Preliminary Analysis of Lightning Characteristics in Shandong

From 1998 to 2000, the data about 142588 cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning flashes are collected by a five-station lightning detection and location network in Shandong Province. In order to reveal the climatic characteristics, these data are used to study the daily variation, spatial density, intensity and polarity of lightning. The results show that major cloud-to-ground flashes are negative. The ratio of positive flashes with larger or smaller intensity to total positive flashes is bigger than that of negative flashes. The mean intensity of positive CG flashes is bigger than that of the negatives. The CG flashes occur clearly with a characteristic of daily variation, in which there are two peaks and two valleys. Furthermore, the spatial distribution of lightning is closely related to the topography and the nature of the underlying surface. The statistical analysis of some cities’ lightning density shows that Jining, Laiwu, Binzhou, Taian and Jinan, which are located in the middle Shandong Province, Should pay more attention to flash strikes.