Electro-optic lightning detector

The design, alignment, calibration, and field deployment of a solid-state lightning detector is described. The primary sensing component of the detector is a potassium dihydrogen phosphate electro-optic crystal that is attached in series to a flat-plate aluminum antenna; the antenna is exposed to th...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied optics (2004) 1999-07, Vol.38 (21), p.4623-4634
Main Authors: Koshak, W J, Solakiewicz, R J
Format: Article
Language:English
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The design, alignment, calibration, and field deployment of a solid-state lightning detector is described. The primary sensing component of the detector is a potassium dihydrogen phosphate electro-optic crystal that is attached in series to a flat-plate aluminum antenna; the antenna is exposed to the ambient thundercloud electric field. A semiconductor laser diode (lambda = 685 nm), polarizing optics, and the crystal are arranged in a Pockels cell configuration. Lightning-caused electric field changes are related to small changes in the transmission of laser light through the optical cell. Several hundred lightning electric field change excursions were recorded during five thunderstorms that occurred in the summer of 1998 at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center in northern Alabama.
ISSN:1559-128X
DOI:10.1364/AO.38.004623