Ground Support
Lightning emits lots of radiation in radio bands at different frequencies that can travel to large distances from the source and be detected by dedicated radio receivers placed on ground. Depending on the frequency, ground observations give additional information about the lightning, including the spatiotemporal evolution of the discharge and the amount of charge transferred. For this reason the ALOFT flight campaign is complemented by a wide network of ground-based radio sensors operated by a large international collaboration.
Main content
Principal Investigator | Instrument | Operating bandwidth | Location |
| Philip Bitzer University of Alabama, Huntsville, USA | Panama Marx Meter Array (PAMMA) | 0.5Hz - 500kHz (1 MHz) | Gamboa, Panama (9.11, -79.69) |
| Morris Cohen Georgia Institute of Technology, USA | LF sensors | Arecibo, Puerto Rico (18.34, -66.75) Briarwood, Georgia, USA (33.43, -82.58) Lost Pines, Texas, USA (30.09, -97.17) Oxford, Mississippi, USA (34.43, -89.39) | |
| Martin Fullekrug University of Bath, UK | |||
Paul Krehbiel / Mark A. Stanley | VHF interferometer with fast antenna (FA) University of Central Florida Lightning Mapping Array (UCF LMA) | 1-160MHz (400 MHz), (FA: 1kHz - 30MHz) | Florida, USA Florida, USA |
| Steven A. Cummer Duke University, USA | LF sensors VHF interferometer | Florida, USA (28.06, -80.62) / Arecibo, Puerto Rico (18.35, -66.75) Florida, USA (25.47, -80.54) | |
Marni Pazos Duke University, USA | LF sensor | Sisal, Mexico (21.16, -90.05) | |
Joan Montanya Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Colombia | eLMA campaign Lightning Mapping Array station, High energy instrument, LF magnetic field, VHF interferometer (supported by: MCIN/ AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and EU Next Generation, contract: EQC2021-007603-P) 
| San Andres, Colombia (13.36, -81.37) |