UPLIGHTS: Upward Lightning Triggering Study

The Upward Lightning Triggering Study (UPLIGHTS) is a three-year National Science Foundation- funded field project that is taking place in Rapid City, South Dakota, from April 2012 to September 2014. Since 2004, GPS timesynchronized optical observations of upward lightning have been conducted from 10 towers in Rapid City. UPLIGHTS and the resulting findings may benefit society by increasing understanding of, and safety from, upward lightning from tall buildings, which may contain people, and tall structures that provide services to society such as telecommunications and energy production (in the case of wind turbines). Since extant lightning-protection standards are based on downward lightning, this research may identify unique hazards associated with upward lightning that presently are not known or are not being addressed by the standards.