New Mexico Tech Interferometer/Sferic System
Notes for July, 2000

Universal Date/Time
JDay Date Time Comments
185 03-Jul 23:25 Infrequent lightning indicated on slow antenna (SA). Direction? Line which was over Limon earlier had died ~1/2 hour earlier according to LMA.
~23:40 Cleaned Y-board ASM-C connector w/ contact cleaner (in attempt to fix DSP crashing)
186 04-Jul ~0:36 Infrequent thunder heard from dissipating storm to SW prior to data recording. No more lightning?
187 05-Jul ~22:50 LMA: reports ~8 IC flashes in 30 sec time slice. ~Normal polarity.
~22:58 LMA: ICs are inverted polarity.
~23:10 Negative-going SA static field changes dominant. Rate is ~1 every 5 seconds.
23:33 NWS: Issued tornado warning for "far cell" of 2. -0dp reported by S-POL for region in storm.
188 06-Jul ~0:00 1" hail reported by spotter
0:10? Morris reports that cell to ~SW of HP supercell is a "classic LP supercell"
3:11:55 Sprites (from close tornadic storm)?
3:2? Sprites?
~3:28 Called Marx: will arm system
~4:15 Walt Lyons saw sprite at low elevation - probably storm to NE
4:31:15 Sprite
4:41:38 Sprite
4:49:55 Cycled power on VME crate. Coincident sprite at ~same time.
~23:40 LMA: reports sparse IC activity from a cell ~100 km WSW of CHILL
23:50 Strong winds from ~S w/ air born dust is contaminating SA, producing ~DC shifts.
189 07-Jul 1:32:45 Static field change. From where??
191 09-Jul <22:30 Cumulus Congestus visible to ~S. Possibly electrified
>22:45 Low flash rate. SA field changes of both polarities observed.
192 10-Jul ~1:30 Storm(s) to W. Flash rate remains low at ~1 every 40 seconds
~4:30 Tornado warning for NW Sheridan Co. - spotted on Doppler radar west of Selden
>6:49 Flash rate to W is very active!! >1 per second
~8:00 Checked phase detector outputs: All OK
8:00-10 High winds hit (gust front)
9:03 Big -CG delta-E. Significant +delta-E's too. Closer cell? Some lightning should be at good EL
9:04 Most adtive part of storm is to NW. Flash rate is ~1 every 2 seconds
9:3? Big +delta-E: Horizontal lightning; +CG?
9:41 Flash rate is ~1 every 5 seconds
~9:44:30 +CG to NW. Big horizontal lightning. Below cloud channels later in flash
9:50:14 +CG? Long duration discharge!!
>9:51 More +CGs
10:05:45 Whoa!! Spectacular spider lightning!! Buffer filled on DSP. SA is too small (+CG?)
10:08:59 Big horizontal lightning discharge. Below cloud channels at end of discharge.
10:15:50 Spectacular spider lightning!!
10:19:22 Interference (INTFR) for ~1 sec (checking if OK via XMR)
10:29:50 Horizontal lightning and +CG (upward SA step seen)
10:31:09 INTFR for 1 sec
10:33:06 Horizontal lightning
10:35:55 +CG? Significant SA delta-E & Right to Left horizontal lightning, but low EL
10:36:35 +CG? Upward SA delta-E
10:42:06 Horizontal lightning (Right to Left) in cloud
10:46:12 Horizontal lightning (R to L) & +CG channel visible. Nice SA delta-E
10:49:29 Horizontal lightning (R to L)
10:51:30 Horizontal lightning (R to L)
10:56 Cycled power (Clock on VHS will be off for ~40 secs)
22:12:51 Positive bipolar (+BP): Strong RF (not recorded, since DSPs crashed earlier, noticed later)
22:20:39 +BP: Strong RF
22:23:03 Big +BP w/ very strong RF on oscilloscope. Actual time?
22:23:39 Big +BP w/ very strong RF on oscilloscope (saw this time)
~22:30 Marx Brook will arm system at ~10 MHz in Socorro
22:32:25 +BP: Strong RF
22:35:34 +BP: Strong RF
22:35:55 -BP: Strong RF
~22:36:12 +BP: 2 RF pulses
23:03:40 -BP: Strong RF
23:04:36 +BP: Strong RF
193 11-Jul 0:40:50? Unipolar pulse: strong RF
0:42:06 +BP: trailing RF spikes
0:46:51 +Unipolar: Very bright RF
0:47:15 +Unipolar: Very bright RF
0:48:03 +Unipolar: Very bright RF
0:48:20 +BP: Followed by IC pulses
0:53:23 +BP: Followed by trailing RF spikes
0:55:39 Unusually strong pulse followed by steady radiation
1:01:00 Close +BP! Saturated FA & RF
2:16:50 +CG: Nice SA delta-E and saw flicker of light
7:28:10 +CG?
7:46:10 +CG?
~22:30 LMA reports IC at 22:25 to W of S-POL which propagated from main(-) down to lower(+)
23:38:47 DSPs hung in an unusual fashion: the trigger light was left on during the hang (normally, it's off)
194 12-Jul 2:40 Active region of +CGs to SSW at ~>200 km range
3:20 Region of +CGs >200 km to SSW at ~195 AZ. Foreground cumulus may be blocking sprite activity?
3:29:51 Flash behind clouds? ..or from new storm to E.
3:40 Flashes from storm to E are about 1 every 30 seconds. All delta-E's are negative-going.
3:48:27 Visible discharge, no SA delta-E
3:49:46 Mini-discharge (small IC)? Note: occassional -CGs seen with SA. Storm is of normal polarity?
3:56 Flash rate is >1 every second!
~4:05 Activated interference source a couple of times
4:40:1? +BP w/ strong RF seen on scope
4:43 Occassional strong sudden-onset RF bursts noted
4:53 LMA: do see precursor events
5:07:48.5 -CG w/ precursors
5:15:27.5 IC w/ precursors
~5:25 Steady impulsive RF sources have returned
6:11:30 +CG to W? Nice SA delta-E. Note: cloud cover is heavy, so ~no change of seeing sprites
6:16:40 +CG to W? Nice SA delta-E
~21:36 SA data is fluctuating wildly. Strong winds outside.
22:42 Only 2 storms were within 100 km (to WSW & WNW). Bulk of activity is over central CO, extending NNW into Nebraska.
195 13-Jul 0:01 Storms WNW-NNW at 120 km range. Nothern end of line is producing all +CGs while southern end is all -CGs.
0:16 Very active region of +CGs to NW-WNW! Region of -CGs is subsiding. Range is still >100 km & no significant static dE's seen.
3:05:44 Small -delta-E immediately followed by positive delta-E (static). IC/+CG?
3:26 Negative delta-E's every 4 secs. Storm is ~ENE. No CGs according to NLDN.
>4:10 All CG activity has died within ~300 km range according to NLDN
198 16-Jul ~8:43:30 TLE? (or multiple image)
8:47 All storms appear to be of normal polarity: producing -CGs & normal ICs.
9:34 Started satellite autofetch script on Zeus.nmt.edu
10:25:47 +CG? Upward SA delta-E of +2.0 V amplitude
11:09:55 -CG: 15 secs to thunder
11:11:25 -CG: 15 secs to thunder (to NW)
11:12:00 -CG to NNW
11:14:20 -CG to NW
11:16:14 -CG to NNW. Thunder ~20 secs later
11:24:47 -CG to NW. Thunder ~30 secs later
11:26:33 -CG w/ multiple strike points to NNW (& WNW? or coincident flash?)
11:28:30 -CG w/ at least 2 strike points
11:58:06 -CG followed by IC channels below cloud in field-of-view (FOV) of camera
12:03:52 -CG w/ 2 strike points
13:05 Bad image on RCA color. Note sure when image went bad since fell asleep.
13:27 Problem was somehow related to IRIS. Manual IRIS control was activated before 1st recording in order to decrease aperture size. Auto was reactivated to fix current problem (Auto appears to be working again)
>13:49 (fell asleep)
15:37 Storms are now further away. Region of -CGs to SSW at ~80 km and another at >100 km to SSW. Storm ~20 km N of SPOL has stopped producing -CGs at about this time.
16:24:23 Static delta-E from +CG? Storm to SSW is now almost all +CGs.
16:24:53 Static delta-E from -CG?
199 17-Jul ~12:30 Woke up to faint sound of thunder (~distant)
12:41 Storms are 30-40 km S. of CHILL. A couple of +CGs struck ~10 km SW of CHILL in past 20 minutes. The delta-E from one was seen on the SA just prior to arming system (it was big). Rains is falling (under stratiform clouds).
13:01:01 Small upward delta-E on SA. +CG at low elevation angle?
13:08:11 Upward delta-E. +CG?
13:13:41 Upward delta-E. +CG?
13:22:48 Large delta-E from +CG
13:24:00 Thunder heard (same discharge?)
13:25:27 Upward delta-E...
13:35:57 Upward delta-E... Note: numerous +CGs are striking E. of CHILL & W-S of Goodland and this region is moving E.
14:10 Noise on SA due to rain is more evident (after switching to Gain 5)
14:10-20 NLDN 10 min summary: a +CG struck within Goodland. Other +CGs and a few -CGs are to E & SE of Goodland and moving further away.
200 18-Jul 1:33 CHILL is warming up: will be ready in 20-30 min
1:39:37 +CGs (>= 3 channels to ground seen - in F.O.V.)
1:41:27 Rolling thunder heard
1:48:06 Big delta-E & bright flash
~2:02:08 +CG to SSW (saw visually - out of F.O.V. of camera)
2:03:48 Heard rolling thunder
2:06:11 +CG to SSW - in F.O.V.
2:10:15 +CG to S
2:17:57 +CG to S
~2:21 +CG to S
2:51:51 +CG w/ nice delta-E
2:54:43 +CG w/ ~small delta-E
3:06 CHILL: Will shut down ~3:30 UT unless told to do otherwise
3:07:00 +CG delta-E
3:12:27 +CG delta-E - long duration
4:52:05 +CG delta-E??
7:15 MCS (MCC?) has region of -75 deg. C cloud tops over Central Kansas. 1-2 hours earlier, -75C region was much bigger and covered much of northern Texas, Oklahoma panhandle, SE Colorado, & SW Kansas.
23:23 NWS: detected a Severe storm 7 mi. SW of Flagler. Storm is moving E at 35 mph. Storm is producing +CGs?
23:49:27 +CG? (substantial delta-E)
23:52:43 CG in F.O.V. It is a +CG
23:53:08 Another +CG
23:54:49 +CG (Left side / South)
23:55:32 +CG (Right side / North)
~23:58:10 -delta-E
23:58:43 +CG (Right side - North)
201 19-Jul 0:06:51 Complex discharge w/ CG & incloud channels. Polarity?
0:12:43 -CG? (Storm may have reversed polarity in past 15 min - or producing both?)
0:15:08 IC channel dips below cloud (barely)
0:18:45 IC channels
0:26:05-27:05 Attempting to ground SA cable - no luck
0:33 Close -CGs
0:40:? Close CGs
0:52 High EL discharges continuing
1:16:15 Spider in F.O.V.
1:21:50 Spider and +CG: SA saturated
1:32:23 Spider lightning
1:32:32 Thunder heard
1:51:26 "Small" Spider lightning off to ESE at low EL. +CG?
1:56:44 Spider lightning inside cloud. Mammatus clouds illuminated in several regions & at different times. Nice delta-E
1:59:02 Clouds illuminated again
1:59:53 +CG and propagating cloud illumination in F.O.V.
2:01:55 Big discharge
2:03:38 Spectacular in cloud propagation (L->R)
2:05:13 Spectacular in cloud propagation (R->L)
2:06:46 Channel seen up high and at right edge of video - From where?
2:07:16 Below cloud channels seen on right edge
2:25:16 Big discharge and +CG
3:18:24 Big lightning discharge
3:32 SA data going off scale
3:48:50 YRFS: Sprite seen over stratiform region to E. of Goodland
4:16:28 Big lightning discharge to E (L-->R)
4:23:44 Big lightning discharge to ESE (R-->L)
4:33:10 Big lightning discharge in distance to E
5:02:21 +CG
5:02:55 2 +CGs back-back
5:13:24 Spectacular CG and in-cloud (big extent: +CG)
5:16:20 ?
5:20:00 Big delta-E: +CG!
5:24:02 Bright flash!
5:24:40 Heard thunder
5:28:18 Big delta-E
5:29:08 Spectacular spider!! SA off-scale at ~2.5 V?
5:31:12 Spider!
5:35:52 Spider - extremely spectacular!!
5:36:05 Heard onset of thunder
5:36:15 Loud boom - rolling
5:39:12 Nice CC - long duration - in F.O.V. +CG
5:41:04 +CG channel in F.O.V. again
5:43:46 +CG?
5:45:06 Big horizontal lightning in F.O.V. behind clouds
5:48:04 +CG w/ long CC
6:00:15 Spectacular lightning in F.O.V. w/ long duration, but mostly in cloud propagation
6:04:02 Long duration lightning in F.O.V., but behind clouds mostly. Pulsates rapidly.
6:04:41 Nice CC in F.O.V.
6:05:37 ?
6:06:56 Long duration discharge w/ considerable pulsations
6:08:16 Long duration discharge w/ considerable pulsations
6:15:44 Long duration CC!!
>6:16 T. Nelson called: seeing sprites for past 20 min
6:26:16 CC
6:32:09 CC
6:33:05 CC
6:35:48 CC
6:36:48 CC
6:38:48 CC
6:42:30 CC
6:44:06 CC
6:45:27 CC
6:47:20 CC
6:49:17 CC
6:52:30 Big discharge
6:53:08 Bright flash
6:53:50 Bright flash
6:54 Last few sprites at 122 AZ (YRFS)
6:55:40 ?
7:02:03 Big horizontal discharge, 2 +CGs?
7:05:50 Big horizontal discharge
7:11:41 YRFS: Sprite
7:15:27 YRFS: Sprite?
202 20-Jul ? Antenna #6 is ~dead. Must use sferics mode...
~1 Slow antenna connected through ground plate of interferometer (was not previously)
~1:15 Severe thunderstorm warning for Yuma county
>1:17:00 Large negative delta-E seen shortly after arming. Large -CG?
3:09:25 +CG - Bright flash
3:32 ?
3:43 -CGs starting to appear. delta-E's similar to +CGs
3:59:32 +CG: 2 V
4:01:35 +CG: 2.5 V?
4:05 Tornado 2 mi. S of Vidalia
4:23 Tornado Warning: SE Yuma, SW Cheyenne, NW Sherman. Spotter reports tornado over extreme WC Cheyenne Co.
~4:33 Flash rate is very high. Awesome!
5:09:42-44 HAL points - no organized discharge until 44 seconds
5:09:46-47 HAL points - no organized discharge...
5:45:08 Long duration CC! IC channels exit cloud during CC?
6:23:53 +CG delta-E?
6:40:24 +delta-E +CG?
6:52:31 +delta-E
6:52:50 Big +delta-E
6:56:28 Two carrot sprites
7:04:14 +delta-E
203 21-Jul 0:38:52 Gust front hit - Peak winds up to ~60 mph? (estimated)
3:42:52 Big discharge in F.O.V.
3:45:10 Bright flare! Iridium satellite?
~3:48 Big discharge
3:52:00 Big discharge in F.O.V. (R-->L)
4:00:30 Very big discharge w/ long duration. No sprites seen.
4:11:58 Very big discharge w/ long duration. No sprites seen.
4:25:48 Big discharge + sprites (tops of?)
4:34:? Bright meteor!
5:19:05 Propagating discharge, L-->R
~12:30 Thunder from ~overhead: 1st discharge?
204 22-Jul ~0 Tornado Warning for S. Yuma Co. Tornado spotted 7 mi. SW of Heartstrong
>0:30 A tornado was spotted 12 mi. S of Yuma
1:04 Storms...
1:09:10-10:16 Working of E-field cabling (unplugged for a spell & briefly plugged FA into x100 - still broken)
1:09:51-? Files d00201_010951.* were accidentally deleted later
1:26 Wall cloud visible to NNE
~1:33:50 Lightning behind wall cloud (or in it?)
1:36:10 Took picture looking W (sunset + storm)
1:40:47 Lightning behind wall?
1:50 Channels propagating overhead (have been for several minutes)
2:25 Spider (rocket) lightning is frequent from storms: several times a minute (going into stratiform region to high EL)
2:37:09 Big +CG!
2:40:31 Big +delta-E
2:44:56 Tremendous spider lightning! Big +delta-E w/ interesting structure
2:49:00 Spider lightning (some channels below clouds)
2:51:45 Big discharge behind clouds
2:53:52 Long duration discharge (inferred from inside trailer)!! (negative delta-E)
2:55:46 Long duration discharge (seen outside) - channels inside cloud. delta-E is negative.
3:05:05 YRFS: C-sprite seen over storm to S.
~3:15 High winds from S. - blowing out of storm
~3:19:45 Vertical Baseline blew over in high gusts (Air was unusually warm! Microburst?). The VB was bent at >100 degree angle between lower antennas. The top antenna impacted the ground, but no rods were broken.
~5:38 YRFS: Storm >100 km to SE has produced upwards of 30 sprites already.
208 26-Jul Vertical Baseline was repaired and raised again. A collar joins the segments above & below the bent portion of the rod.
209 27-Jul 5:27 NEXRAD showing onset of collision between 2 outflow boundaries is occurring over LMA. No lightning yet.
7:31 Some storms in region, but none particularly close.
22:28 Light sprinkle falling from overhead cumulus (not electrified, yet)
22:35:00 Plugged in Vertical Baseline (after unplugging 3:13 H.B.)
22:40:44 Big negative delta-E: -2.5 V
22:45:00 Rain intensifying
22:53:30-35 ITFR (Testing V.B. - Appears to be dead)
22:54:53-58 ITFR (Testing V.B. - Appears to be dead)
23:05:38 Nice negative delta-E (close IC)
23:07 Occassional ITFR from unknown source - overfills buffer
23:09:30 Small hail falling - pea size
23:22:15 ITFR (me)
23:23:56-59 ITFR (Testing 3:13 HB - OK)
23:24:15-17 ITFR (Testing 3:13 HB - OK)
~23:50 Testing V.B. - Appears to be OK (Not sure what happened - Flaky +15 V Connector???)
210 28-Jul 1:09-1:16 Tightening lower ropes. They had loosened in past 24 hours. Upper ropes are OK.
? Replaced Horizontal Baseline #6 cable between grounding box and backplane of rack. It was intermittent.
1:54 N-S line of storms approaching from NW. Positive delta-E's are present, some with large amplitude at Gain 7 (+CGs?). Trigger rate is high.
~3:11 Gust front hit
3:29 V.B. is still OK (in spite of winds)
3:33 Thunder ~overhead
4:04:04 Spider lightning seen out window to N-NNW (propagated R-->L)
4:12:15 Lightning in F.O.V.
4:14:10 Spider lightning seen out window to NE
4:36:14 Spider lightning
4:40:52 Long spider lightning discharge
4:42:37 Spider lightning?
4:43:35 Long duration discharge
4:44:25 +CG: ~3 V +delta-E (offscale)
4:47:38 Long duration discharge
4:49:01 +CGs
4:50:14 Spider lightning in F.O.V. +CG delta-E
~4:55 Inspecting camera orientation: ~OK
5:05:34 Long duration discharge. CG in left of F.O.V. delta-E is negative?
5:12:09 Nice delta-E (+CG? May also be from close cell to ~N)
5:16:03 Nice delta-E (+CG? May also be from close cell to ~N)
5:17:47 Long duration discharge. delta-E is negative.
5:19:32 -CG saturates SA (somewhat close)
5:24:18 -CG seen out window to NE. ~20 secs to thunder
5:24:40 Long duration discharge in F.O.V.
5:28:53 Long duration discharge. Many channels in F.O.V. Nice delta-E!
5:30:25 Channels in F.O.V. Propagating +leaders? (-CG)
5:33:03 Channels in F.O.V. Delta-E is positive this time
5:36:45 Small spider lightning to ~N. Nice delta-E.
5:38:49 Small spider lightning to ~NNE.
5:45:15 Nice delta-E (positive-going)
5:45:50 Heard thunder
5:50:35 ITFR - testing platform Ant. #6 - appears to be OK
5:56:00 ITFR - Ant. #6 is down
6:02:05 Lightning to ~N? Thunder 5 secs. later
6:07:23 CG - 4 secs to thunder
6:12:20 CG - 3 secs to thunder. Saw to ~NE (out window)
6:20:20-36 ITFR (more or less) - Antenna #6 is still bad
6:26:30-38 ITFR
6:29:40 Replaced RG-223 cable between ground plate & backplane for #6
6:30:00 ITFR (no signal, but wrote later: "fixed problem - test was bad: freq. not 274 MHz")
6:52:00 ITFR
7:22:26 -CG partially in F.O.V. to left (side branches clearly evident)
7:23:59 -CG in center of F.O.V. Thunder ~30 secs later
? Discovered later today (July 28) that "Green - Good Sync" LED was not lit. This was traced to a loose DB-9 connector on the Horita unit. How long was it like that? (caused during initial setup of Xybion inside?)
212 30-Jul 4:21:15- Illuminating antennas (& V.B.) while standing behind camera
Illuminating antennas from side - standing on road
4:22:00-20 Illuminating 3:13 antennas one by one - starting with "bottom" - while standing on road
4:49:00 Weakly illuminated antennas as walked to camera
~4:49:30 Illuminated antennas from behind camera
4:49:50-50:20 Illuminated antennas one by one - standing by S. edge of platform
5:58-6:00 Illuminated each antenna, though view of further antennas will be blocked by the one in front. Camera was visually aligned along baseline, so Azimuth determination should be accurate.
6:18:30 Illuminated antennas from behind camera
6:19:00-20:00 Illuminated antennas from side (E. of platform)
Last Modified By: Mark Stanley (stanley@ibis.nmt.edu )
Last Modified On: Monday, March 26, 2001  21:34:18