Thanks to a new system to detect lightning, Shanghai's thunderbolt experts will no longer have to solely rely on primary observation for scientific research and forecast.
The system -- with core equipment imported from Finland for 3 million yuan (US$361,446) -- will be put into operation late this year, the Shanghai Center of Lightning Protection said yesterday.
"The system will help us to get more acute forecast of disasters caused by lightning," said Wang Jianchu, the center's director.
With the precise data -- including the position, intensity and advent of a lightning -- from the new system, it will be highly possible for meteorologists to correctly forecast lightning and warn citizens beforehand, he added.
According to Wang, the observatory presently relies on the professional experience of its experts to judge the position of lightning.
So far, infrastructure construction for three detection stations has been completed in the city's Chongming County and Nanhui District as well as Haiyan County in neighboring Zhejiang Province, respectively.
After equipment adjustment and network integration, the system will start operation involving the three stations, which can cover the whole city, the center said.
Experts pointed out that citizens should pay more attention to lightning though few accidents have been caused by the phenomenon.
Last summer, six farmers in the city's Chongming County were killed by lightning while three people fell victim to a lightning strike in 2001, according to the center.
Most lightning-related deaths occurred in suburban areas, center officials revealed, adding that in downtown areas, the thunder flash usually damages buildings or electric facilities.
Meteorologists said the lightning rod above a building can ward off a direct strike but can do little to prevent inductive damage from the bolt. The inductive attack, which is "unfamiliar to the public," can damage electric appliances like TV sets and computers through wires, and even spark fire, experts said.
The risk usually exists in residential houses that were built in 1970s and 1980s when property management companies knew little about inductive attacks from lightning and are now unwilling to pay for routine lightning-proof checks, according to the center.
(Eastday.com July 9, 2003)
