# MTG Lightning Imager (LI)
*sensor . products*

Meteosat Third Generation optical lightning detection payload for continuous day-night lightning observations over Europe and Africa.

## Specifications
- **manufacturer**: leonardo
- **deployment context**: orbital
- **product status**: operational
- **sensor**: {"instrument_family":"passive-optical","measurement_principle":"passive","spectral_range_nm":{"min":777.4,"max":777.4},"spectral_band_count":1,"gsd_m":{"native":4500}}
- **entity type**: sensor
- **last verified date**: 2026-06-16
- **verified by**: agency-doc
- **claim status**: agency-sourced
- **provider**: leonardo
- **attributes**: {"kind":"sensor","manufacturer":"leonardo","description":"Meteosat Third Generation optical lightning detection payload for continuous day-night lightning observations over Europe and Africa.","deployment_context":"orbital","product_status":"operational","sensor":"{\"instrument_family\":\"passive-optical\",\"measurement_principle\":\"passive\",\"spectral_range_nm\":{\"min\":777.4,\"max\":777.4},\"spectral_band_count\":1,\"gsd_m\":{\"native\":4500}}"}
- **relevance**: in-scope

## Editorial
MTG Lightning Imager is a geostationary optical detector for continuous day-night lightning-event detection from the MTG-I platform.[^esa-li][^wmo-li] The payload uses four identical optical telescope/camera channels on a common head assembly and observes the 777.4 nm oxygen emission line at 1000 Hz detector readout.[^esa-li][^leonardo-li] Its four domains cover the observable Earth disc, including Europe, Africa, the Middle East and parts of South America.[^esa-li][^eumetsat-li-guide] Spatial performance is given both as around 10 km resolution and as 4.5 km grid sampling at the sub-satellite point.[^esa-li][^ecmwf-li] Meteosat-12 began prime service in December 2024, and LI Level-2 products are available through the mission user service.[^eumetsat-li-breakthrough][^eumetsat-li-guide] The instrument has demonstrated optical transient detection through MTG lightning observations.[^eumetsat-li-breakthrough]

## Compositional position
- meteosat-12 (missions) --[mission_payloads]--> MTG Lightning Imager (LI)

## Sources
- [esa-li] | ESA: Lightning Imager | https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/Meteorological_missions/meteosat_third_generation/Lightning_Imager | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-16
- [eumetsat-li-breakthrough] | EUMETSAT: Europe's first lightning imager to produce a meteorological breakthrough | https://www.eumetsat.int/europes-first-lightning-imager-produce-meteorological-breakthrough | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-16
- [eumetsat-li-guide] | EUMETSAT User Portal: MTG LI Level 2 data guide | https://user.eumetsat.int/resources/user-guides/mtg-li-level-2-data-guide | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-16
- [wmo-li] | WMO OSCAR instrument record: LI | https://space.oscar.wmo.int/instruments/view/li | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-16
- [ecmwf-li] | ECMWF/EUMETSAT: New observation capabilities for storm monitoring - Lightning Imager | https://www.ecmwf.int/sites/default/files/elibrary/2017/17283-new-observation-capabilities-storm-monitoring-lightning-imager.pdf | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-16
- [leonardo-li] | Leonardo: The Lightning Imager hunts for lightning on board MTG | https://space.leonardo.com/en/focus-detail/-/detail/lightning-imager-leonardo-mtg | tier=operator-engineering | accessed=2026-06-16

---
Source: https://eo-atlas.org/products/sensor/li-mtg
Maintainer: SpectraWorks B.V. (CC-BY 4.0)