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Lightning-strike database spots trends, aids analysis

By Paul Dvorak | December 4, 2011

 

The FALLS software lets electric utility engineers and wind-farm operators easily correlate a lightning event with damaged property, obtain statistics concerning the number of lightning events or magnitudes, and evaluate lightning challenges to transmission lines, turbine blades or even an area of land.

Vaisala has launched its Thunderstorm Total Lightning Database TLD100 and TLD200. These storage modules in the Vaisala Thunderstorm Information System archive cloud-to-cloud and cloud-to-ground lightning data. The TLD100/200 offers fast data collection, retrieval, and secure storage of processed lightning solutions for clients of the lightning detection system. The database is said to let lightning-network owners and lightning-data users reduce life cycle costs for lightning-data storage while also benefiting from increased performance and maintainability.

Operators use the TLD100/200 to archive lightning data into a relational database. It provides secured access to real-time lightning data, and long-term storage of stroke and flash data for post-storm and multi-year statistical analyses. It supports multiple workstations and simultaneous queries, and manages multiple user connections. The database uses the LINUX operating system and PostgreSQL relational database.

The databases are also the foundation for an optional Fault Analysis and Lightning Location System or FALLS server software, which lets users perform GIS-based data analysis, including lightning trend and density investigations against valued assets. The company has also launched FALLS  Server 5.1 and enhanced client software. The software lets utilities and wind farm operators determine whether or not lightning has affected an asset. Users can analyze events and access historical lightning data for near-real time and past occurrences. The software lets customers work proactively in an approach to determining damage caused by lightning.

“The software lets electric utility engineers and wind-farm operators easily correlate a lightning event with damaged property, obtain statistics concerning the number of lightning events or magnitudes, and evaluate lightning challenges to transmission lines, turbine blades or even an area of land for input into the design and maintenance of their systems,” says Vaisala Product Manager Steven Rowley. “Improvements to the TLD100/200 provide lightning data from 1989 to present, provide a more powerful relational database for collecting and analyzing groups of data.
Vaisala
www.vaisala.com


Filed Under: News, Obstruction lighting
Tagged With: lightning, TLD100, vaisala
 

About The Author

Paul Dvorak

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