The Non-Quality Controlled Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) on International Space Station (ISS) Backgrounds dataset was collected by the LIS instrument mounted on the ISS and are used to detect the distribution and variability of total lightning occurring in the Earth’s tropical and subtropical regions. This dataset consists of non-quality controlled background data. This data collection can be used for severe storm detection and analysis, as well as for lightning-atmosphere interaction studies. The LIS instrument makes measurements during both day and night with high detection efficiency. The data are available in both HDF-4 and netCDF-4 formats.