The Technology
Proprietary Sensor Design
The USPLN Precision Lightning Sensor has enhanced signal-to-noise characteristics, with self-adjusting front end sensitivity adjustment. Due to this design, the sensor provides the best lightning signal-to-noise characteristics of any lightning sensor available on the market.
Dead time is the amount of time that the sensor takes to prepare to be ready to detect the next event after sensing and processing a lightning event. USPLN sensors have programmable dead time, from a few hundred microseconds to much longer time spans. The shorter the dead time, the more lightning can be detected. Furthermore, waveform discrimination is used to stop the same event from triggering the system twice.
USPLN sensor accuracy and resolution is the best available on the market. The sensor timing resolution is 25 nanoseconds with an accuracy of about 40 nanoseconds. The timing is constantly monitored and is corrected/adjusted automatically for temperature and aging effects.
Sensors in the USPLN utilize proprietary low frequency detection methods and waveform discrimination to allow the network to calculate and display the location where the stroke hits the ground. Other lightning systems report the location where the event passed through the cloud, which is typically several hundred meters above the ground and can be offset from the actual point of impact by many kilometers.
Comprehensive Data Reporting
It is well established that a lightning flash can contain multiple strokes, which can strike several kilometers apart. The USPLN detects, locates, and displays each individual stroke in a flash in real-time, rather than combining multiple stokes into a single lightning event.
The USPLN system is designed to detect and differentiate between ground and cloud stroke lightning events. This information is beneficial in identifying and displaying storm cells that contain cloud-to-cloud lightning. Detecting both types of events provides a better overall picture of the storm activity and allows improved analysis of storm development and decay. The USPLN is also able to locate lightning over very large distances (1000’s of kilometers) using ionospheric sky wave propagation.
Usability, Maintenance and Configuration
Remote maintenance is designed into the system. Diagnosis and repair of software problems, and adjustment of sensor operating parameters can be made from almost anywhere without a site visit, typically using the Internet.
Operational software upgrades and some hardware configuration changes can be performed remotely via the communications link. This eliminates the need for a costly and time-consuming site visit for upgrades, bug fixes or hardware configuration changes. Typically the maintenance operator communicates over the Internet to the processor, which, in turn, communicates to the sensors.
Due to the higher sensitivity of the system, a larger area can be covered using fewer sensors.
The system is designed to communicate using a variety of different means, such as the Internet, serial port, satellite communications, or modem communications.