Three‐Dimensional Broadband Interferometric Mapping and Polarization (BIMAP‐3D) Observations of Lightning Discharge Processes

Abstract

In 2018, we introduced a broadband interferometric mapping and polarization observation system (BIMAP) to study the detailed physics of lightning discharge processes (Shao et al., 2018(Shao et al., , 2020). The BIMAP system consists of three sets of spatially separated broadband RF (20-80 MHz) antennas to map the lightning sources in 2D angular space as a typical broadband lightning interferometer (e.g.,

Lightning VHF Radiation Mapping Method for an Irregular Short‐Baseline Array

“…The second situation is using only two baselines produced by four non-coplanar antennas to solve Equation 7. If we have only two non-coplanar baselines, we can substitute Equation 2 into Equation 7 to get the analytical expression, as done by Shao et al (2021Shao et al ( , 2023. Here we provided another solution, which is more flexible for baseline quantities.…”

“…The method proposed by Shao et al (2021Shao et al ( , 2023 can be a subset of Method 2 if we calculate using two non-coplanar baselines each time. Here, we prefer to take the weighted average of different three-antenna combinations to save calculation time.…”

“…If we have only two non‐coplanar baselines, we can substitute Equation into Equation to get the analytical expression, as done by Shao et al. (2021, 2023). Here we provided another solution, which is more flexible for baseline quantities.…”

“…Recently, Shao et al. (2021, 2023) provided the analytic solution and uncertainty analysis using any two baselines in a general non‐coplanar antenna array for the first time. They take the arithmetic average of all combinations as the final result.…”

“…introduced a grid-searching mapping method using multiple different coplanar baselines, and they proved that more independent baselines could improve accuracy and efficiency. Recently, Shao et al (2021Shao et al ( , 2023 provided the analytic solution and uncertainty analysis using any two baselines in a general non-coplanar antenna array for the first time. They take the arithmetic average of all combinations as the final result.…”