MUSIC for localization of thunderstorm cells

Lightning represents an event detectable optically, electrically, and acoustically, and several systems are already in place to monitor such activity. Unfortunately, such detection of lightning can occur too late, since operations need to be protected in advance of the first lightning strike. Additionally, the bolt itself can traverse several kilometers before striking the ground leaving a large region of uncertainty, as to the center of the storm and its possible strike regions. NASA Kennedy Space Center has in place an array of electric field mills that monitor the (effectively) DC electric field. Prior to the first lightning strike, the surface electric fields rise as the storm generator within a thundercloud begins charging. Extending methods developed for an analogous source localization problem in magnetoencephalography, the authors present Cramer-Rao lower bounds and MUSIC scans for fitting a point-charge source model to the electric field mill data. Such techniques can allow for the identification and localization of charge centers in cloud structures