Even if you’ve never seen the wood splinters scattered across a canola field after a 40-year-old single phase porcelain insulator fails to insulate the pole it sits on, you can understand the awesome potential that a lightning bolt wields. We’ve all been affected by a lightning storm in our lives at some point, whether it be memories made from living temporarily without electricity or being involved in an event that changes lives permanently. A materializing lightning bolt produces millions of radio pulses, an enormous amount of data that would take dedication to sort through. Recently, scientists did just that. In 2018 LOFAR (Low Frequency Array, a powerful network of thousands of small radio telescopes mostly in the Netherlands) mapped lighting on a meter-by-meter scale in three dimensions, and with a frame rate 200 times faster than previous instruments could achieve. LOFAR usually gazes at distant galaxies and exploding stars. But according to Joseph Dwyer, a physicist at the University of New Hampshire and a co-author on the new paper soon be published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters “it just so happens to work really well for measuring lightning, too.” 

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Fortunately, that pesky lightning bolt is regularly averted with shield wires, arrestors, and other means such as an underground system. But we all know the grid is not impenetrable, and there are many other potential outage causing events that are planned for.

Being prepared for emergencies isn’t only a good idea for providers of electricity, it’s a responsibility bared by all those who produce regardless of geography. The supply chain over the past few years has not made any of this easier - once that equipment has been compromised, the timer starts to get the lights back on and the public is quick to inquire about restoration. Here’s where we (and you) can help. At Veracity-Connect, we’re constantly growing our network of loyal customers. These essential companies have been able to lend a hand to their fellow providers whether it be in the generation, transmission or distribution aspects of their energy. They have accomplished this by providing used or surplus assets they may not have known were so desperately needed. Subscribe and/or list with us today and be part of the solution for a better connected, more resourceful and efficient future.

 By: Garret Pollock.