New Zealand is one of the nerve centres of an international lightning monitoring network using a revolutionary approach.
Since data started flowing several months ago, participating scientists have been able to view a remarkable panorama of lightning strikes over New Zealand, Australia and millions of square kilometres of the Pacific.
The network's
results could provide new insights on the nature and distribution of lightning strikes, including their influence on mysterious "red sprites", huge upper-atmosphere electrical events triggered by lower-level cloud-to-ground strikes.
Physicist Emeritus Professor Richard Dowden of the University of Otago, who initiated the network, says many other benefits could result. These include potentially improved risk management of conservation areas in Australia, where lightning-induced fires cause significant ecosystem damage.
The system could also improve aircraft safety, allowing storm areas to be identified more exactly and avoided.
The network monitors cloud-to-ground lightning strikes, usually over a distance of about 5km. Stations based in Dunedin, Australia, Singapore, Japan and Taiwan are already operating, linked by the internet.
Professor Dowden and his research company, Low Frequency Electromagnetic Research, have patented aspects of the new approach which uses low radio frequencies.
- NZPA
Herald feature: Environment
