GPS‐based mapping system reveals lightning inside storms

Abstract
Great Plains storms are known for their ability to produce severe weather. They are also prodigious producers of lightning; just how prodigious has been vividly illustrated by observations in central Oklahoma with a new Global Positioning System (GPS)‐based lightning mapping system.The observations are useful not only for studying storm electrification but also provide a valuable indicator of storm structure and intensity.The system maps lightning in three spatial dimensions by measuring the times at which impulsive VHF radiation events arrive at a network of ground‐based measurement stations. Low‐cost GPS receivers provide sufficient timing accuracy to produce high‐quality pictures of the total lightning activity over a large area.

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