The Three-Dimensional Locating of VHF Broadband Lightning Interferometers

VHF (Very High Frequency) lightning interferometers can locate and observe lightning discharges with a high time resolution. Especially the appearance of continuous interferometers makes the 2-D location of interferometers further improve in time resolution and completeness. However, there is uncert...

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Main Authors: Hengyi Liu, Shi Qiu, Wansheng Dong
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2018-08-01
Series:Atmosphere
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/9/8/317
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spelling doaj-7b34d6a70a4c48d783a659126f30cad42020-11-25T00:13:26ZengMDPI AGAtmosphere2073-44332018-08-019831710.3390/atmos9080317atmos9080317The Three-Dimensional Locating of VHF Broadband Lightning InterferometersHengyi Liu0Shi Qiu1Wansheng Dong2Laboratory of Lightning Physics and Protection Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Severe Weather, Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, Beijing 100081, ChinaNational Key Laboratory on Electromagnetic Environmental Effects and Electro-Optical Engineering, Army Engineering University, Nanjing 210007, ChinaLaboratory of Lightning Physics and Protection Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Severe Weather, Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, Beijing 100081, ChinaVHF (Very High Frequency) lightning interferometers can locate and observe lightning discharges with a high time resolution. Especially the appearance of continuous interferometers makes the 2-D location of interferometers further improve in time resolution and completeness. However, there is uncertainty in the conclusion obtained by simply analyzing the 2-D locating information. Without the support of other 3-D total lightning locating networks, the 2-station interferometer becomes an option to obtain 3-D information. This paper introduces a 3-D lightning location method of a 2-station broadband interferometer, which uses the theodolite wind measurement method for reference, and gives the simulation results of the location accuracy. Finally, using the multi-baseline continuous 2-D locating method and the 3-D locating method, the locating results of one intra-cloud flash and the statistical results of the initiation heights of 61 cloud-to-ground flashes and 80 intra-cloud flashes are given. The results show that the two-station interferometer has high observation accuracy on both sides of the connection between the two sites. The locating accuracy will deteriorate as the distance between the radiation source and the two stations increases or the height decreases. The actual locating results are similar to those of the existing VHF TDOA (Time Difference of Arrival) lightning locating network.http://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/9/8/3173-D lightning locatingVHF lightning interferometertwo-station interferometerlightning
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Hengyi Liu
Shi Qiu
Wansheng Dong
spellingShingle Hengyi Liu
Shi Qiu
Wansheng Dong
The Three-Dimensional Locating of VHF Broadband Lightning Interferometers
Atmosphere
3-D lightning locating
VHF lightning interferometer
two-station interferometer
lightning
author_facet Hengyi Liu
Shi Qiu
Wansheng Dong
author_sort Hengyi Liu
title The Three-Dimensional Locating of VHF Broadband Lightning Interferometers
title_short The Three-Dimensional Locating of VHF Broadband Lightning Interferometers
title_full The Three-Dimensional Locating of VHF Broadband Lightning Interferometers
title_fullStr The Three-Dimensional Locating of VHF Broadband Lightning Interferometers
title_full_unstemmed The Three-Dimensional Locating of VHF Broadband Lightning Interferometers
title_sort three-dimensional locating of vhf broadband lightning interferometers
publisher MDPI AG
series Atmosphere
issn 2073-4433
publishDate 2018-08-01
description VHF (Very High Frequency) lightning interferometers can locate and observe lightning discharges with a high time resolution. Especially the appearance of continuous interferometers makes the 2-D location of interferometers further improve in time resolution and completeness. However, there is uncertainty in the conclusion obtained by simply analyzing the 2-D locating information. Without the support of other 3-D total lightning locating networks, the 2-station interferometer becomes an option to obtain 3-D information. This paper introduces a 3-D lightning location method of a 2-station broadband interferometer, which uses the theodolite wind measurement method for reference, and gives the simulation results of the location accuracy. Finally, using the multi-baseline continuous 2-D locating method and the 3-D locating method, the locating results of one intra-cloud flash and the statistical results of the initiation heights of 61 cloud-to-ground flashes and 80 intra-cloud flashes are given. The results show that the two-station interferometer has high observation accuracy on both sides of the connection between the two sites. The locating accuracy will deteriorate as the distance between the radiation source and the two stations increases or the height decreases. The actual locating results are similar to those of the existing VHF TDOA (Time Difference of Arrival) lightning locating network.
topic 3-D lightning locating
VHF lightning interferometer
two-station interferometer
lightning
url http://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/9/8/317
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