Method and system for measuring the position of lightning strokes
First Claim
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1. A method of measuring the position of a lightning stroke, comprisingreceiving radiant energy emissions of a lightning stroke independently of one another at least three angularly spaced receivers and at a fourth central receiver spaced from the at least three receivers;
- sampling a series of radiant energy emissions from the at least three receivers and the central receiver at a predetermined rate;
cross-correlating each of the received samples of the series of radiant energy emissions from one receiver at multiple delays with the received samples of the series from another receiver, taking all four receivers pairwise until all independent cross-correlations of the samples are obtained;
detecting peak values from the independent cross-correlated samples; and
calculating a location relative to the at least three receivers and the central receiver for determining the position of the lightning stroke.
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Abstract
A method and system for unambiguous pre-detection real time measurement of lightning strokes.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method of measuring the position of a lightning stroke, comprising
receiving radiant energy emissions of a lightning stroke independently of one another at least three angularly spaced receivers and at a fourth central receiver spaced from the at least three receivers; -
sampling a series of radiant energy emissions from the at least three receivers and the central receiver at a predetermined rate; cross-correlating each of the received samples of the series of radiant energy emissions from one receiver at multiple delays with the received samples of the series from another receiver, taking all four receivers pairwise until all independent cross-correlations of the samples are obtained; detecting peak values from the independent cross-correlated samples; and calculating a location relative to the at least three receivers and the central receiver for determining the position of the lightning stroke. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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2. A method of measuring the location of a lightning stroke in three dimensions, comprising
positioning at least three angularly spaced receivers to minimize a number of nearly parallel and near parallel imaginary lines drawn between the spaced receivers, and a central receiver spaced from the three angularly spaced receivers, at least one of said spaced receivers being in a different plane, from the other receivers; -
detecting radiant energy emission of a lightning stroke independently of one another at the at least three angularly spaced receivers and the central receiver; sampling the radiant energy corresponding to the emission from the central location and the at least three angularly spaced receivers at a predetermined rate to generate a series of delayed samples; cross-correlating each of the samples from one receiver with samples from another receiver; taking all the receivers pairwise until all independent cross-correlations are obtained; detecting peak values from the cross-correlated samples; and calculating a location relative to the receivers range, azimuth, and elevation. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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3. A system for measuring the position of a lightning stroke, comprising at least three receivers angularly spaced from one another in a coverage area, a central receiver;
- a cable for connecting the central receiver to each of the angularly spaced receivers;
means for receiving radiant energy emissions corresponding a lightning stroke at each of the three receivers and the central receiver, means for sampling the received radiant energy from each of the receivers at a predetermined rate;means for determining peak values of pairs of the receivers; means including the peak values of each cross pair of receivers for estimating at least the time delay of arrival of the at least three angularly spaced receiver; and means for calculating the lightning location in accordance with the estimated time delay of arrival. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
- a cable for connecting the central receiver to each of the angularly spaced receivers;
Specification