Romanian National Lightning Detection Network Operational Aspects

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1 Romanian National Lightning Detection Network Operational Aspects Bogdan Antonescu Laboratory of Techniques for Severe Weather Forecasting Romanian National Meteorological Administration

2 The SIMIN Project Romania, despite its relatively small area, has a substantial variation in its terrain and other factors influencing the airflow dynamics and generating diverse conditions ranging from severe thunderstorm with hail in summer, to heavy snowstorms in winter. Upgrading and integrating the various environmental and meteorological sensor data to provide a comprehensive understanding of the rapidly evolving environment and its impacts on human activities, it was a necessity for achieving the modernization plan of the Romanian National Meteorological Administration.

3 The SIMIN Project In November 2000, the Romanian National Meteorological Administration (RNMA) began the first stage of the plan to modernize Romania s capabilities for detecting, monitoring and predicting meteorological and hydrological phenomena affecting Romania, by implementing the National Integrated Meteorological System - SIMIN project. SIMIN addresses Romania s primary objective of modernizing and integrating the nations various resources and real-time detection capabilities, and also facilitates the exchange of data at the Local, Regional, and Global levels.

4 The SIMIN Sensor Network SIMIN has upgraded the RNMA sensor network and integrated with the existing legacy components to provide comprehensive sensor coverage. Five WSR-98D S-band radars with four existing C-band have been integrated into the SIMIN national radar network.

5 Romanian Radar Network 5 new new S-band band Doppler Doppler radars radars 5 DOPPLER - S band (WSR-98D) BARNOVA MEDGIDIA TARNAVENI TIMISOARA ORADEA 4 DOPPLER - C band BUCURESTI CRAIOVA ORADEA IGNIS

6 Romanian National Lightning Detection Network (RNLDN) This type of network represents something new for Romania, therefore we can not speak about modernization but about a new type of information. The network was been installed in 2002 in the frame of SIMIN project. The purpose was gathering precise information on the electric activity of the atmosphere.

7 Romanian National Lightning Detection Network The manufacturer of the network is Vaisala company. The system provides information on its own display, but the data is also integrated into RNMA data flow and can be displayed on other integrated platforms / applications.

8 Romanian National Lightning Detection Network SIMIN provides an eight sensor Lightning Detection Network (LDN), using the SAFIR sensor technologies supplied by Vaisala. The Lightning Detection Network has been designed to provide best national coverage for both Intra-Cloud and Cloud-to-Ground lightning discharges, with maximum accuracy..

9 Romanian National Lightning Detection Network Poaiana Rosia Montana Movileni Pauline Rociu Grivita Tarcu Peak Bucharest Furculesti

10 Installation of SAFIR sensors A total number of about 180 potential locations have been analyzed before choosing the final configuration of the network. Sensor locations have been chosen as to satisfy best criteria of coverage and network configuration, lowest RF interference, highest redundancy and best accuracy. Final decision has been to install 3 sensors on RNMA locations and 5 on GSM towers.

11 Installation of SAFIR sensors (cont.) Challenges of the installation for each type of locations have been different. The NIMH sites selected for the installation were some of the most isolated (to reduce as possible the RF noise) and placed on highest altitude (for best coverage). The location Tarcu Peak, where NIMH has an observation station for 60 years, is situated at 2200 m in south-western Romania. Access to the site is possible only during the summer (July-September), and only by tractor or special mountain vehicle, no road existing from the base of the mountain to the top.

12 Installation of SAFIR sensors (cont.) Due to the high altitude of the location, big deposits of ice occur during the winter (400mm), which are very often associated with high winds. All the details of the installation had to be designed taking into consideration these aspects (metal structure, power supply and communication). The communication is done via a 2.4 GHz microwave channel. As to insure maximum availability of the radio link, connection has been made with two base stations, one permanent and the other used as a spare.

13 Installation of SAFIR sensors (cont.) Photo: Darius Popa Photo: Darius Popa SAFIR installation on Tarcu Peak in Romania (2200m) Communication antennas used by SAFIR on Tarcu Peak

14 Installation of SAFIR sensors (cont.) The installation on GSM towers posed different problems. Due to the height of the metal structure of the sites, which have been selected initially as possible candidates (45m 80m), twist and displacement of the top of the mast due to the wind could reduce dramatically the performances of the detection system antenna. Therefore where selected those masts which are currently used by the GSM operator as their microwave relay stations. Due to the high precision and tough specifications imposed by microwave communications, these masts are usually satisfying more demanding structural requirements in terms of stability and rigidity. Usually these masts are also better placed on the terrain and have 360º visibility.

15 Installation of SAFIR sensors (cont.) Photo: Darius Popa Photo: Darius Popa SAFIR installation on GSM tower Poiana, Romania (60m) SAFIR installation on GSM tower Rociu, Romania (78m)

16 The architecture of RNLDN Detection Network of 8 SAFIR 3000 Total Lightning Automatic Detection Stations, located on RNMA sites and GSM towers. Transmissions from the detection stations to the Network Centre, using the RNMA communication means.

17 The architecture of RNLDN (cont.) A network centre situated at RNMA Head Quarter comprising: Central Processing System (CPS) performing the acquisition and processing of detection network data (SCM), the technical control of the detection network (DCM) and data storage into Oracle database. Main User Terminal performing the real-time mapping of Total Lightning localizations and thunderstorm nowcasting processing & display (PDM or BPDM), and post processing on archived data (DAM & EPM).

18 The architecture of RNLDN (cont.) RNMA RNMA

19 Romanian National Lightning Detection Network The Central Processing System (CPS) acquires the data transmitted by the detection stations and computes the locations of lightning discharges by triangulation technique. The CPS processes and displays the technical status of the detection stations and communication links, and can be remotely accessed from VAISALA technical centre for diagnostics and maintenance. The CPS stores the processed data to the Oracle data base.

20 Romanian National Lightning Detection Network The Main User Terminal receives the data from the CPS and depending on the selected processing modules perform the advanced realtime processing and display of lightning and storm nowcasting information, as well as post processing of archived data, such as: Localization of Total lightning activity; Discrimination of lightning type; Total lightning activity density mapping; Automatic thunderstorm cells identification and tracking (direction and velocity); Automatic thunderstorm cells nowcasting; Automatic storm warning functions.

21 Romanian National Lightning Detection Network Processed data provided by the CPS Localization of total lightning activity (date, time, lat., long, intensity); Discrimination of lightning type, and characterization of CG return stroke parameters: Polarity Peak current Rise time Decay time

22 Romanian National Lightning Detection Network Processing on display terminal Total lightning activity density mapping; Automatic thunderstorm cells identification and tracking; Automatic thunderstorm cells nowcasting; Automatic warning functions for user defined sites and areas.

23 RNLDN Communications The collection network for unprocessed lightning data in the LDN uses a low bandwidth VPN provided by the GSM operator, who is also colocating 5 out of the 8 sensors. The LDN requires continuous TCP/IP connectivity from each sensor to the central server in Bucharest, at data rates of 32Kbps to 64Kbps for each sensor. The GSM network selected for this application has proven to be reliable and cost effective.

24 Romanian National Lightning Detection Network Detection performance Type of lightning discharges: total lightning activity, (intra-cloud + cloud to ground lightning); Detection efficiency: 90 %; Localization accuracy: min. < 1 km; Coverage

25 Coverage

26 RNMA

27 Detection efficiency

28 Cloud-to-Ground total activity June 2002 August 2003 in Romania

29 Total lightning activity August 31st Sept 2nd 2003 in Romania

30 Conclusions An eight-sensors Vaisala SAFIR 3000 system has been in current meteorological use in Romania since its commissioning in August Availability of both Cloud-to-Ground and Intra-Cloud precision localizations is an asset with great benefits not only for the operational meteorology

31 Bibliography Ioana, M.; Ivanovici, V.; Cordoneanu, E.; Banciu, D.; Apostu, A.; and Ford, B., 2003: SIMIN - The Integrated System For Meteorological Surveillance, Forecast And Alert In Romania. 20th International Conference on Interactive Information and Processing Systems (IIPS) for Meteorology, Oceanography, and Hydrology Ivanovici, V., Tanase, A., and Popa, D., 2004: Installation and operational results of the Vaisala SAFIR 3000 system in Romania. 18th International Lightning Detection Conference, 7-9 June 2004, Helsinki, Finland

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