Lightning on GPS

citationxjl

citationxjl

Pre-takeoff checklist
Joined
Feb 24, 2005
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212
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Chandler, AZ
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Jeff
How does the instrumentation on the aircraft sense where the lightning has struck so it can display the location on the Garmin 530?
....just thinking the other day while flying and saw some lighting on the GPS screen
 
That would be the result of a WX-500 stormscope, which has no display of its own but interfaces with a 530, MX-20 etc. Stormscopes (and Strikefinders) work by sensing the electrical bursts associated with lightning and measuring the strength of the signal against some predetermined standards. Stronger and the storm is plotted closer, weaker and it's plotted farther away. Each brand uses a proprietary system, this after Strikefinder was off the market for a few years during a patent dispute. The different models of Stormscope have different bells and whistles, and in general the more modern designs are more accurate than the older ones.
 
Ken Ibold said:
That would be the result of a WX-500 stormscope, which has no display of its own but interfaces with a 530, MX-20 etc
Click to expand...

It could also be a downlinked lighting image from the full boat XM subscription. That picture is formed by compositing lightning data from the ground based lightning detection network.
 
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