Vulcan Digital

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Sponsored by Professor Al Gasiewski

Lightning and electrical storms are one of the many chaotic aspects of nature. It is not uncommon for lightning to damage critical infrastructure when it strikes buildings or compromises electrical equipment. Fire departments responded to over 22,000 fires caused by lightning in the United States each year between 2007 and 2011. With increasing frequency, lightning strikes ignite wildfires, destroying resources, threatening public health and safety, and displacing many from their homes. Especially in large wilderness areas, the ability to pinpoint the location of a lightning-caused fire is very difficult due to the vast swath of land that might have been affected. Being able to accurately detect the location of a lightning strike opens up new possibilities of disaster response. 

The GPS Organized Observation Network (GOrgON) is a system of synchronous devices that detects lightning strikes with high resolution at a low cost. The system achieves a coherent clocking mechanism via GPS-based clocking. GOrgON can rapidly detect lightning strikes to within tens of meters over a wide area. 

Worldwide, GOrgON can benefit public safety and provide additional data for meteorological investigations. Using lightning tracking in conjunction with conventional weather radar allows for a more complete storm tracking system. Wildland firefighters can use this system to better keep track of electrical storm activity and then issue an appropriate response to a given storm. Initial efforts and resources devoted to potential forest fires are often spread thin, so aiding the initial fire hazard detection process increases responder efficiency.

 The GOrgON system is more cost effective and precise than previously available technologies. As a stand-alone source of lightning data, GOrgON is a boon to areas previously lacking sufficient lightning tracking capabilities.