SIRF - Sensors
The Italian lightning detection network is formed by 16 sensors positioned on the Italian territory.
Some sensors located nearby the Italian border,in Austria, France and Switzerland, are as well used to enhance the network sensitivity.
All the sensors are of IMPACT (Global Atmospherics Inc.) technology, that is broadband electromagnetic antennas, with GPS synchronization, TOA and DF calculation methods.
They detect the electromagnetic field emitted by any cloud-ground lightning, providing raw data (EM field vector, time, etc.).
Each sensor is able to discriminate a lightning signal from the background noise.
The sensors, located in Italy and abroad, send the raw data to the SIRF Operating Center, through dedicated telecommunication lines.
SIRF - The Telecommunication network
Each sensor is linked to the operating center, located in Milan at the CESI headquarter, through a dedicated ISDN line.
Any of these lines transmit the raw data to the SIRF central Router and send commands from the operating center to the sensor,
in case of remote controls or operations. The Router as well sends the raw data both to the central analyzer and to the backup analyzer. Once calculated, the
lightning data are sent to the SIRF Central Database via the SIRF internal network.
SIRF - The Operating Center
Data coming from each sensor are received and elaborated by the central analyzer, which calculate, in a few seconds, the impact geographic coordinates, the
time of impact and the electric parameters of each lightning event (current amplitude, polarity, number of strokes).
Calculated data are thus ready to be sent to customers or to be saved into the central database.
From this database all the information can be extracted at any time and in any format (statistics, maps, tables, ASCII file, and so on)
and, in needed, provided at any customer.
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