Can lightning be detected?
Since the 1980s, cloud-to-ground lightning flashes have been detected and mapped in real time across the entire US by several networks. In 1994, the networks were combined into one national network consisting of antennas that detect the angle from ground strike points to an antenna (direction-finder antenna), that detect the time it took for them to arrive at an antenna (time-of-arrival method), or a combination of both detection methods. Flashes have also been detected from space during the past few years by an optical sensor . This experimental satellite covers the earth twice a day in tropical regions. The satellite also detects flashes that do not strike the ground, but cannot tell the difference between ground strikes and cloud flashes.
