Mobile VHF Lightning Mapping System

Toyon Research Corporation proposes to develop a mobile VHF-based sensor suite for detecting and mapping lightning flashes. The proposes Lightning Mapping Unmanned Sensor (LUTMUS)™ System will meet small unmanned aerial system (UAS) cost, size, weight, and power (C-SWAP) constraints and should be capable of being placed on virtually any small UAS. The most critical component of the LITMUS system us the VHF sensor design, which will be developed during the Phase I program. Initial performance estimates indicate that the LITMUS system with four geometrically diverse agents will be capable of geolocating intra-cloud (IC) flashes to less than 10-m spherical error probably (SEP), and will be able to map the entire flash sequence from beginning to end. In addition to the VHF sensor, the LITMUS system will comprise a video camera, GPS antenna and receiver, a communication system, and a mission control unit (MCU) for cross-correlating signals from multiple UASs. At the conclusion of the Phase I effort, Toyon will be ready for fabricating the Phase II design in preparation for a Phase II demonstration.