I checked the difference between average_flash_area and minimum_flash_area:
import xarray as xr
from glob import glob
ds_glm_test = xr.open_dataset('../data/GOES-16/GLM_L2_Grid/2km/OR_GLM-L2-GLMC-M3_G16_s20201530000000_e20201530005000_c20211480438470.nc')
(ds_glm_test['average_flash_area'] - ds_glm_test['minimum_flash_area']).plot(vmin=-1e3, vmax=1e3, cmap='RdBu_r')
Some negative values are shown in the figure:

If I understand correctly, the difference should be positive, right?