Austriamicrosystems’ new lightning sensor IC measuring just 4x4 mm landed on my desk like a stroke of lightning, thanks to a suggestion from my colleague Luc Lemmens. If a suitable antenna is connected to the IC, a microcontroller linked to the device via SPI or I2C can calculate the distance to the edge of a thunderstorm. That’s right – not the distance to the lightning, but instead the distance to the storm front.
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