A New Method to Obtain the Lightning Radiation Electromagnetic Field Waveform Based on Virtual Instrument

In order to acquire the real-time lightning electromagnetic radiation field in large extent, a new automatic acquisition system is developed based on virtual instrument. Besides the essential function components such as PXI-6608 Counter/Timer and PXI-5105 Data Acquisition Card, the lightning detection stations and GPS receiver are introduced to accomplish the signal synchronization and continuous acquisition as well. With the implementation of software programmed by using LabVIEW, the whole virtual instrument is controlled. Together with storage procedure, PXI-5105 is used to collect and store the lightning electromagnetic signals. The lightning electromagnetic signal is marked with a unique time received by 6608 Counter/Timer from GPS receiver. A complete lightning radiation signal acquisition is triggered by a write signal generated by the lightning detection system. Above method is validated by experiment. Based on the collected data, further lightning investigation can be performed.