Local Detectors in Preventive Lightning Protection

In lightning protection theory the preventive lightning protection (PLP) deals with using the forecasting tools for protection, combining them with special preventive actions. In zonal preventive lightning protection (ZPLP) location inaccuracies in the forecasting tools are assumed to be negligible. This approach is justified in the case of high-end measurement devices such as lightning detection networks. However, as the electronics industry is able to miniaturize sensors more and more, a new class of warning devices, is emerging aimed at very low-cost real-time warnings of lightning activity near individual structures. These local sensors in general have the characteristic that their inaccuracy grows as the distance to the flash grows. Also some sensors are capable of signalling the development of a thunderstorm cell before lightning activity starts. Such inhomogenity is not covered in traditional PLP theory. This paper deals with the theoretical introduction of such local detectors into the theory of preventive lightning protection.