the flash seen in the video might have been picked up by some kind of lightning tracker.

There are different techniques to detecting lightning. There is a flash seen in the video. Some lightning trackers use optical emissions to detect lightning other use VLF (Very Low Frequency – 3 to 30 kHz). If the flash in the video was real it is doubtful it was only emitting in the visible spectra opening a possible window for detection with a wide range of sensors.

VLF would have been very useful because it can record individual flashes within a few hundred meters. Optical emission detection does not record individual lightning strikes but rather generates a heat map of cumulative strikes at an area.

The only historical data on lightning in that area I could find was LIS data. It uses a CCD to see optical emissions and has an 69% to 88% detection accuracy.

Unfortunately it did not record any lightning event in the relevant area.

Further downloading the .hdf file though revealed that the viewing area of the satellite did not cover the coordinates the video indicates. Better close up. So it might have been recorded if it was in the viewing area and straight overhead and of course if it was ‘flashy’ enough.

If somebody else wants to go down that specific rabbit hole this is what I checked so far. I will keep updating the list once I check more sources.

LIS on https://search.earthdata.nasa.gov/

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