Patent ID: 8902312
Filing Date: 2014-12-02
Classification: G01R,G01W,H04N,Y02A

Abstract:
1. A total-sky lightning event observation system, comprising: a housing, a top of which has an opening, at which a transparent protective cover is mounted; a photographing device disposed in the housing and at the opening; a sensor for sensing a representative parameter of the thunderstorm activity and producing sensed data; a data acquisition device for acquiring the sensed data from the sensor; a processing unit for receiving the sensed data from the data acquisition device, the processing unit setting the system in a first operational mode and the data acquisition device in a first data acquiring mode when the sensed data indicates there is no thunderstorm activity within a range observed by the system, and the processing unit setting the system in a second operational mode and the data acquisition device in a second data acquiring mode when the sensed data indicates there exists thunderstorm activity within the range observed by the system; and a control module disposed within the housing, the control module receiving a first instruction from the processing unit and shutting down the photographing device based on the first instruction to thereby stop photographing total-sky digital images when the sensed data indicates there is no thunderstorm activity within the range observed by the system, and the control module receiving a second instruction from the processing unit and turning on the photographing device based on the second instruction to photograph total-sky digital images when the sensed data indicates there exists thunderstorm activity within the range observed by the system.