The following shows our current plans for deploying the New Mexico Tech 3-dimensional lightning mapping system during STEPS. The new layout is based on a reconnaissance trip into the area by Paul Krehbiel and Bill Rison on Oct 21-24, during which we talked with a number of landowners about the use of possible sites. We were able to identify and arrange for the use of about half of the sites shown below and should have no difficulty arranging for the remaining sites.
Based on the initial site selection and detectability issues, the interior part of the network will have five stations located at the vertices of a pentagon and one station in the approximate center of the pentagon. A minimum of six stations are needed for good 3-dimensional locations, and the central core will provide this. Eight stations will be located at varying distances around the pentagon to extend the coverage over a wider area, for a total of 14 stations.
Figure 1. The Lightning Mapping Network. Fourteen stations are to be deployed at the locations shown. The green triangle shows the baselines of the triple Doppler network. The radar locations are only approximate and as shown correspond to about a 50 km baseline between the Idalia (S-Pol) and Bethune (CSU-CHILL) sites and about 60 km baselines from each of these to the Goodland NEXRAD site. The mapping network will provide high-resolution coverage in and around the triple Doppler region between the radars and good-quality coverage to well outside the radar network.
Figure 2. Communications links for the lightning mapping stations. The central and western stations will be linked by wireless modems to a central location (Base) on high ground along Highway 385 north of Burlington, and from there to our central control and processing site near the National Weather Service office in Goodland. The ethernet link may be via a grain elevator in Goodland. The southern and eastern stations will communicate directly to Goodland. The links will be used to control the operation of the stations and hopefully also to process some of the observations in real-time. Complete data will be recorded locally at each site on DAT tape for post-processing. A lightning interferometer may be operated at the Base station or at one of the other central stations.
Topographic profiles between the approximate radar sites at Bethune (CSU-CHILL), Idalia (NCAR S-Pol), and Goodland (NWS 88D NEXRAD).