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Lightning warning systems

Lightning poses particular and potentially serious threats to personnel working or deployed in exposed areas, for example in the mining, agricultural, aviation, sports, forestry, petrochemical, telecommunications and marine environments, as well as in the general industrial situation. This is according to Innopro director, Ian McKechnie, who adds that some plants may also have critical processes which require careful monitoring and even precautionary actions to be taken prior to potential lightning strikes to the plant area.

He notes that an effective lightning detection and warning system typically allows for detection of approaching lightning as well as evaluation of the potential for a local strike. This allows for an automated evaluation of the potential threat, and the activation of appropriate early warning and alarm status alerts to operators and to personnel in the field. This allows for appropriate, timely precautionary action in the plant and for personnel to seek safe shelter.

McKechnie also comments that it is important that the system preferably utilises multiple sensory inputs, such as both detection of actual lightning activity as well as measurement of the local electric field, as this results in increased confidence in the effectiveness of the lightning detection and warning system.

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