Lightning detection

About: Lightning detection is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 1143 publications have been published within this topic receiving 25317 citations. The topic is also known as: lightning detector.

Lightning: Physics and Effects

Abstract: Preface 1. Introduction 2. Incidence of lightning 3. Electrical structure of lightning-producing clouds 4. Downward negative lightning discharges to ground 5. Positive and bipolar lightning discharges to ground 6. Upward lightning initiated by ground-based objects 7. Artificial initiation (triggering) of lightning by ground-based activity 8. Winter lightning in Japan 9. Cloud discharges 10. Lightning and airborne vehicles 11. Thunder 12. Modelling of lightning processes 13. The distant lightning electromagnetic environment: atmospherics, Schumann resonances and whistlers 14. Lightning effects in the middle and upper atmosphere 15. Lightning effects on the chemistry of the atmosphere 16. Extraterrestrial lightning 17. Lightning locating systems 18. Deleterious effects of lightning and protective techniques 19. Lightning hazards to humans and animals 20. Ball lightning, bead lightning, and other unusual discharges Appendix. books on lightning and related subjects Subjects Index.

A Combined TOA/MDF Technology Upgrade of the U.S. National Lightning Detection Network

Abstract: The U.S. National Lightning Detection Network TM (NLDN) has provided lightning data covering the continental United States since 1989. Using information gathered from more than 100 sensors, the NLDN provides both real-time and historical lightning data to the electric utility industry, the National Weather Service, and other government and commercial users. It is also the primary source of lightning data for use in research and climatological studies in the United States. In this paper we discuss the design, implementation, and data from the time-of-arrival/magnetic direction finder (TOA/MDF) network following a recent system-wide upgrade. The location accuracy (the maximum dimension of a confidence region around the stroke location) has been improved by a factor of 4 to 8 since 1991, resulting in a median accuracy of 500 m. The expected flash detection efficiency ranges from 80% to 90% for those events with peak currents above 5 kA, varying slightly by region. Subsequent strokes and strokes with peak currents less than 5 kA can now be detected and located; however, the detection efficiency for these events is not quantified in this study because their peak current distribution is not well known.

An Overview of Lightning Locating Systems: History, Techniques, and Data Uses, With an In-Depth Look at the U.S. NLDN

Abstract: Lightning in all corners of the world is monitored by one or more land- or space-based lightning locating systems (LLSs). The applications that have driven these developments are numerous and varied. This paper describes the history leading to modern LLSs that sense lightning radiation fields at multiple remote sensors, focusing on the interactions between enabling technology, scientific discovery, technical development, and uses of the data. An overview of all widely used detection and location methods is provided, including a general discussion of their relative strengths and weaknesses for various applications. The U.S. National Lightning Detection Network (NLDN) is presented as a case study, since this LLS has been providing real-time lightning information since the early 1980s, and has provided continental-scale (U.S.) information to research and operational users since 1989. This network has also undergone a series of improvements during its >20-year life in response to evolving detection technologies and expanding requirements for applications. Recent analyses of modeled and actual performance of the current NLDN are also summarized. The paper concludes with a view of the short- and long-term requirements for improved lightning measurements that are needed to address some open scientific questions and fill the needs of emerging applications.

Accuracy of the Lightning Mapping Array

Abstract: [1] The location accuracy of the New Mexico Tech Lightning Mapping Array (LMA) has been investigated experimentally using sounding balloon measurements, airplane tracks, and observations of distant storms. We have also developed simple geometric models for estimating the location uncertainty of sources both over and outside the network. The model results are found to be a good estimator of the observed errors and also agree with covariance estimates of the location uncertainties obtained from the least squares solution technique. Sources over the network are located with an uncertainty of 6–12 m rms in the horizontal and 20–30 m rms in the vertical. This corresponds well with the uncertainties of the arrival time measurements, determined from the distribution of chi-square values to be 40–50 ns rms. Outside the network the location uncertainties increase with distance. The geometric model shows that the range and altitude errors increase as the range squared, r2, while the azimuthal error increases linearly with r. For the 13 station, 70 km diameter network deployed during STEPS the range and height errors of distant sources were comparable to each other, while the azimuthal errors were much smaller. The difference in the range and azimuth errors causes distant storms to be elongated radially in plan views of the observations. The overall results are shown to agree well with hyperbolic formulations of time of arrival measurements [e.g., Proctor, 1971]. Two appendices describe (1) the basic operation of the LMA and the detailed manner in which its measurements are processed and (2) the effect of systematic errors on lightning observations. The latter provides an alternative explanation for the systematic height errors found by Boccippio et al. [2001] in distant storm data from the Lightning Detection and Ranging system at Kennedy Space Center.

Handbook of atmospheric electrodynamics

Abstract: Ion Chemistry and Composition of the Atmosphere, A.A. Viggiano and F. Arnold Meteorologic Aspects of Thunderstorms, E.R. Williams Thunderstorm Electrification, C.P.R. Saunders Lightning Currents, T. Ogawa Lightning Detection from Ground and Space, R.E. Orville Artificially Triggered Lightning, K. Horii and M. Nakano Ball Lightning, H. Kikuchi Lightning and Atmospheric Chemistry: The Rate of Atmospheric NO Production, M.G. Lawrence, W.L. Chameides, P.S. Kasibhatla, H.Levy II, and W. Moxim Lightning Within Planetary Atmospheres, K. Rinnert Quasistatic Electromagnetic Phenomena in the Atmosphere and Ionosphere, R.H. Holzworth Schumann Resonances, D.D. Sentman Low-Frequency Radio Noise, A.C. Frazer-Smith Radio Noise Above 300 kHz due to Natural Causes, D.E. Proctor Atmospheric Noise and Its Effects of Telecommunication System Performance, A.D. Spaulding