Figure 1
The spatial distribution of superbolts and cloud to ground lightning flash density over the Mediterranean sea during the winter months (DJF), observed by WWLLN over the period 2009–2021. The black and red dots indicate the locations of lightning flashes with energies > 106 and 2 × 106 Joules (superbolts), respectively. The dashed white lines indicate the regions with apparently higher frequencies of superbolt events in the Southeastern Levantine Sea (SEL), Southern Adriatic Sea (ADR), the Tyrrhenian Sea (TYR) and along the Mediterranean coast of Algeria (ALG). The numbers in the inset box indicate the total # of flashes/# of flashes with energies > 106 Joules/# of flashes with energies > 2 × 106 Joules, for each of the highlighted regions in the Mediterranean.
