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Detection and Research are Keys to Reducing Lightning Damage |
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NASA, the Department of Defense, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the FAA, various research and industry groups, and the governments of several foreign countries continue to investigate the ways lightning develops, better ways to predict its occurrence, and the means to reduce damage when it does strike. To attempt to predict where the next strikes will occur, a National Lightning Detection Network (NLDN) has been established across the USA. The NLDN plots the strike location of each cloud-to-ground flash. KSC has developed a new precision three-dimensional Lightning Detection and Ranging (LDAR) system which is being commercialized under a Space Act agreement between NASA and Global Atmospherics, Inc. LDAR allows the forecaster to view the height and horizontal extent of each lightning flash and not just the point-of-ground contact. Unlike the NLDN, the LDAR can also detect in-cloud and cloud-to-cloud flashes. Soon, satellites that observe the whole planet will supplement ground detectors to increase coverage of thunderstorm activity. Meteorologists can use this data to alert people in potential strike areas. The more accurate the prediction of where and when lightning will occur, the better chance there is of reducing or eliminating the damage it causes. |
Page Last Revised |
Page & Curator Information |
08/21/2001 |
Curator:
Kay Grinter (kay.grinter-1@ksc.nasa.gov) /
InDyne, Inc. |
