Lightning strike position locating method, apparatus, system and program

摘要

It is an object of the present invention to provide a lightning strike position locating method, apparatus, system and program that are free of topography-dependent error. The present invention provides a method for locating the position of a lightning strike by calculating a ground point having a difference in propagation distance that would result in such arrival time difference by using the difference between the times at which electromagnetic waves generated by the lightning strike arrive at receiving stations (R1, R2 and R3) in at least three different locations , wherein a ground point having a difference in horizontal distance that would result in such arrival time difference is calculated using the horizontal coordinates of the respective receiving stations (R1, R2 and R3) as a reference, this ground point is taken as the tentative lightning strike position (X), and, on the basis of this tentative lightning strike position (X), the position is corrected to a lightning strike position obtained by evaluating the arrival time difference between terms of the creepage distances (L_s) following depressions and elevations in the ground surface. In other words, a lightning strike position determined by a conventional system is used as the tentative lightning strike position (X), and is corrected to match an evaluation based on creepage distances (L_s). As a result, the positional deviation seen in conventional systems is eliminated. ;Furthermore, the depressions and elevations in the ground surface are smoothed to a spatial wavelength that is comparable to the wavelength of the lightning electromagnetic waves. As a result, the distance (time) of actual propagation of the ground surface waves is reflected in the location results, which is ideal.