Single station system and method of locating lightning strikes

A system to determine an approximate location of lighting strikes comprising:

• an electric field sensor;
• a plurality of acoustic sound sensors collocated with the electric field sensor;
• a temperature sensor;
• and
• a processor to determine a distance to lighting strikes based on a time differential between an electric field pulse and an acoustic wave at one of the plurality of acoustic sensors, and an angle of arrival based on a difference of a time of arrival of the sonic wave at the plurality of acoustic sensors, the processor uses a look-up table to compensate for a speed of sound based on ambient temperature measured by the temperature sensor.

A method of determining an approximate location of a lightning strike comprising the following steps:

• measuring the ambient temperature;
• collecting lightning strike information, including a time of arrival of an electric field pulse using an electric field sensor and a time of arrival data of an associated sonic wave from a lightning strike, wherein the sonic wave data is detected using a plurality of acoustic sensors collocated with the electric field sensor;
• and
• processing the lightning strike information including compensating for a speed of sound based on the ambient temperature approximate the location of the lightning strike.

A method for determining an approximate location of a lightning strike comprising the following steps:

• detecting an electric field signal created by the lightning strike with a single electric field sensor;
• detecting a sonic pulse created by the lightning strike with a plurality of approximately collocated acoustic sensors;
• measuring a time of arrival difference between the electric field signal and the sonic pulse at one of the plurality of approximately collocated sensors to determine an approximate distance from the lightning strike to the electric field sensor;
• measuring a time of arrival difference between the sonic pulse at each of the plurality of approximately collocated acoustic sensors to determine an angle of arrival of the sonic pulse;
• and
• providing a range, azimuth and elevation of the location of the lightning strike relative to the electric field sensor.

A method of designing a single station lightning location system comprising;

• positioning a single electric field sensor;
• defining at least a first geometry for locating a plurality of acoustic sensors about the single electric field sensor;
• calculating an accuracy of direction of arrival estimates based on the at least first selected geometry;
• defining a second geometry for locating the plurality of acoustic sensors about the single electric field sensor;
• calculating an accuracy of direction of arrival estimates based on the second selected geometry;
• and
• comparing the accuracy of direction and arrival estimates based on the first and second geometries with the expected location of the lightning strike to determine the geometry providing the greatest accuracy in determining the range, azimuth and elevation of the lightning strike as compared to the location of the electric field sensor.