Abstract: Lightning is a typical example of an instantaneous random point source target. It has close connection with severe convective phenomena such as a thunderstorm, whose distribution, variation, position and forecasting can be acquired through lightning observation. In this paper, we discuss the way to achieve instantaneous lightning signal intensification and detection from geostationary orbit by using the differences between the lightning signal and the slowly changing background noise such as that of cloud, land and ocean, combining three methods, spectral filtering, spatial filtering and background noise, enabling removal between frames. After six months of operation in orbit, lightning within the coverage of the Geostationary Lightning Imager was effectively detected, strongly supporting the case for shorttime and real-time early warning, forecasting and tracking of severe convective phenomena in China.