Locating rocket triggered lightning using the LLP lightning locating system at the NASA Kennedy Space CenterFive rocket-triggered cloud-to-ground lightning flashes were detected by the operational lightning-locating system at the NASA Kennedy Space Center on August 17, 1984. The locating system, which was designed to detect natural lightning, detected at least 2 and as many as 6 strokes in the triggered flashes, suggesting that some of the strokes in the triggered lightning had signal-amplitude and waveshape characteristics similar to natural lightning. However, not all triggered strokes were detected, indicating that some strokes were atypical in nature. Since the ground-strike points of the triggered flashes were known quite precisely, the accuracy of the lightning-locating system was also evaluated. The three direction finders were found to have a mean bearing accuracy of + or - 0.5-0.6 deg. The distance errors of the real-time position solutions of the locating system on the triggered flashes were in the range of 195-770 m, with a mean of 480 m.
Document ID
19860062585
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Maier, M. W. (Lightning Location and Protection, Inc. Tucson, AZ, United States)
Jafferis, W. (NASA Kennedy Space Center Cocoa Beach, FL, United States)