Effect of Number and Configuration of Participating Stations on Lightning Location outside the Network

Abstract

The effect of the number and configuration of participating stations on lightning location outside the network is herein studied by evaluating the deviation distance between the reference location and the locations determined by the ToA technique, using recorded data from the location network in Fujian. It was found that the deviation distance decreases with the increase of number of stations, changing from 0.07 to 424.7 km with an average of 35 km for five stations while being 0.03~21.6 km and 2.2 km, respectively, for eight stations. The spatial distribution of those locations outside the network seems to be on a straight line. When the number of stations was five, the station linear configuration led to a narrow and long intersection region, resulting in a large deviation distance. The more dispersed distribution of stations leads to the minimum deviation distance. The percentage of deviation distance less than specific location accuracy (LA) can provide references on network design. 7 stations are sufficient to locate the lightning near and inside the network. 8–9 stations are necessary for an LA of 1 km when the lightning is 200 to 300 km away from the center of the network. The network is not suitable for locating the lightning from each station more than 400 km on average.

Evaluation and revision of long-range single-site lightning location accuracy considering the time delay of ground wave

“…Now, ground-based lightning location systems (LLSs) typically use multiple detection stations (≥4 stations) to detect lightning electromagnetic pulses (LEMP) from lightning radiation (Koshak et al, 2004;Pohjola and Mäkelä, 2013;Wu et al, 2018;Liu et al, 2020;Wang et al, 2020). Lightning discharges generate broadband electromagnetic radiation, mainly in the frequency band from 1 Hz to 300 MHz (Gu et al, 2022), among them, electromagnetic pulses in the very-low-frequency (VLF; 3-30 kHz) band are widely used in long-range lightning location. Such signals are also called sferics, which can propagate thousands of kilometers in the Earth-ionosphere waveguide (EIWG) with little attenuation (~2-3 dB/ OPEN ACCESS EDITED BY 1,000 km) (Ammar and Ghalila, 2020).…”

Significant Location Accuracy Changes Resulting from Lightning Detection Networks Deployed on Inclined Terrains

“…There are various factors contributing to the location errors in an LDN, such as time error in the detection system itself, antenna position error, the number of substations, signal acquisition accuracy and processing method, the effects of atmosphere and terrain on signal propagation, and so on [27][28][29][30]. The layout of an LDN plays a crucial role in determining the spatial distribution of lightning location accuracy.…”

“…The layout of an LDN plays a crucial role in determining the spatial distribution of lightning location accuracy. Prior studies predominantly emphasized the location accuracy distribution of LDNs with varying geometric configurations, typically deployed over flat terrains [27,31]. No studies have delved into the impact of LDNs featuring a consistent vertical layout on location accuracy.…”