A Review of Lightning Location Systems: Part II - Performance Parameters and Existing Networks

The geolocation and analysis of lightning discharges are fundamental in a wide variety of applications. Typical users of lightning information are meteorological agencies, aviation or air traffic authorities, land management entities, electric power transmission and distribution operators and other public utilities. Nowadays the lightning strike hazards may be properly managed by using well performing Lightning Location Systems (LLS). All sensors and devices of a network used to detect and locate lightning events can be featured by parameters that numerically describe reliability, precision and ranges of operation. This paper proposes an overview on the main parameters of LLSs: Detection Efficiency, False Alarm Rate and Location Accuracy. The effects of Detection efficiency on cloud-to-ground flashes are discussed. Examples of performance parameters of LLS networks in the Mediterranean area are proposed and, finally, two ground truth reference towers are presented.