Conceptual design of a spaceborne lightning sensor

Abstract

A conceptual design of a broad-area optical lightning telescope sensor (BOLTS) designed to provide full-time (day/night) coverage of the continental United States from a geosynchronous orbit is described. Variations are discussed that could cover the whole globe from four to five geosynchronous satellites or cover only smaller areas with a high (2.5 km) resolution. The design is based on research results of the initial phase of a NASA-sponsored program. The ground resolution will be 8 x 8 km. The focal plane is an 800 x 800 pixel CCD array, electronically subdivided to allow for the high data rates (1000 frames per sec) imposed by the characteristics of lightning flashes. It will detect lightning strokes whose optical power is greater than 10 million watts, with a probability of detection of 0.9, and a false alarm rate of 0.1.