The technology of real-time lightning ground stroke monitoring has advanced significantly during this decade. There is a clear need for an integrated national lightning network. In order to accomplish this however, techniques must be developed to collect lightning data from geographically separate (and often overlapping) networks. Network operational characteristics, such as peak data rates, must be evaluated to design adequate communication, processing, and data archival systems. Techniques for integrating networks into a common data base must be developed and tested, such as selecting the optimal location for a stroke sensed by two or more overlapping networks. In Phase I, R*SCAN Corporation proposes to integrate lightning data from two existing Lightning Position and Tracking System (LPATS) networks that provide overlapping coverage of the central United States. Techniques will be developed to perform on-line quality assurance, raw data archival, and compression of the data onto a grid system related to the MDR (manually digitized radar) system currently in widespread use. These data would then be easily available for dissemination to a variety of users in several formats. Gridded lightning data will be made available to the National Severe Storms Forecast Center and other organizations for test and evaluation. Initial experiments will be conducted to assess the utility of lightning network data for use in conjunction with automated weather stations.The potential commercial application as described by the awardee:Just as there are now numerous governmental and private sector users for satellite and radar data, similar requirements for real-time (and climatological) lightning data are developing. Once data from scattered lightning tracking networks are assembled into an on-line interactive national data base, numerous informational and storm alerting products will result.
