Lightning rarely shows in Sydney, Australia
#1
Bug 
Hi all. I've loved using lightningmaps over the last five years or so, mainly in the UK. I'm now based in Sydney, Australia, and have noticed that lightning that I can see and hear myself just does not show on lightningmaps or blitzortung. There looks to be adequate receiver coverage.

[attachment=4783]

There is plenty of lightning popping up on the map about 400km north (Port Macquarie). I don't know what the weather is actually like there right now though.

Anyone know what is going on?
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#2
(2024-06-06, 10:43)prune Wrote: Hi all. I've loved using lightningmaps over the last five years or so, mainly in the UK. I'm now based in Sydney, Australia, and have noticed that lightning that I can see and hear myself just does not show on lightningmaps or blitzortung. There looks to be adequate receiver coverage.



There is plenty of lightning popping up on the map about 400km north (Port Macquarie). I don't know what the weather is actually like there right now though.

Anyone know what is going on?

first, your attachment deleted, was NOT a Map screenshot, appeared to be an Insurance coverage query email...
second,
This is what Sydney area displayed at 1109 UTC today...
   
as well as the offshore activity up at Port Macquarie...

Perhaps most of your Sydney observations were not C-G strokes, the nearby stations were not collecting data as activity was too strong, and / or not enough more distant stations (>50km) were reading impulses to locate.


Stations: 689, 791, 1439, 3020
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#3
Oh my goodness - how embarrassing! Thanks for deleting, and for adding your screenshot.

I’ve lived in Sydney a few months now and noticed this every time. There are definitely C-G strikes that are not showing.

When googling, I came across this old thread where receiver locations were showing in the wrong place on the map. Is there any chance that a similar error has snuck back in?
https://forum.blitzortung.org/printthread.php?tid=901

Anyone else in Sydney noticing the same thing so that I can stop worrying that I’m losing my marbles?
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#4
(2024-06-06, 11:51)prune Wrote: Oh my goodness - how embarrassing! Thanks for deleting, and for adding your screenshot.

I’ve lived in Sydney a few months now and noticed this every time. There are definitely C-G strikes that are not showing.

When googling, I came across this old thread where receiver locations were showing in the wrong place on the map. Is there any chance that a similar error has snuck back in?
https://forum.blitzortung.org/printthread.php?tid=901

Anyone else in Sydney noticing the same thing so that I can stop worrying that I’m losing my marbles?

Oh no, you're not losing your marbles at all! The maps only display strokes that the computations could LOCATE a 'ground' point. C-G strokes.  There are MANY reasons strikes may not be located.  It doesn't mean they were not 'detected'.  I'm not sure about the Oceania region, but typically good data for locating must be received from 8-17 stations... typically 12. 

Blitzortung receivers are not designed for 'local' detection, unless configured for very low sensitivity.
Because of the extreme EM fields in storm cells, our sensitive receivers within, for example, 50 KM of an impulse, depending on configurations, receive so much overlapping data that the signals are worthless... it may be so 'rich' that the receivers will stop sending data, as designed.  The network then uses the more distant stations >80km or so, as designed. 
Again, data from e.g. 12 distant stations must pass criteria for an impulse to be 'located'.
So, if all the stations around Sydney had gone interference shutdown, and the data from distant receivers did not align, the stroke could NOT be 'located' and displayed on the map.
That's the quickest scenario to explain.  There are MANY  other reasons why strokes may not display.,.. for example a stroke could be airborne for 40km before grounding, with so many cascades prior to grounding, that timing simply can't be established. Others the stroke may simply have been beautiful to see, but too weak to reach more distant receivers with enough energy to identify... on and on...

You're right about station density being a factor... if we had coverage of stations everywhere, 50 km apart, all configured to operate with a range of about 800km, we could likely locate a very high percentage of C-G strokes, as well as expand into processing IC impulses etc, as well as polarity, etc.... that's the weak link in our hobbyist, experimental Locating Network!!!!

Stay Safe!
Mike

OH>... typically on Lightningmaps.org especially, the ACTUAL location of a station on the public maps IS displaced purposely... for 'privacy' reasons.


Stations: 689, 791, 1439, 3020
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#5
i plan on moving my station out of Sydney soon, and getting a second station for about 100km south of Sydney in the highlands.

im also attempting to trick any of my associates around NSW into hosting systems as well, Im very interested in getting the New PCB when i can.
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