An algorithm for estimating the detection efficiency of a lightning location system

Abstract This article puts forward an algorithm for estimating the detection efficiency (DE) of a lightning location system (LLS). The algorithm can be applied to lightning flash/stroke density correction and LLS performance evaluation. Fundamentally, the generalized extreme value (GEV) distribution was found to best fit the probability distribution of the signal strengths of the lightning observed by the ADvanced TOA and Direction system (ADTD) detectors in Beijing, China. With respect to this probability distribution, we estimated the single-station acceptance damped by the uneven underlying land surface conductivity, which is determined by overlapping the soil-type polygons with the propagating paths of electromagnetic lightning signals. Accounting for the multi-detector location modes supported by single-station acceptance, the iterative algorithm was applied for deducing the network DE. In this case study, the DE estimates were lower in the mountainous areas than in the plains. This can be due to the low underlying conductivity of the mountainous areas, which creates a high attenuation effect on the lightning electromagnetic signals, and the greater distances from the lightning detectors. The CG lightning flash/stroke density corrected for the DEs revealed that the CG lightning flash/stroke densities in the mountains are lower than that in the highly urbanized plains