Window sensor for the A350 and A380 aircraft

When lightning strikes an aircraft, the current distribution and the attachment points are of interest. Simple window sensors mounted in different windows along the fuselage provide signals over the local magnetic field due to lightning current, its orientation and time behavior

In-flight measurements of high-energy radiation from thunderstorms

Lightning – the bright flashes that put the thunder in thunderstorm – is just one of several mysterious atmospheric phenomena perplexing scientists today. Only recently, scientists learned that thunderstorms sometimes emit bursts of X-ray and gamma-ray radiation. They are now looking at how lightning and these bursts of radiation might be related and what threat the radiation could pose to airliners

In-flight Lightning Damage Assessment System (ILDAS) : in-flight verification of multi-sensor measurement

The goal of the ILDAS programme is to develop an operational system for determining the current waveform and attachment points of lightning striking aircraft in-flight. During a flight campaign, the system’s performance was verified using a multi-sensor configuration, capable of real-time detection of lightning strikes on the aircraft and automatic high-rate synchronous measurement and subsequent recording of sensor data from eight magnetic and one electric-field sensors. The measurement setup is presented, calibration is addressed and the first results from the flight test are presented

Lightning current distribution and hard radiation in aircraft, measured in-flight

The In-flight Lightning Damage Assessment System ILDAS has been presented in EMC Europe in 2012. ILDAS can determine the lightning current distribution on an aircraft with high resolution in time and amplitude. Later the system was extended and included two x-ray detectors to measure the high-energy radiation that is generated in thunderstorms and by lightning proper. It has been flown for many times now. The paper presents a few selected data

In-flight measurement of high-energy lightning-related atmospheric phenomena

The results of lightning interaction with an aircraft are shown in this paper. An in-flight lightning strike damage assessment system has been developed, installed and tested. The data obtained from it was then compared to the worldwide and European ground-based lightning detection networks. High energy radiation bursts were detected inside the cabin synchronously with lighting current pulses. Their origin and possible threat are unknown and need further investigation