Lightning Detector

Description

When lightning strikes, it is critical that runway and airfield repairs are dealt with immediately. We developed and deployed our lightning detector in response to this challenge by operators. Reconfigurable for port operations.

The software provides an alert, and a visual recording, of the lightning event. The User can retrieve the short video clip to view and evaluate whether to proceed with further actions. If the event is non-significant, the User can decide to waive the inspection procedures normally associated with a post-lightning condition. With this software to facilitate the decision, the User can avoid activation of resources for unnecessary inspections, thereby freeing the resources for other productive deployment.

This solution is superior in capturing lightning events compared to a human observer. To a human observer, lightning happens too fast for processing whether any object within the area of interest was struck. However, this solution captures the lightning event over several frames of images for processing an alert message and holds a visual record of the strike. The ability to identify an actual strike on ground within the area of interest contributes to a safer operation because damage assessment resources can be quickly directed to the location concerned.

Supply and install an image-based hardware and software solution for detecting and alerting a lightning event that had occurred within the camera's field of view, defined as the area of interest.

Description

System Features

Autonomous, front-end and real-time image processing, without connecting to the internet or cloud infrastructure.

Outdoor camera(s) to cover the area of interest. Essential camera specifications are:

Full HD colour and low-light capable.

Up to 60 frames per second.

IP65 or higher rating for outdoor equipment.

Ethernet or USB connection.

An accessible switch to isolate power to the cameras, activated by the User, to not record the video streams. The video files will show black screen.

Video Management System (VMS) to store event files and logs. Each video clip records 3 seconds before and after the event (+/- 3s), along with date and time stamp. The events are stored in a dedicated folder that is easily retrieved by the User.

Storage is partitioned separately for (i) computer operating system and lightning detection software, (ii) events triggers and short clips, and (iii) recorded video footage of the site.

Automatic alerting to assigned personnel via SMS notification. The number of alerts can be adjusted according to the User’s preference.

Intuitive GUI for User to review video clips of events.

Periodic messaging to assigned personnel, via SMS, that the system is operational or non-operational. The periodicity will be adjustable according to the User’s preference.

At system reboot, all the workflow processes will be automatically restarted. The system will be ready to resume the detection and alerting without any User interference. (note: this feature works when there is no requirement to log in with User ID and Password typical of a Windows workstation. If the end user wants to retain the usual login process, then the automatic restarting of the lightning detection system will occur only after the successful login.)

Area of Interest

Cameras will be mounted to provide visual coverage of the area of interest as illustrated in the picture herein (see green lines indicating the boundary of interest. The actual boundary will be confirmed with TAB before implementation.

It is estimated that 3 cameras will be required to view the area of interest. The coverage of each camera, with 90̊ horizontal field of view (HFOV), is illustrated as a grey arc as shown.

Performance expectations

Day and night, all-weather conditions.
All types of scenes in different lighting conditions within the area of interest.
Zero-miss for actual lightning within the area of interest.
False-positive alerts are permitted, but not overwhelming to negate the intent of the system. As a guide, false-positive alert rate <50%. False-positive defined as light events mistaken as lightning events, such as flashing lights from an aircraft.
The lightning event processing, whether it is a positive lightning strike or a non-lightning event, shall be completed within 30 seconds from the lightning flash occurring.
Should a lightning event occur at the intersection of the 2 intersecting fields of view, the system may generate 2 SMS prompts with the same time/date stamp. There is no impact since the notifications are intended to alert the duty crew to view, assess and decide the follow up actions.

Overview of Detection and Alerting Process