Calibration schemes for lightning E-dot sensors

Abstract

A wideband active E-dot sensor is designed and tested in calibration. Thereafter, calibration schemes for E-dot sensor including magnitudes and risetimes are proposed and conducted. Two magnitude calibration methods are performed. Experimental results exhibit that the magnitude calibration coefficients between the two methods are less than 3%, and the 10%-90% risetime of the sensor is less than 7ns, which is well suited for lightning observations. Subtle discrepancy exists between the reference signal and the measured one. These differences are in good agrreement with previous observations, which indicate that dE/dt usually reflect more higher frequency components, and the integration of dE/dt to derive E-field is valid only in the fast rising portion of dE/dt waveforms.