Germany: As fast as lightning - The new weather sensor with lightning detection

This is especially critical for smart grids, solar panels and wind turbines, but also for building insurance, outdoor events and the forestry sector. “WS800”, the new compact weather sensor from Lufft - the measurement technology producer from Fellbach - provides a solution.

The new member of the Lufft weather sensor family allows the precise reconstruction of the location where and the times at which such acts of nature occurred. The device also detects many other environmental parameters which, for example, are relevant to the monitoring of power plants, buildings or forest stocks.

Optically, there is no difference from the WS700 all-in-one weather sensor, which has been available since September 2014. This is because the new lighting detector is small enough to fit into the existing housing of the WS700-UMB. In addition to lightning detection, therefore, the WS800 also covers the same environmental parameters as its “big brother”. These are ambient temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure, wind speed and direction, rainfall intensity and volume as well as global radiation. Thus, eight individual sensors are packed into the smart "all-in-one" device.

For connecting to a new or existing measurement network, a single cable suffices. This saves customers valuable time during installation and maintenance. The innovative environmental sensor communicates with the standard protocols UMB-ASCII, UMB-Binary, SDI-12 and MOD-BUS as well as with analog outputs in combination with the DACON converter. Hence it is easy to integrate into new and existing measurement networks.

The new module of the WS800 detects the radiated electromagnetic waves of a thunderbolt. By way of appropriate algorithms and filters it reliably detects the lightning discharges. Extensive tests with lighting simulators performed by Lufft engineers in the laboratory and in the field confirmed, among other results, the sensor's resistance against electromagnetic radiation, which occurs on high speed train rails, for example.

Lufft presented the new all-in-one sensor for the first time at this year’s Meteorological Technology World Expo in Brussels. The exhibition took place from 13 to 15 October 2015.

Further information can be found on the Lufft website under: www.lufft.com