20030708: Lightning and explosive (cont.)

>From: "Wall, Marion" <address@hidden>
>Organization: Camden County Search and Rescue
>Keywords: 200307081030.h68ATvLd003403 lightning data

Marion,

re: you possible affiliation with the NAVY?

>We are in Camden county Georgia. That is where Kings bay sub base is. We
>(Camden County Search and Rescue) have had some association with the base.
>We are part of the Sheriff's Office. The interesting thing is that the
>fireworks display last week benefited Navy and civillian personnel. So could
>that be considered a benefit of the navy to make sure the barge is clear of
>personnel?

It is not up to us to decide who qualifies to get a decryption key for
the NOAAPORT-delivered lightning data.  That decision would be up to
somebody in the National Weather Service which is part of NOAA, and it
would most likely be based on the contract that the NWS has with
Vaisala.

Perhaps you should contact Vaisala, Inc. directly and explain who you
are and what you would like to do with their lightning data.  It is
possible that they would make the data available to you free-of-charge
and in real time.  That is their decision, of course, and I have no
idea of how they would react to your request.

Did you look at the lightning display on the Vaisala web page I sent
you?  Would it not be sufficient for your needs?  I would thoroughly
investigate what Vaisala offers through their web pages before I
contacted them.  It will at least demonstrate to them that you have
done your homework.

Again, best of luck!

>-----Original Message-----
>From: Unidata Support [mailto:address@hidden]
>Sent: Tuesday, July 08, 2003 10:12 AM
>To: Wall, Marion
>Cc: address@hidden
>Subject: 20030708: Lightning and explosive 
>
>
>>From: "Wall, Marion" <address@hidden>
>>Organization: Navy?
>>Keywords: 200307081030.h68ATvLd003403
>
>Marion,
>
>>I am a member of a search and rescue team. Over the 4th we had the duty to
>>assist pyrotechnics on a barge for the fireworks presentation. Later it
>>started to storm and at times we left the area. I am looking of an accurate
>>and realtime source for lightning activity in a selected area. Of course we
>>want it free. With that said, can you point me in the proper direction.
>
>The NOAAPORT broadcast of realtime meteorological data does contain
>lightning data, but it is encrypted to limit its distribution (the NLDN
>lightning data is very expensive to purchase).
>
>Is your search and rescue team activity associated with the US Navy?
>If yes, then I will send along an email to a NASA contact of mine to
>see if he can provide details on how he is getting and decrypting the
>lightning data.  Since your email address is from the .navy.mil domain,
>it would seem to me that you should be able to get a decryption key to
>decode and use the data.  Exactly how you would go about doing this, I
>don't know, but I could probably find a contact in NASA that could
>point the way.
>
>If your search and rescue activities are not associated with the US
>government in some sort of tangible way, I am afraid that the only way
>you will be able to get access to real time lightning data is by
>purchasing it.
>
>The company that collects and sells lightning data is Vaisala Inc.
>The URL for their web page is:
>
>http://www.lightningstorm.com
>
>They do provide an online display of lightning data at:
>
>http://www.lightningstorm.com/ls2/gpg/lex1/mapdisplay_free.jsp
>
>and this may be sufficient for your purposes, and it is free.
>
>Best of luck in your endeavors!

Tom Yoksas

>From address@hidden Tue Jul  8 10:00:31 2003

Thanks for your reply. I don't think the US map display would be adequate.
Time is 30 minutes behind and data for a dpecific lat/lon would provide the
best protedtion. Marion