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Concept
Lightning detection
Summary
A lightning detector is a device that detects lightning produced by thunderstorms. There are three primary types of detectors: ground-based systems using multiple antennas, mobile systems using a direction and a sense antenna in the same location (often aboard an aircraft), and space-based systems.
The first such device was invented in 1894 by Alexander Stepanovich Popov. It also was the first radio receiver in the world.
Ground-based and mobile detectors calculate the direction and severity of lightning from the current location using radio direction-finding techniques along with an analysis of the characteristic frequencies emitted by lightning. Ground-based systems use triangulation from multiple locations to determine distance, while mobile systems estimate distance using signal frequency and attenuation. Space-based detectors on satellites can be used to locate lightning range, bearing and intensity by direct observation.
Ground-based lightning detector networks are used by meteorological services like the National Weather Service in the United States, the Meteorological Service of Canada, the European Cooperation for Lightning Detection (EUCLID), the Institute for Ubiquitous Meteorology (Ubimet) and by other organizations like electrical utilities and forest fire prevention services.
Each system used for lightning detection has its own limitations. These include
A single ground-based lightning network must be able to detect a flash with at least three antennas to locate it with an acceptable margin of error. This often leads to the rejection of cloud-to-cloud lightning, as one antenna might detect the position of the flash on the starting cloud and the other antenna the receiving one. As a result, ground-based networks have a tendency to underestimate the number of flashes, especially at the beginning of storms where cloud-to-cloud lightning is prevalent.
Ground-based systems that use multiple locations and time-of-flight detection methods must have a central device to collect strike and timing data to calculate location.
Official source
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