The Lightning Detection and Ranging (LDAR), located at Kennedy Space Center, is a network of sensors tuned to locate the impulsive 66 MHz (VHF) radiation emitted by lightning channel processes [Poehler and Lennon, 1979; Lennon and Maier, 1991]. The network consists of six antennas spaced 6-10 km away from one central antenna. Multiple station observations are used for time-of-arrival location of VHF radiation sources. Based on climatological studies of the LDAR system, Boccippio et al. [2000a] find that the LDAR bulk flash detection efficiency is above 90% to 94-113 km range and falls below 10% at ranges greater than 200-240 km.
The New Mexico Tech Lightning Mapping Array (LMA) is a deployable systems to locate VHF lightning radiation based on the LDAR system described above. The LMA makes use of GPS technology to independently measure the arrival time of radiation at several (10+) stations which detect the peak intensity of VHF radiation in the 6 MHz bandwidth centered at 63 MHz. Rison et al. [1999] describe both the LMA system and joint LASA/LMA observations of narrow bipolar pulses that were made during 1998.