SBIR-STTR Award

Edwards Communications Electro-Optics (ECE) will definitively determine the scientific and technological feasibility of using ece's remotely operable sensors of electromagnetic fields for early warning of imminent lightning strikes and will perform a 'proof of principle' experiment to demonstrate the proprietary protection concept. The all-passive, field sensors embody ece's proprietary technology. The design envisages use of lightning survivable insulating materials, and permits remote operation without the use of outdoor electrical leads, circuitry or conductors in the surrounding areas or vicinity of the non-metallic, miniature sensing element, therefore will not perturb antenna radiation patterns. The protection of distributed vulnerabilities is obtained by the use of a proprietary concept which diverts lightning away from the high value targets. The scheme yields emp invulnerability and survivability. The design feasibility study and the first order experiment employing voltage and distance scaling, will conclusively demonstrate feasibility and lay the strong foundation for phase ii exploratory development and are to be performed by ece in vienna, va. Dr. Bernard keiser, the noted consulting engineer on lightning protection, will perform internal ECE evaluation of the early warning protection system.

Edwards communications electro-optics (ece) has definitively determined the scientific and technical feasibility for using ece's proprietary, remotely operable, sensors and techniques for early warning of imminent lightning threats and for disconnection, as proposed by ece. A specially innovative sensing technique has been additionally devised in the phase i feasibility study. Feasibility analyses have demonstrated that with this technique substantial improvement in lead-time and warning margins is possible. Ece proposes to design, fabricate and test an exploratory development model (edm) of the lightning threat sensing and disconnect system in vienna, va. The design envisages use of remote sensor, lightning survivable lead-in, and permits remote operation without the use of outdoor electrical circuitry in the vicinity of the non-metallic, miniature sensing element, therefore will not perturb antenna radiation patterns. Preliminary on-site experiments will determine the range and type of detailed observations made to characterize local lightning phenomena. Based on these, design choices of threshold values and time margins will be made for lightning sensing and high speed disconnection for graded levels of protection, emp invulnerability and survivability.