In 2004 I worked on a project sponsored by the Oxford Trust as part of the Nuffield Science Bursary Scheme with Dr Chris Davis in the Space Science Department at CCLRC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory.
The Project
The aim of the project was to implement a system to acquire data on lightning strikes in the vicinity of the Chilton ionosonde on the RAL site in order to compare date on the structure of the ionosphere with the data on lightning strikes to see if there is any link between electrical activity and the composition of the ionsophere and ultimately to see if there is any mechanisms for energy transfer between the upper and lower parts of the atmosphere.
Solution
Lightning strike data was obtained via a Boltek® StormTraker PC-based lightning detector. The data was acquired from this instrument via the software package NexStorm and then placed in a PostgreSQL database for analysis by a small C++ application that I wrote for the project.
Once collected in the database, the data could be analysed. Some IDL scripts were written to perform such functions as plotting each lightning strike onto a map and creating a contour plot of strike frequency.
Images of parts of the project:
- The Installed StormTracker Instrument
- Raw Data in Database
- Plot of Lightning Strikes on a Map
- Contour Plot of Strike Frequency
Project Report
Full details of the project may be found in the project report.Please note that the report and presentation and all parts thereof are © Copyright 2004 D Wilkins and may not be reproduced without permission.
