Monitoring of lightning activity in Yakutia with four long-range lightning detector systems

Long-term lightning observations can make a significant contribution to regional lightning climatology. The Yakutsk observatory has three one-point detectors with 480 km and 1200 km estimated radius of detection and one station included in the world wide lightning location network (WWLLN). The one-pointed detectors show the presence and direction on a thundercloud, while the WWLLN one locates the distance. A regular region with the highest lightning density is located in the southern part of Yakutia and formed by the Far Eastern monsoon. A second region with usually high lightning density is the western part of Yakutia, between the Lena and Vilyui Rivers. A mountain influence on the movement of a thundercloud is clearly traced in the northern and north-eastern regions of Yakutia. The lightning activity season lasts from late May to early September, and its duration slightly tends to increase. The available annual and seasonal variations in the lightning number show some quasi-oscillations with a period of 2-4 years.