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ALDIS
• BLDN
• BLIDS
• CELDN
• CESI-SIRF
• EIMV
METEORAGE
• NORDLIS |
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| NETWORK COVERAGE MAP |
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BLIDS network |
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| Network coverage: |
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Germany |
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Switzerland |
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Siemens AG
Blitzinformtionsdienst
Stephan Thern
Siemensallee 84
76448 Karlsruhe
Germany
TEL: +497215956925
Fax: +497215956630
INTERNET: http://www.blids.de
EMAIL: |
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1990 The idea: Detection of lighting for Germany began in a small department
at Siemens in Karlsruhe. Siemens saw that lightning data would be a perfect add-on to all the
other services Siemens provides for the Industrial markets.
1991 A Market analysis, business plan and financing were complete and the project got under way.
Dedicated people began the technical part and prepared to forge forward with the task of discerning
where and how to install sensors, checking different communication services and possibilities for
geographic locations around Germany. The roofs of the Siemens buildings were chosen. The only available
communication at that time was an X.25-connection between the sensor from Kiel to Munich and from Dortmund
to Berlin to the central processing unit in Karlsruhe.
13.07.1991 Installation of sensors and communication was more difficult then believed. Problems ensued.
Software bugs in the communication and in the central unit had to be fixed, nevertheless on that day the
first lightning stroke was detected by BLIDS. The technical staff saw the first lightning near the city of
Bremen, in the north of Germany and called the Siemens department in Bremen to verify if it was true and if
they saw the lighting. They did.
1992 In the mean time the marketing efforts produced the first customers. Insurance
companies and power companies were the initial users of the lightning data.
1993 - 1995 Markets for lighting data were opening up and new customers, such as weather services, police
and fire brigades were switched onto the data. Optimising the system was always a core endeavour of the operators.
A mixture of research was done with data of other dimensions. The first maps of lightning density were set up.
The highest density of lightning strikes was found in the region of Hessen.
1996 - 1998 New sensor technology and new central processing units are available on the market. The state of
the art technology increased quality and accuracy of lightning detection. The fact that data quality decreases
at the outer boundaries of the network, steps were taken to combine sensors in the neighbouring countries for
quality lightning data. The network located in Switzerland, previously installed by the Swiss Telecom is
integrated into the Siemens network. Sensors in Benelux and France are installed to increase the quality
around these borders of the network as well.
1998 - 2000 ALDIS in Austria and BLIDS in Germany increase their commitment in integrating European networks for
improved and consistent data for Europe. First memorandum for EUCLID Cooperation is set at a meeting near Frankfurt
in 1999, i.e. Birthday of EUCLID, the European Cooperation for Lightning Detection. |
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