Description
The first lightning prediction system, the Lightning detector, was invented in 1894 by Alexander Stepanovich Popov. It also was the first Radio receiver in the world.
The detection equipment is designed to constantly survey atmospheric electrical activity and potential for lightning occurrence via radar and other methods. Storms are scanned by radar to determine the degree of electrification and potential for lightning occurrence.
The method used by such systems includes the stationing of at least three receivers at known locations in order to triangulate their data. When any of the receivers detects a strong electrical disturbance, the location is shared with other receivers in the area for corroboration, and then (presuming the data has passed the filters), encoded and transmitted to a central facility and thereafter processed for deriving the position of the lightning strike. By detecting thunderstorm electrical fields, a track can be predicted to allow warnings as early as 30 minutes before lightning strikes the protected area. The system is synchronized with the U.S. Coast Guard LORAN navigation network, and includes various features which permit a more accurate analysis of lightning position.
While some systems require manual remote activation of the siren from the central monitoring facility, others work automatically. These systems can also sound an "All Clear" tone when electrical activity in the monitored area has receded to safe levels. This feature eliminates both the need for skilled monitoring of the system as well as the chance for human error in interpreting the data.
Read more about this topic: Lightning-prediction System
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“The next Augustan age will dawn on the other side of the Atlantic. There will, perhaps, be a Thucydides at Boston, a Xenophon at New York, and, in time, a Virgil at Mexico, and a Newton at Peru. At last, some curious traveller from Lima will visit England and give a description of the ruins of St. Paul’s, like the editions of Balbec and Palmyra.”
—Horace Walpole (1717–1797)