Surface-Borne Time-of-Reception Measurements (STORM)

Invocon proposes the Surface-borne Time-Of-Reception Measurements (STORM) system as a method to locate the position of lightning strikes on aerospace vehicles. Initially developed as a hypervelocity impact location system, the baseline technology lends itself to simple adaptation for lightning location. It uses Time-Of-Arrival (TOA) measurements of the charge wave front imparted on a structure to triangulate the location of lightning attachment. Additional capability can be added to the triggering circuitry that will characterize the lightning strike in order to increase situational awareness for flight crews and provide maintenance crews with information vital to determine the health of an aircraft. This is particularly important for new airframes manufactured from composite materials that have not be fully characterized over the full lifetime of the aircraft.