Thunderstorm sensor and method of identifying and locating thunderstorms
First Claim
1. A thunderstorm sensor comprising:
- means for determining the amplitude of a radiated field produced by a lightning discharge to ground;
means for determining the relative electric field change of said lightning discharge to ground; and
means responsive to the field amplitude and to the relative electric field change for identifying thunderstorm activity within a range of the sensor.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The thunderstorm sensor of the present invention includes a pair of orthogonally positioned magnetic loop antennas to provide signals representative of the north-south and east-west components of the magnetic field produced by a lightning discharge. The system also includes an omni-directional electric field antenna to provide a signal representative of the electric field produced by a lightning discharge. The magnetic field and electric field signals from the antennas are coupled to an analog signal processor and digitizer which provides digital representations of the peak north-south and peak east-west components of the radiated magnetic field. The analog signal processor and digitizer also provides digital representations of the peak radiated electric field and the electric field sampled at a time subsequent to the time of occurrence of the peak radiated field wherein the second sampled electric field value represents the electrostatic field change due to the lightning discharge. The amplitude of the magnetic field is determined from the digital representations of the north-south and east-west components of the magnetic field. The relative electric field change is determined from the ratio of the second sampled electric field to the peak radiated electric field. The amplitude of the magnetic field and the relative electric field change are compared to respective first and second reference values to determine whether the detected lightning is associated with a thunderstorm within one or more predetermined ranges of the sensor.
44 Citations
23 Claims
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1. A thunderstorm sensor comprising:
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means for determining the amplitude of a radiated field produced by a lightning discharge to ground; means for determining the relative electric field change of said lightning discharge to ground; and means responsive to the field amplitude and to the relative electric field change for identifying thunderstorm activity within a range of the sensor. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A thunderstorm sensor comprising:
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means for sensing the electric field produced by a lightning discharge to ground to provide a signal representative thereof; means responsive to the electric field signal for determining the ratio of two representations, each indicative of the electric field signal; means for determining the amplitude of a field produced by a lightning discharge to ground; and means responsive to said field amplitude and to said ratio for identifying thunderstorm activity within a range of the sensor. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A thunderstorm sensor comprising:
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means for sensing the magnetic and electric fields produced by a lightning discharge to provide signals representative thereof; means responsive to the magnetic field and electric field signals for determining the occurrence of a lightning discharge to ground within a given range of the sensor; means responsive to the electric field signal for determining a ratio of two representations, each indicative of the electric field signal; and means responsive to said ratio for confirming said range. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13)
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14. A thunderstorm sensor comprising:
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means for sensing the magnetic and electric fields produced by a lightning discharge to provide signals representative thereof; means responsive to the magnetic field and electric field signals for determining the occurrence of a lightning discharge to ground within a given range of the sensor; means responsive to the electric field signal for determining a ratio of two representations each indicative of the electric field signal; and means responsive to said ratio for determining whether said lightning discharge is close to the sensor or a distance from the sensor. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16)
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17. A method for detecting thunderstorms comprising:
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sensing at a first location the magnetic and electric fields produced by a lightning discharge; identifying the fields associated with a lightning discharge to ground; determining the peak amplitude of the sensed magnetic field associated with said lightning discharge to ground; determining a ratio of two values indicative of the sensed electric field of said lightning discharge to ground; comparing said peak amplitude to a first value; comparing said ratio to a second value; and identifying a thunderstorm within a given range of said first location if said the peak amplitude of the magnetic field is greater than the first value and said ratio is greater than the second value. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A method for detecting thunderstorms comprising:
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sensing at a location the electric fields produced by lightning discharges; identifying an electric field associated with a lightning discharge to ground; determining the peak amplitude of a radiated electric field associated with said lightning discharge to ground to provide a value representative thereof; sampling the electric field at a time subsequent to said peak radiated field to provide a value representative of the electrostatic field change due to said lightning discharge; determining a ratio of the subsequent sampled field value to the peak radiated field value; and identifying a thunderstorm within a given range of the sensing location in response to said peak amplitude value and said ratio.
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Specification