Volcview API Documentation - LIGHTNING API

Only lightning near a volcano is included in this data. Lightning within 100 KM of an Alaskan volcano or within 10 KM of other volcanoes is available here.

GET METHODS

Select recent AVO lightning, last 30 days.

https://volcview.wr.usgs.gov/vv-api/lightningApi/avorecent

Select recent AVO lightning, user specified days back, 1 in this example, maximum 30.

https://volcview.wr.usgs.gov/vv-api/lightningApi/avorecent/1

Select recent worldwide lightning, last 30 days. NOTE: the server is having issues pulling back 30 days of data, so total rows is being limited to 10k.

https://volcview.wr.usgs.gov/vv-api/lightningApi/recent

Select recent worldwide lightning, user specified days back, 1 in this example, maximum 30.

https://volcview.wr.usgs.gov/vv-api/lightningApi/recent/1

Select lightning within a region and time window.

https://volcview.wr.usgs.gov/vv-api/lightningApi/region?minLat=27.78439&maxLat=29.78439&minLong=128.09141&maxLong=130.09141&unixTimestamp=1747826986&plusMinusMinutes=100

Parameters:

minLat: minimum (Southern) latitude, -90 - 90.
maxLat: maximum (Northern) latitude, -90 - 90.
minLong: minimum (Western) longitude, -180 - 180.
maxLong: maximum (Eastern) longitude, -180 - 180.
unixTimestamp: The unix sytem timestamp value (see below). Defaults to now if empty. Current value is 1747827048.
plusMinusMinutes: the number of minutes to add/subtract from time. A value of 10 will return a 20 minute time window.

Select lightning for an observatory, all U.S. or worldwide and after a specific time.

The startTimestamp value is calculated and provided by you. If not included, will default to the last hour.
EXAMPLES:
US in the last hour because startTimestamp is empty: https://volcview.wr.usgs.gov/vv-api/lightningApi/obs?obsAbbr=US
WORLD in the last hour because obsAbbr and startTimestamp are empty: https://volcview.wr.usgs.gov/vv-api/lightningApi/obs
AVO in the last hour: https://volcview.wr.usgs.gov/vv-api/lightningApi/obs?obsAbbr=AVO&startTimestamp=1747823448
US in the last day: https://volcview.wr.usgs.gov/vv-api/lightningApi/obs?obsAbbr=US&startTimestamp=1747740648
US in the last week: https://volcview.wr.usgs.gov/vv-api/lightningApi/obs?obsAbbr=US&startTimestamp=1747222248

Parameters:

obsAbbr: AVO|CALVO|CVO|HVO|NMI|YVO|US|WORLD (defaults to WORLD if empty).
startTimestamp: The unix sytem timestamp starting value (see below). Defaults to an hour ago if empty. Current default value is 1747823448.

Select lightning near a point and within time window.

https://volcview.wr.usgs.gov/vv-api/lightningApi/nearPoint?lat=28.78439&long=129.09141&radiusKm=30&unixTimestamp=1747826986&plusMinusMinutes=100

Parameters:

lat: latitude, -90 - 90.
long: longitude, -180 - 180.
radiusKm: > 0 - 200
unixTimestamp: The unix sytem timestamp value (see below). Defaults to now if empty. Current value is 1747827048.
plusMinusMinutes: the number of minutes to add/subtract from time. A value of 10 will return a 20 minute time window.

Select newest lightning, mostly used for health check, grouped by each data source.

https://volcview.wr.usgs.gov/vv-api/lightningApi/newest

ADD LIGHTNING

Will insert new lightning record if latitude, longitude, timestamp and data source are unique.

curl -i --header "username:USERNAME" --header "password:PASSWORD" -X POST -d 'JSON-DATA' https://volcview.wr.usgs.gov/vv-api/lightningApi/vv-api/lightningApi/lightning
JSON Data Format: { "vnum":"253011","distanceKm":19.57,"lightningTimestamp":1583112396,"dataSource":"EN", "flashType":"IC","latitude":-8.82454,"longitude":148.38179, "peakCurrent":-9154.0,"icHeight":16790.0,"numSensors":16,"icMultiplicity":1,"cgMultiplicity":0 "kmlUrl":"http://wwlln.net/USGS/AVO/archive/...","residual":9.9 }

Unix time values are the number of seconds since Jan. 1st, 1970 UTC. The current unixtime is 1747827048. They are simple to use in different systems, which have functions to convert them to regular date objects.