Single station system and method of locating lightning strikes

US6552521B1 · kind B1 · utility

Assignee

• The United States of America as represented by the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration · US

Inventors

• Pedro J. Medelius · Merritt Island, US
• Stanley O. Starr · Indialantic, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Jul 10, 2001
• Grant date: Apr 22, 2003
• Expiry date: Jul 10, 2021

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G01S11/16
• WIPO field: Measurement
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

An embodiment of the present invention uses a single detection system to approximate a location of lightning strikes. This system is triggered by a broadband RF detector and measures a time until the arrival of a leading edge of the thunder acoustic pulse. This time difference is used to determine a slant range R from the detector to the closest approach of the lightning. The azimuth and elevation are determined by an array of acoustic sensors. The leading edge of the thunder waveform is cross-correlated between the various acoustic sensors in the array to determine the difference in time of arrival, &Dgr;T. A set of &Dgr;T's is used to determine the direction of arrival, AZ and EL. The three estimated variables (R, AZ, EL) are used to locate a probable point of the lightning strike.