HK1242425A1

HK1242425A1 - Lightning detection system, method and device

Info

Publication number: HK1242425A1
Application number: HK18101802.6A
Authority: HK
Inventors: J‧T‧康多
Original assignee: 气象预报公司
Priority date: 2014-07-16
Filing date: 2015-07-16
Publication date: 2018-06-22

Abstract

A portable communication device, including a location detection unit configured to determine the location of the device, a lightning detection unit configured to determine a distance between the lightning strike and the device, and a radio frequency circuit configured to output, via a communication network, data indicative of the location of the device and the distance between the lightning strike and the device. A system, including a lightning detection database and an analysis unit configured to receive, from the device via the communication network, data indicative of the location of the device and the distance between a lightning strike and the device, determine the location of the lightning strike based in part on the distance from the lightning strike to the location of the device, and store the location of the lightning strike in the lightning detection database.

Description

Lightning monitoring system, method and device

Background

Lightning is an electrostatic discharge between charged areas within a cloud or between a cloud and the surface of a planet. There are four basic types of lightning: lightning in the cloud; cloud-to-cloud lightning; cloud-to-air lightning; and cloud-to-ground lightning. Inter-cloud lightning commonly occurs at the beginning of a thunderstorm. The weather bureau uses lightning monitoring systems in conjunction with weather radars to locate and track thunderstorms.

There are three basic types of lightning monitoring systems: a ground-based system using a plurality of monitors; mobile monitoring systems (typically on board an aircraft); and space-based systems. Each lightning monitoring system has its own limitations. Since mobile monitoring systems utilize attenuation rather than triangulation to determine lightning location, mobile monitoring systems may have difficulty distinguishing whether a weak lightning strike is near or a strong lightning strike is far away. Information from space-based lightning monitoring systems is of limited value for real-time applications such as air navigation, since space-based lightning monitoring systems take more time to propagate information than mobile monitoring systems or ground-based systems.

Weather authorities, such as the national weather service of the united states, use ground-based lightning monitoring systems that use triangulation from multiple monitors at multiple locations to determine the location of lightning strikes. For example, a national lightning monitoring network (NLDN) includes approximately 100 ground-based monitors distributed throughout the continental united states. These monitors sense electromagnetic signals of lightning strikes and transmit the data via satellites to a central processing location of the tussen, arizona, usa, which estimates the location of the lightning strike by triangulating three or more signals.

Conventional ground-based lightning monitoring systems also suffer from a number of drawbacks. The most significant drawback is the lack of accuracy due to the limited number of ground-based monitors. Even the accuracy of the most advanced ground-based lightning monitoring systems is limited because the ground-based lightning monitors may be hundreds of miles apart.

Monitoring inter-cloud lightning with conventional ground-based monitoring systems is particularly difficult, as it may be that one monitor monitors the location of the lightning originating on the cloud and another monitor monitors the location of the lightning receiving on the cloud. In order to monitor and locate intercloud lightning within an acceptable error range, a ground-based lightning monitoring system requires at least three monitors within the monitoring range. Conventional ground-based lightning monitoring systems underestimate inter-cloud lightning due to the limited number of ground-based lightning monitors. In the case of monitoring cloud-air lightning, conventional ground-based lightning monitors also have similar drawbacks.

The accuracy of conventional ground-based lightning monitoring networks can be improved by increasing the number of ground-based monitors. However, the cost of the network increases each time the ground-based monitor is manufactured, deployed, and maintained. Therefore, there is a need to improve the accuracy of lightning monitoring networks while reducing the cost of manufacturing, deployment and maintenance of ground-based monitors.

Disclosure of Invention

To overcome these and other deficiencies in the prior art, aspects of the exemplary embodiments are provided.

According to an aspect of an exemplary embodiment, there is provided a system comprising: a lightning monitoring database; and an analysis unit configured to: receiving data representing a location of a portable communication device and a distance between a lightning strike and the portable communication device from the portable communication device via a communication network; determining a location of the lightning strike based in part on the location of the portable communication device and a distance between the lightning strike and the portable communication device; and storing the location of the lightning strike in the lightning monitoring database.

According to another aspect of an exemplary embodiment, there is provided a portable communication apparatus including: a location monitoring unit configured to determine a location of the portable communication device; a lightning monitoring unit configured to monitor a lightning strike and determine a distance between the lightning strike and the portable communication device; and a radio frequency circuit configured to output data representing a location of the portable communication device and a distance between the lightning strike and the portable communication device via a communication network.

According to another aspect of an exemplary embodiment, there is provided a lightning monitoring method, which includes: receiving data representing a location of a portable communication device and a distance between a lightning strike and the portable communication device from the portable communication device via a communication network; determining a location of the lightning strike based in part on the location of the portable communication device and a distance between the lightning strike and the portable communication device; and storing the location of the lightning strike in a lightning monitoring database.

Drawings

Aspects of the exemplary embodiments may be better understood by referring to the figures. The components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of the exemplary embodiments.

Figure 1 is a top down view showing a conventional ground based lightning monitoring system.

Fig. 2A is a top down view of a ground based lightning monitoring system according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 2B is a side view of the conventional ground-based lightning monitoring system shown in fig. 1.

Figure 2C is a side view of the ground-based lightning monitoring system shown in figure 2A.

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a communication apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 4A is a schematic diagram of an electric field monitor of a communication device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4B is a flow chart illustrating a method of touch sensing and electric field monitoring using the electric field monitor shown in FIG. 4A according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 5 is another schematic diagram of the lightning monitoring system shown in fig. 2A according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention.

Detailed Description

Exemplary embodiments of the invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals represent like elements or steps.

Fig. 1 is a top down view of a conventional ground based lightning monitoring system 100. As shown in fig. 1, a ground based lightning monitoring system 100 comprises ground based lightning monitors 101, 102 and 103. The monitors 101, 102, and 103 are configured to monitor the lightning strike 110, estimate a distance between each monitor and the lightning strike 110, and communicate the distance to a central processor (not shown) configured to estimate the location of the lightning strike 110 by triangulating the location of the lightning strike 110 and the location of known ground-based monitors.

In response to a cloud-ground lightning strike 110, the lightning monitor 101 estimates a distance 131 from the monitor 101 to the lightning strike 110, and the lightning monitor 102 estimates a distance 132 from the monitor 102 to the lightning strike 110. The conventional lightning monitoring system 100 can only distinguish between a lightning strike at location 110 and a lightning strike at location 110' if the lightning strike is within the monitorable range of the third lightning monitor. In this example, the conventional lightning monitoring system 100 is only able to determine the location of a lightning strike 110 because the lightning monitor 103 is within a range that estimates the distance 133 from the monitor 103 to the lightning strike 110.

Fig. 2A is a top down view of a ground based lightning monitoring system 200 according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention. As shown in fig. 2A, the lightning monitoring system 200 includes a plurality of lightning monitors 210 spread over multiple locations on the earth. The accuracy and reliability of the lightning monitoring system 200 is significantly greater than the accuracy and reliability of the conventional lightning monitoring system 100, since the number of lightning monitors 210 is greater than the number of conventional lightning monitors 101-103. In the example shown in FIG. 2A, lightning monitoring system 200 includes lightning monitors 210a, 210b, and 210c, and the location of lightning strike 110 can be determined whether or not conventional lightning monitor 103 is within range of monitoring lightning strike 110.

The lightning monitoring system 200 also has an increased vertical range compared to the conventional lightning monitoring system 100. Fig. 2B is a side view of a conventional lightning monitoring system 100. For simplicity, two conventional ground-based lightning monitors 101 and 102 are shown. However, the same analysis applies to systems requiring at least three monitors for triangulation. As shown in fig. 2B, conventional ground-based lightning monitors 101 and 102 each have a range R. The overlap of the ranges R provides the conventional lightning monitoring system 100 with an effective vertical range H₁₀₀。

Fig. 2C is a side view of the lightning monitoring system 200 including lightning monitors 210a and 210 b. The proximity of the lightning monitors 210a and 210b allows the lightning monitoring system 200 to have an effective vertical range H over the conventional lightning monitoring system 100, assuming that the lightning monitors 210a and 210b have the same range R as the conventional ground-based lightning monitors 101 and 102₁₀₀Large effective vertical range H₂₀₀。

The lightning monitoring system 200 may be integrated with a conventional lightning monitoring system 100. For example, each lightning monitor 210 may output the distance between the lightning monitor 210 and the lightning strike 110 to the same central processor used by the conventional lightning monitoring system 100. By combining the monitoring by conventional ground-based lightning monitors 101, 102 and 103 with the monitoring by the plurality of lightning monitors 210, the accuracy of the lightning monitoring system 200 is significantly greater than the accuracy of the conventional lightning monitoring system 100. The ground-based lightning monitoring system 200 may also be combined with one or more mobile lightning monitoring systems and/or space-based lightning monitoring systems to further improve the reliability and accuracy of lightning monitoring.

As described above, the cost of the conventional ground-based lightning monitoring system 100 increases each time the ground-based monitors 101-103 are manufactured, deployed, and maintained. However, by incorporating the lightning monitor 210 into the portable communication device 300, the ground-based lightning monitoring system 200 reduces or eliminates additional costs, as described below. In addition to improving the accuracy of the lightning monitoring system 200, the incorporation of the lightning monitor 210 into the portable communication device 300 shifts the cost of deploying and maintaining the lightning monitor 210 from the person maintaining the lightning monitoring system 200 to the person purchasing and maintaining the portable communication device 300.

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a portable communication device 300 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 3, portable communication device 300 may include memory 310, one or more processors 320, an input/output subsystem 330, one or more output devices 340, one or more input devices 360, Radio Frequency (RF) circuitry 370, one or more sensors 380, and a power system 390.

Memory 310 may include one or more computer-readable storage media. For example, memory 310 may include high speed random access memory and/or non-volatile memory such as one or more magnetic disk storage devices, flash memory devices, and/or other non-volatile solid-state memory.

The portable communication device 300 includes a location monitoring module 312. The location monitoring module 312 may be any suitable device configured to determine or estimate a location of the communication device 310. As shown in fig. 3, the location monitoring module 312 may be implemented as a set of instructions stored in memory 310 that are executed by one or more processors 320. Alternatively, location monitoring module 312 may be implemented in hardware or a combination of hardware and computer readable instructions. The location monitoring module 312 may determine or estimate the location of the communication device 310 by any suitable means including a Global Positioning System (GPS), assisted GPS (a-GPS), Wi-Fi based positioning system, cellular network based positioning, and the like.

The one or more processors 320 may include, among other things, a Central Processing Unit (CPU)322, one or more controllers 324, and/or one or more peripheral controllers 326. Processor 320 may be integrated into a single semiconductor chip or may be implemented by more than one chip. One or more processors 320 may execute various software programs and/or sets of instructions stored in memory 310 to process data and/or perform various functions for apparatus 300.

Input/output subsystem 330 connects input/output peripheral devices on device 300, such as output device 340, input device 360, and sensors 380, to peripheral controller 326. Input/output subsystem 330 may include one or more output controllers 334, one or more input controllers 336, and/or one or more sensor controllers 338, among others. One or more output controllers 334 send/receive electrical signals to/from output devices 340. One or more input controllers 334 receive/transmit electrical signals with respect to input devices 360. The one or more sensor controllers 338 receive/transmit electrical signals with respect to the input device 380.

The one or more output devices may include a display 342, a speaker 344, one or more external ports, and the like. The display 342 may be any suitable device configured to output visible light, such as a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), a light emitting polymer display (LPD), a Light Emitting Diode (LED), an Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED), or the like.

The one or more input devices 360 may include a keyboard 362, a mouse (or trackball) 364, a still or video camera 366, a touch pad 368, and so forth. The touch pad 368 may include any suitable technology for determining the position of a finger or stylus relative to the device 300. As described below, touch pad 368 may include a resistive touch sensor, a self-capacitive touch sensor, an interactive capacitive touch sensor, and the like. The touchpad 368 may be overlaid by the display 342 or integrated with the display 342 to form a touch-sensitive display or touchscreen.

The RF circuitry 370 may be any suitable device configured to transmit and/or receive RF signals. The RF circuitry 370 may include an antenna system 371, an RF transceiver, one or more amplifiers, a tuner, one or more oscillators, a digital signal processor, a CODEC chipset, a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card, memory, and so forth. The RF circuitry 370 may communicate via electromagnetic signals with other communication devices or communication networks such as the internet, intranets, and/or wireless networks (e.g., cellular telephone networks, wireless Local Area Networks (LANs), and other devices utilized for wireless communication, etc.). The wireless communication may use any of a number of communication standards, protocols, and techniques including Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE), High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), wideband code division multiple Access (W-CDMA), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Bluetooth, Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) (e.g., IEEE 802.11), Voice over Internet protocol (VoIP), Wi-MAX, or any other suitable communication protocol including communication protocols not yet developed.

The power system 390 may be any suitable device configured to distribute power to elements of the device 300. The power system 390 may include one or more power sources (e.g., batteries, Alternating Current (AC), etc.), power conversion systems, power management systems, recharging systems, power fault monitoring circuits, power converters or inverters, power status indicators (e.g., Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs)), and any other elements associated with generating, managing, and distributing power in electronic devices.

The one or more sensors 380 may include a proximity sensor 382, an ambient light sensor 384, an accelerometer 386, a gyroscope, and the like. The proximity sensor 382 may be any suitable device configured to monitor whether the portable communication device 300 is within a predetermined distance of an object. For example, the portable communication device 300 may be configured to deactivate (deactivate) the display 342 and/or the touch pad 368 when the proximity sensor 382 determines that the device 300 is near the user's face or that the device 300 cover is closed during a phone call. The ambient light sensor 384 may be any suitable device configured to determine an amount of ambient light. For example, the portable communication device 300 may be configured to adjust the brightness of the display 342 based on the amount of ambient light monitored by the ambient light sensor.

The portable communication device 300 shown in fig. 3 is an electronic device (i.e., a "smartphone") configured to transmit data to a mobile telephone network. However, it should be understood that the portable communication device 300 shown in fig. 3 is merely one example of a portable communication device, and that the device 300 may have more or fewer elements than the illustrated example, may combine two or more elements, or may have a different structure or configuration of elements. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the portable communication device 300 may be any suitable electronic device configured to monitor lightning, communicate with one or more networks 510, and perform at least one other function not related to lightning monitoring. The portable communication device 300 may be, for example, a network-connected computing device (e.g., a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), tablet, laptop, portable weather monitor, GPS receiver, etc.) or a network-connected vehicle (e.g., an automobile, boat, airplane, satellite car, etc.).

In other exemplary embodiments, one or more lightning monitors 210 may be incorporated into a non-portable communication device such as a network-connected computer, appliance, home, office building, or other structure. The non-portable communication device may determine its own location and/or transmit its own location to the lightning monitoring system 200. Alternatively, the location of the non-portable communication device may be known to the lightning monitoring system 200.

The portable communication device 300 comprises one or more lightning monitors 210. The various elements shown in fig. 3 may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of both hardware and software, including one or more signal processing and/or application specific integrated circuits.

The one or more lightning monitors 210 may be any suitable device configured to monitor lightning. The lightning monitor 210 may detect the occurrence of a lightning strike 110 near the location of the portable communication device 300 and/or may determine or estimate the distance or direction from the location of the portable communication device 300 to the lightning strike 110.

In some exemplary embodiments, one or more lightning monitors 210 may be incorporated into the portable communication device 300 by adding additional hardware specifically configured to monitor lightning strikes 110. In other, more preferred exemplary embodiments, the one or more lightning monitors 210 are implemented using one or more hardware elements in the portable communication device 300 for performing other functions unrelated to lightning monitoring. The use of one or more hardware elements that perform other functions unrelated to lightning monitoring further reduces the cost of manufacturing, deploying, and maintaining the lightning monitor 310.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the one or more lightning monitors 210 may include a Radio Frequency (RF) lightning monitor. The RF lightning monitor may be any suitable device configured to monitor RF electromagnetic signals generated by lightning. The RF lightning monitor may also determine or estimate the distance between the portable communication device 300 and the lightning strike 110 based on, for example, the magnitude of the monitored energy discharge. The RF lightning monitor may be implemented as additional hardware incorporated into the portable communication device 300 for monitoring RF electromagnetic signals generated by lightning. More preferably, however, the RF lightning monitor may utilize the antenna system 371 of the RF circuit 370 to monitor the RF electromagnetic signal generated by the lightning. In this more preferred embodiment, the antenna system 371 may also be used by the RF circuitry 370 to transmit and/or receive RF signals (as described above).

According to another exemplary embodiment, the one or more lightning monitors 210 may include an interferometer. The interferometer may be any suitable device configured to measure the phase difference between the (narrow or wide band) signals received by two or more sensors. For example, the interferometer may be two closely spaced antennas, each connected via a narrow band filter to a phase monitor for outputting a voltage proportional to the phase difference between the two signals received by the antennas. In this example, the phase difference may be used to identify the direction of the monitored lightning strike 110 in a plane perpendicular to the plane of the two antennas. The interferometer may also determine or estimate the distance between the portable communication device 300 and the lightning strike 110 based on, for example, the magnitude of the signals received by two or more sensors. The interferometer may be implemented as additional hardware incorporated into the portable communication device 300 for monitoring the two signals generated by lightning. More preferably, however, the interferometer may utilize the antenna system 371 of the RF circuit 370 to monitor both signals generated by the lightning. In this more preferred embodiment, the antenna system 371 may also be used by the RF circuitry 370 to transmit and/or receive RF signals (as described above).

According to another exemplary embodiment, the one or more lightning monitors 210 may include an optical monitor. The optical monitor may be any suitable device configured to monitor light pulses generated by cloud-to-ground or cloud-to-cloud lightning. In some examples, the inter-cloud lightning precedes the cloud-to-ground lightning. The optical monitor may also determine or estimate the distance between the portable communication device 300 and the lightning strike 110 based on, for example, the size of the light pulse monitored by the optical monitor. The optical monitor may be implemented as additional hardware incorporated into the portable communication device 300 for monitoring the light pulses produced by lightning. More preferably, however, the optical monitor may utilize hardware elements of the portable communication device 300 (e.g., the proximity sensor 382 and/or the camera 366, etc.) to monitor the light pulses. In this more preferred embodiment, the hardware elements for monitoring lightning generated light pulses may also be used by the portable communication device 300 to perform other functions (as described above).

According to another exemplary embodiment, the one or more lightning monitors 210 may include an electric field monitor. The electric field monitor may be any suitable device configured to measure changes in an electric field (e.g., changes in the potential gradient (voltage) of the earth's electric field occurring in the vicinity of the lightning strike 110). The electric field monitor may also determine or estimate the distance between the portable communication device 300 and the lightning strike 110 based on, for example, the magnitude of the change in the electric field monitored by the electric field monitor. The electric field monitor may be implemented as hardware (e.g., an electric field meter) incorporated into the portable communication device 300. More preferably, however, the atmospheric electric field monitor may utilize a touch pad 368 (as described below with reference to FIGS. 4A and 4B) to monitor changes in the electric field occurring proximate to a lightning strike 110.

As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the one or more lightning monitors may include more than one type of lightning monitor. In one example, the one or more lightning monitors 210 may include an RF lightning monitor and an optical monitor. The RF lightning monitor may sense RF interference and mistake RF noise for monitoring for a nearby lightning strike 110. In this case, the lightning monitor 210 may be configured to output the lightning monitoring signal only if both the RF lightning monitor and the optical monitor lightning. More than one lightning monitor may also be used to determine or estimate the distance between the portable communication device 300 and a lightning strike 110 based on, for example, the amount of time between the optical monitor monitoring the optical pulse and the RF lightning monitor monitoring the RF electromagnetic signal.

The lightning monitor 210 may include software instructions stored in the memory 310 and executed by one or more processors 320. Regardless of whether the lightning monitor 210 uses hardware elements in the portable communication device 300 (e.g., the antenna system 371, the touch pad 368, etc., as described above) for performing other functions unrelated to lightning monitoring, the lightning monitor 210 may also include additional hardware (e.g., to filter or process signals generated by lightning and monitored by the lightning monitor 210) that may be additional hardware specifically configured to monitor a lightning strike 110 or hardware elements of the portable communication device 300 for performing additional functions unrelated to lightning monitoring.

Fig. 4A is a schematic diagram of an electric field monitor 400 of a communication device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. As described above with reference to fig. 3, the portable communication device 300 includes memory 310, one or more processors 320, an input/output subsystem 330, and a touch pad 368. The touch panel 368 includes a drive signal generator 467, a monitor unit 469, column traces C1, C2, C3, etc., and row traces R1, R2, R3, etc. The touchpad may be overlaid by the display 342 or integrated with the display 342 to form a touch sensitive display or touchscreen.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the touch pad 368 is an interactive capacitive touch sensor. Interactive capacitive touch sensor panels include capacitances at the various intersections of column traces (e.g., C1, C2, etc.) and row traces (e.g., R1, R2, etc.). A voltage is applied to a column or row. When a finger or conductive stylus is positioned near a surface, the finger or stylus alters the local electric field, which reduces the interaction capacitance. The change in capacitance at each point on the grid can be measured by measuring the voltage on the other axis to accurately determine the touch location. For example, if a voltage is applied to columns C1, C2, etc., the change in capacitance can be measured by measuring the voltage in the respective rows R1, R2, etc. Interactive capacitive touch sensors are generally preferred over self-capacitive touch sensors because they can accurately track multiple fingers or styli simultaneously.

According to another exemplary embodiment, the touch pad 368 is a self-capacitance touch sensor. Self-capacitance touch sensors have the same grid of columns and rows as interactive capacitive sensors, but the columns and rows operate independently. With self-capacitance, the current senses the capacitive load applied by a finger or stylus on each column or row. Self-capacitance touch sensors cannot accurately resolve more than one simultaneous touch. However, self-capacitive touch sensors produce stronger signals than interactive capacitive touch sensors.

According to another exemplary embodiment, touch pad 368 has both self-capacitive touch sensing capabilities and interactive capacitive touch sensing capabilities. Having both self-capacitive touch sensing capability and interactive capacitive touch sensing capability, the touch pad 368 may include two modes: the touch panel 368 uses self-capacitance touch sensing to more accurately monitor an electric field monitoring mode of change of an electric field; and touchpad 368 uses interactive capacitive touch sensing capability to monitor a touch sensing pattern of more than one simultaneous touch.

FIG. 4B is a flow chart illustrating an example method of touch sensing and electric field monitoring using electric field monitor 400 shown in FIG. 4A. Referring to FIG. 4B, the default state of the touch pad 368 is the electric field monitoring mode. In the electric field monitoring mode, in operation S401, the drive signal generator 467 drives the plurality of conductive traces, and in operation S403, the monitoring unit 469 measures the self-capacitance. Since self-capacitive sensing produces a stronger signal than interactive capacitive sensing, the touch pad 368 in the electric field monitoring mode is able to more accurately monitor changes in the earth's electric field caused by a lightning strike 110 in the vicinity of the portable communication device 300. By measuring the self-capacitance of the plurality of conductive traces, the touch pad 368 can also determine whether a finger or stylus is touching or approaching the touch pad 368.

As shown in fig. 4B, the touch pad 368 repeatedly determines whether a finger or a stylus is touching the touch pad 368 in operation S405. If the finger or stylus is not touching the touch pad 368, the touch pad 368 continues to be in the electric field monitoring mode by repeating operations S401 and S403. If a finger or stylus is touching the touch pad 368, the touch pad 368 enters a touch sensing mode.

In the touch sensing mode, the drive signal generator 467 drives one conductive trace (e.g., column trace C1) at a time in operation S451, and the monitor unit 469 measures the interaction capacitance on one conductive trace (in this example, row traces R1, R2, etc.) along another axis in operation S453. Because interactive capacitive sensors are capable of resolving more than one touch, touchpad 368 provides multi-touch capability when in a touch sensing mode. When the touch pad 368 is in the touch sensing mode, the touch pad 368 repeatedly determines whether a finger or a stylus is touching the touch pad 368 in operation S405. If the touch pad 368 continues to be touched by a finger or stylus, the touch pad 368 continues to be in the touch sensing mode. Otherwise, the touch pad 368 returns to the electric field monitoring mode.

Fig. 5 is another schematic diagram of a lightning monitoring system 200 according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention. As shown in fig. 5, the lightning monitoring system 200 comprises an analysis unit 500, one or more communication networks 510, a lightning monitoring database 590, and one or more portable communication devices 300 a-300 n.

The analysis unit 500 may be any suitable computing device (e.g., a server) configured to receive data from one or more portable communication devices 300 a-300 n over one or more communication networks 510. The analysis unit 500 may also receive data from the space based lightning monitoring system 520 and/or one or more mobile lightning monitors 530 and/or one or more conventional ground based lightning monitors 101-103.

The one or more communication networks 500 may include the internet, an intranet, and/or a wireless network such as a cellular telephone network, a wireless Local Area Network (LAN), and the like. The wireless communication may use any of a number of communication standards, protocols, and techniques described above for RF circuitry 370. Some or all of the portable communication devices 300 a-300 n may communicate with one or more communication networks 500 via the RF circuits 370 a-370 n. Alternatively, some or all of the personal communication devices 300 a-300 n may communicate with one or more communication networks 510 via a wired connection, such as Ethernet, Universal Serial Bus (USB), or the like.

According to aspects of the exemplary embodiment, the analysis unit 500 is configured to receive the following data from one or more portable communication devices 300 a-300 n via one or more communication networks 510: data representative of a lightning strike 110 (e.g., as monitored by one or more lightning monitors 210 a-210 n); data representative of the location of the portable communication device 300a (e.g., as determined by the location monitoring modules 312 a-312 n); and data representing respective distances between one or more portable communication devices 300 a-300 n and a lightning strike 110 (e.g., as determined by one or more lightning monitors 210 a-210 n). Similarly, the analysis unit 500 may receive the following data from one or more conventional ground-based lightning monitors 101-103 or a mobile lightning monitor 530: data representative of a lightning strike 110; data representing the position of the monitors 101-103 or 530; and data representing the distance between the monitors 101-103 or 530 and the lightning strike 110.

The analysis unit 500 may also send and/or receive weather data or weather forecast data. For example, the analysis unit 500 may receive weather data or weather forecast data from the weather database 540 (directly or via the communication network 510). The analysis unit 500 may also be configured to output data representative of the lightning strike 110 (e.g., the time and/or location of one or more lightning strikes 110) and/or weather data and/or weather forecast data to the communication network 510 for transmission to one or more portable communication devices 300 a-300 n. The analysis unit 500 may also output/transmit data representing the lightning strike 110 to one or more communication devices not including the lightning monitor 210 via the communication network 510. In one example, the analysis unit 500 may be configured to output a map and an indication of the location of the lightning strike 110 on the map to the portable communication device 300. In another example, the analysis unit may receive the location of the portable communication device 300 and may output data representative of the lightning strike 110 if the lightning strike 110 is within a predetermined distance of the location of the portable communication device 300. Data representing the location of the portable communication device 300 may be stored in the communication device location database 550. The analysis unit 500 may receive data representing the location of the communication device from the communication device location database 550, either directly or via the communication network 510.

The analysis unit 500 of the lightning monitoring system 200 is configured to determine the location of a lightning strike 110 by triangulating the distance between the lightning strike 110 and three or more monitors 210 a-210 c or 101-103 (see FIG. 2A) and storing the location of the lightning strike 110 in the lightning monitoring database 590.

As described above, the lightning monitoring system 200 monitors the location of lightning strikes 110 with improved reliability and accuracy by increasing the number of lightning monitors 210 as compared to conventional ground-based lightning monitoring systems 100. The lightning monitoring system 200 reduces the cost of manufacturing, deploying and maintaining additional lightning monitors 210 by incorporating the lightning monitors 210 into the portable communication device 300 and/or using hardware already incorporated in the portable communication device 300 to perform the following operations, including: monitoring or estimating the location of the portable communication device 300; monitoring or estimating a distance between the portable communication device 300 and the lightning strike 110; and communicating data representing the location of the portable communication device 300 and the distance between the portable communication device 300 and the lightning strike 110 to the analysis unit 500 via one or more communication networks 510.

While preferred embodiments have been described above, those skilled in the art, having reviewed this disclosure, will readily appreciate that other embodiments can be implemented within the scope of the invention. For example, the disclosure of a particular number of hardware elements, software modules, etc. is merely exemplary and not limiting. Accordingly, the invention should be construed as limited only by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a lightning monitoring database; and

an analysis unit configured to:

receiving data representing a location of a portable communication device and a distance between a lightning strike and the portable communication device from the portable communication device via a communication network;

determining a location of the lightning strike based in part on a distance from the lightning strike to the location of the portable communication device; and

storing the location of the lightning strike in the lightning monitoring database.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the portable communication device comprises one or more antennas and is configured to:

outputting the data to the communication network using the one or more antennas; and

determining a distance between the lightning strike and the portable communication device based on radio frequency signals received by the one or more antennas.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the portable communication device is configured to determine the distance between the lightning strike and the portable communication device by monitoring radio frequency electromagnetic signals using the one or more antennas.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein the one or more antennas comprises two antennas, and the portable communication device is configured to determine the distance between the lightning strike and the portable communication device by monitoring a phase difference between two signals received by the two antennas.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the portable communication device comprises a display and a proximity sensor, and the portable communication device is configured to:

deactivating the display if the proximity sensor determines that the portable communication device is within a predetermined distance of an object; and

determining a distance between the lightning strike and the portable communication device based on an output of the proximity sensor.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the portable communication device comprises a display and an ambient light sensor, and the portable communication device is configured to:

adjusting the brightness of the display based on the output of the ambient light sensor; and

determining a distance between the lightning strike and the portable communication device based on an output of the ambient light sensor.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the portable communication device comprises a camera and is configured to:

acquiring still images and/or motion pictures based on the output of the camera; and

determining a distance between the lightning strike and the portable communication device based on an output of the camera.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the portable communication device comprises a touch panel and the portable communication device is configured to determine a distance between the lightning strike and the portable communication device based on a change in the electric field monitored by the touch panel.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the touch pad is a capacitive touch pad comprising a plurality of conductive traces, and the portable communication device is configured to:

driving two or more of the conductive traces; and

determining a distance between the lightning strike and the portable communication device based on self-capacitance of two or more of the conductive traces.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the touch pad is a capacitive touch pad comprising a plurality of conductive traces comprising a plurality of conductive rows and a plurality of conductive columns, and the portable communication device is configured to:

sequentially driving the conductive columns or the conductive rows; and

determining a distance between the lightning strike and the portable communication device based on an interaction capacitance between the conductive column and the conductive row.

11. The system of claim 8, wherein the touch pad is a capacitive touch pad comprising a plurality of conductive traces comprising a plurality of conductive rows and a plurality of conductive columns, and the portable communication device is configured to:

driving two or more of the conductive traces;

determining a distance between the lightning strike and the portable communication device based on self-capacitance of two or more of the conductive traces;

determining whether one or more fingers or conductive styli are proximate to the touchpad based on self-capacitance of a plurality of the conductive traces;

sequentially driving the conductive columns or rows in response to determining that one or more fingers or conductive styli are proximate to the touch pad; and

determining a position of one or more fingers or conductive styli based on an interaction capacitance between the conductive columns and the conductive rows.

12. A portable communication device, comprising:

a location monitoring unit configured to determine a location of the portable communication device;

a lightning monitoring unit configured to monitor a lightning strike and determine a distance between the lightning strike and the portable communication device; and

a radio frequency circuit configured to output data representing a location of the portable communication device and a distance between the lightning strike and the portable communication device via a communication network.

13. The portable communication device of claim 12, wherein the radio frequency circuitry comprises one or more antennas, and the portable communication device is configured to determine a distance between the lightning strike and the portable communication device based on radio frequency signals received by the one or more antennas.

14. The portable communication device of claim 13, wherein the portable communication device is configured to determine the distance between the lightning strike and the portable communication device by monitoring radio frequency electromagnetic signals using the one or more antennas.

15. The portable communication device of claim 13, wherein the one or more antennas comprises two antennas, and the portable communication device is configured to determine the distance between the lightning strike and the portable communication device by monitoring a phase difference between two signals received by the two antennas.

16. The portable communication device of claim 12, wherein the portable communication device further comprises a display and a proximity sensor, and the portable communication device is configured to:

17. The portable communication device of claim 12, wherein the portable communication device further comprises a display and an ambient light sensor, and the portable communication device is configured to:

18. The portable communication device of claim 12, wherein the portable communication device further comprises a camera, and the portable communication device is configured to:

19. The portable communication device of claim 12, wherein the portable communication device further comprises a touch panel, and the portable communication device is configured to determine a distance between the lightning strike and the portable communication device based on a change in the electric field monitored by the touch panel.

20. The portable communication device of claim 19, wherein the touch pad is a capacitive touch pad comprising a plurality of conductive traces, and the portable communication device is configured to:

driving two or more of the conductive traces; and

21. The portable communication device of claim 19, wherein the touch pad is a capacitive touch pad comprising a plurality of conductive rows and a plurality of conductive columns, and the portable communication device is configured to:

sequentially driving the conductive columns or the conductive rows; and

22. The portable communication device of claim 19, wherein the touch pad is a capacitive touch pad comprising a plurality of conductive traces comprising a plurality of conductive rows and a plurality of conductive columns, and the portable communication device is configured to:

driving two or more of the conductive traces;