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Principles
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The Detection and Localization system is composed of a set of lightning detection sensors, communication devices and a position analyzer that collects data from the sensors and computes flash localization. It provides CATS, in real time, with sensor status information, sensor data (angle and time) and localized data.
The system administrator is in charge or checking the detection network operational condition, of realizing specific products, registering new customers, and making sure they receive the service they subscribe too.
| CATS Architecture |
 Lightning data base |
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| The CATS lightning data base is a
specific, powerful and fast data base for real time lightning information storage. The
size of the data base is theoretically unlimited, and the data base may be spread out
several disks of different types. The SQL compliant request language allows easy data
access for any user (through a graphic user interface) or application (with an Application
Program Interface). Request outputs can be formatted to suit any user specific needs and
to allow direct ingestion by spreadsheet programs. A utility program helps database
maintenance and correction if needed. The number of simultaneous data base access is only
limited by the workstation's capabilities.
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| Hardware & System prerequisites |
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| As CATS is a set of modules, it can be
spread out over several workstations linked through a local area network. Hardware configuration: Any Sun UltraSparc 64 bits workstation with at least 128 Mbytes of memory and 6 Gbytes of disk. Operating system: Solaris 7 or 8 Recommended configuration for a typical CATS system: Sun Ultra 10 with 256 Mbytes RAM and 9Gbytes disk running Solaris 8. A backup unit (DAT, Hexabyte, Optical disk, CDRW).
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| Archived data services |
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| A common user interface is
provided for all archived data production The cartography/expertise product is a lightning map generator. It creates flash listing (with a varialble level of details), and detailed geographic maps superimposed with lightning dots detected during a specific time period. Output images may be printed, faxed, emailed, or grouped into sequential animations. Processing can be interactive (through a dedicated user interfaces) or automatic for periodic treatments. The web-expertise is a similar product that allows remote users to access the CATS server to display the flash listing and map on their web browser. The cartography/statistic product generates lightning activity maps over a long period. Typical outputs include lightning density, number of stormy days, storm cells. Output may be printed, emailed, or grouped into sequential animation. Processing can be interactive or automatic.
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| Real Time Kernel |
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The CATS real time kernel is a set of
programs in charge of real time data processing. Data received from the detection and
location system is checked and converted to internal format. This data is then made
available for all CATS services. The real time kernel is necessary for any CATS
configuration and is composed of:
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| Real Time Services |
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| The lightning alarm is an
automatic warning system designed to send messages to customers when a storm is moving
toward their site. Messages are sent by phone call, fax, pager, email, SMS, or any
combination. Custom agendas and combination of parallel and backup call scenarii can be
set up for each user. In addition, a module of alarm simulation estimates the relevance of the lightning alarm for a specific customer. It also allow to optimize its parameters. The Observation is a powerful display and analyzis tool running on any Java compatible platform (Windows 9x, 2000, NT, UNIX, Mac). It gets both real time and archived lightning information from a CATS server through an intranet or the Internet. The package is composed of a client software and a server software. The web observation is a real time only display service available from any web browser.
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| Network Monitor |
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| The network monitoring module checks the
lightning detection network status and warn the system administrator in case of
total or partial failure. All the sensor events are logged into a data base for later
analysis and reports. The lightning detection analysis package includes different tools to
check and correct lightning network relevance. Typical checks are site error corrections,
detection efficiency, location accuracy, detailed location analysis, sensor failure
reports. These tools include a graphic user interface,
and generates graphic outputs.
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| Administration |
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The system administration consists of :
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| Tools |
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CATS includes a set of tools to make its usage easier and more powerful:
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| Customer Data Base |
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The customers data base (CDB) is a standard data base management system. Generic tables store end user subscription characteristics, while specific tables are dedicated to different CATS services (Observation, Alarm, Expertise). Every customer connections and actions is checked and logged. Log tables are used for statistics, analysis and report generation (end of subscription, security, service failure, others). A graphical user interface is provided to manage the Customer Data Base, it can be complemented with specifiq SQL requests when necessary. |
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